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A resident or non-resident diplomatic mission headed by a minister (sense 1) – that is, by a head of mission of the second diplomatic class. Ordinarily, the minister\'s full title is envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary. Legations used to be the usual type of diplomatic mission, embassies being exchanged only between major powers. However, since the Second World War they have gone dramatically out of fashion. The process seems to have begun during the war, when, with the agreement of the receiving state, virtually all legations in Washington were raised to embassies in an effort by sending states to emphasize the importance they attached to their relationship with the United States. Later, the speedy ending of colonialism greatly accelerated the process, as the ex-colonial territories which were now sovereign states regarded it as damaging to their pride and dignity to be represented at anything short of the highest level. Thus whereas embassies were once notable for their pomp – in respect of both their premises and their display – it is now by no means uncommon for such missions to be exceedingly small and generally lacking in ostentation. |
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