An ultimatum usually announces serious retaliation if the recipient does not give in.
The etymology of ultimatum leads us to ultimātum , a late Latin word that in turn derives from ultimāre (translatable as "to come to an end" ). The concept is used in the field of diplomacy to refer to the written statement that transmits a clear and conclusive resolution .
A definitive ruling
Beyond the diplomatic framework, an ultimatum is a definitive ruling . It is a sentence that does not allow a negative response to what it orders or instructs.
Through an ultimatum, a deadline is established for compliance with certain obligations. If the other party does not comply with the established demands, it must abide by the consequences announced by the person issuing the ultimatum.
The usual thing is that the ultimatum functions as the last demand after various requests . The period granted is limited and the door to future negotiations is closed. He who receives the ultimatum only has the possibility of complying if he intends to avoid the effects of the warning .
Some examples
A government , to mention one case, can issue an ultimatum to another country before a declaration of war , forcing it to do (or stop doing) certain work to avoid the war offensive. The ultimatum can order the interruption of a weapons program: otherwise, a military attack will begin.
As we indicated above, before the ultimatum there is communication with a different tone, more pleasant or with a view to potential negotiation. Even in the case of two countries that are at odds and that are mutually hostile , there cannot be an ultimatum if there is not first a less definitive conversation, through which at least one of the parties expresses its desire to resolve the conflict. . It is only when it seems that diplomatic efforts are not leading to a solution that this announcement emerges
An employee can give his boss an ultimatum, telling him that if he does not receive his salary in the next twenty-four hours, he will take legal action . This example has smaller repercussions than the previous one, but for the individual who sees his money in danger it is not exactly a minor problem. It is understood that before this instance he has communicated with his boss at least once, asking him to pay him for his work, and that given the excessive delays or lack of a response he decided to resort to ultimatums to pressure him.
A kidnapper, for his part, threatens his hostage 's relatives by telling them that he will kill the captive unless they pay a certain amount , which works as an ultimatum. Here we return to a much more tense situation, in which someone's life is also at stake. Those who have had the misfortune of experiencing something like this clearly will not have underestimated a threat of this magnitude, although the biggest problem is that they cannot always raise the amount of money required of them.
The origin of the term "ultimatum" is found in Latin.
Etymology
The conversation about the etymology of the term ultimatum is not simple, since there is more than one point of view. On the one hand there are those who believe that it is a cultism (a word taken directly from Latin or classical Greek) that came to our language recently, in 1834, through English, although its origin is found in Latin.
But there are also scholars who oppose this theory, pointing out that his journey took him through vernacular languages starting from diplomatic writings written in Latin. According to this view, the fact that this word appeared in the dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy only in 1834 does not indicate its arrival in our language , but simply the date of its official registration.