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Declaration of War
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Image:Franklin Roosevelt signing declaration of war against Japan December 1941.jpg Franklin D. Roosevelt.html" title="Meaning of thumb thumb|right|200px|President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt signs a declaration of war against Japan on December 8, 1941, one day after the
attack on Pearl Harbor..html" title="Meaning of right|200px|President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt">thumb|right|200px|President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt signs a declaration of war against Japan on December 8, 1941, one day after the
attack on Pearl Harbor.">right|200px|President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt">thumb|right|200px|President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt signs a declaration of war against Japan on December 8, 1941, one day after the
attack on Pearl Harbor.
A '''declaration of war''' is a formal declaration issued by a national
government indicating that a state of
war exists between that nation, and one or more others.
Background
Declarations of war have been acceptable means and diplomatic measures since the
Renaissance, when the first formal declarations of war were issued.
In
public international law, a declaration of war entails the recognition between countries of a state of hostilities between these countries, and such declaration acted to regulate the conduct between the military engagements between the forces of the respective countries. The primary multilateral
treaty governing such declarations is the
Hague Conventions.
The
League of Nations formed in
1919 in the wake of the
World War I First World War, and the
General Treaty for the Renunciation of War 1928 signed in Paris, demonstrated that world powers were seriously seeking a means to prevent the carnage of the world war. However, these powers were unable to stop the
World War II Second World War and, thus, the
United Nations System was put in place after that war in an attempt to prevent international aggression through a declaration of war.
The UN and war
In an effort to force nations to resolve issues without warfare, framers of the
United Nations Charter attempted to commit member nations to using warfare only under limited circumstamces, especially for defensive purposes only.
The UN paradoxically became a war combatant itself after
North Korea invaded
South Korea on 15 June 1950. The
United Nations Security Council condemned the North Korean action by a 9-0 resolution (with the
Soviet Union absent) and called upon its member nations to come to the aid of South Korea. The
United States of America and 15 other nations formed a "UN force" to pursue this action. In a
press conference on 29 June 1950, U.S. President
Harry S. Truman Truman characterized these hostilities as not being a "war," but a "police action."[http://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/index.asp?document=594]
The United Nations has issued
UN Security Council Resolution Security Council Resolutions that declared some wars to be legal actions under international law, most notably Resolution
UN Security Council Resolution 678 678, authorizing war with
Gulf War Iraq in 1991.
Non-war wars
In most
democratic nations, a Declaration of War customarily has to be passed by the
legislature.
After the United Nations action in Korea, a number of democratic governments pursued usually limited warfare by characterizing them as something else, such as a "military action" or "armed response." This was most notably used by the
United States in its more than decade-long involvement in
Vietnam War Vietnam. Nations such as
France, which had extensive
colony colonies in which its military provided order, continued to intervene in their former colonies' affairs as police actions since they could no longer be deemed internal conflicts.
Not declaring war provides a way to circumvent constitutional safeguards against the executive declaring war, and also, in some cases, to avoid feeling bound by the established
laws of war. Not using the word "war" is also seen as being more
public relations-friendly. For these reasons, they have generally ceased to issue declarations of war, instead describing their actions by
euphemisms such as "
police action" or "
authorized use of force."
Authorized Use of Force
Frequently used as an alternative to a declaration of war, authorized use of force is often used to avoid traditional barriers to the initiation of combat. Typically a full declaration must be ratified by various legislative bodies, but 'authorized use of force' may allow an elected head of state to directly initiate forceful action without further consultation. In addition, with declarations of war being increasingly regulated by international bodies, 'authorized use of force' can often be used to avoid some of the negative consequences of a declaration.
Authorized use of force is relatively common among democratic societies. The United States, for instance, has been directly involved in military activities in every decade of the latter half of the twentieth century yet has not declared war formally since World War II.
Current declarations
As of
2005, a few declarations of war remain in effect, though they are usually retained for lack of a peace treaty rather than reflecting an active state of hostilities.
*
North Korea North and
South Korea have remained legally at war since the
Korean War.
*
Israel has been at war with
Lebanon and
Syria since the
Yom Kippur War.
*Having refused to sign the
1949 Armistice Agreements,
Iraq has remained in a state of war with
Israel ever since.
*
Russia and
Japan technically never ended their state of war following
World War II. The
Kuril Islands dispute is the current obstacle to the signing of a
peace treaty.
*The
Netherlands has never signed a peace treaty with
Portugal after a conflict in
1567; thus, the two are supposedly technically still at war with each other.
See also
*
Ongoing wars (mostly undeclared)
*
Declaration of war by the United States
Category:International law
Category:Laws of war
Category:War
Category:Euphemisms
de:Kriegserklärung
ko:ì„ ì „ í?¬ê³
he:הכרזת מלחמה
sv:Krigsförklaring
see
Declaration of war
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