Declaration of war

Template:Use dmy dates Template:Short description Template:Redirect {{#invoke:other uses|otheruses}}

File:Franklin Roosevelt signing declaration of war against Germany.jpg

US President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs a declaration of war against Nazi Germany on 11 December 1941.

A declaration of war is a formal act by which one state announces existing or impending war activity against another. The declaration is a performative speech act (or the public signing of a document) by an authorized party of a national government, in order to create a state of war between two or more states.

The legality of who is competent to declare war varies between nations and forms of government. In many nations, that power is given to the head of state or sovereign. In other cases, something short of a full declaration of war, such as a letter of marque or a covert operation, may authorise war-like acts by privateers or mercenaries. The official international protocol for declaring war was defined in the Hague Convention (III) of 1907 on the Opening of Hostilities.

Since 1945, developments in international law such as the United Nations Charter, which prohibits both the threat and the use of force in international conflicts, have made declarations of war largely obsolete in international relations,<ref name="HOL">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> though such declarations may have relevance within the domestic law of the belligerents or of neutral nations. The UN Security Council, under powers granted in articles 24 and 25, and Chapter VII of the Charter, may authorize collective action to maintain or enforce international peace and security. Article 51 of the United Nations Charter also states that: "Nothing in the present Charter shall impair the inherent right to individual or collective self-defence if an armed attack occurs against a state."<ref name="UN_Charter">Template:Cite book</ref>

Declarations of war have been exceedingly rare since the end of World War II.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name=":1">Template:Cite journal</ref> Scholars have debated the causes of the decline, with some arguing that states are trying to evade the restrictions of international humanitarian law (which governs conduct in war)<ref name=":1" /> while others argue that war declarations have come to be perceived as markers of aggression and maximalist aims.<ref name=":0" />

History

File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-1987-0703-507, Berlin, Reichstagssitzung, Rede Adolf Hitler.jpg

Adolf Hitler announcing the German declaration of war against the United States on 11 December 1941.

The practice of declaring war has a long history. The ancient Sumerian Epic of Gilgamesh gives an account of it,<ref>Brien Hallett, The Lost Art of Declaring War, University of Illinois Press, 1998, Template:ISBN, pp. 65f.</ref> as does the Old Testament.<ref>Deut. 20:10–12, Judg. 11:1–32.</ref><ref>Brien Hallett, The Lost Art of Declaring War, University of Illinois Press, 1998, Template:ISBN, pp. 66f.</ref> The Roman Republic formalized the declaration of war by a special ceremony, the ritual of the Fetials, though the practice started to decline into the Imperial era.

However, the practice of declaring war was not always strictly followed. In his study Hostilities without Declaration of War (1883), the British scholar John Frederick Maurice showed that between 1700 and 1870 war was declared in only 10 cases, while in another 107 cases war was waged without such declaration (these figures include only wars waged in Europe and between European states and the United States, not including colonial wars in Africa and Asia).

In modern public international law, a declaration of war entails the recognition between countries of a state of hostilities between these countries, and such declaration has acted to regulate the conduct between the military engagements between the forces of the respective countries. The primary multilateral treaties governing such declarations are the Hague Conventions.

The League of Nations, formed in 1919 in the wake of the First World War, and the General Treaty for the Renunciation of War of 1928 signed in Paris, France, demonstrated that world powers were seriously seeking a means to prevent the carnage of another world war. Nevertheless, these powers were unable to stop the outbreak of the Second World War, so the United Nations was established following that war in a renewed attempt to prevent international aggression through declarations of war.

Denigration of formal declarations of war before WWI

In classical times, Thucydides condemned the Thebans, allies of Sparta, for launching a surprise attack without a declaration of war against Plataea, Athens' ally – an event that began the Peloponnesian War.<ref>Thucydides. History of the Peloponnesian War, Book II.</ref>

The utility of formal declarations of war has always been questioned, either as sentimental remnants of a long-gone age of chivalry or as imprudent warnings to the enemy. For example, writing in 1737, Cornelius van Bynkershoek judged that "nations and princes endowed with some pride are not generally willing to wage war without a previous declaration, for they wish by an open attack to render victory more honourable and glorious."<ref>Bynkershoek, Cornelius van. 1930. Quæstionum Juris Publici Liber Duo (1737). Trans. Tenney Frank. The Classics of International Law No. 14 (2). Publications of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Oxford at the Clarendon Press. (I, ii, 8)</ref> Writing in 1880, William Edward Hall judged that "any sort of previous declaration therefore is an empty formality unless the enemy must be given time and opportunity to put himself in a state of defence, and it is needless to say that no one asserts such a quixotism to be obligatory."<ref>Hall, William Edward. 1924. A Treatise on International Law. 8th ed. by A. Pearce Higgins. London: Humphrey Milford: Oxford University Press. (p. 444)</ref>

Formal declarations of war during World War I

{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}}

Formal declarations of war during World War II

{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}}

Declared wars since 1945

Declarations of war, while uncommon in the traditional sense, have mainly been limited to the conflict areas of the Western Asia and East Africa since 1945. Additionally, some small states have unilaterally declared war on major world powers such as the United States or Russia when faced with a hostile invasion and/or occupation. The following is a list of declarations of war (or the existence of war) by one sovereign state against another since the end of World War II in 1945. Only declarations that occurred in the context of a direct military conflict are included.

War(s)	Date	Titled	Belligerents		Ended	References
			Declaring party	Opponent
Template:Unbulleted list	15 May 1948	Declaration of war	Template:Flagicon Egypt	Template:Flag	26 March 1979	<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
			Template:Flag		26 October 1994
			Template:Flagicon Syria, Template:Flagicon Iraq, Template:Flag		Still technically at war
Six-Day War (1967)	June 1967		Template:FlagiconMauritania		1991	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>Template:Better source needed
Ogaden War	13 July 1977		Template:Flag	Template:Flagicon Ethiopia	15 March 1978
Uganda–Tanzania War	2 November 1978		Template:Flag	Template:Flag	3 June 1979	<ref>Template:Cite thesis</ref>
Iran–Iraq War	22 September 1980		Template:Flagicon Iraq	Template:Flag	20 July 1988	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
United States invasion of Panama	15 December 1989	Existence of a state of war	Template:Flag	Template:Flag	31 January 1990	<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
Eritrean–Ethiopian War	14 May 1998		Template:Flag	Template:Flag	12 December 2000	<ref>World: Africa Eritrea: 'Ethiopia pursues total war'. BBC News. 6 June 1998.</ref>
Chadian Civil War	23 December 2005		Template:Flag	Template:Flag	15 January 2010	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Djiboutian–Eritrean border conflict	13 June 2008		Template:Flag	Template:Flag	6 June 2010	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Russo-Georgian War	9 August 2008		Template:Flag	Template:Flag	16 August 2008	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Heglig Crisis	11 April 2012		Template:Flag	Template:Flag	26 May 2012	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Anglophone Crisis	4 December 2017	Declaration of war	Template:Flag	Template:Flag	Still at war	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Second Nagorno-Karabakh War	27 September 2020	Existence of a state of war	Template:Flag	Template:Flag	10 November 2020	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Second Western Sahara War	14 November 2020	Declaration of war	Template:Flag	Template:Flag	Still at war	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Gaza war	7 October 2023 Template:Disputed inline	Existence of a state of war	Template:Flag	Template:Flagicon image Hamas	Still at war	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Other unique cases

Russo-Ukrainian War

No formal declaration of war has been issued in the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian War. At the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Putin gave a televised broadcast announcing the start of the invasion with the term "special military operation", side-stepping a formal declaration of war.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The statement was, however, regarded as a declaration of war by the Ukrainian government<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and reported as such by many international news sources.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> While the Ukrainian parliament refers to Russia as a "terrorist state" in regards to its military actions in Ukraine,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> it has not issued a formal declaration of war on its behalf.

Procedures

In Title II, Article 2 of the first Hague Convention of 1899, the signatory states agreed that at least one other nation be used to mediate disputes between states before engaging in hostilities:

In case of serious disagreement or conflict, before an appeal to arms, the signatory Powers agree to have recourse, as far as circumstances allow, to the good offices or mediation of one or more friendly Powers.<ref>Scott, James Brown, editor The Hague Conventions and Declarations of 1899 and 1907, Oxford University Press (1918) p. 43 "Pacific Settlement of International Disputes"</ref>{{#if:|{{#if:|}}

— {{#if:|, in }}Template:Comma separated entries

}}

{{#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=Template:Main other|preview=Page using Template:Blockquote with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | author | by | char | character | cite | class | content | multiline | personquoted | publication | quote | quotesource | quotetext | sign | source | style | text | title | ts }}

The Hague Convention (III) of 1907 called "Convention Relative to the Opening of Hostilities"<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> gives the international actions a country should perform when opening hostilities. The first two Articles say:

Article 1

The Contracting Powers recognize that hostilities between themselves must not commence without previous and explicit warning, in the form either of a reasoned declaration of war or of an ultimatum with conditional declaration of war.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Article 2

The existence of a state of war must be notified to the neutral Powers without delay, and shall not take effect in regard to them until after the receipt of a notification, which may, however, be given by telegraph. Neutral Powers, nevertheless, cannot rely on the absence of notification if it is clearly established that they were in fact aware of the existence of a state of war.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>{{#if:|{{#if:|}}

— {{#if:|, in }}Template:Comma separated entries

}}

{{#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=Template:Main other|preview=Page using Template:Blockquote with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | author | by | char | character | cite | class | content | multiline | personquoted | publication | quote | quotesource | quotetext | sign | source | style | text | title | ts }}

The United Nations 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 circumstances, particularly for defensive purposes.

The UN became a combatant itself after North Korea invaded South Korea on 25 June 1950, which began the Korean War. The UN 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 and 15 other nations formed a "UN force" to pursue this action. In a press conference on 29 June 1950, US President Harry S. Truman characterized these hostilities as not being a "war" but a "police action".<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

The United Nations has issued Security Council Resolutions that declared some wars to be legal actions under international law, most notably Resolution 678, authorizing the 1991 Gulf War which was triggered by Iraq's invasion of Kuwait. UN Resolutions authorise the use of "force" or "all necessary means".<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }} The United Nations Security Council – Its Role in the Iraq Crisis: A Brief Overview</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Legality

The legality of who is competent to declare war varies between nations and forms of government. In many nations, that power is given to the head of state or sovereign. The official international protocol for declaring war was defined in the Hague Convention (III) of 1907 on the Opening of Hostilities.

Since 1945, developments in international law such as the United Nations Charter, which prohibits both the threat and the use of force in international conflicts, have made declarations of war largely obsolete in international relations,<ref name="HOL"></ref> though such declarations may have relevance within the domestic law of the belligerents or of neutral nations. The UN Security Council, under powers granted in articles 24 and 25, and Chapter VII of the Charter, may authorize collective action to maintain or enforce international peace and security. Article 51 of the United Nations Charter also states that: "Nothing in the present Charter shall impair the inherent right to individual or collective self-defence if an armed attack occurs against a state."<ref name="UN_Charter"/>

Requirements by country

Declaring war is usually done through a process that involves prior approval before a formal announcement is made. This differs by country as some do not have a pre-approved process, and a given head of government can declare war with no pre-conditions.

Country	War declarer	Legal cause	Authorized by	Additional information
Australia	Prime Minister	Section 61 of the Australian constitution	Prime Minister	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref> a declaration of war may be made by the Prime Minister of Australia alone.
Brazil	President	Article 84 of the Brazilian constitution	Congress	The President of Brazil has the power to declare war, in the event of foreign aggression, when authorized by the National Congress or, upon its ratification if the aggression occurs between legislative sessions, and decree full or partial national mobilization under the same conditions.
Canada	Monarch	None	Monarch (de jure)Template:Efn	See: Declaration of war by Canada.
China	President	Article 62(15), 67(19) and 80	Congress (de jure)Template:Efn	The National People's Congress is vested with the power to decide "on issues concerning war and peace" while the President "in pursuance of the decisions of the National People's Congress...proclaims a state of war." The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress may "decide, when the National People's Congress is not in session, on the proclamation of a state of war in the event of an armed attack on the country or in fulfillment of international treaty obligations concerning common defense against aggression".
Finland<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	President	Article 93 of the Finnish constitution	Parliament	The President of Finland may declare war or peace, with permission from the Parliament of Finland
France	Government	Article 35 of the French constitution	Parliament	The Parliament "authorize" the declaration of war.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref> Both the National Assembly and the Senate does not vote on the declaration, but only debate on the proposal of the government. After 4 months of any military intervention, the Parliament can authorize the extension of the war. The 4 months period is not always respected by the government.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
Germany<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Parliament	Article 115a GG	Parliament	Unless Germany is attacked by an opposing military force, a two-thirds majority vote must be held in the Bundestag if the federal republic is under the threat of war.
Hungary<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	National Assembly	Article 1 of the Fundamental Law of Hungary	National Assembly	The National Assembly "shall decide to declare a state of war and to conclude peace".
India	President	Article 53(2) of the Constitution of India	Parliament	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Israel	Prime Minister	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref> and The Government: Article 3(a)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref> of the Basic Laws of Israel	Prime Minister	Per article 40(a) of the Basic Law The Knesset, the state will declare war "pursuant to a government decision" with the prime minister to give notice to the Knesset "as soon as possible." Per article 3(a) of the Basic Law The Government, "the Government is Template:Sic the Prime Minister and Ministers."
Italy	President of Italy	Articles 78 and 87 of the Constitution of Italy	Italian Parliament	The President shall make declarations of war as have been agreed by Parliament. Parliament has the authority to declare a state of war and vest the necessary powers into the Government.
Kuwait	Monarch	Article 68 of the Constitution of Kuwait	Monarch	The Emir declares defensive war by decree. Offensive war is prohibited.
Mexico<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	President	Article 89 § VIII of the Mexican Constitution	Congress	The President may declare war in the name of the United Mexican States after the correspondent law is enacted by the Congress of the Union.
Netherlands<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	States General	Article 96 of the Constitution of the Netherlands	States General
Qatar	Monarch	Article 71 of the Constitution of Qatar	Monarch	Defensive war shall be declared by an Emiri decree and aggressive war is prohibited.
Russia	President	Article 71 and 86 of the Constitution of Russia<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	President	Per Article 71: "The jurisdiction of the Russian Federation includes [...] foreign policy and international relations of the Russian Federation, international treaties and agreements of the Russian Federation, issues of war and peace;" Per Article 86:a "The President of the Russian Federation shall: [...] govern the foreign policy of the Russian Federation;"
Saudi Arabia	Monarch	Article 61 of the Basic Law of Saudi Arabia	Monarch
Spain	Monarch	Article 63 of the Spanish constitution of 1978	Parliament	The King, with prior authorization by the Parliament, has the power to declare war and make peace.
Sweden<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Cabinet	2010:1408 15 kap. 14 § entitled "Krigsförklaring"	Parliament	The Swedish cabinet (regeringen) may not declare Sweden to be at war without the parliament's (riksdagen) consent unless Sweden is attacked first.
Turkey	Parliament	Article 87 and 92 of the Constitution of Turkey	Parliament	The President may declare Turkey to be at war without the parliament's consent if the parliament is adjourned or in recess and Turkey is attacked first.
United Kingdom	Monarch<ref>Norton-Taylor, Richard Former defence chiefs oppose role for MPs in war decisions, The Guardian. 28 December 2007. Retrieved on 15 March 2009</ref><ref>Kettle, Martin A declaration of war on this medieval royal prerogative, The Guardian. 23 August 2005. Retrieved on 15 March 2009</ref>	None	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	See: Declarations of war by Great Britain and the United Kingdom.
United States<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:USPL</ref>	Congress	Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution of the United States	President	See: Declaration of war by the United States.

See also

• Ongoing wars (mostly undeclared)
• Frozen conflict
• List of wars extended by diplomatic irregularity
• Letter of protest
• State of emergency
• Undeclared war

External links

• Declarations of war during World War II
• Hague Convention (III) in 1907 defines the protocol for starting hostilities
• Declarations of War and Authorizations for the Use of Military Force: Historical Background and Legal Implications, US Congressional Research Service Template:Webarchive