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Casus belli is a Latin language expression meaning the justification for acts of war. Latin ( lingua Latīna, laˈtiːna is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Casus means "incident", "rupture" or indeed "case", while belli means "of war". It is usually distinguished from casus foederis, with casus belli being used to refer to offenses or threats directly against a nation, and casus foederis to refer to offenses or threats to another, allied, nation with which the justifying nation is engaged in a mutual defense treaty, such as NATO. Casus foederis is derived from the Latin for "case of the alliance" The North Atlantic Treaty [1][2]

It is often misspelled and mispronounced as "causus belli" since this resembles the English "cause" (and a different Latin word, causa {cause}). Causality (but not causation) denotes a necessary relationship between one event (called cause and another event (called effect) which is the direct consequence "Casus belli" is also pronounced this way because the term is used with the meaning of "cause for war", instead of "case of war" (notice that "case" comes from Latin "casus").

The term came into wide usage in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries with the writings of Hugo Grotius (1625), Cornelius van Bynkershoek (1737), and Jean-Jacques Burlamaqui (1748), among others, and the rise of the political doctrine of jus ad bellum or "just war theory". Hugo Grotius or Huig de Groot, or Hugo de Groot; ( Delft, 10 April 1583 Rostock, 28 August 1645 Cornelius van Bynkershoek ( 1673 – 1743) was a Dutch Jurist and legal theorist who contributed to the development of International Jean-Jacques Burlamaqui ( June 24, 1694 - April 3, 1748) Swiss publicist was born at Geneva. Doctrine (Latin doctrina) is a codification of beliefs or "a body of teachings quot or "instructions" taught principles or positions as the Jus ad bellum ( Latin for "Justice to War" see also Just War) are a set of criteria that are consulted before engaging in War, in order Just War theory is a Doctrine of military ethics of Roman philosophical and Catholic origin studied by moral Theologians Ethicists and international [3][4] Informal usage varies beyond its technical definition to refer to any "just cause" a nation may claim for entering into a conflict. As such, it has been used both retroactively to describe situations in history before the term came into wide usage and in the present day when describing situations when war has not been formally declared.

Formally, a government would lay out its reasons for going to war, as well as its intentions in prosecuting it and the steps that might be taken to avert it. In so doing, the government would attempt to demonstrate that it was going to war only as a last resort (ultima Ratio) and that it in fact possessed "just cause" for doing so. S T U V Tragedy of the commons --> Effectively international law today only allows three situations as legal cause to go to war: out of self-defense, defense of an ally under a mutual defense pact, or sanctioned by the UN. International law is the term commonly used for referring to the system of implicit and explicit agreements that bind together nation-states in adherence to recognized values and standards Any war for another cause is considered illegal and those who engage in it subject to prosecution for a war crime. A war of aggression is a Military conflict waged in the absence of "a necessity of self-defense instant overwhelming leaving no choice of means and no moment of deliberation War crimes are "violations of the laws or customs of war" including but not limited to "murder the ill-treatment or deportation of civilian residents of an occupied

Proschema (plural proschemata) is the Greek equivalent term. These stated reasons may or may not be the actual reason for waging the war (prophases). The term was first popularized by Thucydides in his History of the Peloponnesian War, who identified fear, honor, and interest as the three primary real reasons that wars are waged, while proschemata commonly play up nationalism or fearmongering (as opposed to rational or reasonable fears). Thucydides ( C 460 BC &ndash C 395 BC) ( Greek Θουκυδίδης Thoukydídēs) was a Greek

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Reasons for use

Countries generally need a justification of some sort for attacking another country. The justification may be needed principally to galvanize support for the war internally (since citizens may not be happy about being expected to fight and die in a dubious cause), or else to galvanize the support of potential allies and reduce or avoid international sanctions or possible intervention. This has been the case for much of world history and is still the case today.

In the post World War Two era, the UN Charter has made it illegal for signatory countries to engage in war except as a means of defending themselves against aggression, or unless the UN as a body has given prior approval to the operation. The United Nations Charter is the Treaty that forms and establishes the International organization called the United Nations. The UN also reserves the right to intervene against non-signatory countries which embark on wars of aggression. A war of aggression is a Military conflict waged in the absence of "a necessity of self-defense instant overwhelming leaving no choice of means and no moment of deliberation In effect, this means that countries in the modern era must have a plausible casus belli for initiating military action, or risk possible UN sanctions or intervention.

Historical examples

Spanish-American War

The US navy ship USS Maine sank in the Havana Harbor from an explosion whose cause remains controversial. "The Maine" redirects here For the pop punk band see The Maine (band. Critics such as Gore Vidal have claimed that the explosion was a purposeful act to create a phony casus belli for the US to attack the Spanish. Gore Vidal (born October 3 1925 ˌgɔər vɪˈdɑːl or /vɪˈdæl/ is an American Novelist, Screenwriter, Playwright, This gave the United States the political cover to have an excuse to attack Spain triggering the Spanish-American War because the US government accused the Spaniards of being responsible for the explosion.

World War I

A political assassination provided the trigger that led to the outbreak of World War I. World War I (abbreviated WWI; also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All The assassination in June 1914 of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria at Sarajevo in Austria-Hungary by Gavrilo Princip, a Yugoslav nationalist from Bosnia, Austrian subject and member of Young Bosnia, was used by Austria-Hungary as a casus belli for declaring war on Serbia. Franz Ferdinand ( December 18, 1863 &ndash June 28, 1914) was an Archduke of Austria-Este, Prince Imperial of TemplateInfobox City for more fields--> Sarajevo is the Capital city and largest urban center of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with Gavrilo Princip ( Cyrillic: Гаврило Принцип gaʋ'rilɔ 'prinʦip ( &ndash) was a Bosnian Serb and proclaimed himself to be a Yugoslav Yugoslavs ( Bosnian: Jugosloveni/Jugoslaveni; Macedonian and Serbian: Југословени Jugosloveni; Croatian Young Bosnia ( Serbo-Croat: Млада Босна / Mlada Bosna) is a term that came into use in the Kingdom of the Serbs Croats and Slovenes after Serbia (Србија Srbija) officially the Republic of Serbia (Република Србија Republika Srbija) is a Landlocked Country

The Russian Empire started to mobilise its troops in defence of its ally Serbia, which resulted in the German Empire declaring war on Russia in support of its ally Austria-Hungary. The Russian Empire ( Pre-reform Russian: Pоссійская Имперія Modern Russian: Российская Империя translit: Rossiyskaya The German Empire is the name commonly used in English to describe Germany from 1871 to 1918 when it was a semi- Constitutional monarchy: beginning with the Unification Very quickly, after the involvement of France, the Ottoman Empire and the British Empire, five of the six great European powers became involved in the first European general war since the Napoleonic Wars. This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. The Ottoman Empire (1299–1923 ( Old Ottoman Turkish: دولتْ علیّه عثمانیّه Devlet-i Âliye-yi Osmâniyye, Late Ottoman and Modern Turkish The British Empire was the largest empire in history and for over a century was the foremost global power. The Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815 involved Napoleon's French Empire and a shifting set of European allies and opposing coalitions (see Causes of World War I)

World War II

In his autobiography Mein Kampf, Adolf Hitler had advocated in the 1920s a policy of lebensraum ("living space") for the German people, which in practical terms meant German territorial expansion into Eastern Europe. The origins of World War I included many factors including the conflicts and antagonisms of the four decades leading up to the war Mein Kampf ( English: My Struggle/My Battle) is a book by Adolf Hitler. Hi and welcome to Wikipedia! Please understand that this article is frequently vandalized and vandalism is reverted immediately ( German for " habitat " or literally "living space" served as a major motivation for Nazi Germany 's territorial aggression The German people (Deutsche are an Ethnic group, in the sense of sharing a common German culture, descent and speaking the German language as

In August 1939, in order to implement the first phase of this policy, Germany's Nazi government under Hitler's leadership staged the Gleiwitz incident, which was used as a casus belli for the invasion of Poland the following September. Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. Nazism, which was a short name for National Socialism (Nationalsozialismus refers primarily to the Ideology and practices of the National Socialist German The Gleiwitz incident was a staged attack on 31 August, 1939 against the German Radio station Sender Gleiwitz in Gleiwitz The Invasion of Poland (1939 precipitated World War II. It was carried out by Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union, and a small German-allied Since Poland's allies Britain and France honoured their alliance and subsequently declared war on Germany, the invasion of Poland marks the start of World War II. Poland (Polska officially the Republic of Poland The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including

In 1941, acting once again in accordance with the policy of lebensraum, Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union, using the casus belli of pre-emptive war to justify the act of aggression. Nazi Germany and the Third Reich are the common English names for Germany under the regime of Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist German Workers Operation Barbarossa ( Unternehmen Barbarossa) was the Codename for Nazi Germany 's invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II Preemptive war (or a preemptive strike) is waged in an attempt to repel or defeat a perceived inevitable offensive or Invasion, or to gain a strategic advantage in

The Soviet Union also employed a manufactured casus belli during World War II. The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR was a constitutionally Socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991 In November 1939, shortly after the outbreak of hostilities between Germany, Britain and France, the Soviet Union staged the shelling of the Russian village of Mainila, which it blamed on the Finns. The Shelling of Mainila (Mainilan laukaukset was a military incident on November 26, 1939, during which the Soviet Union 's Red Army initiated This manufactured incident was then used as a casus belli for the invasion of Finland. The Winter War (Talvisota Советско-финляндская война - official Зимняя война - unofficial Vinterkriget began when the In 1998, Russian President Boris Yeltsin admitted that the invasion had in fact constituted a Soviet war of aggression. Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin () (1 February 1931 23 April 2007 was the first President of the Russian Federation, serving from 1991 to 1999 A war of aggression is a Military conflict waged in the absence of "a necessity of self-defense instant overwhelming leaving no choice of means and no moment of deliberation

Additionally, some sources theorize that the US government had prior warning of the impending Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, but chose to ignore it in order to shock the country out of its prevailing mood of isolationism. The Pearl Harbor advance-knowledge debate is a dispute over what if any advance knowledge American officials had of Japan 's December 7, 1941 The attack on Pearl Harbor (or Hawaii Operation, as it was called by the Imperial General Headquarters) was a surprise Military strike conducted by Isolationism is a Foreign policy which combines a non-interventionist military policy and a political policy of Economic nationalism ( Protectionism By allowing the Japanese "stab in the back" to take place, this theory effectively contends, the US administration would be handed the strongest possible casus belli which would ensure the full and undivided support of the American populace for the coming war effort.

Six-Day War

A casus belli played a prominent role during the Six-Day War of 1967. Background Suez Crisis aftermath The Suez Crisis of 1956 represented a military defeat but a political victory for Egypt The Israeli government had a short list of casus belli, acts that it would consider provocations justifying armed retaliation. The most important was a blockade of the Straits of Tiran leading into Eilat, Israel's only port to the Red Sea, through which Israel received much of its oil. The Straits of Tiran ( Arabic: مضيق تيران Hebrew: מיצרי טיראן are the narrow sea passages about 13 km (8 miles wide between the Sinai Eilat (Hebrew אילת should not be confused with the nearby kibbutz of Eilot (Hebrew אילות The Red Sea is a Salt water Inlet of the Indian Ocean between Africa and Asia. After several border incidents between Israel and Egypt's allies Syria and Jordan, Egypt expelled UNEF peacekeepers from the Sinai Peninsula, established a military presence at Sharm el-Sheikh, and announced a blockade of the straits, prompting Israel to cite its casus belli in opening hostilities against Egypt. This article is about the country of Egypt For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Egypt topics. Syria ( سوريّة or) officially the Syrian Arab Republic (Arabic ar الجمهورية العربية السورية Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan (الأردنّ al-Urdunn) is an Arab country in Southwest Asia spanning the southern The first United Nations Emergency Force ( UNEF) was established by United Nations General Assembly to secure an end to the 1956 Suez Crisis with resolution The Sinai Peninsula or Sinai ( Coptic: sina; Egyptian Arabic: sina سينا Arabic, sina'a سيناء Sharm el Sheikh (شرم الشيخ Sharm al-Shaykh) often known simply as "Sharm" is a city situated on the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula, in

Vietnam War

Some historians have suggested that the Gulf of Tonkin Incident was a manufactured pretext for the Vietnam War. The Gulf of Tonkin Incident is the name given to two separate incidents involving naval forces of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam and the United States The Vietnam War, also known as the Second Indochina War, or the Vietnam Conflict, occurred in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia North Vietnamese Naval officials have publicly stated that the USS Maddox was never fired on by North Vietnamese naval forces[5][6]. Operations Maddox screened the ships of the Fast Carrier Task Force during strikes against enemy targets in the western Pacific where she was struck by an enemy

1982 Israeli Invasion of Lebanon

The casus belli cited by Israel for its June 1982 invasion of Lebanon was the attempted assassination of the Israeli Ambassador in London, which the Israeli government blamed on the PLO (although the attempt had actually been made by the PNLM, a Palestinian splinter group implacably opposed to the PLO). The 1982 Lebanon War (מלחמת לבנון Milhemet Levanon) (الإجتياح Al-Ijtīāḥ, "the invasion" called by Israel the Operation Peace The Palestine Liberation Organization ( PLO) (منظمة التحرير الفلسطينية or Munazzamat al-Tahrir al-Filastiniyyah) is a political and paramilitary Abu Nidal (أبو نضال (May 1937&ndashAugust 16 2002 born Sabri Khalil al-Banna, (Arabic صبري خليل البنا was a Palestinian political leader [7] In reality however, the invasion had long been planned by the Israelis,[8] who were concerned about the growing power of the PLO in Lebanon.

Turkey and Greece

In 1995, The Turkish Parliament issued a casus belli against Greece in reaction to an enacted extension of Greek territorial waters from 6 nautical miles (11 km) to 12 nautical miles (22 km) from the coast (See Aegean dispute). The Grand National Assembly of Turkey (Türkiye Büyük Millet Meclisi - TBMM, usually referred to simply as Meclis - "the Parliament" is the Unicameral Greece (Ελλάδα transliterated: Elláda, historically, Ellás,) officially the Hellenic Republic (Ελληνική Δημοκρατία Territorial waters, or a territorial sea, as defined by the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, is a belt of coastal waters extending at most Maritime and areal zones of influence Several of the Aegean issues deal with the delimitation of both countries' zones of influence in the air and on the sea around their respective [9] Turkey has not removed this casus belli despite initiation of preliminary negotiations in order for it to join the European Union. Turkey (Türkiye known officially as the Republic of Turkey ( is a Eurasian Country that stretches The European Union ( EU) is a political and economic union of twenty-seven member states, located primarily in

War on Terror

The casus belli for the Bush administration's conceptual War on Terror, which resulted in the 2001 Afghan war and the 2003 Iraq war, was the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City, The Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia and the apparently intended attack on the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C.. The Presidency of George W Bush began on his inauguration on January 20, 2001 as the 43rd and current President of the United States of America The War on Terrorism (also known as the War on Terror) is the common term for the military political and legal, and ideological conflict and specifically for U The War in Afghanistan, which began on October 7 2001 as the U The Iraq War, also known as the Second Gulf War, the Occupation of Iraq, or the War in Iraq, is an ongoing Military campaign The World Trade Center in New York City, United States (sometimes informally the WTC or Twin Towers) was a complex of seven buildings in Lower Manhattan The City of New York The Pentagon is the Headquarters of the United States Department of Defense, located in Arlington County, Virginia. Washington DC ( formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D

2003 Invasion of Iraq

The United States' stated casus belli for its 2003 invasion of Iraq was Saddam Hussein's alleged non-compliance with the terms of cease fire for the 1990 - 1991 gulf war. Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti ( Arabic: ar صدام حسين عبد المجيد التكريتي --> April 28 1937 &ndash December 30

Cited by the Bush Administration was Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction (WMD) program. Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti ( Arabic: ar صدام حسين عبد المجيد التكريتي --> April 28 1937 &ndash December 30 A weapon of mass destruction ( WMD) is a weapon which can kill large numbers of humans and/or cause great damage to man-made structures (e The administration stated that Iraq had not conformed with its obligation to disarm under past UN Resolutions, and that Saddam Hussein was actively attempting to acquire a nuclear weapons capability as well as enhance an existing arsenal of chemical and biological weapons. Secretary of State Colin Powell addressed a plenary session of the United Nations Security Council on February 5, 2003 citing these reasons as justification for military action. Colin Luther Powell, KCB (Honorary MSC, (born April 5, 1937) is a retired General in the United States Army. [1] Also, the Bush Administration alleged that Iraq attempted to acquire yellowcake uranium from Niger, but these allegations were found to be dubious and partly based on forged documents. The Niger uranium forgeries refers to falsified classified documents initially revealed by Italian intelligence.

Subsequent to the invasion, a US government-sponsored report concluded that although Saddam Hussein had intended to resume WMD production once the gulf war sanctions were lifted, no significant WMD stockpiles existed at the time of the invasion. A weapon of mass destruction ( WMD) is a weapon which can kill large numbers of humans and/or cause great damage to man-made structures (e A weapon of mass destruction ( WMD) is a weapon which can kill large numbers of humans and/or cause great damage to man-made structures (e [2]

Casus Belli in popular culture

References

  1. ^ bynkershoek, Cornelius van (2007). A Treatise On The Law Of War. Lawbook Exchange. ISBN 1584775661.  
  2. ^ bynkershoek, Cornelius van (1995). On Questions of Public Law. William S. Hein & Company. ISBN 1575882582.   Online copy.
  3. ^ Russell, Frederick H. (1997). The Just War in the Middle Ages. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge University Press (known colloquially as CUP is a Publisher given a Royal Charter by Henry VIII in 1534 ISBN 052129276x.  
  4. ^ Childress, James F. (1978). James Franklin Childress (born 4 October 1940) is a philosopher and theologian mainly concerned with Ethics, particularly biomedical "Just-War Theories: The Bases, Interrelations, Priorities, and Functions of Their Criteria". Theological Studies 39: 427–45.  
  5. ^ "McNamara asks Giap: What happened in Tonkin Gulf?". (November 9, 1995). Associated Press
  6. ^ CNN Cold War - Interviews: Robert McNamara, retrieved January 23, 2007
  7. ^ Sachar, Howard M. The Associated Press ( AP) is an American News agency. The AP is a Cooperative owned by its contributing Newspapers radio Events 393 - Roman Emperor Theodosius I proclaims his nine year old son Honorius co-emperor Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. : A History of Israel from the Rise of Zionism to Our Time, Alfred A. Knopf 1996, ISBN 0-679-76563-8, page 904.
  8. ^ "As early as January 1982, therefore, with Begin's approval, Sharon paid a secret visit to Beirut. (מְנַחֵם בְּגִין Mieczysław Biegun Менахем Вольфович Бегин 16 August 1913 – 9 March 1992 was the sixth prime minister of the State of Israel (אריאל . . By the following month. . . operational plans for the offensive were well advanced. Israeli liaison officers repeatedly visited Beirut to coordinate strategy with the Phalange. The Lebanese Kataeb Party ( Arabic: الكتائب اللبنانية Kataeb is the Plural of Katiba which is a translation into Arabic of the Greek word In the end, the Lebanon expedition would be the most thoroughly prepared campaign in Israel's history. " - Sachar, A History of Israel, p. 903
  9. ^ europa-digital.de/aktuell/dossier/tuerkei/aegaeis.shtml

See also

Command responsibility, sometimes referred to as the Yamashita standard or the Medina standard, is the doctrine of hierarchical accountability in cases of Jus ad bellum ( Latin for "Justice to War" see also Just War) are a set of criteria that are consulted before engaging in War, in order Casus foederis is derived from the Latin for "case of the alliance" This page lists direct English Translations of common Latin phrases, such as veni vidi vici and Et cetera. The United Nations Charter is the Treaty that forms and establishes the International organization called the United Nations. A war of aggression is a Military conflict waged in the absence of "a necessity of self-defense instant overwhelming leaving no choice of means and no moment of deliberation

Dictionary

casus belli

-noun

  1. An act seen as justifying or causing a war.
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