List of wars extended by diplomatic irregularity

There are different claims of wars extended by diplomatic irregularity which involve long peaceful periods after the end of hostilities where, for various reasons, the belligerents could be considered to be in a technical state of war.

Some have occurred when small countries were named in a declaration of war being accidentally omitted from a peace treaty concerning the wider conflict. These "extended wars" have only been discovered after the fact, and have no impact during the long period (often hundreds of years) after the actual fighting ended. The discovery of an "extended war" is sometimes an opportunity for a friendly ceremonial peace to be contracted by the belligerent parties. Such ceremonial peace ceremonies are even conducted after ancient wars where no peace treaty was expected in the first place, and in cases where the countries weren't even at war at all, such as the case of Berwick v Russia. These "treaties" often involve non-sovereign sub-national entities, such as cities, who do not in reality have the power to declare or end wars.

Such a situation is to be distinguished from that of parties deliberately avoiding a peace treaty when political disputes outlive military conflict, as in the Kuril Islands dispute between Japan and Russia, and also from situations where a peace treaty is not signed because the original declaration of war was deemed to be illegal, such as the declaration of war by Thailand against the United States was mutually recognized to be after World War II.

Not all such cases are without consequence. For example the lack of a formal peace treaty with a government representing all of Germany (due to its partition) was the legal justification for the continued presence of U.S. troops in Western Germany.

Extended wars

Combatants Historical conflict Declaration of war De facto peace De jure peace Status of claim
Isles of Scilly
vs
Dutch Republic		First Anglo-Dutch War165116541986The Dutch Republic under Michiel de Ruyter declared war on the Isles of Scilly, as the final stronghold of the English Royalist naval force which threatened Dutch ships. When the Dutch and the Commonwealth of England signed the Treaty of Westminster (1654), this separate state of war was not mentioned and thus not included in the peace. The Dutch ambassador, visiting in April 1986 to conclude peace, joked that it must have been harrowing to the Scillonians "to know we could have attacked at any moment."[1]
Huéscar
vs
Denmark		Peninsular War180918141981Huéscar was at war with Denmark, as a result of the Napoleonic wars over Spain, where Denmark supported the French Empire. The official declaration of war was forgotten until it was discovered by a local historian in 1981, followed by the signing of a peace treaty on 11 November 1981 by the city mayor and the Ambassador of Denmark. Not a single shot was fired during the 172 years of war, and nobody was killed or injured.
Principality of Montenegro
vs
Empire of Japan		Russo-Japanese War190419052006[2]Montenegro declared war in support of Russia but Montenegro lacked a navy or any other means to engage Japan. After Montenegro (independent in 1904, but united with Serbia by 1918) had voted in 2006 to resume its independence, it concluded a separate peace treaty in order to establish diplomatic relations with Japan. See Japan–Montenegro relations.
Andorra
vs
German Empire		World War I191419181958[3]Andorra was not invited to the Paris Peace Conference.
Costa Rica
vs
German Empire		World War I191819181945Due to a dispute over the legitimacy of the government of Federico Tinoco Granados, Costa Rica was not a party to the Treaty of Versailles and did not unilaterally end the state of war.[4] The technical state of war ended after World War II only after they were included in the Potsdam Agreement. Costa Rica did not issue a declaration of war against Germany in World War II.[5]
Allies of World War II
vs
Germany		World War II193919451991
At the time World War II was declared over, there was no single German state that all occupying powers accepted as being the sole representative of the former Reich. The "war" technically did not finish until German reunification in 1990. However, in 1949 some technicalities were modified to soften the state of war between the U.S. and Germany. The state of war was retained since it provided the U.S. with a legal basis for keeping troops in Western Germany.[6] As a legal substitute for a peace treaty[7] the U.S. formally ended the state of war between the U.S. and Germany on October 19, 1951 at 5:45 p.m. According to the U.S., a formal peace treaty had been stalled by the Soviet Union.[7] It was not until the Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany was signed in 1990 that peace was formally established. The treaty came into effect on March 15, 1991.
UN Forces (led by United States)
vs
Iraq		Gulf War199119912003The UN resolution which ended the first Gulf War, only enacted a cease-fire. It did not end the state of war with Iraq.[8] The British Government would, 12 years later, use the de jure state of war with Iraq to provide the legal basis for the 2003 invasion of Iraq.[9]

Opponents of the Iraq War have criticised this interpretation, with one source labelling it as "legal gymnastics" (see Legality of the Iraq War).[10][11][12]

Symbolic peace agreements

Combatants Historical conflict Declaration of war De facto peace De jure peace Status of claim
Rome
vs
Carthage		Punic Wars264 BC146 BC1985
Ancient Rome and Ancient Carthage never signed a peace treaty after the Romans seized and destroyed Carthage in 146 BC. In 1985 the mayors of modern Rome and Carthage municipality signed a peace treaty and accompanying pact of friendship.[13]
Greece
vs
Persia		Greco-Persian Wars499 BC439 BC1902Greece and Persia did not formally mend their relationship, which was strained by war, until 1902, when Persia appointed an ambassador to Greece.[14]
Sparta
vs
Athens		Peloponnesian War431 BC404 BC1996The mayors of modern-day Athens and Sparta signed a symbolic agreement to end the war in 1996.[15][16] By then, the two cities have been part of modern-day Greece for over a century.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Britain: Peace In Our Time", Time, 28 April 1986.
  2. ↑ "Montenegro, Japan to declare truce". United Press International.
  3. ↑ "World War I Ends in Andorra", UPI story in the New York Times, Sep 25, 1958. p. 66. A number of sources say 1939, but there is no period confirmation for this.
  4. ↑ United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Foreign Relations (1919). Treaty of peace with Germany: Hearings before the Committee on Foreign Relations, United States Senate, sixty-sixth Congress, first session on the Treaty of peace with Germany, signed at Versailles on June 28, 1919, and submitted to the Senate on July 10, 1919. Govt. Print Off. pp. 206–209. Retrieved 2013-02-09.
  5. ↑ "11 Wars That Lasted Way Longer Than They Should Have". Mental Floss.
  6. ↑ "THE NATIONS: A Step Forward". Time. November 28, 1949. Retrieved May 11, 2010.
  7. 1 2 "National Affairs: War's End". Time. July 16, 1951. Retrieved May 11, 2010.
  8. ↑ Lord Goldsmith (2003-03-17). "A case for war". Retrieved 2015-11-01.
  9. ↑ David Morrison (2015-10-28). "Was Britain's military action in Iraq legal?". Retrieved 2015-11-01.
  10. ↑ Peter Oborne (2015-10-31). "Peter Oborne's unofficial Chilcot Inquiry into Iraq war".
  11. ↑ Elizabeth Wilmshurst (2005-03-24). "Wilmshurst resignation letter". Retrieved 2015-11-01.
  12. ↑ "Clegg clarifies stance after saying Iraq war 'illegal'". 2010-07-21. Retrieved 2015-11-01.
  13. ↑ "'Better Late Than Never' Category: Rome, Carthage Finally Make Peace". Los Angeles Times. Reuters. 20 January 1985. Retrieved 12 October 2018.
  14. ↑ "Persia and Greece. A feud of 23 centuries healed at last". The Advertiser. 22 November 1902. Retrieved 12 October 2018.
  15. ↑ "Sparta & Athens". NPR. 12 March 1996. Retrieved 12 October 2018.
  16. ↑ "Athens, Sparta sign peace pact". United Press International. 12 March 1996. Retrieved 12 October 2018.
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