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{{Short description|Military conflict waged without the justification of self-defense}}
{{About|the type of military conflict|the metal album|War of Aggression (album)}}
[[File:German soldiers remove the Polish border crossing in Sopot during the first stages of the Invasion of Poland (48661789227).png|thumb|265x265px|Colored Image of [[Free City of Danzig Police|Danzig Police]] re-enacting the destruction of a Polish border post.]]
A '''war of aggression''', sometimes also '''war of [[conquest]]'''<!-- redirected here--->, is a [[military conflict]] waged without the justification of [[self-defense]], usually for territorial gain and subjugation
Wars without [[legality#International law|international legality]] (i.e. not out of self-defense nor sanctioned by the [[United Nations Security Council]]) can be considered wars of aggression; however, this alone usually does not constitute the definition of a war of aggression<!-- IMHO, the next phrase cancels this by justifying the modern viewpoint: {{Citation needed|date=January 2010}}
--- this is clearly lawyerese and lawyer reasoning, as it should be in
--- the realm of international laws and reasoning.
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--->; certain wars may be unlawful but not aggressive (a war to settle a [[Territorial dispute|boundary dispute]] where the initiator has a reasonable claim, and limited aims, is one example).
In the judgment of the [[Nuremberg Trials|International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg]], which followed [[World War II]], "War is essentially an evil thing. Its consequences are not confined to the belligerent states alone, but affect the whole world. To initiate a war of aggression, therefore, is not only an [[War crime|international crime]]; it is the supreme international crime differing only from other war crimes in that it contains within itself the accumulated evil of the whole."<ref name="judgment">{{citation | title=Judgment of the International Military Tribunal for the Trial of German Major War Criminals: The Nazi Regime in Germany |url=http://avalon.law.yale.edu/imt/judnazi.asp#common |author=The International Military Tribunal for Germany |date=1946-09-30 |publisher=The Avalon Project, Yale University}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Broomhall|first=Bruce |title=International justice and the International Criminal Court |year=2003 |publisher=Oxford University Press|edition=2|pages=46|isbn= 978-0-19-925600-6|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-Ni6Qy2E9KwC&pg=PA46 }}</ref>
Article 39 of the [[United Nations Charter]] provides that the UN Security Council shall determine the existence of any act of aggression and "shall make recommendations, or decide what measures shall be taken in accordance with Articles 41 and 42, to maintain or restore international peace and security".{{War}}The [[Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court]] refers to the [[crime of aggression]] as one of the "most serious crimes of concern to the international community", and provides that the crime falls within the jurisdiction of the [[International Criminal Court]] (ICC). However, the Rome Statute stipulates that the ICC may not exercise its jurisdiction over the crime of aggression until such time as the states parties agree on a definition of the crime and set out the conditions under which it may be prosecuted. At the [[Review Conference of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court|Kampala Review Conference]] on 11 June 2010, a total of 111 [[States parties to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court|State Parties to the Court]] agreed by [[Consensus decision-making|consensus]] to adopt a [[Resolution (law)|resolution]] accepting the definition of the crime and the conditions for the exercise of [[jurisdiction]] over this crime.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www2.icc-cpi.int/iccdocs/asp_docs/Resolutions/RC-Res.6-ENG.pdf|title=Resolution RC/Res.6 !|access-date=14 May 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120320072358/http://www.icc-cpi.int/iccdocs/asp_docs/Resolutions/RC-Res.6-ENG.pdf|archive-date=20 March 2012}}</ref> The relevant amendments to the Statute
▲The [[Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court]] refers to the [[crime of aggression]] as one of the "most serious crimes of concern to the international community", and provides that the crime falls within the jurisdiction of the [[International Criminal Court]] (ICC). However, the Rome Statute stipulates that the ICC may not exercise its jurisdiction over the crime of aggression until such time as the states parties agree on a definition of the crime and set out the conditions under which it may be prosecuted. At the [[Review Conference of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court|Kampala Review Conference]] on 11 June 2010, a total of 111 [[States parties to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court|State Parties to the Court]] agreed by [[Consensus decision-making|consensus]] to adopt a [[Resolution (law)|resolution]] accepting the definition of the crime and the conditions for the exercise of [[jurisdiction]] over this crime.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www2.icc-cpi.int/iccdocs/asp_docs/Resolutions/RC-Res.6-ENG.pdf|title=Resolution RC/Res.6 !|access-date=14 May 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120320072358/http://www.icc-cpi.int/iccdocs/asp_docs/Resolutions/RC-Res.6-ENG.pdf|archive-date=20 March 2012}}</ref> The relevant amendments to the Statute, however has not been entered into force yet as of May 14, 2012.{{needs update|date=August 2021}}
Possibly the first trial for waging aggressive war is that of the Sicilian king [[Conradin]] in 1268.<ref>{{cite book|title=An introduction to international criminal law and procedure|last=Cryer |display-authors=etal|first=Robert|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2010|isbn=978-0-521-13581-8|edition=2nd|location=Cambridge [UK]|pages=312}}</ref>
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==Definitions==
The origin of the concept, the author Peter Maguire argues, emerged from the debate on [[Article 231 of the Treaty of Versailles]] of 1919: "Germany accepts the responsibility of Germany and her allies for causing all the loss and damage to which the Allied and Associated Governments and their nationals have been subjected as a consequence of the war imposed upon them by the aggression of Germany and her allies."<ref>{{cite book|author=Stephen C. Neff|title=War and the Law of Nations: A General History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=83vbR5XwQfwC&pg=PA289|year=2005|publisher=Cambridge UP|page=289|isbn=9781139445238}}</ref> Maguire argues:
{{
[[File:Mussolini and Hitler 1940 (retouched).jpg|thumb|upright|Italian fascist leader [[Benito Mussolini]] and Nazi Germany's leader [[Adolf Hitler]] in 1940]]
The [[Japanese invasion of Manchuria]] had a significant negative effect on the moral strength and influence of the [[League of Nations]]. As critics had predicted, the League was powerless if a strong nation decided to pursue an aggressive policy against other countries, allowing a country such as Japan to commit blatant aggression without serious consequences. [[Adolf Hitler]] and [[Benito Mussolini]] were also aware of this, and ultimately both followed Japan's example in aggression against their neighbors: in the case of Italy, [[Second Italo-Ethiopian War|against Ethiopia]] (1935–1937) and [[Italian invasion of Albania|Albania]] (1939); and Germany, [[Munich Agreement|against Czechoslovakia]] (1938–1939) and [[Invasion of Poland|Poland]] (1939).<ref>Ben Walsh, ''GCSE Modern World History - second edition'' 2001, p 247 {{ISBN|978-0719577130}}</ref>
In November 1935, the League of Nations condemned Italy's aggression in Ethiopia and imposed economic sanctions.<ref>{{cite book |last=Palla |first=Marco |series=Interlink Illustrated Histories |title=Mussolini and Fascism |year=2000 |publisher=Interlink Books |location=New York |isbn=978-1-56656-340-6|page=104}}</ref> The prominent jurist [[Hans Kelsen]] argued that in the Ethiopian case, the League had "at least made certain efforts to fulfill its duty in the cases of illegal aggression undertaken by member states against other member states."<ref>{{cite journal |title=Between Sovereignty and Race: The Bombardment of Hospitals in the Italo-Ethiopian War and the Colonial Imprint of International Law |journal=State Crime Journal |date=2019 |volume=8 |pages=104–125 |doi=10.13169/statecrime.8.1.0104 |jstor=10.13169/statecrime.8.1.0104 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.13169/statecrime.8.1.0104 |last1=Perugini |first1=Nicola |last2=Gordon |first2=Neve |s2cid=182759859 |hdl=20.500.11820/09cc2a58-72ab-49b1-bb5b-ae5fecd80b3c |hdl-access=free }}</ref>
▲{{quote|Originally President Wilson resisted the effort to brand Germany with war guilt, but French and British leaders forced him to compromise. Naming Germany an 'aggressor' introduced the concept into positive international law.<ref>{{cite book|author=Peter H. Maguire|title=Law and War: International Law and American History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0qM8eRj3SCMC&pg=PT89|date=2013|edition=2nd|publisher=Columbia UP|page=89|isbn=9780231518192}}</ref>}}
===The Convention for the Definition of Aggression===
Two '''Conventions for the Definition of Aggression''' were signed in [[London]] on 3 and 4 July 1933. The first was signed by [[Czechoslovakia]], [[Kingdom of Romania|Romania]], the [[Union of Soviet Socialist Republics|Soviet Union]], [[Turkey]] and [[Kingdom of Yugoslavia|Yugoslavia]], and came into effect on 17 February 1934, when it was ratified by all of them but Turkey. The second was signed by [[Kingdom of Afghanistan|Afghanistan]] (ratified 20 October 1933), [[Estonia]] (4 December), [[Latvia]] (4 December), [[Persia]] (16 November), [[Second Polish Republic|Poland]] (16 October), Romania (16 October), the Soviet Union (16 October) and Turkey, which ratified both treaties on 23 March 1934. [[Finland]] acceded to the second convention on 31 January 1934. The second convention was the first to be registered with the [[League of Nations Treaty Series]] on 29 March 1934, while the first was registered on 26 April. As [[Lithuania]] refused to sign any treaty including Poland,<ref>Lithuanian authorities regarded Polish rule over the [[Vilnius Region]] as a military occupation of its constitutional capital.</ref>
The signatories of both treaties were also signatories of the [[Kellogg–Briand Pact]] prohibiting aggression, and were seeking an agreed definition of the latter. Czechoslovakia, Romania and Yugoslavia were members of the [[Little Entente]], and their signatures alarmed [[Kingdom of Bulgaria|Bulgaria]], since the definition of aggression clearly covered its support of the [[Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization]].<ref>S. A. H., "Bulgaria and the Balkan Entente", ''Bulletin of International News'', 15, 16 (1938), 4.</ref> Both treaties base their definition on the "Politis Report" of the Committee of Security Questions made 24 March 1933 to the Conference for the Reduction and Limitation of Armaments, in answer to a proposal of the Soviet delegation. The Greek politician [[Nikolaos Politis]] was behind the inclusion of "support for armed bands" as a form of aggression.<ref>Leon Romaniecki, "The Soviet Union and International Terrorism", ''Soviet Studies'', 26, 3 (1974), 420.</ref> Ratifications for both treaties were deposited in [[Moscow]], as the convention was primarily the work of [[Maxim Litvinov]], the Soviet signatory.<ref>P. Zadeikis, "An Aspect of the Lithuanian Record of Independence", ''Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science'', 232 (1944), 50.</ref> The convention defined an act of aggression as follows:
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* Provision of support to armed bands formed in its territory which have invaded the territory of another State, or refusal, notwithstanding the request of the invaded State, to take, in its own territory, all the measures in its power to deprive those bands of all assistance or protection.
The League prerogative under that convention to expel a League member found guilty of aggression was used by the League Assembly only once, against the Soviet government itself, on December 14, 1939, following the [[Winter War|Soviet invasion of Finland]].<ref>[http://www.histdoc.net/history/league1.html League of Nations Assembly resolution of December 14, 1939, expelling the Soviet government]</ref><ref>[http://www.histdoc.net/history/league2.html League of Nations Council resolution of December 14, 1939, expelling the Soviet government]</ref>
Primary documents:
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{{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070925104337/http://www.tridentploughshares.org/article1079 |date=2007-09-25 }}.
</ref>
{{
| Planning, preparation, initiation or waging of a war of aggression or a war in violation of international treaties, agreements or assurances;
| Participation in a common plan or conspiracy for the accomplishment of any of the acts mentioned under (i).}}}}
See: ''[[Nuremberg Trials]]:'' "The legal basis for the jurisdiction of the court was that defined by the Instrument of Surrender of Germany, [[Debellatio#Nazi_Germany|political authority for Germany had been transferred]] to the [[Allied Control Council]], which having sovereign power over Germany could choose to punish violations of international law and the laws of war. Because the court was limited to violations of the laws of war, it did not have jurisdiction over crimes that took place before the outbreak of war on September 1, 1939."
For committing this crime, the Nuremberg Tribunal sentenced a number of persons responsible for starting [[World War II]]. One consequence of this is that nations who are starting an armed conflict must now argue that they are either exercising the right of self-defense, the right of collective defense, or – it seems – the enforcement of the [[criminal law]] of ''[[jus cogens]]''. It has made formal [[declaration of war]] uncommon after 1945.
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Reading the Tribunal's final judgment in court, British alternate judge [[Norman Birkett, 1st Baron Birkett|Norman Birkett]] said:
{{
To initiate a war of aggression, therefore, is not only an international crime; it is the supreme international crime differing only from other war crimes in that it contains within itself the accumulated evil of the whole.<ref name="judgment"/>}}
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The relevant provisions of the [[Charter of the United Nations]] mentioned in the [[Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court|RSICC]] article 5.2 were framed to include the Nuremberg Principles. The specific principle is ''[[Nuremberg Principles#Principle VI|Principle VI]].a'' "[[Crimes against peace]]", which was based on the provisions of the [[London Charter of the International Military Tribunal]] that was issued in 1945 and formed the basis for the post [[World War II]] war crime trials. The Charter's provisions based on the Nuremberg Principle VI.a are:
{{
* '''Article 1''':
**The Purposes of the [[United Nations]] are:
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===Further discussions on defining aggression===
The discussions on definition of aggression under the UN began in 1950, following the outbreak of the [[Korean War]]. As the western governments, headed by Washington, were in favor of defining the governments of North Korea and the People's Republic of China as aggressor states, the Soviet government proposed to formulate a new UN resolution defining aggression and based on the 1933 convention. As a result, on November 17, 1950, the General Assembly passed resolution 378,
<blockquote>Aggression is the use of force by a State or Government against another State or Government, in any manner, whatever the weapons used and whether openly or otherwise, for any reason or for any purpose other than individual or collective self-defence or in pursuance of a decision or recommendation by a competent organ of the United Nations.<ref>UN Doc. A/CN.4/L.13, in [http://legal.un.org/ilc/publications/yearbooks/english/ilc_1951_v1.pdf ''Yearbook of the ILC 1951'', vol. 1], p. 116, fn. 1, {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150912103001/http://legal.un.org/ilc/publications/yearbooks/english/ilc_1951_v1.pdf|date=2015-09-12}}.</ref>
</blockquote>
===General Assembly Resolution 3314===
{{or section|date=April 2022}}
On December 14, 1974, the [[United Nations General Assembly]] adopted [[Resolution 3314]], which defined the crime of aggression. This definition is not binding as such under international law, though it may reflect [[customary international law]].{{citation needed|date=April 2022}}
This definition makes a distinction between ''aggression'' (which "gives rise to international responsibility") and ''war of aggression'' (which is "a crime against international peace"). Acts of aggression are defined as armed invasions or attacks, bombardments, blockades, armed violations of territory, permitting other states to use one's own territory to perpetrate acts of aggression and the employment of armed irregulars or mercenaries to carry out acts of aggression. A war of aggression is a series of acts committed with a sustained intent. The definition's distinction between an ''act'' of aggression and a ''war'' of aggression make it clear that not every act of aggression would constitute a crime against peace; only war of aggression does. States would nonetheless be held responsible for acts of aggression.{{citation needed|date=April 2022}}
The wording of the definition has been criticised by many commentators. Its clauses on the use of armed irregulars are notably vague, as it is unclear what level of "involvement" would entail state responsibility. It is also highly state-centric, in that it deems states to be the only actors liable for acts of aggression. Domestic or transnational insurgent groups, such as those that took part in the [[Sierra Leone Civil War]] and the [[Yugoslav Wars]], were key players in their respective conflicts despite being non-state parties; they would not have come within the scope of the definition.▼
▲The wording of the definition has been criticised by many commentators. Its clauses on the use of armed irregulars are notably vague, as it is unclear what level of "involvement" would entail state responsibility. It is also highly state-centric, in that it deems states to be the only actors liable for acts of aggression. Domestic or transnational insurgent groups, such as those that took part in the [[Sierra Leone Civil War]] and the [[Yugoslav Wars]], were key players in their respective conflicts despite being non-state parties; they would not have come within the scope of the definition.{{citation needed|date=April 2022}}
[[File:20060715-1 32nd G8 summit.jpg|thumb|US President [[George W. Bush]] and Russian President [[Vladimir Putin]] were both accused of starting a war of aggression.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Jon Heller |first1=Kevin |title=Creating a Special Tribunal for Aggression Against Ukraine Is a Bad Idea |url=http://opiniojuris.org/2022/03/07/creating-a-special-tribunal-for-aggression-against-ukraine-is-a-bad-idea/ |work=Opinio Juris |date=7 March 2022}}</ref>]]
The Definition of Aggression also does not cover acts by international organisations. The two key military alliances at the time of the definition's adoption, [[NATO]] and the [[Warsaw Pact]], were non-state parties and thus were outside the scope of the definition.<ref>Ingrid Detter Delupis, ''The Law of War'', pp. 69–70. Cambridge University Press, 2000</ref> Moreover, the definition does not deal with the responsibilities of individuals for acts of aggression. It is widely perceived as an insufficient basis on which to ground individual criminal prosecutions.<ref>L. F. Damrosch, "Enforcing International Law through Non-forcible Measures", p. 202. ''Recueil De Cours/Collected Courses'', Académie de Droit International de La Haye, 1998</ref>
While this Definition of Aggression has often been cited by opponents of conflicts such as the 1999 [[Kosovo War]] and the 2003 [[Iraq War]], it has no binding force in [[international law]]. The doctrine of ''[[Nulla poena sine lege]]'' means that, in the absence of binding international law on the subject of aggression, no penalty exists for committing acts in contravention of the definition. It is only recently that heads of state have been indicted over acts committed in wartime, in the cases of [[Slobodan Milošević]] of [[Serbia]] and [[Charles Taylor (Liberian politician)|Charles Taylor]] of [[Liberia]]. However, both were charged with [[
The definition is not binding on the Security Council. The [[Charter of the United Nations|United Nations Charter]] empowers the General Assembly to make recommendations to the [[United Nations Security Council]] but the Assembly may not dictate to the Council. The resolution accompanying the definition states that it is intended to provide guidance to the Security Council to aid it "in determining, in accordance with the Charter, the existence of an act of aggression".<ref>[[Yoram Dinstein]], ''War, Aggression and Self-Defence'', p. 118. Cambridge University Press, 2003</ref> The Security Council may apply or disregard this guidance as it sees fit. Legal commentators argue that the Definition of Aggression has had "no visible impact" on the deliberations of the Security Council.<ref>M. C. Bassiouni and B. B. Ferencz, "The Crime against Peace", ''International Criminal Law'', I, 313, 334 (M.C. Bassiouni ed., 2nd ed., 1999)</ref>
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{{Main|Crime of aggression}}
The [[Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court]] lists the crime of aggression as one of the most serious crimes of concern to the international community, and provides that the crime falls within the jurisdiction of the [[International Criminal Court]] (ICC). However, Article 5.2 of the Rome Statute states that "The Court shall exercise jurisdiction over the crime of aggression once a provision is adopted in accordance with articles 121 and 123 defining the crime and setting out the conditions under which the Court shall exercise jurisdiction with respect to this crime. Such a provision shall be consistent with the relevant provisions of the Charter of the United Nations."<ref>[http://legal.un.org/icc/statute/99_corr/2.htm#art.5 Part 2. Jurisdiction, admissibility and applicable law. Article 5.]</ref> The Assembly of States Parties of the ICC adopted such a definition in 2010 at the [[Review Conference of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court|Review Conference]] in [[Kampala]], [[Uganda]].<ref>[http://www.icc-cpi.int/menus/icc/press%20and%20media/press%20releases/review%20conference%20of%20the%20rome%20statute%20concludes%20in%20kampala Review Conference of the Rome Statute concludes in Kampala] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100618140234/http://www.icc-cpi.int/menus/icc/press%20and%20media/press%20releases/review%20conference%20of%20the%20rome%20statute%20concludes%20in%20kampala |date=2010-06-18 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://jurist.org/paperchase/2010/06/icc-nations-adopt-crime-of-aggression.php|title=ICC nations define crime of aggression|date=12 June 2010 |access-date= 26 December 2011}}</ref>
==See also==
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*[[Nuremberg principles]]
*[[Preventive war]]
*[[Six-day war]]
*[[Voluntary war]]
*[[War crime]]
*[[War of liberation]]
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* [[Lyal S. Sunga]] Individual Responsibility in International Law for Serious Human Rights Violations, Nijhoff (1992) 252 p.
* H. K. Thompson, Jr. and Henry Strutz, ''Dönitz at Nuremberg: A Reappraisal'', Torrance, Calif.: 1983.
* J. Hogan-Doran and B. van Ginkel, "Aggression as a Crime under International Law and the Prosecution of Individuals by the Proposed International Criminal Court" Netherlands International Law Review, Volume 43, Issue 3, December 1996, pp.
==External links==
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*[https://web.archive.org/web/20110616100534/http://www.icc-cpi.int/iccdocs/asp_docs/Resolutions/RC-Res.6-ENG.pdf Amendments] to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court on the crime of aggression
* [http://www.juragentium.org/topics/wlgo/cortona/en/pietropa.htm Stefano Pietropaoli, Defining evil. The war of aggression and international law]
* [http://www.icc-cpi.int/NR/rdonlyres/6756D8C1-98A1-47D3-BC13-EA8D8AA860F1/282450/03092010_IHLDialogs_Chautauqua_Speech1.pdf From Nuremberg to Kampala – Reflections on the Crime of Aggression, Address by Judge Dr. jur. h. c. Hans-Peter Kaul of the ICC at the 4th International Humanitarian Law Dialogs, 2010]{{Dead link|date=December 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
* [https://www.un.org/law/books/HistoricalReview-Aggression.pdf Historical Review of Developments relating to Aggression, 2003] (UN publication)
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▲{{International Criminal Law}}
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[[Category:Wars by type|Aggression]]
[[Category:Military law]]
[[Category:International criminal law]]
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