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List of wars extended by diplomatic irregularity

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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 145.7.182.163 (talk) at 11:39, 27 October 2008 (→‎Alleged extended wars: ~~~~ elaborated on the war between the Netherlands and Scilly.). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

There are several claims of wars extended by diplomatic irregularity, often by a small country named in a declaration of war being accidentally omitted from the concluding peace treaty of a wider conflict. These alleged extended wars have only been "discovered" after the fact, and had no impact during the long period (often hundreds of years) they were supposedly de jure in force.

The "discovery" of an extended war is often an opportunity for a ceremonial peace to be contracted by local authorities.

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, or there being no formal peace treaty at the end of the Korean War (though in October 2007, North Korea and South Korea agreed to seek a peace treaty[1]).

Alleged extended wars

Combatants Historical conflict Declaration of war De facto peace Ceremonial peace Status of claim
Delian League vs Peloponnesian League Peloponnesian War 431 BC 404 BC 1994 Although Athens and Sparta were allied in later conflicts, no peace treaty was ever signed.[citation needed]
Roman Republic vs Carthage Third Punic War 149 BC 146 BC 1985[2] There was a contract of surrender between the Roman and the Carthaginian commander.
San Marino vs Sweden Thirty Years' War 1614 1648 Spurious reported date:
1996[3]		 San Marino was never party to the war.[4]
Isles of Scilly vs Dutch Republic English Civil War 1651 1654 1986 The Dutch Republic under Michiel Adriaensz de Ruyter declared war on the Council of the Isles of Scilly which still administers the islands under the British Crown (under the county of Cornwall. The pirates from the islands were a menace during the British Civil War between the Royalists and Parlementarians. When the Peace of Westminster was signed in 1654 this separate state of war was not mentioned and thus not included.
Berwick-upon-Tweed vs Russian Empire Crimean War 1853 1856 1966 All legal references to "England" applied equally to Berwick by this time.
Principality of Montenegro vs Empire of Japan Russo-Japanese War 1904 1905 2006[5] Montenegro declared war in support of Russia but this was merely a gesture as Montenegro lacked a navy or any other means to engage Japan.
Andorra vs German Empire World War I 1914 1918 1958[6] Andorra was not invited to the Treaty of Versailles.
Costa Rica vs German Empire World War I 1918 1918 1945[7] Due to a dispute over the legitimacy of the government of Federico Tinoco Granados, Costa Rica was not a party to the Treaty of Versailles. The technical state of war would have ended with Costa Rica signing a peace treaty with Germany after World War II.
Allies of World War II vs Germany World War II 1939 1945 1990[8] 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. Therefore the war technically did not finish until the country was reunified.

However, in 1949 some technicalities were modified in 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.[9] As a legal substitute for a peace treaty[10] 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.[11] It was not until the Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany was signed in 1990 that peace was formally established.

Soviet Union vs Japan World War II 1945.8.9 1945.9.2 - The Soviet Union abolished Soviet–Japanese Neutrality Pact and launched war against Japan on August 8, 1945. Although Japan surrendered on August 15, 1945, the Soviet Union continued the invasion into Japan and the battles did not cease until September 2. Since the Soviet Union denied the Treaty of San Francisco and there have not been any other peace treaty signed between Japan and the Soviet Union, the war is still going on.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Koreas seek formal end to Korean War Reuters.com, October 4th 2007
  2. ^ Saudi Aramco World, (bottom of page)
  3. ^ There was actually no such ceremony ever held as there was no historical conflict between the countries of any kind.
  4. ^ See Swedish historian Ulf Sundberg's debunking of the war.
  5. ^ "Montenegro, Japan to declare truce". United Press International.
  6. ^ "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.
  7. ^ Inside Latin America, John Gunther, Harper and Brothers, 1941
  8. ^ "Series C, Episode 7". QI. Season C. Episode 7. 2005-11-11.
  9. ^ http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,856382,00.html
  10. ^ http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,889058,00.html
  11. ^ http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,889058,00.html
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