Editing Casus belli (section)

== Historical examples ==
This section outlines a number of the more famous and/or controversial cases of ''casus belli'' which have occurred in modern times.

=== Second Opium War ===
Europeans had access to Chinese ports as outlined in the [[Treaty of Nanking]] from the [[First Opium War]]. France used the execution of [[Auguste Chapdelaine]] as a ''casus belli'' for the [[Second Opium War]]. On February 29, 1856, Chapdelaine, a French missionary, was killed in the province of [[Guangxi]], which was not open to foreigners. In response, British and French forces quickly took control of [[Guangzhou]] (Canton).{{Citation needed|date=March 2022}}

=== American Civil War ===
{{Further|Origins of the American Civil War|Battle of Fort Sumter#Decisions for war}}
While long-term conflict between the [[Northern United States|Northern]] and [[Southern United States|Southern States]] (mainly due to moral questions caused by [[Slavery in the United States|slavery]], as well as socio-economic disparities) was the cause of the [[American Civil War]], the [[Confederate States of America|Confederate]] [[Battle of Fort Sumter|attack on Fort Sumter]] (April 12–14, 1861) served as ''casus belli'' for the [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]].<ref name="Watson"/> Historian [[David Herbert Donald]] (1996) concluded that President [[Abraham Lincoln]]'s "repeated efforts to avoid collision in the months between inauguration and the firing on Ft. Sumter showed he adhered to his vow not to be the first to shed fraternal blood. But he also vowed not to surrender the forts. The only resolution of these contradictory positions was for the confederates to fire the first shot; they did just that."{{sfn|Donald|1996|p=293}} Confederate veteran [[William Watson (sergeant)|William Watson]] opined in 1887 that up until that point, U.S. Secretary of State [[William H. Seward]] had not been able to find 'a just cause to declare war against the seceded States', but Sumter gave him 'the ''casus belli'' he had sought'.<ref name="Watson"/> Watson lamented how [[Jefferson Davis]] and other Confederate leaders were 'vainglorious[ly]' celebrating the victory at Sumter, while forgetting that making the first move had given the Confederacy the immediate internationally negative reputation of being the aggressor, and had granted Seward 'the undivided sympathy of the North'.<ref name="Watson">{{cite book |last=Watson |first=William |title=Life in the Confederate Army: Being the Observations and Experiences of an Alien in the South During the American Civil War|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VJpBAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA113 |access-date=August 5, 2014 |year=1887 |publisher=Chapman & Hall |location=United States |page=113|isbn=9780722282977 }}</ref>

=== Spanish–American War ===
[[File:Independence Seaport Museum 226.JPG|thumb|Cartoon of belligerent [[Uncle Sam]] placing Spain on notice, c. 1898]]
The ''[[USS Maine (ACR-1)|Maine]]'' was a United States Navy ship that sank in [[Havana Harbor]], [[Captaincy General of Cuba|Spanish Cuba]] on February 15, 1898. While the destruction of the ''Maine'' did not result in an immediate declaration of war with Spain, it did create an atmosphere that precluded a peaceful solution.<ref>{{cite book |last=Musicant |first=Ivan |year=1998 |pages=151–152 |title=Empire by Default: The Spanish–American War and the Dawn of the American Century |publisher=Henry Holt and Company |location=New York |isbn=978-0-8050-3500-1 |url=https://archive.org/details/empirebydefaults00musi}}</ref> The Spanish investigation found that the explosion had been caused by spontaneous combustion of the coal bunkers, but the US Sampson Board's Court of Inquiry ruled that the explosion had been caused by an external explosion from a torpedo. The [[William McKinley|McKinley]] administration did not cite the explosion as a ''casus belli'', but others were already inclined to go to war with Spain over perceived atrocities and loss of control in Cuba.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Reilly |first1=John C. |last2=Scheina |first2=Robert L. |year=1980 |page=30 |title=American Battleships 1886–1923: Predreadnought Design and Construction |publisher=Naval Institute Press |location=Annapolis, Maryland |isbn=978-0-87021-524-7}}</ref> Advocates of war used the rallying cry, "Remember the ''Maine!'' To hell with Spain!"<ref>{{cite book |last=Edgerton |first=Robert B. |year=2005 |title=Remember the Maine, to Hell with Spain |location=[[Lewiston, New York]] |publisher=[[Edwin Mellen Press]] |isbn=978-0-7734-6266-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5VhnQgAACAAJ |access-date=15 February 2010 }}{{Dead link|date=August 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref>{{cite conference |last=Jons |first=O. P. |date=March 2005 |title=Remember the "MAINE" |publisher=WIT Press |pages=133–142 |conference=Maritime Heritage and Modern Ports. Second International Conference on Maritime Heritage and the Fourth International Conference on Maritime Engineering, Ports and Waterways |url=http://ntlsearch.bts.gov/tris/record/tris/01001349.html |access-date=11 February 2008 |via=U.S. Department of Transportation: National Transportation Library |url-status=dead<!--could not find this under https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov which is supposed to be the successor database for ntlsearch.bts.gov--> |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090512062237/http://ntlsearch.bts.gov/tris/record/tris/01001349.html |archive-date=12 May 2009}}</ref>

=== World War I ===
{{See also|Causes of World War I}}
[[Austria-Hungary]]'s casus belli against Serbia in July 1914 was based upon [[Kingdom of Serbia|Serbia]]'s refusal to investigate the involvement of Serbian government officials in the equipping, training and paying the assassins who murdered Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria at [[Sarajevo]]. The Serbian government refused the Austrian Démarche, and Austria-Hungary declared war.{{Citation needed|date=March 2022}}

For Britain, the direct cause of entering the war was the German invasion and occupation of [[Belgium]], violating Belgian neutrality which Britain was bound by treaty to uphold.{{Citation needed|date=March 2022}}

In 1917, the German Empire sent the [[Zimmermann Telegram]] to Mexico, in which they tried to persuade Mexico to join the war and fight against the United States, for which they would be rewarded Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona, all former Mexican territories. This telegram was intercepted by the British, then relayed to the U.S., which led to President [[Woodrow Wilson]] then using it to convince Congress to join World War I alongside the Allies. The Mexican president at the time, Venustiano Carranza, had a military commission assess the feasibility, which concluded that this would not be feasible for a number of reasons.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-03-10 |title=The Zimmermann Telegram |url=https://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2016/winter/zimmermann-telegram#:~:text=Zimmermann's%20alliance%20proposal%20did%20reach,no%20benefit%20in%20accepting%20it. |access-date=2025-02-09 |website=National Archives |language=en}}</ref>

=== World War II ===
In [[Manchukuo|Japanese Manchuria]], Japan staged the [[Marco Polo Bridge incident|Marco Polo Bridge Incident]] in 1937 as a casus belli to initiate the Second World War. 

In his autobiography ''[[Mein Kampf]]'', [[Adolf Hitler]] had in the 1920s advocated a policy of ''[[Lebensraum]]'' ("living space") for the [[Germans|German people]], which in practical terms meant German territorial expansion into Eastern Europe.<ref>{{Cite web |date=February 23, 2023 |title=Lebenstraum {{!}} Holocaust Encyclopedia |url=https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/lebensraum }}</ref>
[[File:Alfred Naujocks.jpg|thumb|[[Alfred Naujocks]], who organized and led the [[Gleiwitz incident]] on the orders of [[Heydrich]].]]
In August 1939, 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 ''{{lang|la|casus belli}}'' for the [[invasion of Poland]] the following September. Nazi forces used [[Nazi concentration camps|concentration camp]] prisoners posing as Poles on 31 August 1939, to attack the German radio station Sender Gleiwitz in Gleiwitz, Upper [[Silesia]], Germany (since 1945: [[Gliwice]], Poland) on the eve of World War II. [[Poland]]'s allies, the [[United Kingdom|UK]] and [[France]], subsequently declared war on Germany in accordance with their alliance.{{Citation needed|date=March 2022}} The [[United States]] would declare war on [[Japan]] after the attack on [[Pearl Harbor]] on December 7, 1941.

In 1941, acting once again in accordance with the policy of Lebensraum, [[Nazi Germany]] [[Operation Barbarossa|invaded the Soviet Union]], using the ''casus belli'' of [[preemptive war]] to justify the act of aggression.{{Citation needed|date=March 2022}}

=== Vietnam War ===
Many historians have suggested that the Second [[Gulf of Tonkin Incident]] was a manufactured pretext for the [[Vietnam War]]. North Vietnamese Naval officials have publicly stated that during the second incident the {{USS|Maddox|DD-731|6}} was never fired on by North Vietnamese naval forces.<ref>"[http://vi.uh.edu/pages/buzzmat/world198_4.html McNamara asks Giap: What happened in Tonkin Gulf?] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150306124920/http://vi.uh.edu/pages/buzzmat/world198_4.html |date=2015-03-06 }}". (November 9, 1995). ''[[Associated Press]]''</ref><ref>[http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/cold.war/episodes/11/interviews/mcnamara/ CNN Cold War&nbsp;– Interviews: Robert McNamara] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080614065921/http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/cold.war/episodes/11/interviews/mcnamara/ |date=June 14, 2008 }}, retrieved January 23, 2007</ref> In the documentary film ''[[The Fog of War]]'', then-US Defense Secretary [[Robert McNamara]] concedes the attack during the second incident did not happen, though he says that he and President Johnson believed it did so at the time.<ref>{{cite journal|url=http://www.slate.com/id/2092916|title=The Evasions of Robert McNamara|first=Fred|last=Kaplan|date=19 December 2003|journal=Slate}}</ref>

The first Gulf of Tonkin Incident (2 August) should not be confused with the second Gulf of Tonkin Incident (4 August). The North Vietnamese claimed that on August 2, US destroyer USS ''Maddox'' was hit by one torpedo and that one of the American aircraft had been shot down in North Vietnamese territorial waters. The PAVN Museum in Hanoi displays "Part of a torpedo boat&nbsp;... which successfully chased away the USS Maddox August 2nd, 1964".<ref>[http://www.clemson.edu/caah/history/FacultyPages/EdMoise/vtonk.html PAVN Museum in Hanoi]</ref>

The ''casus belli'' for the Vietnam War was the second incident. On August 4, USS ''Maddox'' was launched to the North Vietnamese coast to "show the flag" after the first incident. The US authorities claimed that two Vietnamese boats tried to attack USS ''Maddox'' and were sunk. The government of North Vietnam denied the second incident completely.

=== 1967 Arab-Israeli War ===
A ''casus belli'' played a prominent role during the [[Six-Day War]] of 1967. The Israeli government had a short list of ''{{lang|la|casūs 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. After several border incidents between Israel and [[Egypt]]'s allies [[Syria]] and [[Jordan]], Egypt expelled [[United Nations Emergency Force|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.{{Citation needed|date=March 2022}}

=== China-Vietnam War ===
During the 1979 [[Sino-Vietnamese War]], China's leader [[Deng Xiaoping]] told the United States that its plan to fight the Vietnamese was revenge for Vietnam's [[Cambodian–Vietnamese War|toppling]] of the [[Khmer Rouge]] regime of [[Cambodia]], an ally of China. However Chinese nationalists have argued that the real ''casus belli'' was Vietnam's [[Hoa people#Departure from Vietnam: 1975–1990|poor treatment of its ethnic Chinese population]], as well as suspicion of Vietnam trying to consolidate Cambodia with Soviet backing.<ref>{{cite magazine | url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2014/02/19/chinas-little-secret/ | title=China's Little Secret | magazine=Foreign Policy| date=February 19, 2014}}</ref>

=== 2003 invasion of Iraq ===
{{Main|Rationale for the Iraq War}}
[[File:Colin Powell anthrax vial. 5 Feb 2003 at the UN.jpg|thumb|240px|February 5, 2003&nbsp;– U.S. Secretary of State [[Colin Powell]] holding a model vial of [[anthrax]] while giving the presentation to the [[UN Security Council]].]]
When the United States [[2003 invasion of Iraq|invaded Iraq in 2003]], it cited Iraq's non-compliance with the terms of cease-fire agreement for the 1990–1991 [[Gulf War]], as well as planning in the [[List of United States presidential assassination attempts and plots#George H. W. Bush|1993 attempted assassination]] of former president [[George H. W. Bush]] and firing on coalition aircraft enforcing the [[Iraqi no-fly zones|no-fly zones]] as its stated ''{{lang|la|casus belli}}''.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2002/10/20021002-2.html | title=Joint Resolution to Authorize the Use of United States Armed Forces Against Iraq | publisher=Office of the Press Secretary | date=October 2, 2002}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.milnet.com/public-law-102-1.html |title=Archived copy |access-date=2008-09-28 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081017075722/http://www.milnet.com/public-law-102-1.html |archive-date=2008-10-17 }}</ref>

Cited by the [[Presidency of George W. Bush|George W. Bush administration]] was [[Saddam Hussein]]'s [[weapons of mass destruction]] (WMD) program. The administration claimed 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]] [[Colin Powell's presentation to the United Nations Security Council|addressed a plenary session]] of the [[United Nations Security Council]] on February 5, 2003, citing these reasons as justification for military action.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://2001-2009.state.gov/secretary/former/powell/remarks/2003/17300.htm|title=Remarks to the United Nations Security Council|date=4 February 2005}}</ref> Since-declassified National Intelligence Estimates (NIE's) indicate that any certainty may have been overstated in justification of armed intervention; the extent, origin and intent of these overstatements cannot be conclusively determined from the NIE.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/the-cia-just-declassified-the-document-that-supposedly-justified-the-iraq-invasion/ | title=The CIA Just Declassified the Document That Supposedly Justified the Iraq Invasion | publisher=Vice News | date=March 15, 2015}}</ref>

===Annexation of Crimea===
After the [[annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation]] in 2014, Russian President [[Vladimir Putin]] argued that Crimea and other regions "were not part of Ukraine" after it was taken in the 18th century. The ethnic Russian population in Crimea and eastern Ukraine has been seen as a ''casus belli'' for Russia's annexation.<ref>{{cite magazine | url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/5/140502-russia-putin-ukraine-geography-crimea-language/ | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191130215810/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/5/140502-russia-putin-ukraine-geography-crimea-language/ | url-status=dead | archive-date=November 30, 2019 | title=Ethnic Russians: Pretext for Putin's Ukraine Invasion? | magazine=National Geographic | date=May 2, 2014}}</ref> The Foreign Ministry claimed that Ukraine tried to seize Crimean government buildings, citing this as a ''casus belli''.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2014/03/10/top-5-myths-about-russias-invasion-of-crimea-a32835 | title=Top 5 Myths About Russia's Invasion of Crimea | newspaper=The Moscow Times | date=March 10, 2014}}</ref>

=== 2022 Russian Invasion of Ukraine ===
Prior to the [[2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine]], Russia recognized the separatist republics in [[Donetsk People's Republic|Donetsk]] and [[Luhansk People's Republic|Luhansk]], and the alliance between them was ratified in their parliaments, thus creating a usable ''casus belli''.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-02-21 |title=Putin signs friendship and aid agreements with Ukraine separatist leaders |url=https://insiderpaper.com/putin-signs-friendship-and-aid-agreements-with-ukraine-separatist-leaders/ |access-date=2022-02-26 |website=Insider Paper |language=en-US |agency=AFP }}</ref> Russia also claimed a [[Disinformation_in_the_Russian_invasion_of_Ukraine#Donbas_genocide_allegations|genocide]] was being committed against [[Russian language in Ukraine|Russian speakers]] in [[Ukraine]] by [[Neo-Nazism in Ukraine|neo-Nazi]] groups and that the [[Government of Ukraine|Ukrainian government]] were neo-Nazis.<ref>{{Cite web |date=24 February 2022 |title=Full text: Putin's declaration of war on Ukraine |url=https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/full-text-putin-s-declaration-of-war-on-ukraine |access-date=2022-06-03 |website=The Spectator |language=en}}</ref> A false-flag operation was also considered by Russia, according to US, UK, and Ukrainian intelligence.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Radnitz |first=Scott |date=24 February 2022 |title=What are false flag attacks – and did Russia stage any to claim justification for invading Ukraine? |url=http://theconversation.com/what-are-false-flag-attacks-and-did-russia-stage-any-to-claim-justification-for-invading-ukraine-177879 |access-date=2022-04-16 |website=The Conversation |language=en}}</ref>

=== 2023 Israel–Gaza war ===
{{Main articles|Gaza war}}
On October 7, 2023, [[Palestinian political violence|Palestinian militant groups]], led by [[Hamas]], [[2023 Hamas attack on Israel|launched a major attack]] into [[Israel|Israeli territory]] from the [[Gaza Strip]]. This operation was called 'Operation Al-Aqsa Flood' by Hamas. In response, the Israel Defense Forces launched a counteroffensive, officially named 'Operation Iron Swords'.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Beauchamp |first=Zack |date=2023-10-07 |title=Why did Hamas invade Israel? |url=https://www.vox.com/2023/10/7/23907323/israel-war-hamas-attack-explained-southern-israel-gaza |access-date=2023-10-11 |website=Vox |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Erlanger |first=Steven |date=2023-10-07 |title=An Attack From Gaza and an Israeli Declaration of War. Now What? |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/07/world/middleeast/israel-gaza-war-hamas-palestinians.html |access-date=2023-10-11 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-10-07 |title=IDF strikes Hamas as operation 'Iron Swords' commences |url=https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-762075 |access-date=2023-10-11 |website=The Jerusalem Post {{!}} JPost.com |language=en-US}}</ref> Following reports that Egypt had given Israel a three day heads-up that "something big" and "an explosion of the situation is coming",<ref>{{Cite news |last=Sabbagh |first=Dan |date=2023-10-12 |title=Egypt warned Israel of Hamas attack days earlier, senior US politician says |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/oct/12/israel-hamas-war-egypt-warned-foreign-affairs-gaza |access-date=2023-10-14 |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> questions emerged about IDF's readiness,<ref>{{Cite news |date=2023-10-09 |title=What went wrong? Questions emerge over Israel's intelligence prowess after Hamas attack |language=en-US |newspaper=Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/10/09/israel-hamas-gaza-attack-intel/e4dda524-6659-11ee-9753-2b3742e96987_story.html |access-date=2023-10-14 |issn=0190-8286}}</ref> and whether Israel had ignored the information. <ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-10-09 |title=Israel war: Questions emerge over ignored warnings of possible attacks |url=https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/defense-national-security/israel-war-questions-ignored-warnings-possible-attacks |access-date=2023-10-14 |website=Washington Examiner |language=en}}</ref>