95. Broadly defined, "war is a properly conducted contest of armed public forces," 1 or the legal condition under which such contest would be authorized.

War implies the right of the parties legally to exercise force against one another. Grotius says that: "In treating of the law of war, we have to find out what is war, which is the subject under investigation; what the law, which is sought. Cicero called war a contention by force. Usage, however, holds that not the action, but the state, is indicated by the term 'war,' so that war is the condition of contention by force, as such." 2 Later definitions tended to exclude private wars, which Grotius specifically states that he does not exclude. The earli

1 Gentilis, De Jure Belli (1588) bk. I, c. 2. "Bellum est publicorum armorum justa contentio."

Bluntschli, § 510: "La guerre est l'ensemble des actes par lesquels un état ou un peuple fait respecter ses droits, en luttant par les armes contre un autre état ou an autre peuple."

§ 511: "La guerre est, en règle générale une lutte armée entre divers états, à l'occasion d'une question de droit public."

3 Phillimore, Int. Law, 49: "War is the exercise of the international right of action, to which, from the nature of the thing and the absence of any common superior tribunal, nations are compelled to have recourse, in order to assert and vindicate their rights."

Vide 4 Calvo, Droit Int. p. 16, where will be found collected other definitions of war.

2 Grotius, De Jure Belli ac Pacis, I, 1, 2; Bynkershoek, De Rebus Bellicis, I, 1.

WILS.INT.L.-16

er definition of Gentilis, that "war is a properly conducted contest of armed public forces," has come to be generally accepted for the period of actual hostilities."

Dr. Lieber, in 1863, in the Instructions for the Government of Armies of the United States in the Field, stated:

"20. Public war is a state of armed hostility between sovereign nations or governments. It is a law and requisite of civilized existence that men live in political, continuous societies, forming organized units, called states or nations, whose constituents bear, enjoy, and suffer, advance and retrograde, together, in peace and in war."

"25. In modern regular wars of the Europeans, and their descendants in other portions of the globe, protection of the inoffensive citizen of the hostile country is the rule; privation and disturbance of private relations are the exceptions." +

There may be a use of force by one state against another without a state of war, as in the case of reprisals or the use of force to protect national interests. Conceivably there may be a state of war without the use of force, if a state should declare war against another state, and, before an actual engagement of the forces had occurred, difficulties should be satisfactorily adjusted and peace should be restored.

To protect the rights of all, it is most essential to know when a state of war exists, while the question whether any engagement of the forces has taken place may be of little interest, except from a military point of view. The existence of a state of war, whether or not force is actually used, entails obligations upon neutrals and gives belligerents rights which do not exist in time of peace. To make clear the time at which the rights and obligations consequent upon a state of war arise, it is now common, and by the Hague Convention of 1907 obligatory, to issue a declaration of war.

8 See Note 1 above.

Appendix, p. 491.

KINDS OF WAR.

96. Wars are variously classified according to the purpose of the classification:

(a) For descriptive purposes, as offensive or defensive; as public, private, or mixed wars; as religious, political, etc.; as international or civil.

(b) For purposes of international law, as war in the material sense, or as war in the legal sense.

(a) It is very difficult to distinguish in fact an offensive war from a defensive. Prompt action on the offensive may be the most effective defense. The classifications of wars sometimes given in early treatises as public or private, religious or political, etc., easily become confused and are of little value.

(b) The distinction between war in the material sense and war in the legal sense is frequently recognized in practice particularly in cases of insurrection, in distinction from war between states. The political department of the government may defer recognition of a fact of which the military department is obliged to take cognizance. If a state is in danger, it is the business of the military forces to afford protection. The commander in chief may call upon the military forces to perform service in behalf of the state, while the right to declare war may be, as in the United States, a function of another branch of government.

5 There are many grades of conflict. At a point between the struggle of state with state and of individual with individual, there is a form of struggle, varying according to circumstances, but usually an armed struggle between two organized groups or parties within a state for public political ends, which is called "insurgency." The party opposing that in possession of the existing state organization is usually regarded as rebelling against the state, and is called "insurgent." Wilson, Insurgency, U. S. Naval War College Publications, 1901; Rougier, Guerres Civiles et le Droit des Gens, 17; The Three Friends, 166 U. S. 1, 17 Sup. Ct. 495, 41 L. Ed. 897; Underhill v. Hernandez, 168 U. S. 250, 18 Sup. Ct. 83, 42 L. Ed. 456.

For definition of other classes of war, vide 1 Halleck, Int. Law, c. 16; Calvo, Droit Int. §§ 1866-1884, inclusive.

6 The existence of war in the legal sense is determined by the political department of the government. The Pedro, 175 U. S. 354, 20 Sup. Ct. 138, 44 L. Ed. 195; The Buena Ventura, 175 U. S. 384, 20 Sup. Ct. 148, 44 L. Ed. 206.

While the Hague Convention Relative to the Opening of Hostilities provides that hostilities should not take place without previous declaration, the convention is binding only upon signatory powers. In case of a revolution within the territory of a signatory state, the established state would ordinarily be reluctant to declare war, as this would give full belligerent status to the revolutionary party. It may be necessary for a state whose interests are involved, because of proximity or from other reasons, to recognize that war in the material sense actually exists.

OBJECT OF WAR.

97. The object of war may be considered from two points of view:

(a) From the political point of view, the object is to attain the end of the state.

(b) From the military point of view, the object is to secure the submission of the enemy.

(c) By the Hague Convention of 1907 the use of force for the recovery of contract debts is in general prohibited.

(a) The political object of the war may vary widely in character, and may change with the progress of the hostilities. A war undertaken for the defense of a state may be continued to secure indemnity.

(b) The military object of the war is to secure the submission of the enemy with the least possible sacrifice of life and property.

(c) In a communication of the Foreign Minister of the Argentine Republic, Mr. Drago, transmitted to the Department of State of the United States in 1902, a protest was made against the use of force for the collection of contract debts." This question became one for consideration of the Second Hague Peace Conference in 1907, and the Convention Respecting the Limitation of the Employment of Force for the Recovery of Contract Debts provided:

"Article I. The contracting powers agree not to have recourse to armed force for the recovery of contract debts claim

7 Foreign Relations U. S. 1902, p. 7.