BELLIGERENCY. In international law, a state of armed hostility which has been legally recognized. This condition may exist between nations, between a nation and a community not within the family of nations, or between an established and recognized nation and one of its sections which may be attempting to throw off the jurisdiction of the parent state with the object of becoming independent or attain ing some other political end. It is not neces sary that a community be independent in order to have the status of a belligerent, but it is necessary .that such community conduct hos tilities according to customs pursued by reg ularly established states or otherwise be under a de facto government. When the fact of belligerency between two nations is established, their legal relations are changed at once, the laws of peace being superseded by the laws of war, while neutrality laws govern the conduct of states not participating in the conflict. See NEUTRALITY.
When a revolted party of great numerical strength forms a regular government and rules over the whole or part of the territory claimed, humanity dictates that the members of such party should not be treated as rebels guilty of treason but, if captured, should be regarded as prisoners of war. Hence those who have risen in arms against the parent government exert every effort to obtain for themselves the status of belligerency, since the recognition of the belligerency of a party, not a state, bestows all the rights of war of an established state. The usual manner of notifying neutrals of the existence of a state of war is by public procla mation and the most common method employed by outside states to recognize belligerency is the issuance of a proclamation of neutrality which states the attitude of the maker thereof toward the belligerents. (See DECLAMATION or WAR). Under the rules of modern warfare, belligerents must respect the lives and prop erty of non-combatants, must refrain from in flicting any more damage than is absolutely necessary to accomplish victory, and must not employ cruel methods of warfare or use bar barous weapons. Upon occupying conquered territory the dominant belligerent may require the submission of the inhabitants; in the European War Germany imposed numerous fines not only on private citizens but also on established communities for real or alleged disobedience of commands or for hostility dis played by the inhabitants. (See CONQUEST, RIGHT or). Under international law, neutrals and their goods, ships, commerce, etc., are sup posed to be exempt from the dangers and in juries wrought by the war, provided they adhere strictly to a policy of neutrality as regards the belligerents. See NEUTRALITY.
When one community is in rebellion against the parent state (as in the Revolutionary War) or a revolutionary party or section wages war against the general government (as in the Civil War) a more difficult question arises. If a
nation or state recognize the belligerency of a community outside the family of nations, that community, so far as the rights of war are concerned, has an international status as re gards the nation or state which recognizes it. If foreign nations recognize the belligerency of a community within the territorial area of an established state, then such community has international standing, but, if not, its acts of war are technically acts of piracy, it has no belligerent rights, nor can foreign states be compelled to recognize its blockades or receive its vessels in their ports. (See BLOCKADE). If the parent government recognize the bellig erency of the revolted then a state of belligerency exists for all nations, but if the government refuse to recognize the revolution ary section and another nation do so, then for the latter a state of belligerency exists and other nations must take cognizance of the ex istence of such a status between the recognized and the recognizing parties. It is not necessary that the parent government recognize a revolt ing community by a .formal declaration, but the existence of war may be made known by an act of less formal character (such as a blockade proclamation or a call for volunteers to suppress rebellion) as was the case in the Civil War. The conferring of belligerent rights on a revolting community by a neutral state does not carry with it the recognition by that state of the independence of the insurgent gov ernment; such recognition vvould imply that the parent government cannot subdue the rebellion and hence, being premature, might be regarded by the parent government as a cause for war against the state making such recognition. No insurgent may claim as a right the recognition of a status of belligerency; it is merely a question of expediency which the neutral state must decide for itself ; such recognition may be granted for any reason or reasons deemed suffi cient by the grantor, whether they be wholly selfish or humanitarian or dictated by a fixed international policy. But there are two con ditions that a neutral must find e3cistent before granting belligerent rights, viz., a civil govern ment in the rebellious community exercising de facto authority in a definite territory and a state of hostilities between such de facto govern ment and the parent government. These mil itary operations need not be of great extent, but if the rebellion should have assumed enor mous proportions and be of such a formidable character as to affect outside interests, neutral states may consider that the demand for a recognition of belligerency has become con clusive.