Open city
Inwar,anopen cityis a settlement which has announced it has abandoned all defensive efforts, generally in the event of the imminent capture of thecityto avoid destruction. Once a city has declared itself open, the opposing military will be expected underinternational lawto peacefullyoccupythe city rather than destroy it. According to theProtocol Iof theGeneva Conventions,it is forbidden for the attacking party to "attack, by any means whatsoever, non-defended localities".[1]The intent is to protect the city'sciviliansand cultural landmarks from a battle which may be futile.
Attacking forces do not always respect the declaration of an "open city". Defensive forces will occasionally use the designation as a political tactic as well.[2]In some cases, the declaration of a city to be "open" is made by a side on the verge of defeat and surrender; in other cases, those making such a declaration are willing and able to fight on, but prefer that the specific city be spared. Often,resistance movementswill be active in open cities, straining the temperate conduct of the occupying forces.
Examples[edit]
Numerous cities were declared open cities duringWorld War II:
- Krakówwas left undefended (except for some small local units) after the Polish6th Infantry Divisionmarched by the city to the nearbyNiepołomice Forestto set new defensive lines during theGerman invasion of Poland.This led the Mayor of Kraków to declare it an open city on 5 September 1939. TheGerman Armyentered the city the next day.[3]
- Brusselswas declared an open city by the Belgian government on 17 May 1940 during theBattle of Belgium,and was occupied by the Germans.[4]
- Pariswas declared an open city by the French government on 11 June 1940 during theBattle of France,as the government relocated toBordeaux.[5][6]
- Belgradewas declared open on 5 April 1941 by theKingdom of Yugoslavia,just before the Germaninvasion of Yugoslavia.TheWehrmachtdid not respect the open city status andheavily bombed the city.[7]
- Manilawas declared an open city on 26 December 1941 by US generalDouglas MacArthurduring theJapanese invasion of the Philippines.[8]However, theUnited States Armed Forceswere still using the city for logistical purposes.[9]TheImperial Japanese Armytherefore ignored the declaration and bombed the city.[10]
- Batavia(nowJakarta) was declared an open city on 5 March 1942 after the remaining units of theRoyal Netherlands East Indies Armywere evacuated. TheJapanese occupied the citythe next day.[11]
- Romewas declared open on 14 August 1943 by the Italian government[12]following the cessation ofAllied bombing.[13]Subsequently, Allied forces entered Rome in June 1944 and retreating German forces also declaredFlorenceandChietion 24 March 1944 open cities.[13]
- Athenswas declared an open city by the Germans on 11 October 1944.[14]
- Hamburgwas declared open on 3 May 1945 by the Germans and was immediately occupied by theBritish Army.[15]
Post-World War II Japan[edit]
In 1977, a far-left group in Japan—called the "National Open City Declaration Movement Network" —began organizing activists to make cities preemptively declare themselves "defenseless" under theGeneva Convention,so that in the event of war, they would be legally forced to welcome any invasion.[16]This was rejected by nearly all of Japan's political parties and the ruling government as inherently absurd, since Japan was not in a war, and in the event of war such a decision would have to be approved by the national government.[17]However, theSocial Democratic Party—which was the junior party of the ruling coalition from 1994 to 1996—supported it.[18][when?]
Nevertheless, fourwards of TokyoandKagoshima City,Japan's southernmost port, among many other cities considered[when?]legislation to be declared "open cities".[19]
See also[edit]
- Laws of war
- Rome, Open City(Roma città aperta),an Italian film (1945) about Rome's days as an open city.
- Sana'a: An Open City,a Yemeni novel that narrates the sack of Sana'a in 1948.
Footnotes[edit]
- ^.1977 – viaWikisource.
- ^Murphy, Paul I. and Arlington, R. Rene. (1983) La Popessa: The Controversial Biography of Sister Pasqualina, the Most Powerful Woman in Vatican History. New York: Warner Books Inc.ISBN0-446-51258-3,p. 210
- ^Br, William (2 September 2009)."September 1939 Remembered".
- ^Veranneman, Jean-Michel (2014).Belgium in the Second World War.Pen and Sword. p. 35.ISBN978-1783376070.
- ^de Gaulle, Charles(1968).Ratni memoari: Poziv, 1940–1942[War Memoirs: Call to Honour, 1940–1942] (in Serbian). Vol. 1. Belgrade/Ljubljana: Prosveta, Državna založba Slovenije. p. 53.
- ^"Paris Declared Open City As Nazis Reach Suburbs".The Virgin Islands Daily News(2642): 1. 13 June 1940.
- ^Petranović, Branko (1987).Istorija Jugoslavije 1918-1978[History of Yugoslavia 1918-1978]. Belgrade: Nolit. p. 184.
- ^"Manila Declared 'Open City'".Chicago Daily Tribune.C(309): 1. 26 December 1941.
- ^John W. Whitman (January 1998)."Manila: How Open Was This Open City?".Historynet.
- ^"Japanese Bombs Fire Open City Of Manila; Civilian Toll Heavy; Invaders Gain In Luzon".The New York Times.XCI(30, 654): 1. 28 December 1941.
- ^Chronology and Index of the Second World War, 1938-1945.Royal Institute of International Affairs. 1947. p. 112.ISBN9780887365683.
- ^"Rome Declared Open City".The Morning Bulletin(24, 926): 1. 16 August 1943.
- ^abKatz, Robert (2007)."An Excerpt from The Battle for Rome: 'Open City'".theboot.it.Retrieved7 July2011.
- ^"World War II Chronology 1944".Archived fromthe originalon 2 October 2006.
- ^"Hamburg Declared Open City; British Occupy It".The Morning Bulletin(25, 442): 1. 4 May 1945.
- ^Hiromichi Ikegami et al. "Let's protectArticle 9 of the Japanese Constitutionby declaring ourselves Defenseless Cities! "Municipality Research Company, 2006.ISBN4880374504( vô phòng bị địa vực tuyên ngôn で hiến pháp 9 điều のまちをつくる)(in Japanese)
- ^Prime Minister of Japan.Is it possible for a city to declare itself an "defenseless"?(in Japanese)
- ^Nguyệt khan xã hội dân chủ (Social Democrat Monthly),vol. 620, p. 8. Xã hội dân chủ đảng toàn quốc liên hợp cơ quan chỉ tuyên vân cục (Social Democratic Party, National Alliance Communications Department)
- ^Nguyệt khan xã hội dân chủ (Social Democrat Monthly),vol. 596, p. 2. Xã hội dân chủ đảng toàn quốc liên hợp cơ quan chỉ tuyên vân cục (Social Democratic Party, National Alliance Communications Department)