A defensive war (german: Verteidigungskrieg
) is one of the causes that justify war by the criteria of the
Just War
The just war theory ( la, bellum iustum) is a doctrine, also referred to as a tradition, of military ethics which is studied by military leaders, theologians, ethicists and policy makers. The purpose of the doctrine is to ensure that a war i ...
tradition. It means a war where at least one nation is mainly trying to defend itself from another, as opposed to a war where both sides are trying to invade and conquer each other.
History
American supporters of war against the British argued that the
War of 1812
The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States, United States of America and its Indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom ...
was a defensive war.
Views
The Islamic scholar
Sufyan al-Thawri (716–778), who was called by
Majid Khadduri
Majid Khadduri (Arabic: مجيد خدوري) (September 27, 1909 – January 25, 2007) was an Iraqi–born academic. He was founder of the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies Middle East Studies program, a division of John ...
(1909–2007) a pacifist, maintained that ''
jihad'' (holy war) was only a defensive war.
See also
* ''
Battleplan
{{italic title
''Battleplan'' is a 2006 military television documentary series examining various military strategies used in modern warfare since World War I. It is shown on the Military Channel in the U.S. and Yesterday. Each episode looks at pa ...
'' (documentary TV series)
References
Sources
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Wars by type
Warfare by type
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