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In war, an open city is a settlement which has announced it has abandoned all defensive efforts, generally in the event of the imminent capture of the city to avoid destruction. Once a city has declared itself open the opposing military will be expected under
international law International law (also known as public international law and the law of nations) is the set of rules, norms, and standards generally recognized as binding between states. It establishes normative guidelines and a common conceptual framework for ...
to peacefully occupy the city rather than destroy it. According to the Protocol I of the Geneva Conventions, it is forbidden for the attacking party to "attack, by any means whatsoever, non-defended localities". The intent is to protect the city's
civilian Civilians under international humanitarian law are "persons who are not members of the armed forces" and they are not "combatants if they carry arms openly and respect the laws and customs of war". It is slightly different from a non-combatant, ...
s and 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. 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 movements will be active in open cities, straining the temperate conduct of the occupying forces.


Examples

Numerous cities were declared open cities during World War II, most notably Paris: * Kraków was left undefended (except for some small local units) after the Polish
6th Infantry Division 6th Division may refer to: Infantry divisions *6th Division (Australia) * 6th Division (Austria) * 6th (United Kingdom) Division * Finnish 6th Division (Winter War) *Finnish 6th Division (Continuation War) * 6th Division (Reichswehr) *6th Divisio ...
marched by the city to the nearby
Niepołomice Forest Niepołomice Forest ( pl, Puszcza Niepołomicka) is a large forest complex in western part of Sandomierz Basin, about east of Kraków (center).Polish Journal of Environmental StudiesNiepołomice Forest (Southern Poland): Changes during 30 Year ...
to set new defensive lines during the German invasion of Poland. This led the Mayor of Kraków to declare it an open city on 5 September 1939. The
German Army The German Army (, "army") is the land component of the armed forces of Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German ''Bundeswehr'' together with the ''Marine'' (German Navy) and the ''Luftwa ...
entered the city the next day. *
Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
was declared an open city by the Belgian Government in 1940 during the
Battle of Belgium The invasion of Belgium or Belgian campaign (10–28 May 1940), often referred to within Belgium as the 18 Days' Campaign (french: Campagne des 18 jours, nl, Achttiendaagse Veldtocht), formed part of the greater Battle of France, an offensive ...
. It was later occupied by the Germans. * Paris was declared an open city by the French Government in June 1940 during the
Battle of France The Battle of France (french: bataille de France) (10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign ('), the French Campaign (german: Frankreichfeldzug, ) and the Fall of France, was the German invasion of France during the Second Wor ...
. *
Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; names in other languages) is the capital and largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and the crossroads of the Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. Nearly 1,166,763 m ...
was declared open in April 1941 by the
Kingdom of Yugoslavia The Kingdom of Yugoslavia ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Kraljevina Jugoslavija, Краљевина Југославија; sl, Kraljevina Jugoslavija) was a state in Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1941. From 1918 ...
, just before the Invasion of Yugoslavia. The German Wehrmacht did not respect the open city status and heavily bombed the city. * Manila was declared an open city on 26 December 1941 by US general
Douglas MacArthur Douglas MacArthur (26 January 18805 April 1964) was an American military leader who served as General of the Army for the United States, as well as a field marshal to the Philippine Army. He had served with distinction in World War I, was ...
during the
Japanese invasion of the Philippines Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...
. The Imperial Japanese Army ignored the declaration and bombed the city. However, the United States Armed Forces were still using the city for logistical purposes at the time of the bombings. * Batavia was declared an open city on 5 March 1942 after the remaining units of the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army were evacuated. The Japanese occupied the city the next day. * Rome was declared open on 14 August 1943 by the Italian government following the cessation of Allied bombing. Subsequently, Allied forces entered Rome in June 1944 and retreating German forces also declared Florence and
Chieti Chieti (, ; , nap, label= Abruzzese, Chjïétë, ; gr, Θεάτη, Theátē; lat, Theate, ) is a city and '' comune'' (municipality) in Central Italy, east by northeast of Rome. It is the capital of the province of Chieti in the Abruzzo regio ...
on 24 March 1944 "open cities". * Athens was declared an open city by the Germans on 11 October 1944. * Hamburg was declared open on 3 May 1945 by the Germans and was immediately occupied by the
British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gur ...
.


Post-World War II Japan

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 the
Geneva Convention upright=1.15, Original document in single pages, 1864 The Geneva Conventions are four treaties, and three additional protocols, that establish international legal standards for humanitarian treatment in war. The singular term ''Geneva Conve ...
, so that in the event of war, they would be legally forced to welcome any invasion. 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. However, the Social Democratic Party—which was the junior party of the ruling coalition from 1994 to 1996—supported it. Nevertheless, four wards of Tokyo and Kagoshima City, Japan's southernmost port, among many other cities considered} legislation to be declared "open cities".''月刊社会民主(Social Democrat Monthly)'', vol. 596, p. 2. 社会民主党全国連合機関紙宣伝局 (Social Democratic Party, National Alliance Communications Department)


See also

* Laws of war *'' Rome, Open City (Roma città aperta)'', an Italian film (1945) about Rome's days as an open city. *
Closed city A closed city or closed town is a settlement where travel or residency restrictions are applied so that specific authorization is required to visit or remain overnight. Such places may be sensitive military establishments or secret research ins ...


Footnotes

{{Reflist, 2 City Law of war