List of military occupations - Definition and Overview

Introduction

In most wars some territory is placed under the martial law of a hostile army, most belligerent military occupations end with the cessation of hostilities. In some cases the occupied territory is returned and in others the land remains under the control of the occupying power but usually not as militaryly occupied territory.

For the purposes of this list only military occupations since the customary laws of belligerent military occupation were first clarified and supplemented by the Hague Convention of 1907 Laws and Customs of War on Land (Hague IV); October 18, 1907 (http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/lawofwar/hague04.htm) will be included.

Examples of UN mandated military occupations

Examples of other foreign none belligerent military occupations

• Nigerian lead ECOWAS intervention to end the civil war in Liberia in 1990
• Nigerian lead ECOMOG intervention to end the civil war in Sierra Leone. The Organisation of African Unity endorsed the Nigerian lead West African peacekeeping force in 1998.

Examples of belligerent military occupations

• Occupation of Belgium and West France by German Empire in World War I
• Occupation of parts of the Russian Empire by German Empire in World War I
• Occupation of parts of Italy by Austro-Hungarian Empire in World War I
• Occupation of large parts of Turkish Empire by the Allies during World War I
• Occupation of German colonies by the Allies during World War I
• Occupation of Manchuria by Japan during the Sino-Japanese War
• Occupation of (other) parts of China by Japan during the Sino-Japanese War
• Occupation of Ethiopia by Italy
• Occupation of Czechoslovakia starting in 1938
• Occupation of Baltic Republics by the Soviet Union 1940-1941¹
• Occupation of Eastern Poland in 1939 by the Soviet Union
• Occupation of parts of Finland during the Winter War by the Soviet Union
• Occupation of parts of the Soviet Union and Finland during the Continuation War.
• Occupation of many parts of Europe by the Third Reich during World War II many of them ceased to be "belligerent military occupations" with the instalation of sympathetic quisling (supplicant) governments
  • Occupation of Poland by Nazi Germany ²
  • Occupation of Denmark
  • Occupation of Norway
  • Occupation of Belgium
  • Occupation of the Netherlands
  • Occupation of Luxembourg (1940-1945)
  • Occupation of Northern France
  • Occupation of the Channel Islands
  • Occupation of Jugoslavia Albania and Greece
  • Occupation of Baltic States
  • Occupation of parts of the Soviet Union
  • Occupation of parts of Italy (after Italy surrendered)
  • Occupation of Hungary (after change of Government)
• Occupation of the Italian colony of Eritrea by the Allies in 1941 until status changed to British protectorate.
• Occupation of Libya, Marocco, Algeria, Tunisia and parts of Italy by the Allies
• Occupation of many parts of Asia and the Pacific by Japan during World War II.
  • Occupation of more of mainland China
  • Occupation of Shanghai
  • Occupation of Hong Kong
  • Occupation of French Indochina
  • Occupation of parts of Siam (Thailand), until the government allied its self with Japan
  • Occuation of Malaya
  • Occupation of the Philippines
  • Occupation of of Borneo
  • Occupation of the Dutch East Indies
  • Occupation of most of Burma
  • Occupation of parts of New Guinea
• Occupation of Germany at the end of World War II in Europe followed by occupation under the Allied Control Council
• Occupation of Japan, by the United States (1945-1951)
• Occupation of parts of India and Pakistan during the Indo-Pakistani Wars 1947, 1956 and 1971
• Occupation of the Gaza Strip by Egypt
• Occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem by Jordan
• Occupation of parts of North and South Korea duing the Korean War
• Occupation of parts of Egypt by France, Britain, and Israel in 1956 during the Suez Crisis
• Occupation of Egypt's Sinai desert by Israel (1967-1982)
• Occupation of the Golan Heights by Israel (1967 - present) ³
• Occupation of East Jerusalem by Israel (1967 - present) ³
• Occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip by Israel (1967 - present)
• Occupation of Eritrea by Ethopia after UN mandated annexation faild.
• Occupation by South Africa of parts of Angola from 1975 (see History of Namibia)
• Occupation of Lebanon by Syria (1975-present)
• Occupation of East Timor, by Indonesia (1975-2002)
• Occupation of Western Sahara by Morocco (1976 - present)
• Occupation of parts of Uganda by Tanzania during the overthrow of Idi Amin 1978-1979
• Occupation of various parts of Lebanon by Israel (1978-2000)
• Occupation of parts of Cambodia during the Vietnamese invasion of Cambodia 1979
• Occupation of parts of Vietnam during the Chinese Invasion of Vietnam 1979
• Occupation of the Falkland Islands by Argentina during the Falklands War 1982
• Occupation of Kuwait by Iraq during the Gulf War (1990-1991)
• Occupation of parts of Eritrea and Ethiopia during the Eritrean–Ethiopian War of 1998–2002
• Occupation of parts of Democratic Republic of the Congo formally Zaire by Uganda, Ruanda, Zimbabwe, Angola, Namibia, Chad, and Sudan [1] (http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/cg.html)
• Occupation of Iraq, by the United States, United Kingdom, Poland and others: (2003 - 2004)

See also

• Military rule

Footnotes

¹Baltic states were annexed after world War II and the Allies accepted it as de facto if not de jure.

² Under the terms of two decrees by Hitler (October 8 and October 12, 1939), large areas of western Poland were annexed to Germany. Much of the rest of Poland was organized into the Generalgouvernement (General Government) of Poland, under German administration, while eastern Poland was annexed by the Soviet Union. The annexations were not recognized by any other nation.

³ The Golan Heights and East Jerusalem were annexed by Israel. However, these annexations have not been recognised by any other nation who consider them to be in violation of International Law () and therefore still regard them as being Israeli occupied.