Military occupation

{{imperialism}}
A '''military occupation''' begins with the takeover of a [[nation]]'s territory, either partially or fully. A government run by the invading military is established and the ''de jure'' government is expelled. Military occupations are illegal under international law and the law of the invaded country.<ref>[https://guide-humanitarian-law.org/content/article/3/occupied-territory/ Doctor's Without Borders], Retrieved on November 22, 2023.</ref> An occupation is often followed by annexation of a territory by the invading country.<ref>[https://www.europarl.europa.eu/thinktank/en/document/EXPO_STU(2015)534995 European Parliament], Retrieved on November 22, 2023.</ref> Under the Geneva Convention, the [[human rights]] of the people in occupied territories must be upheld (although this is not usually the case).<ref>[https://www.icrc.org/en/doc/war-and-law/treaties-customary-law/geneva-conventions/overview-geneva-conventions.htm ICRC], Retrieved on November 29, 2023.</ref>

==Understanding military occupation==
To understand why military occupation takes place, one must know the justifications for the illegal seizure of land. Reasons behind carrying out an occupation from the more tame reason of preventing an (actual) [[ethnic cleansing]] and/or [[genocide]] to imposing a foreign culture and [[religion]] on a native population.<ref>[https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/occupation-military Encyclopedia], Retrieved on November 23, 2023.</ref> Sometimes countries will just invent reasons to invade and occupy a territory. An example of this was when [[Russia]] seized the Autonomous Republic of Crimea from [[Ukraine]] and created separatist entities in the Donbas region in Ukraine. Specifically, the reason given was to "[[Bullshit|protect Russian people from genocide]]"; all without evidence.<ref>[https://www.eeas.europa.eu/delegations/china/disinformation-about-russias-invasion-ukraine-debunking-seven-myths-spread-russia_en?s=166 European Union], Retrieved on November 23, 2023.</ref>

====Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907====
The Hague Conventions are the foundation for the rules of war. The first Hague Convention states that militaries may not engage in extensive expansion and reduces the number of how many armaments a military may have. The first convention failed to be ratified. Despite the failure of the convention, it gave a foundation for the rules of war. The second convention, proposed by US President [[Theodore Roosevelt]] and officially convinced by Emperor Nicholas II of Russia. In the second convention, the limitations the quantity of armaments was not accepted. However, the rights of neutral parties and civilians was agreed upon.<ref>[https://www.britannica.com/event/Hague-Conventions Britannica], Retrieved on November 23, 2023.</ref>

====Occupations in the past====
Human civilization has had a long history of military occupations. During the [[Roman Empire]], Emperor Claudius launched a successful invasion of [[Britain]]. The invasion took place over a period of 45 years. The motivation behind the invasion was the belief that the Romans had the right to "civilize" indigenous people and force them to worship their [[Classical mythology|gods]].<ref>[https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/learn/story-of-england/romans/invasion/ English Heritage], Retrieved on November 22, 2023.</ref> When European colonists arrived in North America they had engaged in violent conflicts with the [[Native Americans|indigenous peoples]] of the region and took over their land; under modern terminology this would be an example of both military occupation and settler [[colonialism]].<ref>[https://www.loc.gov/collections/pioneering-the-upper-midwest/articles-and-essays/history-of-the-upper-midwest-overview/indians-at-the-time-of-contact/ Retrieved on November 22, 2023], additional text.</ref>

For instances of military occupations in the more recent past, [[Israel]] occupied Southern [[Lebanon]] between 1985 to 2000 in response to [[Palestinian]] militancy launched from the region.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/10/17/beyond-hezbollah-the-history-of-tensions-between-lebanon-and-israel|title=Beyond Hezbollah: The history of tensions between Lebanon and Israel|last=Salhani|first=Justin|date=October 17, 2023|publisher=''[[Al Jazeera]]''}}</ref> One notable [[war crime]] that took place during this period, the {{wpl|Sabra and Shatila massacre||,}} was committed by Israeli proxy forces during this occupation with support from the IDF.<ref>{{wpl|Robert Fisk||,}} [https://books.google.com/books?id=VrXpeELOUNsC&pg=PA374 ''Pity the Nation: Lebanon at War''], Oxford University Press 2001 pp. 382–383.</ref><ref>{{wpl|William B. Quandt||,}} [https://books.google.com/books?id=-rmCPnSghbcC&pg=PA256 ''Peace Process: American Diplomacy and the Arab-Israeli Conflict Since 1967''], University of California Press p. 266</ref><ref>{{wpl|Yossi Alpher||,}} [https://books.google.com/books?id=eCxyBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA48 ''Periphery: Israel’s Search for Middle East Allies''], Rowman & Littlefield, 2015 p. 48</ref><ref>{{wpl|Nathan Gonzalez||,}} [https://books.google.com/books?id=HypnAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA113 ''The Sunni-Shia Conflict: Understanding Sectarian Violence in the Middle East''], Nortia Media Ltd,  2013 p. 113.</ref> [[Hezbollah]] also initially formed, with funding from [[Iran]], to resist the Israeli occupation.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20061004071247/http://www.ict.org.il/Articles/Hiz_letter.htm Hezbollah's manifesto]</ref><ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4314423.stm "Who are Hezbollah"] - [[BBC]]</ref>

====Current and ongoing military occupations====
[[File:1605384904782.jpg|thumb|Polisario's Sahrawi People's Liberation Army fighting against Moroccan occupation forces]]
Currently, there are still multiple ongoing military occupations. These include:

*The [[Ukrainian]] territories of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, Donetsk Oblast, Luhansk Oblast, Kherson Oblast and Zaporizhzhia Oblast by Russia.

*The Palestinian territories of the Gaza Strip, East Jerusalem and the West Bank by Israel. Palestinian Arabs live under a brutal [[apartheid]] regime where many living under occupation are dependent on foreign aid. <ref>[https://www.unocha.org/occupied-palestinian-territory UCHA], Retrieved on November 26, 2023.</ref><ref>[https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/campaigns/2022/02/israels-system-of-apartheid/ Israel's Apartheid Against Palestinians] (February 1, 2022) ''Amnesty International''.</ref>

*The [[Syrian]] territory of the Golan Heights by Israel.<ref>[https://www.fdd.org/analysis/2020/01/27/occupied-elsewhere/ Foundation to Defend Democracies], Retrieved on November 22, 2023.</ref> 

*[[Western Sahara]] is a Non-Self Governing Territory that is listed as ''de jure'' colonized by Morocco by the [[United Nations]].<ref>[https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/north-africa-west-asia/world-s-last-colony-morocco-continues-occupation-of-western-sahara-in-de/ The world’s last colony: Morocco continues occupation of Western Sahara, in defiance of UN] by 
Nizar Visram (13 April 2017) ''Open Democracy''.</ref> After Spain unilaterally withdrawn from the territory Morocco invaded and annexed the territory as the ''Southern Provinces''. The Sahawari people proclaimed the "Sahawari Arab Democratic Republic" in exile. Despite being an occupied territory, the UN doesn't recognize either territorial claim. To add to the mess a UN peacekeeping team meant to set the conditions for an independence referendum but they are essentially powerless.<ref>[https://arabcenterdc.org/resource/the-polisario-front-morocco-and-the-western-sahara-conflict/ Arab Center], Retrieved on November 26, 2023.</ref>

*The ''de jure'' [[Georgia (country)|Georgian territories]] of [[South Ossetia]] and [[Abkhazia]] by the [[Russian Federation]]. Declared independence in 1991 by Russian backed separatists then fully occupied by Russian soldiers in 2008. <ref>[https://www.csce.gov/publications/russian-occupation-south-ossetia-and-abkhazia/ OSCE], Retrieved on February 2, 2024 .</ref>

====Use of proxies in an occupation====
In the Russo-[[Georgia (country)|Georgian]] War of 2008, the Russian military had used the relatively new concept of proxy warfare. Specifically the Russian military had backed the separatist enclaves of [[Abkhazia]] and [[South Ossetia]]. This resulted in a Russian victory.<ref>[https://warontherocks.com/2018/09/russian-performance-in-the-russo-georgian-war-revisited/ War on the Rocks], Retrieved on November 23, 2023.</ref>

The tactic of using proxies was used in the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian War. After the Revolution of Dignity (a.k.a., Maidan Revolution), the Russian government sowed unrest in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and eastern Ukraine by exploiting grievances of the population. Russian forces invaded Crimea using regular forces, unmarked soldiers and pro-Russian militants. They staged an illegal referendum on declaring independence and the unification with Russia. Not long after Russia annexed Crimea and set up the separatist entities of the Donetsk and Luhansk [[Irony|People's Republics]].<ref>[https://www.justsecurity.org/80314/russias-occupation-by-proxy-of-eastern-ukraine-implications-under-the-geneva-conventions/ Just Security], Retrieved on November 23, 2023.</ref>

==Effects of a military occupation==
The effects of an occupation be very serious on [[education]], [[civil rights]], [[economy]], infrastructure and communication. In a country whose territory is being controlled by another country, schools are often used by hostile militaries as a base of operations. This is illegal under international law. Students and teachers in these schools are often victims sexual violence, physical violence and recruitment. Parents often keep their kids home from school due to this risk.<ref>[https://reliefweb.int/report/world/soldiers-schools-impact-military-occupations-education Relief Web], Retrieved on November 23, 2023.</ref> Occupation by an invading army often leads to human rights abuses. During the ongoing Russian invasion and occupation of Ukrainian territories, many human rights violations occurred. These range from the use of cluster munitions to intentionally attacking civilian areas (the latter, a [[war crime]]).<ref>[https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/03/16/early-signs-war-crimes-and-human-rights-abuses-committed-russian-military-during HRW], Retrieved on November 29, 2023.</ref> Another example from the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian War is the Filtration Camps which are passed off as "[[Bullshit|checkpoints]]" (the name is [[Nazi Germany|as ominous as it sounds]]). These camps are located in schools, churches, sports venues and other buildings in occupied territories. People who went through the "filtration process" undergone biometric scans, hours of questioning, beatings, sexual abuse, starvation and their children being kidnapped. Many were coerced into admitting to having ties to the Ukrainian military or nationalists groups; all of this is considered crimes against humanity. <ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jun/12/ukrainians-who-fled-to-georgia-reveal-details-of-russias-filtration-camps The Guardian], Retrieved on December 3, 2023.</ref> <ref>[https://www.hrw.org/report/2022/09/01/we-had-no-choice/filtration-and-crime-forcibly-transferring-ukrainian-civilians Human Rights Watch], Retrieved on December 3, 2023.</ref>

==References==
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[[Category:Irredentism]]
[[Category: Military]]
[[Category: Political terms]]
[[Category: Crimes against humanity]]

Categories: Irredentism,  Military,  Political terms,  Crimes against humanity