Peace Treaty
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Peace Treaty
The Treaty of Versailles, signed at the conclusion of World War I

A peace treaty is an agreement between two or more hostile parties, usually countries or governments, which formally ends a state of war between the parties.[1] It is different from an armistice, which is an agreement to stop hostilities; a surrender, in which an army agrees to give up arms; or a ceasefire or truce, in which the parties may agree to temporarily or permanently stop fighting.

Elements of treaties

The content of a treaty usually depends on the nature of the conflict being concluded. In the case of large conflicts between numerous parties, there may be one international treaty covering all issues or separate treaties signed between each party.

There are many possible issues that may be included in a peace treaty such as the following:

In modern history, certain intractable conflict situations may be brought to a ceasefire before they are dealt with via a peace process in which a number of discrete steps are taken on each side to reach the mutually-desired eventual goal of peace and the signing of a treaty.

A peace treaty also is often not used to end a civil war, especially in cases of a failed secession, as it implies mutual recognition of statehood. In cases such as the American Civil War, it usually ends when the losing side's army surrenders and its government collapses. By contrast, a successful secession or declaration of independence is often formalized by means of a peace treaty.

Treaties are often ratified in territories deemed neutral in the previous[clarification needed] conflict and delegates from the neutral countries acting as witnesses to the signatories.

Role of the United Nations

Since its founding after World War II the United Nations has sought to act as a forum for resolution in matters of international conflict. A number of international treaties and obligations are involved in which member states seek to limit and control behavior during wartime. The action of declaring war is now very unlikely to be undertaken.

Peace treaty under the United Nations

Since the end of World War II, which was even more shocking than World War I, the United Nations Charter's Article 2, paragraph 4 - 9, has banned the use of military force.[2] The UN Charter allows only two exceptions: "military measures by UN Security Council resolutions" and "exercise of self-defense" in countries subjected to armed attacks in relation to the use of force by states. Under the current UN system, war is triggered only by the enforcement of military measures under UN Security Council resolutions or the exercise of self-defense rights against illegal armed attacks. In other words, the use of the term 'war' itself is being abandoned in the current international law system.

Therefore, if the use of military force arises, it is called 'international armed conflict' instead of 'war'. The fact that the current international law system avoids the use of the term 'war' also avoids the conclusion of a peace treaty based on the existence of war.[3] A peace treaty was not signed after the end of the Iraq War in 2003, and only the UN Security Council Resolution 1483, adopted on May 22, 2003, stipulated the postwar regime for the stability and security of Iraq exclusively.[4]

Post-conflict elections

One of the UN's roles in peace processes is to conduct post-conflict elections but, on the whole, they are thought to have no effect, or even a negative effect, on peace after civil war.[5][6][7]

However, when peace agreements transform rebel groups into political parties, the effect on peace is positive, especially if international interveners use their moments of power distribution to hold the former combatants to the terms of their peace agreement.[8][9]

Historic peace treaties

Ancient history

Tablet of one of the earliest recorded treaties in history, Treaty of Kadesh, at the Istanbul Archaeology Museum

Probably the earliest recorded peace treaty, although it is rarely mentioned or remembered, was between the Hittite Empire and the Hayasa-Azzi confederation, around 1350 BC. More famously, one of the earliest recorded peace treaties was concluded between the Hittite and the Egyptian Empires after the ca.1274 BC Battle of Kadesh (see Egyptian-Hittite peace treaty). The battle took place in what is modern-day Syria, the entire Levant being at that time contested between the two empires. After an extremely costly four-day battle, in which neither side gained a substantial advantage, both sides claimed victory. The lack of resolution led to further conflict between Egypt and the Hittites, with Ramesses II capturing the city of Kadesh and Amurru in his 8th year as king.[10] However, the prospect of further protracted conflict between the two states eventually persuaded both their rulers, Hatusili? III and Ramesses, to end their dispute and sign a peace treaty. Neither side could afford the possibility of a longer conflict since they were threatened by other enemies: Egypt was faced with the task of defending its long western border with Libya against the incursion of Libyan tribesmen by building a chain of fortresses stretching from Mersa Matruh to Rakotis, and the Hittites faced a more formidable threat in the form of the Assyrian Empire, which "had conquered Hanigalbat, the heartland of Mitanni, between the Tigris and the Euphrates" rivers, which had previously been a Hittite vassal state.[11]


The Treaty was concluded between Ramesses II and Hatusili? III in the twenty-first year of Ramesses' reign[12] (c.1258 BC). Its eighteen articles call for peace between Egypt and Hatti and then proceed to maintain that their respective people also demand peace. It contains many elements found in more modern treaties, but it is more far-reaching than later treaties' simple declaration of the end of hostilities. It also contains a mutual-assistance pact in the event that one of the empires should be attacked by a third party or in the event of internal strife. There are articles pertaining to the forced repatriation of refugees and provisions that they should not be harmed, which might be thought of as the first extradition treaty. There are also threats of retribution, should the treaty be broken.

The treaty is considered of such importance in the field of international relations that a replica of it hangs in the UN's headquarters.

Modern history

Famous examples include the Treaty of Paris (1815), signed after Napoleon's defeat at the Battle of Waterloo, and the Treaty of Versailles, formally ending the First World War between Germany and the Allies. Despite popular belief, the war did not end completely until the Allies concluded peace with the Ottoman Empire in 1919 at the Treaty of Sèvres.

The Treaty of Versailles is possibly the most notorious of peace treaties, and is blamed by many historians for the rise of National Socialism in Germany and the eventual outbreak of the Second World War in 1939. The costly reparations that Germany was forced to pay the victors, the fact that Germany had to accept sole responsibility for starting the war, and the harsh restrictions on German rearmament were all listed in the Treaty of Versailles and caused massive resentment in Germany. Whether or not the treaty can be blamed for starting another war, it exemplifies the difficulties involved in making peace. However, no such conflict resulted from the more punitive settlement with the Ottoman Empire.

Another famous example would be the series of peace treaties known as the Peace of Westphalia. It initiated modern diplomacy, involving the modern system of nation-states. Subsequent wars were no longer over religion but revolved around issues of state. That encouraged Catholic and Protestant powers to ally, leading to a number of major realignments.

The Korean War is an example of a conflict that was ended by an armistice, rather than a peace treaty with the Korean Armistice Agreement. However, that war has never technically ended, because a final peace treaty or settlement has never been achieved.[13]

A more recent example of a peace treaty is the 1973 Paris Peace Accords that sought to end the Vietnam War.

See also


  1. ^ Naraghi-Anderlini, Sanan (2007). "Peace Negotiations and Agreements" (PDF). Inclusive Security.
  2. ^ Randall Lesaffer, "Too Much History: from War as Sanction to the Sanctioning of War," in Marc Weller (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of the Use of Force in International Law (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2015), p. 37.
  3. ^ Mohammad Taghi Karoubi, Just or Unjust War?: International Law and Unilateral Use of Armed Force by States at the Turn of the 20th Century (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2004), p.103.
  4. ^ ""Is it necessary to sign the "Peace Agreement" on the Korean peninsula? pdf version - page 2 ~ 3 "" (in Korean). asaninst.org/. Retrieved .
  5. ^ Collier, Paul (2009). Wars, Guns, and Votes: Democracy in Dangerous Places3. New York: Harper Perennial.
  6. ^ Flores, Thomas Edward; Nooruddin, Irfan (30 March 2012). "The Effect of Elections on Post-Conflict Peace and Reconstruction". Journal of Politics. 74 (2): 558-570. JSTOR 10.1017/s0022381611001733.
  7. ^ Brancati, Dawn; Snyder, Jack (October 2013). "Time to Kill: The Impact of Election Timing and Sequencing on Post-Conflict Stability". Journal of Conflict Resolution. 57 (5): 822-853. doi:10.1177/0022002712449328.
  8. ^ Matanock, Aila M. (Spring 2017). "Bullets for Ballots: Electoral Participation Provisions and Enduring Peace after Civil Conflict" (PDF). International Security. 41 (4): 93-132. doi:10.1162/ISEC_a_00275.
  9. ^ Matanock, Aila M. (2017). Electing Peace: From Civil Conflict to Political Participation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781107189171.
  10. ^ Nicolas Grimal, A History of Ancient Egypt, Blackwell Books: 1992, pp.256-257
  11. ^ Grimal, op. cit., p.256
  12. ^ Grimal, op. cit., p.257
  13. ^ ""Is it necessary to sign the "Peace Agreement" on the Korean peninsula? pdf version - page 8 ~ 9 "" (in Korean). asaninst.org/. Retrieved .

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