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Open city

{{Short description|City declared to be undefended in war}}

{{other uses}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2016}}

File:Manila declared open city.jpg was declared an open city in December 1941 to avoid its destruction as Imperial Japan invaded the Commonwealth of the Philippines]]

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 to peacefully occupy the city rather than destroy it.

The concept of an open city emerged during World War I, where cities were declared demilitarized in an attempt to avoid destruction. Protocol I of the Geneva Conventions forbids the attacking party to "attack, by any means whatsoever, non-defended localities".{{cite wikisource |title=Protocol I |wslink=Geneva_Convention/Protocol_I |year=1977}} The intent is to protect the city's civilians 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.Murphy, Paul I. and Arlington, R. Rene. (1983) La Popessa: The Controversial Biography of Sister Pasqualina, the Most Powerful Woman in Vatican History. New York: Warner Books Inc. {{ISBN|0-446-51258-3}}, p. 210 In some cases, the declaration of a city to be open is made by a side on the verge of surrender and defeat; 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:

  • Kraków was left undefended (except for some small local units) after the Polish 6th Infantry Division marched by the city to the nearby Niepołomice Forest 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 entered the city the next day.{{Cite web|url=http://www.krakowpost.com/1531/2009/09|title=September 1939 Remembered|first=William|last=Br|date=2 September 2009}}
  • Brussels was declared an open city by the Belgian government on 17 May 1940 during the Battle of Belgium, and was occupied by the Germans.{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MmVtBQAAQBAJ&q=%22declared+open+city%22+-manila+-paris+-rome&pg=PA35 | title=Belgium in the Second World War | publisher=Pen and Sword | author=Veranneman, Jean-Michel | year=2014 | pages=35 | isbn=978-1783376070}}
  • Paris was declared an open city by the French government on 11 June 1940 during the Battle of France, as the government moved to Bordeaux.{{cite book | title=Ratni memoari: Poziv, 1940–1942 | publisher=Prosveta, Državna založba Slovenije | author=de Gaulle, Charles | author-link=Charles de Gaulle | year=1968 | location=Belgrade/Ljubljana | pages=53 | volume=1 | language=sr |trans-title=War Memoirs: Call to Honour, 1940–1942}}{{cite journal | url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=sp9NAAAAIBAJ&pg=5113%2C3627248 | title=Paris Declared Open City As Nazis Reach Suburbs | date=13 June 1940 | journal=The Virgin Islands Daily News | issue=2642 | pages=1}}
  • Belgrade was declared open on 5 April 1941 by the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, just before the German invasion of Yugoslavia. The Wehrmacht did not respect the open city status and heavily bombed the city.{{cite book | title=Istorija Jugoslavije 1918-1978 | publisher=Nolit | author=Petranović, Branko | year=1987 | location=Belgrade | pages=184 |trans-title=History of Yugoslavia 1918-1978}}
  • Manila was declared an open city on 26 December 1941 by US general Douglas MacArthur during the Japanese invasion of the Philippines.{{cite journal | title=Manila Declared 'Open City' | journal=Chicago Daily Tribune | volume=C | issue=309 | pages=1 | date=26 December 1941}} However, the United States Armed Forces were still using the city for logistical purposes.{{cite web|url=https://www.historynet.com/manila-how-open-was-this-open-city-january-98-world-war-ii-feature.htm|title=Manila: How Open Was This Open City?|author=John W. Whitman|date=January 1998|website=Historynet}} The Imperial Japanese Army therefore ignored the declaration and bombed the city.{{cite journal | url=http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2825808/posts | title=Japanese Bombs Fire Open City Of Manila; Civilian Toll Heavy; Invaders Gain In Luzon | journal=The New York Times | volume=XCI | issue=30,654 | pages=1 | date=28 December 1941}}
  • Batavia (now Jakarta) 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.{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wCkXWI5p5XcC&q=%22open+city%22&pg=PA112 | title=Chronology and Index of the Second World War, 1938-1945 | publisher=Royal Institute of International Affairs | year=1947 | pages=112 | isbn=9780887365683}}
  • Rome was declared open on 14 August 1943 by the Italian government{{cite journal | url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article56287480 | title=Rome Declared Open City | journal=The Morning Bulletin | issue=24,926 | pages=1 | date=16 August 1943}} following the cessation of Allied bombing.{{cite web |url= http://www.theboot.it/preface_open_city.htm |title=An Excerpt from The Battle for Rome: 'Open City' |first=Robert|last=Katz |work=theboot.it |year=2007 |access-date=7 July 2011}} Subsequently, Allied forces entered Rome in June 1944 and retreating German forces also declared Florence and Chieti on 24 March 1944 open cities.
  • Athens was declared an open city by the Germans on 11 October 1944.{{Cite web|url=http://www.bletchleypark.net/ww2/ww2-1944.html|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20061002165549/http://www.bletchleypark.net/ww2/ww2-1944.html|url-status=dead|title=World War II Chronology 1944|archivedate=2 October 2006}}
  • Hamburg was declared open on 3 May 1945 by the Germans and was immediately occupied by the British Army.{{cite journal | url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article56382929 | title=Hamburg Declared Open City; British Occupy It | date=4 May 1945 | journal=The Morning Bulletin | issue=25,442 | pages=1}}

=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, so that in the event of war, they would be legally forced to welcome any invasion.Hiromichi Ikegami et al. "Let's protect Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution by declaring ourselves Defenseless Cities!" Municipality Research Company, 2006. {{ISBN|4880374504}} (無防備地域宣言で憲法9条のまちをつくる) {{in lang|ja}} 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.Prime Minister of Japan. [https://web.archive.org/web/20070112065714/http://www.kantei.go.jp/k/houan/buryoku/0304/q27.html Is it possible for a city to declare itself an "defenseless"?] {{in lang|ja}} However, the Social Democratic Party—which was the junior party of the ruling coalition from 1994 to 1996—supported it.月刊社会民主(Social Democrat Monthly), vol. 620, p. 8. 社会民主党全国連合機関紙宣伝局 (Social Democratic Party, National Alliance Communications Department){{when|Date not clear in cite|date=October 2021}}

Nevertheless, four wards of Tokyo and Kagoshima City, Japan's southernmost port, among many other cities considered{{when|Date not clear in cite}|date=January 2015}} 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

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Footnotes

{{Reflist|2}}

Category:Cities

Category:Law of war

Category:World War II