Kuldeep Singh Deep at 17:26, 30 November 2025

2025-11-30T17:26:24Z

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{{short description|Act of forceful subjugation}}
{{Other uses}}
[[File:Peter_Paul_Rubens_-_The_Triumph_of_Victory_-_WGA20328.jpg|thumb|''The Triumph of Victory'' by [[Peter Paul Rubens]] (painted {{circa | 1614}})]]
{{War}}

'''Conquest''' involves achieving control of another entity's territory through [[war]] or [[Coercion (international relations)|coercion]].<ref>{{Cite book |last= Fazal |first= Tanisha M. |url= https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400841448 |title= State Death |date= 2011 |publisher= Princeton University Press |isbn= 978-1-4008-4144-8}}</ref> Historically, conquests occurred frequently in the international system, and there were limited normative or legal prohibitions against conquest.<ref name=":1">{{Citation |last= Gotberg |first= Brook |title= The End of Conquest: Consolidating Sovereign Equality |date= 2008 |work= International Norms and Cycles of Change |editor-last= Sandholtz |editor-first= Wayne |url= https://academic.oup.com/book/2340/chapter-abstract/142497228?redirectedFrom=fulltext |publisher= Oxford University Press |isbn= 978-0-19-538008-8 |editor2-last= Stiles |editor2-first= Kendall}}</ref>

The onset and diffusion of [[nationalism]] (the belief that nation and state should be congruent), especially in the 19th century, made the idea of conquest increasingly unacceptable to popular opinion. Prohibitions against conquest were codified with the establishment of the [[League of Nations]] following [[World War I]] and of the [[United Nations]] at the end of [[World War II]].<ref name=":1" />

Scholars have debated the strength of a [[Social norm|norm]] against conquest since 1945.<ref name=":2">{{Citation |last1= Goertz |first1= Gary |title= The Development of Territorial Norms and the Norm against Conquest |date= 2016 |work= The Puzzle of Peace |url= https://oxford.universitypressscholarship.com/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199301027.001.0001/acprof-9780199301027-chapter-5 |publisher= Oxford University Press |doi= 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199301027.001.0001 |isbn= 978-0-19-930102-7 |last2= Diehl |first2= Paul F. |last3= Balas |first3= Alexandru}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last= Altman |first= Dan |date= 2020 |title= The Evolution of Territorial Conquest After 1945 and the Limits of the Territorial Integrity Norm |url= https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/international-organization/article/abs/evolution-of-territorial-conquest-after-1945-and-the-limits-of-the-territorial-integrity-norm/E81D1E3F2C34CB00D8501BFDB363A1AD |journal=International Organization |language= en |volume= 74 |issue=3 |pages=490–522 |doi=10.1017/S0020818320000119 |issn=0020-8183 |s2cid= 226467742|url-access= subscription }}</ref> Conquest of large swaths of territory has been rare since the end of World War II.<ref name=":0" /> However, states have continued to pursue annexation of small territories.<ref name=":0" />

==History==
[[Military history]] provides many examples of conquest: the [[Roman conquest of Britain]], the [[Seleucid–Mauryan War|Mauryan conquest of Afghanistan]] and of vast areas of the [[Indian subcontinent]], the [[Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire]] and various [[Early Muslim conquests|Muslim conquests]], to mention just a few.

The [[Norman conquest of England]] led to the subjugation of the [[Kingdom of England]] to Norman control and brought [[William I of England|William the Conqueror]] to the [[State crown|English throne]] in 1066. Conquest may link in some ways with [[colonialism]]. England, for example, experienced phases and areas of [[Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain | Anglo-Saxon]], [[Viking expansion |Viking]] and [[Normans |Franco-Norman]] colonisation and conquest.

The ancient civilized peoples conducted [[war]]s on a large scale that were, in effect, conquests.<ref>''[https://books.google.com/books?as_q=&num=100&btnG=Google+Search&as_epq=&as_oq=&as_eq=&as_pt=ALLTYPES&as_vt=Cambridge+Ancient+History&as_auth=&as_pub=&as_sub=&as_isbn=&as_issn= Cambridge Ancient History]''. Vol I pg. 261, 519; Vol III, 99, 100-101 {{ISBN|0-521-85073-8}}</ref> In [[Ancient Egypt|Egypt]] the effects of invasion and conquest are to be seen in different racial types represented in paintings and sculptures.<ref>Petrie, W. [https://books.google.com/books?id=llIEGwAACAAJ&q=Races+of+Early+Egypt Races of Early Egypt]. JAI XXX, 103.</ref>

Improved [[agriculture]] production was not conducive to [[peace]]; it allowed for [[Division of labour|specialization]] which included the formation of ever-larger militaries and improved [[weapon]] [[technology]]. This, combined with growth of [[population]] and [[political]] control, meant war became more widespread and destructive.<ref>Sumner, W. 1914. [https://books.google.com/books?id=Jg78GAAACAAJ&q=intitle:war+inauthor:sumner ''War''] Pg. 3.</ref> Thus, the [[Aztec Empire|Aztec]]s; [[Inca]]s; the African Kingdoms [[Dahomey]] and [[Benin Empire|Benin]]; and the ancient civilizations of [[Ancient Egypt|Egypt]], [[Babylonia]], [[Assyria]] and [[Ancient Iran|Persia]] all stand out as more [[militarism|militaristic]] than the less organized societies around them. Military adventures were on a larger scale and effective conquest for the first time became feasible.

The [[Ottoman Empire|Ottomans]] used a method of gradual, non-military conquest in which they established [[suzerainty]] over their neighbours and then displaced their ruling [[dynasty|dynasties]]. This concept was first systematized by [[Halil İnalcık]].<ref>{{citation |author=Pál Fodor |title=In quest of the golden apple: imperial ideology, politics, and military administration in the Ottoman Empire |page=111 |year=2000}}</ref> Conquests of this sort did not involve violent revolution but were a process of slow [[Cultural assimilation|assimilation]], established by bureaucratic means such as [[census|registers of population and resources]] as part of the feudal ''[[timar]]'' system.<ref>{{citation |author=Halil Inalcik |title=Ottoman Methods of Conquest |journal=Studia Islamica |issue=2 |pages=103–129 |year=1954 |doi=10.2307/1595144 |jstor=1595144}}</ref>

=== Norms against conquest ===
Scholars have debated the existence of a norm against conquest since 1945.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":0" /> Conquest of large swaths of territory has been rare, but states have since 1945 continued to pursue annexation of small swaths of territory.<ref name=":0" />

The [[Russo-Ukrainian War]] can be considered a contemporary example of a war of conquest, taking into account that during the conflict there was, even if illegally in the eyes of international law, the [[Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation|Russian annexation of Crimea]] and [[Russian annexation of Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia oblasts|parts of four southeast Ukrainian oblasts]] in 2014 and 2022, respectively.<ref>{{cite news |last1=MacFarquhar |first1=Neil |date=17 March 2024 |title=Five Takeaways From Putin's Orchestrated Win in Russia |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/17/world/europe/russia-election-putin-takeaways.html |work=The New York Times}}</ref> On the Russian precedent, Tanisha Fazal writes,<blockquote>Norms die slowly. Attempted land grabs as big and brazen as Russia’s in 2022 are likely to remain rare, at least for now. But as aggressors go more or less unpunished, states may increasingly act on territorial claims in murky jurisdictions—those least likely to trigger a significant international response. These small-scale attacks may prove most damaging to the norm against territorial conquest. As violence ticks up, the larger web of rules and institutions that make up the international system could begin to come undone. Although far from inevitable, the norm’s demise would leave the world in dangerous terrain.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Fazal |first=Tanisha M. |date=2025 |title=Conquest Is Back |url=https://www.foreignaffairs.com/russia/conquest-back |website=Foreign Affairs |language=en}}</ref></blockquote>

==Leading to migration==
Military conquest has been one of the most persistent causes of human [[Human migration|migrations]].<ref>Howitt, A. 1910. [https://books.google.com/books?id=jVsgQwAACAAJ&q=intitle:native+intitle:tribes+inauthor:howitt ''Native Tribes'']. pg. 185-186, 678, 682-683</ref> There is a significant influence of migration and conquest on political development and state formation. Conquest leading to migration has contributed to race mixture and cultural exchange. The latter points influence on conquest has been of far greater significance in the evolution of society. Conquest brings humans into contact, even though it is a hostile contact.

==Plunder==
[[File:Bayeux Tapestry scene55 William Hastings battlefield.jpg|thumb|[[William the Conqueror]] leads his troops at the [[Battle of Hastings]], 1066, [[Bayeux Tapestry]].]]
[[Looting]] by a victorious army during war has been a common practice throughout recorded history.<ref name=":02">{{Cite journal |last=Sandholtz |first=Wayne |date=2008 |title=Dynamics of International Norm Change: Rules against Wartime Plunder |url=https://doi.org/10.1177/1354066107087766 |journal=European Journal of International Relations |language=en |volume=14 |issue=1 |pages=101–131 |doi=10.1177/1354066107087766 |issn=1354-0661 |s2cid=143721778|url-access=subscription }}</ref> In the wake of the [[Napoleonic Wars]] and particularly after [[World War II]], norms against wartime plunder became widely accepted.<ref name=":02" /> In modern [[Armed conflict|armed conflicts]], looting is prohibited by [[international law]], and constitutes a [[war crime]].<ref name="ICRC">[https://ihl-databases.icrc.org/customary-ihl/eng/docs/v1_rul_rule52 Rule 52. Pillage is prohibited.], ''Customary IHL Database'', [[International Committee of the Red Cross]] (ICRC)/[[Cambridge University Press]].</ref><ref>[[Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907#Hague Convention of 1899|Hague Convention on the Law and Customs of War on Land]] (Hague II), [https://avalon.law.yale.edu/19th_century/hague02.asp article 28].</ref>

==The state==
[[File:1871 Vereshchagin Apotheose des Krieges anagoria.JPG|thumb|[[Vasily Vereshchagin]], ''[[The Apotheosis of War]]'', 1871; dedicated "to all conquerors, past, present and to come", a pile of skulls in a wasteland.]]
In the formation of the modern state, the conspicuous immediate causes are the closely related facts of [[human migration|migration]] and conquest.<ref>Jenks, E. 1919. [https://books.google.com/books?id=zryaaMdLEfYC ''The State and the Nation'']. pg. 121, 133, 152</ref> The state has increased civilization and allowed increased cultural contact allowing for a cultural exchange and stimulus; frequently the conquerors have taken over the culture of their subjects.<ref>Wissler, C. 1923. [https://books.google.com/books?id=845sAAAAIAAJ&q=intitle:man+intitle:and+intitle:culture+inauthor:wissler Man and Culture]. pg 42, 179.</ref>

==Subjugation==
With subjugation, further class distinctions arise. The conquered people are enslaved; thus the widest possible social classes are produced: the [[slave|enslaved]] and the free. The slaves are put to work to support the upper classes, who regard war as their chief business.<ref>Gumplowicz, L. 1909. [https://books.google.com/books?id=OcHwQAAACAAJ&q=intitle:Der+intitle:Rassenkampf ''Der Rassenkampf'']{{Dead link|date=December 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} pg. 163-175, 179-181, 219-238, 250-259</ref> The state is in origin a product of war and exists primarily as an enforced peace between conquerors and conquered.<ref>Keller, G. 1902. [https://books.google.com/books?id=fOg7QwAACAAJ&q=intitle:Homeric+intitle:Society+inauthor:Keller ''Homeric society''] pg. 248</ref> From slavery and from conquest, another result of war, sprang differentiation of classes and occupations termed the [[division of labour]].<ref>Nieboer, H. 1900. [https://books.google.com/books?id=ZHp9QwAACAAJ&q=intitle:slavery+inauthor:nieboer ''Slavery as an industrial system''].</ref> Through conquest, society became divided into a ruling militant class and a subject industrial class. The regulative function devolved upon the conquering soldiers and operations side to the [[serf]]s and slaves.

==Recapture==
The [[self-defence in international law|right of countries to engage in self-defence]] against a [[war of aggression]] is enshrined in the Article 51 of the [[Charter of the United Nations|UN Charter]].<ref name="j161"/> [[Military occupation]] can be seen as a continued attack against the [[self-determination]] of the occupied country. Some argue the right to armed recapture of illegally occupied territories increases with the passage of time.<ref name="j161">{{cite journal | last=Akande | first=Dapo | last2=Tzanakopoulos | first2=Antonios | title=Legal: Use of Force in Self-Defence to Recover Occupied Territory | journal=European Journal of International Law | volume=32 | issue=4 | date=31 December 2021 | issn=0938-5428 | doi=10.1093/ejil/chab109 | doi-access=free | pages=1299–1307 | url=https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:09b60629-e627-47f1-8cb1-3f8b9bcf3b88/files/sfx719p271}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Wiktionary|conquest}}
*[[Decolonization]]
*[[Invasion]]
*[[Right of conquest]]
*[[Victory]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

[[Category:Military occupation]]
[[Category:Annexation]]

Conquest - Revision history

Kuldeep Singh Deep at 17:26, 30 November 2025