This MedLibrary.org supplementary page on Non-belligerent is provided directly from the open source Wikipedia as a service to our readers. Please see the note below on authorship of this content, as well as the Wikipedia usage guidelines. To search for other content from our encyclopedia supplement, please use the form below:
Related Sponsors
A non-belligerent is a person who, or a state or other organization that does not fight in a given conflict. The term is often used to describe a country that does not take part militarily in a war. A non-belligerent state differs conceptually from a neutral one in that it may be actively supporting one side or the other in the war, though without actually fighting in it. A classic example of this is the United States in World War II before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The Lend-lease Act of 1941 saw the United States provide the United Kingdom "all possible assistance short of war" in the words of Winston Churchill, but they remained a non-belligerent state in the war until the end of that year. This also describes Sweden's stance during the Winter War, the Soviet assault on Finland in 1939. A more recent example is the position of The Netherlands during the 2003 invasion of Iraq. This was described by politicians as political support, but no military support.
Non-belligerent may also be used of a person not involved in combat or aggression, especially in a situation where combat or aggression is likely. Thus in a situation of civil unrest, civilians may be divided in belligerents (those actually fighting or intending to fight) and non-belligerents (bystanders).
See also
Wikipedia content modification information:
- This page was last modified on 7 November 2007, at 06:53.
Wikipedia Authorship and Review
Wikipedia content provided here is not reviewed directly by MedLibrary.org. Wikipedia content is authored by an open community of volunteers and is not produced by or in any way affiliated with MedLibrary.org.
Wikipedia Usage Guidelines
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article on "Non-belligerent".
The URL for this specific entry is:
All Wikipedia text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. (See Copyrights for details). Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.