Open city

Manila declared an open city in December 1941.

In war, in the event of the imminent capture of a city, the government/military structure of the nation that controls the city will sometimes declare it an open city, thus announcing that they have abandoned all defensive efforts.

The attacking armies of the opposing military will then be expected not to bomb or otherwise attack the city, but simply to march in. The concept aims at protecting the historic landmarks and civilians who dwell in the city from an unnecessary battle.

Attacking forces do not always respect the declaration of an "open city." Defensive forces will use it as a political tactic as well.^[1]

In some cases, the declaration of a city to be "open" is made by a side which is on the verge of defeat and surrender; in other cases, those making such a declaration are willing and able to fight on, but prefer that the specific city be spared.

Several cities were declared open during World War II:

• Brussels in 1940
• Oslo in 1940
• Paris in 1940, from which the French Government fled after it became apparent that they could not defend it
• Belgrade in April 1941
• Penang in December 1941, after the British retreated to Singapore
• Manila in 1941, which the American military abandoned during the Japanese invasion.
• Rome on 14 August 1943, which the defending Italian forces declared unilaterally to be an "open city" following the cessation of Allied bombing.^[2] This applied when under attack by the Germans; subsequently Allied forces entered Rome in June 1944 and retreating German forces also declared Florence and Chieti on 24 March 1944 "open cities".^[2]
• Athens on 11 October 1944, which was declared an open city by the Germans.^[3]

Open cities in postwar 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.^[4] This is rejected by nearly all of Japan's political parties and the ruling government as inherently absurd, since Japan is not in a war, and in the event of war such a decision would have to be approved by the national government.^[5] However, the Social Democratic Party which was the junior party of the ruling coalition from 1994 to 1996 supported it.^[6]

Nevertheless, four wards of Tokyo and Kagoshima City, Japan's southernmost port, among many other cities, are considering legislation to be declared "open cities".^[7]

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Open city.

• Laws of war
• Rome, Open City (Roma città aperta), an Italian film (1945) about Rome's days as an open city.

Footnotes