What is Declaration of war?
[[File:Franklin Roosevelt signing declaration of war against Germany.jpg|thumb|200px|President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] signs a declaration of war against Germany on December 11, 1941.]] A '''declaration of war''' is a formal declaration issued by a national [[government]] indicating that a state of [[war]] exists between that nation, and one or more others. Declarations of war have been used in [[diplomacy]] since the [[Renaissance]], when the first formal declarations of war were issued. In an effort to force nations to resolve issues without warfare, the [[United Nations Charter]] attempted to commit member nations to using warfare only under limited circumstances, such as to [[self-defence|defend]] when attacked. Wars continued to begin and end, but powerful states no longer declared them. ==Related pages== *[[Casus belli]] ==Other websites== * [http://worldatwar.net/timeline/other/diplomacy39-45.html Declarations of war during World War II] {{authority control}} {{military-stub}} [[Category:War]]