Capitulation (Lat. capitulum, a little head or division; capitulare, to treat upon terms), an agreement in time of war for the surrender to a hostile armed force of a particular body of troops, a town or a territory. To surrender is when soldiers give up fighting and become prisoners of war, either as individuals or when ordered to by their officers. ...

It is an ordinary incident of war, and therefore no previous instructions from the captors' government are required before finally settling the conditions of capitulation. The most usual of such conditions are freedom of religion and security of private property on the one hand, and a promise not to bear arms within a certain period on the other.

Such agreements may be rashly concluded with an inferior officer, on whose authority the enemy are not in the actual position of the war entitled to place reliance. When an agreement is made by an officer who has not the proper authority or who has exceeded the limits of his authority, it is termed a sponsion, and, to be binding, must be confirmed by express or tacit ratification.

Article 35 of the Hague Convention (1899) on the laws and the customs of war lays down that capitulations agreed on between the contracting parties must be in accordance with the rules of military honor. When once settled they must be observed by both the parties. The longtime status of Netherlands as a largely neutral nation in international conflicts and the corresponding ascendance of The Hague as a primary location for diplomatic and international conferences has led to several negotiated conventions over the years being termed the Hague Convention: The Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907...

See also

• Capitulation (treaty)

Capitulations (from Lat. ...

Reference

• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.