Defensive war

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A defensive war (German : Verteidigungskrieg [1] ) is one of the causes that justify war by the criteria of the Just War tradition. It means a war where at least one nation is mainly trying to defend itself from another, as opposed to a war where both sides are trying to invade and conquer each other.[ citation needed ]

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History

American supporters of the war against the British argued that the War of 1812 was a defensive war, citing British harassment of American merchant shipping and impressment of American sailors on international waters and armed support to Indian tribes resisting American expansion in the Midwest in order to create a pro-British Indian barrier state. [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]

Views

The Islamic scholar Sufyan al-Thawri (716–778), who was called by Majid Khadduri (1909–2007) a pacifist, maintained that jihad (holy war) was only a defensive war. [8]

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References

  1. Simeon Zahl (25 November 2010). Pneumatology and Theology of the Cross in the Preaching of Christoph Friedrich Blumhardt: The Holy Spirit Between Wittenberg and Azusa Street. A&C Black. pp. 138–. ISBN   978-0-567-64591-3.
  2. Troy Bickham (1 June 2012). The Weight of Vengeance: The United States, the British Empire, and the War of 1812. Oxford University Press. pp. 95–. ISBN   978-0-19-994262-6.
  3. Stagg, Madison's War, p. 4.
  4. Carlisle, Rodney P.; Golson, J. Geoffrey, eds. (2007). Manifest Destiny and the Expansion of America. ABC-CLIO. p.  44. ISBN   9781851098330.
  5. Pratt, Julius W. (1925). Expansionists of 1812.
  6. Heidler, David; Heidler, Jeanne T. The War of 1812. p. 4.
  7. Tucker, Spencer. The Encyclopedia of the War of 1812. p. 236.
  8. A. Al-Dawoody (2011). The Islamic Law of War: Justifications and Regulations. Springer. p. 80. ISBN   978-0-230-11808-9.

Sources