Angary ('' la, jus angariae''; french: droit d'angarie''; german: Angarie''; from the

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic pe ...

, ', "the office of an (

courier A courier is a person or organisation that delivers a message, package or letter from one place or person to another place or person. Typically, a courier provides their courier service on a commercial contract basis; however, some couriers are ...

or messenger)") is the right of a

belligerent A belligerent is an individual, group, country, or other entity that acts in a hostile manner, such as engaging in combat. The term comes from the Latin ''bellum gerere'' ("to wage war"). Unlike the use of ''belligerent'' as an adjective meaning ...

(most commonly, a

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government i ...

or other party in conflict) to seize and use, for the purposes of

war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

or to prevent the enemy from doing so, any kind of property on belligerent territory - including what may belong to subjects or citizens of a neutral state. Article 53 of the Regulations respecting "the Laws and Customs of War on Land", annexed to the Hague Convention of 1899 on the same subject, provides that railway plant, land

telegraph Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas ...

telephone A telephone is a telecommunications device that permits two or more users to conduct a conversation when they are too far apart to be easily heard directly. A telephone converts sound, typically and most efficiently the human voice, into e ...

s, steamers and other ships (other than such as are governed by

maritime law Admiralty law or maritime law is a body of law that governs nautical issues and private maritime disputes. Admiralty law consists of both domestic law on maritime activities, and private international law governing the relationships between priv ...

), though belonging to companies or private persons, may be used for military operations but "must be restored at the conclusion of peace and indemnities paid for them". Article 54 adds that "the plant of

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a p ...

s coming from neutral states, whether the property of those states or of companies or private persons, shall be sent back to them as soon as possible." The articles seem to sanction the right of angary against neutral property and to limit it as against both belligerent and neutral property. It may be considered, however, that the right to use implies as wide a range of contingencies as the "necessity of war" can be made to cover.

References

* {{EB1911 article with no significant updates Law of war Legal terminology Law of war legal terminology

See also

References