Debellatio

Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel signing the unconditional surrender of the German Wehrmacht

The term debellatio or "debellation" (Latin "defeating, or the act of conquering or subduing", literally, "warring (the enemy) down", from Latin bellum "war") designates the end of war caused by complete destruction of a hostile state. Israeli law-school professor Eyal Benvenisti defines it as "a situation in which a party to a conflict has been totally defeated in war, its national institutions have disintegrated, and none of its allies continue to challenge the enemy militarily on its behalf".[1]

  1. ^ Benvenisti, Eyal (2012). The International Law of Occupation. Oxford University Press. p. 161. ISBN 978-0-19-958889-3.