Enemy
one who is unfriendly or hostile to another; one who hates or dislikes; a hostile army or force; the great adversary of mankind, the devil.
According to ancient military usage, the utmost cruelty was lawful toward enemies. In modern times more humane principles prevail, and men recognize that, by taking up arms against one another in public war, they do not cease on this account to be moral beings, and responsible to one another and to God. Warfare is now carried on subject to certain general rules, which are intended to abridge the calamities of war, and to protect the rights of individuals. An admirable summary of these rûles may be found in the "Instructions for United States Armies," issued in 1863. In 1874 an International Conference, held in Brussels, devoted much time to the elaboration of rules for military warfare. The Institute of International Law, at its meeting at Oxford, in 1880, prepared and adopted a "Manual of the Laws of War on Land," in which minute rules for the conduct of hostilities are set forth.
Military necessity admits of all direct destruction of life or limb of armed enemies, and of other persons where destruction is unavoidable; it allows of all destruction of property, and obstruction of the ways and channels of traffic, and of all withholding of sustenance or means of life from the enemy. Such military necessity does not, however, admit of cruelty, nor of maiming or wounding except in fight, nor of the use of poison in any way, nor of the wanton devastation of a district. It admits of deception, but disclaims all acts of perfidy. In the case of the occupation of a country by the enemy, the persons of the inhabitants, especially of women, are respected, and the maxims of religion and morality are acknowledged. Private property, unless forfeited by crimes, can be seized only on the ground of military necessity; if the proprietor has not fled receipts are usually given, which enable the spoliated Vol. IV-Cyc-A ENFIELD owner to obtain indemnity. Trade between the subjects of two hostile powers is absolutely suspended during hostilities unless permitted by express sanction, and the importation of articles particularly useful in war is contraband. All such material, whether supplied by subjects of the enemy or of another state, is seized and confiscated. In the World War (1914- 1918) the English courts held that an enemy alien residing in England could defend an action brought against him, but an interned enemy subject could not.
The Germans allowed an enemy alien residing in the Empire access to the German courts, but not those living in other countries. In France some of the lower courts allowed enemy aliens to take action and some did not. In April, 1916, the French Court of Appeal upheld this right. In the United States alien enemies had access to the courts as freely as citizens.