Surrender is when soldiers, nations or other combatants stop fighting and eventually become prisoners of war, either as individuals or when ordered to by their officers. A white flag

White flag

White flags have had different meanings throughout history and depending on the locale.-Flag of temporary truce in order to parley :...

 is a common symbol of surrender, as is the gesture of raising one's hands empty and open above one's head.

When the parties agree to terms, the surrender may be conditional, i.e. if the surrendering party promises to submit only after the victor makes certain promises. Otherwise it is a surrender at discretion (unconditional surrender); the victor makes no promises of treatment other than those provided by the laws and customs of war

Laws of war

The law of war is a body of law concerning acceptable justifications to engage in war and the limits to acceptable wartime conduct...

 — most of which are laid out in the Hague Conventions (1907) and the Geneva Conventions

Geneva Conventions

The Geneva Conventions comprise four treaties, and three additional protocols, that establish the standards of international law for the humanitarian treatment of the victims of war...

. Normally a belligerent will only agree to surrender unconditionally if completely incapable of continuing hostilities.

The Third Geneva Convention

Third Geneva Convention

The Third Geneva Convention, relative to the treatment of prisoners of war, is one of the four treaties of the Geneva Conventions. It was first adopted in 1929, but was significantly updated in 1949...

 states that prisoners of war should not be mistreated or abused. United States Army

United States Army

The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...

 policy, for example, requires that surrendered persons should be secured and safeguarded while being evacuated from the battlefield. Similar regulations exist in most modern militaries.

Entire nations can also surrender in an attempt to end a war or military conflict. This is done through an unconditional capitulation or the signing of a treaty

Treaty

A treaty is an express agreement under international law entered into by actors in international law, namely sovereign states and international organizations. A treaty may also be known as an agreement, protocol, covenant, convention or exchange of letters, among other terms...

, such as an armistice

Armistice

An armistice is a situation in a war where the warring parties agree to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, but may be just a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace...

 or peace treaty

Peace treaty

A peace treaty is an agreement between two or more hostile parties, usually countries or governments, that formally ends a state of war between the parties...

.

See also

• Capitulation
  Capitulation (surrender)
  Capitulation , 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....
  
  
• Debellatio
  Debellatio
  Debellatio designates the end of a war caused by complete destruction of a hostile state....
  
   occurs when a war ends because of the complete destruction of a belligerent
  Belligerent
  A belligerent is an individual, group, country or other entity which acts in a hostile manner, such as engaging in combat. Belligerent comes from Latin, literally meaning "to wage war"...
  
   state.
• No quarter
  No quarter
  A victor gives no quarter when the victor shows no clemency or mercy and refuses to spare the life in return for the surrender at discretion of a vanquished opponent....
  
   occurs when a victor shows no clemency or mercy and refuses to spare the life of the vanquished when they surrender at discretion. Under the laws of war "...it is especially forbidden...to declare that no quarter will be given".
• Unconditional surrender
  Unconditional surrender
  Unconditional surrender is a surrender without conditions, in which no guarantees are given to the surrendering party. In modern times unconditional surrenders most often include guarantees provided by international law. Announcing that only unconditional surrender is acceptable puts psychological...
  
   is a surrender without conditions, except for those provided by international law.
• Strategic surrender
  Strategic surrender
  Strategic surrender is a strategy of attrition. What the loser avoids by offering to surrender is a last, chaotic round of fighting that would have the characteristics of a rout...