Status quo ante bellum

The term status quo ante bellum is a Latin phrase meaning "the situation as it existed before the war". The term was originally used in treaties to refer to the withdrawal of enemy troops and the restoration of prewar leadership. When used as such, it means that no side gains or loses any territorial, economic, or political rights. This contrasts with uti possidetis, where each side retains whatever territory and other property it holds at the end of the war. An early example is the treaty that ended the Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628 between the Eastern Roman and the Sasanian Persian Empires. The Persians had occupied Asia Minor, Palestine and Egypt. After a successful Roman counteroffensive in Mesopotamia finally brought about the end of the war, the integrity of Rome's eastern frontier as it was prior to 602 was fully restored. Both empires were exhausted after this war, and neither was ready to defend itself when the armies of Islam emerged from Arabia in 632. Another example is the sixteenth-century Abyssinian–Adal war between the Muslim Adal Sultanate and Christian Ethiopian Empire, which ended in a stalemate. Both empires were exhausted after this war, and neither was ready to defend itself against the Oromo Migrations. The Seven Years' War lasted from 1756 to 1763 and concluded in status quo ante bellum. During the war, Austria had tried to regain the region of Silesia from Prussia, which had been lost in the War of the Austrian Succession eight years earlier. Silesia ultimately remained in Prussian hands. Another example of a war that ended in status quo ante bellum is the War of 1812 between the United States and the United Kingdom, which was concluded with the Treaty of Ghent in 1814. During negotiations, British diplomats had suggested ending the war uti possidetis. While American diplomats demanded cession from Canada and British officials also pressed for a pro-British Indian barrier state in the Midwest and keeping parts of Maine they captured (i.e.