Status quo ante bellum

The term status quo ante bellum (often shortened to status quo ante) is a Latin phrase meaning "the state existing 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 territory or economic and political rights. This contrasts with uti possidetis, where each side retains whatever territory and other property it holds at the end of the war.

The term has been generalized to form the phrases status quo and . Outside this context, the term antebellum is, in the United States, usually associated with the period before the American Civil War, while in Europe and elsewhere with the period before World War I.

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 pagan Oromo Migrations.

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