History Main / AllowedInternalWar

* In ''Literature/KnownSpace'', the [[ProudWarriorRace kzinti]] have a form of internal war called ''skalazaal'', which any pride can declare on any other...but they are restricted solely to [[HeroesPreferSwords muscle-powered]] [[TheStraightAndArrowPath weapons]] when they do so, in order to keep tactics like OrbitalBombardment or AtomicHate from being used in settled territory.

*** The Colovian King Rislav started an uprising against the Order. He inspired the Direnni [[OurElvesAreBetter Altmer]] of High Rock and the High King of Skyrim, Hoag Merkiller, to fight against the Order as well. Though the Order would survive, they were dealt a crushing blow by the combined forces of their enemies at the Battle of Glenumbria Moors, which robbed the Empire of several more supporting nations (including the fracturing of Cyrodiil itself).

Tends to be a standard part of feudal governments, [[FeudalFuture futuristic]] or otherwise. Interpreted figuratively, it is viewed as a dissent-limiting tactic in ''Main/RealLife'' as shown by this Noam Chomsky quote: �The smart way to keep people passive and obedient is to strictly limit the spectrum of acceptable opinion, but allow very lively debate within that spectrum....�

Tends to be a standard part of feudal governments, [[FeudalFuture futuristic]] or otherwise. Interpreted figuratively, it is viewed as a dissent-limiting tactic in ''Main/RealLife'' as shown by this Noam Chomsky quote: “The smart way to keep people passive and obedient is to strictly limit the spectrum of acceptable opinion, but allow very lively debate within that spectrum....”

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* In ''VideoGame/{{Celestus}}'', you can wage war against Nations in your own Faction – with or without penalty, depending on what the Chancellor of said Faction thinks of rebellion.

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[[AC: Real Life]]

* During the last years of the USSR the central authority decayed so much that Armenia and Azerbaijan, still Soviet Socialist Republics, declared war on each other and Moscow was powerless to do anything about it other than bleat about peace. The war continued after the USSR's final demise, and Armenia and Azerbaijan still aren't on speaking terms.

** Introduced in ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind Morrowind]]'', the [[MurderInc Morag]] [[ProfessionalKiller Tong]] was sanctioned by the Dunmeri government specifically to ''avert'' this trope, as open warfare between the [[TheClan Great Houses]] is destructive, disruptive, expensive, and weakens the Dunmer overall. The threat of having legal assassins sicced against you mostly keeps the Great House leaders in line.

** During the usurpation of the Empire that ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsArena Arena]]'' covers (though it isn't present in that game, but [[AllThereInTheManual in the backstory and in-game books]] of the next game), [[BigBad Jagar]] [[EvilChancellor Tharn]], in the guise of [[TheGoodKing Uriel Septim VII]], either didn't or couldn't bother with preventing wars between and within the provinces, leading to several separate conflicts (such the Arnesian War between Argonia and Morrowind, or the War of the Bend'r-makh between Skyrim on one side, and High Rock and Hammerfell on the other) whose consequences still undermine Imperial rule even after Tharn is overthrown and the true Uriel VII restored. Even in other, less usurpation-filled times, smaller local wars were still tolerated within the Empire, such as the War of Betony between the Hammerfell kingdom of Sentinel and the High Rock kingdom of Daggerfall.

** In the TimeSkip between ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion'' and ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim'', the Empire was severely weakened by the fall of the ruling Septim dynasty, making it unable to stop several wars between its vassal states. With Morrowind trashed by the eruption of Red Mountain, Argonia invaded the dunmer in revenge for centuries of slave-trafficking and reconquered areas that had historically belonged to them (the Empire's inaction in all of this led to Morrowind's government seceding altogether after House Redoran halted the Argonian advance). Meanwhile the Bretons of High Rock and Redguards of Hammerfell sacked Orsinium.
** Earlier, during the usurpation of the Empire that ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsArena'' covers (though it isn't present in that game, but in the backstory and in-game books of the next game), Jagar Tharn, in the guise of Uriel Septim VII, didn't or couldn't bother with preventing wars between and within the provinces, leading to several separate conflicts (such the Arnesian War between Argonia and Morrowind and the War of the Bend'r-makh between Skyrim on one side, and High Rock and Hammerfell on the other) whose consequences still undermine Imperial rule after Tharn is overthrown and the true Uriel VII restored. Even in other, less usurpation-filled times smaller wars were still tolerated, such as the War of Betony between the Hammerfell kingdom of Sentinel and the High Rock kingdom of Daggerfall.

* In ''Literature/TheDarkElfTrilogy'', the noble families of the Drow city of Menzoberranzan are ranked in a strict hierarchy. The only way to move up is to defeat a house of higher rank, with the ultimate goal of becoming one of the top eight families which comprise the ruling council. While such wars are more or less a spectator sport for houses not involved, for the war to be considered valid the attackers must eliminate every man, woman and child of the defeated family, leaving no drow noble to speak against the victors (commoners and slaves don't count but are usually killed anyway). If they fail, the ruling House Baenre destroys them, while strengthening itself by adopting the survivors of the defeated house.

** The Hatfield-McCoy feud was so bad that West Virginia and Kentucky threatened to go to war with each other over the whole affair. Since the CivilWar was a recent memory (the feud was fueled by loyalties during that war), the Federal Government was having none of that and stepped in to put a stop to it. All this was started over a murder, a real life RomeoAndJuliette, and [[ArsonMurderAndJawalking who owned a pig.]]

** [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toledo_War The Toledo War]], where the state of Ohio and the territory of Michigan went to war over a strip of land both claimed to be theirs. The US government tried to intervene politically but did little to actually keep them from fighting each other.

* ''VideoGame/CrusaderKings II'': Implemented differently depending on whether the ''Conclave'' {{DLC}} is turned on.
** Without ''Conclave'', the Crown Authority law for your empire or kingdom dictates this. Under Minimum or Low Crown Authority, your vassals can fight each other freely, though technically this is only "allowed" in the sense that your king is too weak to do anything about it. At Medium or above, the only wars they can pursue are either against foreign realms (i.e. a vassal develops a claim on and conquers a county belonging to another nation using their own troops), or against their liege (whether that's yourself or a higher-tier vassal). Most players try to institute at least Medium Crown Authority to prevent vassals from consolidating lands and becoming a threat to them.
** With ''Conclave'', Crown Authority is broken into several sub-laws and the ability to entirely prevent inter-vassal wars is removed. Instead, you can use your royal council to "enforce realm peace" within certain limitations, forcing a halt to such wars.

* ''Film/FlashGordon'' (1980)

* ''VideoGame/StarWarsTheOldRepublic''. The Sith are already known for fighting and plotting against each other as much as they do against the Jedi and Republic, but the Sith Inquisitor storyline introduces us to a fight to the death called a "Kaggath". Unlike a normal duel between two Sith Lords, this one involves them using each others' power bases to defeat their rival in addition to their own powers. That means any military assets they have under their command can and are used against the other. Furthermore, the challenger gets to pick the arena, which can be a city, a planet or even ''the whole galaxy''. And this is all perfectly legal in the Sith Empire. The Inquisitor's nemesis Darth Thanaton calls for one of these on Corellia, even though the Empire is already engaged in a massive battle with the Republic on that world (not to mention the overall war with the Republic). Needless to say this is ''very'' helpful to the good guys.

* In ''VideoGame/ImperiumNova'' Houses can fight each other, but they can't have battles on planets under Imperial Jurisdiction unless the attacker has feud points against the defending house or one of them is a "Renegade", breaking that rule automatically gets your House declared Renegade.

* ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls}}'':

* In the TimeSkip between ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion'' and ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim'', the Empire was severely weakened by the fall of the ruling Septim dynasty, making it unable to stop several wars between its vassal states. With Morrowind trashed by the eruption of Red Mountain, Argonia invaded the dunmer in revenge for centuries of slave-trafficking and reconquered areas that had historically belonged to them (the Empire's inaction in all of this led to Morrowind's government seceding altogether after House Redoran halted the Argonian advance). Meanwhile the Bretons of High Rock and Redguards of Hammerfell sacked Orsinium.
** Earlier, during the usurpation of the Empire that ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsArena'' covers (though it isn't present in that game, but in the backstory and in-game books of the next game), Jagar Tharn, in the guise of Uriel Septim VII, didn't or couldn't bother with preventing wars between and in the provinces, leading to several separate conflicts (such the Arnesian War between Argonia and Morrowind and the War of Bend'r-makh between Skyrim on one side and High Rock and Hammerfell on the other) whose consequences still undermine Imperial rule after Tharn is overthrown and the true Uriel VII restored. Even in other, less usurpation-filled times smaller wars were still tolerated, such as the War of Betony between the Hammerfell kingdom of Sentinel and the High Rock kingdom of Daggerfall

** Earlier, during the usurpation of the Empire that ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIArena'' covers (though it isn't present in that game, but in the backstory and in-game books of the next game), Jagar Tharn, in the guise of Uriel Septim VII, didn't or couldn't bother with preventing wars between and in the provinces, leading to several separate conflicts (such the Arnesian War between Argonia and Morrowind and the War of Bend'r-makh between Skyrim on one side and High Rock and Hammerfell on the other) whose consequences still undermine Imperial rule after Tharn is overthrown and the true Uriel VII restored. Even in other, less usurpation-filled times smaller wars were still tolerated, such as the War of Betony between the Hammerfell kingdom of Sentinel and the High Rock kingdom of Daggerfall

* In ''Franchise/{{Dune}}'' the Great Houses frequently war with each other over planets. They even have a system of rules known as ''kanly'' meant to minimize civilian deaths and other collateral damage. The original book starts out with House Harkonnen beginning a "War of Assassins" to reclaim Arrakis from House Atreides, secretly with the support of the Emperor.

* In ''Literature/TheDarkElfTrilogy'', the noble families of the Drow city of Menzoberranzan are ranked in a strict hierarchy. The only way to move up is to defeat a house of higher rank, with the ultimate goal of becoming one of the top eight families which comprise the ruling council. The catch: to be considered valid, the raid must eliminate every man, woman and child of the defeated family, leaving no one to speak against the victors.

* ''Series/BabylonFive'': The Drazi have a practice of randomly dividing themselves into "Green" and "Purple" factions, who then fight it out for supremacy once every five cycles.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Traveller}}'''s Third Imperium
** It is so loosely confederated that subject planets are allowed to have internal wars so long as they don't spill onto other worlds, attempt to secede from the Imperium, or use nukes.
** [[CorporateWarfare "Trade Wars"]] are also allowed as a method for preventing market saturation, in which case {{Mega Corp}}s can fight on multiple planets so long as damage is limited to their employees and property.

* In ''VideoGame/CrusaderKings'' kingdoms with the "Limited Crown Authority" or "Autonomous Vassals" laws allow vassals to go to war with each other. Needless to say most players try to institute at least Medium Crown Authority to prevent vassals from consolidating lands and becoming a threat to them.

* In one of the early ''Literature/SectorGeneral'' stories, the eponymous hospital takes in a large number of wounded humans and [[SpacePolice Monitors]]. One of the Monitors explains to the viewpoint character, a surgeon, explains that Earth decided to have a war, which is apparently something the galactic government lets happen every so often in "Normals" so aggressive tendencies can work themselves out. They go so far as to provide a suitable uninhabited planet and place restrictions on what weapons are allowed. (The reason Sector General is taking in wounded is that this one got out of control.)

In some works of speculative fiction the overarching authority of a nation has so little direct control over its provinces or client states that they occasionally go to open war with one another and the king can\'t do a thing to stop it. They might even openly condone it. So long as they follow [[FictionalGenevaConventions the rules]] of course.

* The many worlds dominated by Ming the Merciless in the ''ComicBook/FlashGordon'' universe are allowed to fight among themselves, since it weakens their defenses and undermines their ability to overthrow Ming. It\'s not until Flash negotiates a cease-fire that Ming\'s empire begins to crumble.

Tends to be a standard part of feudal governments, [[FeudalFuture futuristic]] or otherwise. Interpreted figuratively, it is viewed as a dissent-limiting tactic in \'\'Main/RealLife\'\' as shown by this Noam Chomsky quote: “The smart way to keep people passive and obedient is to strictly limit the spectrum of acceptable opinion, but allow very lively debate within that spectrum....”

* The many worlds dominated by Ming the Merciless in the \'\'ComicBook/FlashGordon\'\' universe are allowed to fight among themselves, since it weakens their defenses and undermines their ability to overthrow Ming. It\'s not until Flash negotiates a cease-fire that Ming\'s empire begins to crumble.
* In Issue #11 of \'\'ComicBook/AlbedoErmaFelnaEDF\'\' a planet had a civil war and Toki said that normally the EDF would let them have at it, but the 80% of the system\'s population that wasn\'t entangled in the war petitioned them to intervene.

* \'\'Film/FlashGordon\'\' (1980)
** During the presentation of tributes in Emperor Ming\'s audience hall, Prince Vultan tries to give Ming the fabled Ice Jewel of Frigia. He says the Hawkmen took it in battle. Prince Barin angrily challenges him, saying that Vultan stole it while the Arborians were burying their dead. Klytus forbids them from fighting in the Emperor\'s palace, but it\'s apparently O.K. for kingdoms to fight one another everywhere else.
** While Princess Aura is with Flash she tells him that this is a deliberate policy on Ming\'s part.
-->\'\'\'Aura\'\'\': Every moon of Mongo is a kingdom. My father keeps them fighting. It\'s a really brilliant strategy.
* Coney Island is home turf of \'\'Film/TheWarriors\'\', one of many street gangs that have carved up New York City into fiefdoms. These gangs are too numerous, too organized and too AxCrazy for the police to handle; when the gangs fight one another, the police are nowhere to be found, preferring to let the psychopaths to kill each other off.

* In \'\'Franchise/{{Dune}}\'\' the Great Houses frequently war with each other over planets. They even have a system of rules known as \'\'kanly\'\' meant to minimize civilian deaths and other collateral damage. The original book starts out with House Harkonnen beginning a \"War of Assassins\" to reclaim Arrakis from House Atreides, secretly with the support of the Emperor.
* In \'\'Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire\'\', various feudal houses can wage wars against each other, though overstepping certain bounds will result in an intervention from the king.

** The \"Lords Declarant\" of the Vale of Arryn raise an army and briefly lay siege to the Eyrie in order to remove Lord Petyr Baelish as Lord Protector during heir-apparent Robert Arryn\'s minority. They formally declare their intentions to their liege, Queen Regent Cersei Lannister; they do not ask for aid, but only for the crown to refrain from interfering. She replies that Baelish is not to be harmed; otherwise, she doesn\'t seem particularly bothered.
* In the backstory of \'\'Literature/TheBelgariad\'\', Arendia spent many centuries locked in a brutal three-way civil war between the duchies of Mimbre, Asturia, and Wacune.
* \'\'Literature/{{Theta}}\'\' starts on board a passenger liner carrying refugees from the latest war between Brynton\'s houses.
* In \'\'Literature/KnownSpace\'\', the [[ProudWarriorRace kzinti]] have a form of internal war called \'\'skalazaal\'\', which any pride can declare on any other...but they are restricted solely to [[HeroesPreferSwords muscle-powered]] [[TheStraightAndArrowPath weapons]] when they do so, in order to keep tactics like OrbitalBombardment or AtomicHate from being used in settled territory.
* In one of the early \'\'Literature/SectorGeneral\'\' stories, the eponymous hospital takes in a large number of wounded humans and [[SpacePolice Monitors]]. One of the Monitors explains to the viewpoint character, a surgeon, explains that Earth decided to have a war, which is apparently something the galactic government lets happen every so often in \"Normals\" so aggressive tendencies can work themselves out. They go so far as to provide a suitable uninhabited planet and place restrictions on what weapons are allowed. (The reason Sector General is taking in wounded is that this one got out of control.)
* In \'\'Literature/TheDarkElfTrilogy\'\', the noble families of the Drow city of Menzoberranzan are ranked in a strict hierarchy. The only way to move up is to defeat a house of higher rank, with the ultimate goal of becoming one of the top eight families which comprise the ruling council. The catch: to be considered valid, the raid must eliminate every man, woman and child of the defeated family, leaving no one to speak against the victors.
* In TheBible, the book of Esther has the king\'s EvilChancellor decree that the Jews must be slaughtered, and makes this official with the king\'s own seal. The king is in love with Esther, but can\'t contradict an order bearing his seal, so instead he allows Esther to warn her people and arm themselves.

* \'\'Series/BabylonFive\'\': The Drazi have a practice of randomly dividing themselves into \"Green\" and \"Purple\" factions, who then fight it out for supremacy.

* The Clans of \'\'TabletopGame/BattleTech\'\' are all subject to a single Grand Council composed of the Khans and in times of crisis presided over by an ilKhan. But when they\'re not at risk of extinction the Clans are constantly fighting over planets in \"Trials of Possession\" in their idea of improving the genepool.
* \'\'TabletopGame/{{Traveller}}\'\'\'s Third Imperium
** It is so loosely confederated that subject planets are allowed to have internal wars so long as they don\'t spill onto other worlds, attempt to secede from the Imperium, or use nukes.
** [[CorporateWarfare \"Trade Wars\"]] are also allowed as a method for preventing market saturation, in which case {{Mega Corp}}s can fight on multiple planets so long as damage is limited to their employees and property.
* In \'\'TabletopGame/{{Ironclaw}}\'\' Calabria is feudal, so houses have wars every so often, but the vassals of House Bisclavret are notorious for their petty wars.

* In \'\'VideoGame/CrusaderKings\'\' kingdoms with the \"Limited Crown Authority\" or \"Autonomous Vassals\" laws allow vassals to go to war with each other. Needless to say most players try to institute at least Medium Crown Authority to prevent vassals from consolidating lands and becoming a threat to them.
* In \'\'VideoGame/ImperiumNova\'\' Houses can fight each other, but they can\'t have battles on planets under Imperial Jurisdiction unless the attacker has feud points against the defending house or one of them is a \"Renegade\", breaking that rule automatically gets your House declared Renegade.
* \'\'StarWarsTheOldRepublic\'\'. The Sith are already known for fighting and plotting against each other as much as they do against the Jedi and Republic, but the Sith Inquisitor storyline introduces us to a fight to the death called a \"Kaggath\". Unlike a normal duel between two Sith Lords, this one involves them using each others\' power bases to defeat their rival in addition to their own powers. That means any military assets they have under their command can and are used against the other. Furthermore, the challenger gets to pick the arena, which can be a city, a planet or even \'\'the whole galaxy\'\'. And this is all perfectly legal in the Sith Empire. The Inquisitor\'s nemesis Darth Thanaton calls for one of these on Corellia, even though the Empire is already engaged in a massive battle with the Republic on that world (not to mention the overall war with the Republic). Needless to say this is \'\'very\'\' helpful to the good guys.
* In \'\'VideoGame/StarTrekOnline\'\'\'s Klingon Defense Force storyline, the PlayerCharacter at one point takes part in a war between the House of Martok and the House of Torg, with the Klingon High Council mostly ignoring it as [[InherentInTheSystem just another day in the Klingon Empire]] (despite the fact that the Empire itself is in the middle of a war with the Federation). [[spoiler:That is, until Worf and Alexander Rozhenko, representing the House of Martok, present evidence that Torg had been colluding with the Romulans to destroy Martok.]]

* In \'\'Webcomic/{{Evon}}\'\' the Duke of the Pridelands doesn\'t mind if his vassals kill each other off in petty wars, so long as they file a formal declaration of war. Hero had to leave because he slew the lord who had his mother assassinated (with no evidence) without declaring war or challenging him to a duel.

** The threat of this was one of the things that led to the formation of the U.S. Constitution. Under the Articles of Confederation, the states were feuding with each other so badly that one or two of them were considering military action against a neighbor. Technically the Constitution itself does not outright forbid individual states from going to war without the rest of the country, but it requires permission from Washington. So far it hasn\'t happened yet.

* During the last years of the USSR the central authority decayed so much that Armenia and Azerbaijan, still Soviet Socialist Republics, declared war on each other and Moscow was powerless to do anything about it other than bleat about peace. The war continued after the USSR\'s final demise, and Armenia and Azerbaijan still aren\'t on speaking terms.