state of siege

Calque of French état de siège, first codified in a 1791 law of the Constituent Assembly during the French Revolution as an aggravated condition of war justifying the subordination of the civilian government to military authorities. Extended to apply to internal rebellion by a French law of 1797; subsequently broadened again in 1849 to denote any political state of emergency.

state of siege (plural states of siege)

1. (law) An exceptional legal condition in which constitutional limits on the powers of the government are suspended, usually owing to military necessity and implying martial law.
   • 1865 May 29, Sir Robert Peel, 3rd Baronet, “Constabulary Force (Ireland) Act Amendment Bill”, in parliamentary debates (House of Commons)‎^[1], volume 179, column 982:

     Several gentlemen of authority of the city of Belfast actually waited upon the Government and requested them not only to abolish the local police force but to proclaim a state of siege in the town of Belfast.

   • 1995, David E. Whisnant, Rascally Signs in Sacred Places: The Politics of Culture in Nicaragua, page 116:

     As soon as Nicaragua entered the war, Somoza declared a state of siege that remained in effect for four years.