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example, a capitulation agreement could involve the surrender of a small unit, such as a squad,platoon, company, or battalion, or the surrender of larger forces, such as a division or corps. 117The surrender of military forces also may be arranged between belligerents at nationallevels without the involvement of military commanders, and possibly through third parties. Acapitulation agreement may be negotiated between opposing military forces in localimplementation of a surrender negotiated at national levels.12.8.1.1 Capitulation Compared to Armistice. A capitulation surrenders thecapitulating unit, while an armistice suspends fighting between opposing forces.12.8.1.2 Capitulation Compared to Unconditional Surrender. A capitulation is asurrender pursuant to an agreement. A surrender may be effected without resort to a capitulationagreement. 118 For example, individuals or units may surrender themselves unconditionally to theopposite side without a specific capitulation agreement. 119On the other hand, an unconditional surrender may be effected through a capitulationinstrument. 120 Such an instrument would lack any conditions on the surrender, but may specifythe way in which the surrender is to be implemented or may clarify for all concerned that thesurrender is to be conducted on an unconditional basis.12.8.2 Authority of Commanders to Conclude Capitulation Agreements. Commandersare generally presumed to have the authority to conclude capitulation agreements with respect toforces under their command and areas under their control. 121 For example, if a commander ofmilitary forces concludes that continued fighting has become impossible and is unable toevacuations.”); SPAIGHT, WAR RIGHTS ON LAND 249 (“A capitulation is a military convention which puts an end,with or without conditions, to the resistance of a body of troops shut up in a fortress or surrounded in the field.”).117 For example, Captain M. Scott Holcomb, View from the Legal Frontlines, 4 CHICAGO JOURNAL OFINTERNATIONAL LAW 561, 568 (2003) (“As of this writing, at the end of April 2003, only a few capitulationagreements have been signed. All of them were entered into after combat began, instead of before. Mostnoteworthy, Colonel Curtis Potts, Commander of the Fourth Brigade of the Third Infantry Division, entered into acapitulation agreement with Iraqi General Mohamad Jarawi for the surrender of the Iraqi Army’s Anbar sectorcommand, which encompassed sixteen thousand soldiers.”).118 1956 FM 27-10 (Change No. 1 1976) 470 (“A surrender may be effected without resort to a capitulation.”).119 1956 FM 27-10 (Change No. 1 1976) 478 (“An unconditional surrender is one in which a body of troops givesitself up to its enemy without condition. It need not be effected on the basis of an instrument signed by both parties.Subject to the restrictions of the law of war, the surrendered troops are governed by the directions of the State towhich they surrender.”).120 For example, Japan, Instrument of Surrender, Sept. 2, 1945, 59 STAT. 1733, 1734 (“We hereby proclaim theunconditional surrender to the Allied Powers of the Japanese Imperial General Headquarters and of all Japanesearmed forces and all armed forces under Japanese control wherever situated.”); German High Command, Act ofMilitary Surrender, May 7, 1945, 59 STAT. 1857, 1858 (“1. We the undersigned, acting by authority of the GermanHigh Command, hereby surrender unconditionally to the Supreme Commander, Allied Expeditionary Force andsimultaneously to the Soviet High Command all forces on land, sea, and in the air who are at this date under Germancontrol.”).121 1956 FM 27-10 (Change No. 1 1976) 472 (“Subject to the limitations hereinafter indicated, the commander oftroops is presumed to be duly authorized to enter into capitulations.”).840