Military rule may mean several things in modern terms:

• A military occupation governing body under an Allied Control Council as after Nazi Germany's unconditional surrender
• When a country or area is conquered after invasion and placed under Belligerent occupation, also known as Military occupation as in:
  • Occupation of Iraq
  • Occupation of Japan
  • Occupation of Denmark
  • Occupation of Czechoslovakia
  • Occupation of Poland by Nazi Germany
  • Occupation of Lebanon by Syria
  • Occupation of the Gaza Strip by Egypt
  • Occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem by Jordan
  • Occupation of Baltic Republics
  • Occupation of the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and East Jerusalem by Israel
• When a country or region is placed under martial law
• At times it may also be a police state as under totalitarianism.
• When a country is invaded or placed under military law
• When a country is governed by a military dictatorship as with a junta or "The Generals" or under a powerful Generalissimo
• When a country or region is judged by a military tribunal
• When a military applies a Court-martial and Nonjudicial punishment
• When specific laws are applied in a military context as in the US Uniform Code of Military Justice by the Judge Advocate General's Corps