The army has been accused of making convenient excuses for military inactivity.

The commanders explained their recent military inactivity as a phase of "revolutionary self-defense" in which they undertake only propaganda activities.

After Christmas, the military inactivity of the Phoney War was encouraging many boys to return home to Liverpool.

Thus the decline of the Mauryan empire cannot be satisfactorily explained by referring to Military inactivity, Brahmin resentment, popular uprising or economic pressure.

An example is the Tordenstjerne family, whose members in the 16th century were squires, but who due to political and military inactivity in the 17th century had to get their noble status confirmed in the 18th century.

Once Germany had rapidly overrun Poland, there was a sustained period of military inactivity lasting until April 1940 when, days after Chamberlain had told a Conservative Party meeting that Hitler "had missed the bus", Germany ended this "Phony War" by an attack in overwhelming force on a neutral and unsuspecting Norway.