The term status quo ante bellum (also shortened to status quo ante) means the way things were before the recent or latest change. Status quo ante bellum is a Latin phrase that literally means 'the situation as it existed before the war'.

As historians describe, in the beginning, the term was used in treaties to refer to the withdrawal of enemy troops and the restoration of prewar leadership (hence the reference to the 'war'). Later on, 'Status quo' and 'Status quo ante' were generated from the original phrase both becoming widely used especially in English language.