What does it mean when a military “takes control” of the opposing country’s city during a war?

Question

What does it mean when a military “takes control” of the opposing country’s city during a war?

In: 311

Answer 1

There are some good legal or semi-legal takes here in the comments.

I’d add that when you see in the news something like “Force X took control of settlement Y” it usually means that the soldiers are physically present in the settlement. They take positions, use the infrastructure, etc. the administrative things, the laws etc come into play a little bit later.