A History of the Laws of War: Volume 2

This unique new work of reference traces the origins of the modern laws of warfare from the earliest times to the present day. Relying on written records from as far back as 2400 BCE, and using sources ranging from the Bible to Security Council Resolutions, the author pieces together the history of a subject which is almost as old as civilisation itself. The author shows that as long as humanity has been waging wars it has also been trying to find ways of legitimising different forms of combatants and ascribing rules to them, protecting civilians who are either inadvertently or intentionally caught up between them, and controlling the use of particular classes of weapons that may be used in times of conflict. Thus it is that this work is divided into three substantial parts: Volume 1 on the laws affecting combatants and captives; Volume 2 on civilians; and Volume 3 on the law of arms control.

This second book on civilians examines four different topics. The first topic deals with the targetting of civilians in times of war. This discussion is one which has been largely governed by the developments of technologies which have allowed projectiles to be discharged over ever greater areas, and attempts to prevent their indiscriminate utilisation have struggled to keep pace. The second topic concerns the destruction of the natural environment, with particular regard to the utilisation of starvation as a method of warfare, and unlike the first topic, this one has rarely changed over thousands of years, although contemporary practices are beginning to represent a clear break from tradition. The third topic is concerned with the long-standing problems of civilians under the occupation of opposing military forces, where the practices of genocide, collective punishments and/or reprisals, and rape have occurred. The final topic in this volume is about the theft or destruction of the property of the enemy, in terms of either pillage or the intentional devastation of the cultural property of the opposition.

As a work of reference this set of three books is unrivalled, and will be of immense benefit to scholars and practitioners researching and advising on the laws of warfare. It also tells a story which throws fascinating new light on the history of international law and on the history of warfare itself.

Auteur

Alexander Gillespie is Professor of Law at the University of Waikato, New Zealand.

Contenu

Introduction
I. Targets

1. Projectiles, Fire and Defended Areas
2. International Law on Projectiles Prior to the First World War
3. Between the Wars
4. The Second World War
5. The Nuremberg Trials and the 1949 Geneva Conventions
6. Between 1949 and 1977
7. The 1977 Additional Protocol 1 to the Geneva Conventions
8. From 1980 to the New Century
   II. Starvation
9. The Beginnings of Siege, Blockade and Scorched Earth
10. From the Enlightenment to the Twentieth Century
11. The First World War
12. The Second World War
13. After 1945
14. Two New Conventions and the Additional Protocols
15. Scorched Earth Between 1980 and the Twenty-first Century
16. Starvation in War Between 1980 and the Twenty-first Century
    III. Occupation
17. T he First Literate Civilisations
18. Ancient Israel
19. T he Greeks
20. T he Romans
21. T he Middle Ages
22. Forward from the Renaissance
23. The Enlightenment
24. International Humanitarian Law Emerges
25. Two Bad Decades
26. The First World War
27. The Armenian Genocide
28. Between the Wars
29. The Second World War
30. Examining the Killing of Civilians at Nuremberg
31. The 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide
32. The 1949 Convention (IV) Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War
33. Between 1949 and 1977
34. The 1977 Additional Protocols and the 1979 Hostage Convention
35. Between Pol Pot and Saddam Hussein
36. The Wars of the 1990s
37. The International Criminal Court and its Aftermath
    IV. Property
38. Beginnings
39. The Greeks and the Romans
40. The Dark Ages
41. The Crusading Period
42. The High Middle Ages and the Renaissance
43. The Reformation and Early Enlightenment
44. The Nineteenth Century
45. The First Half of the Twentieth Century
46. The Second World War
47. Forward From 1954
48. Realigning the Last Decades of the Twentieth Century
    Conclusion
49. Targeting Civilians
50. Is Starvation a Restricted Method of Warfare?
51. Are the Practices in Times of Occupation, with Particular Regard to Genocide, Reprisals and Rape Better or Worse than in the Past?
52. Is Property Safe from Pillage and Unnecessary Destruction?