Law-
History
In
early days. For thousands of years, international law consisted only
of customs and treaties made by two or three nations. In the 1600's,
Hugo Grotius, a Dutch statesman, expressed the idea that all nations
should follow certain international rules of conduct. For this idea
and his writings on the subject, Grotius is often called the father of
international law.
In the 1800's, international conferences were held to try to set up
rules nations would obey in time of war. The first important
conference met at Geneva in 1864. It established the International Red
Cross and made rules for the humane treatment of the wounded and the
safeguarding of the noncombat personnel who cared for them. The Geneva
Convention is important partly because it showed that rules could be
written for nations to follow.
As a result of international conferences held at The Hague in 1899 and
1907, the laws of war, of peace, and of neutrality were collected and
embodied in 14 conventions. They covered such subjects as the rights
and duties of neutrals in case of war on land and in naval war, and
the peaceful settlement of international disputes. Only 12 nations
signed the first Geneva Convention. But 44 nations met at the Hague
Peace Conference of 1907, and most signed many of the conventions.
After World War I, many persons hoped that the League of Nations,
established in 1920, would be able to enforce international law and
prevent a second world war. Under the Covenant of the League of
Nations, members were not allowed to go to war until three months
after an arbitration court or the Council of the League had tried to
end a dispute. But after the Japanese invaded Manchuria in 1931, the
League could only condemn the invasion as a breach of international
law. Japan then withdrew from the League and continued to attack
China. Italy followed Japan's example in 1935, when Italian troops
invaded Ethiopia.
Between 1928 and 1934, more than 60 nations signed the Kellogg-Briand
Peace Pact, under which they agreed not to use war to gain their aims.
But the pact did nothing about the causes of war. Its failure led many
people to believe that nothing could stop wars and that international
law should be directed at trying only to make war less brutal.
After World War II, the United Nations was formed as an organization
to preserve the peace. Many people hoped the UN General Assembly might
in time become a world legislature that could pass international laws.
They believed the UN could profit from the mistakes of the League of
Nations and succeed where the League had failed. Most of the nations
that signed the UN Charter at San Francisco, U.S.A., in 1945 believed
the UN should be given the power to enforce its decisions--by force of
arms if necessary. The United Nations Security Council was given the
authority to determine whether nations were endangering world peace by
their actions and to recommend action.
In 1949, UN arbitration succeeded in stopping a war in Israel. In
1950, the UN became the first world organization to use force to stop
aggression. Communist forces from North Korea invaded the Republic of
Korea in June 1950, and the UN Security Council agreed on a "police
action." Sixteen UN countries sent armed forces to aid South Korea,
with the United States and South Korea providing most of the troops
and supplies. After the UN forces drove the Communists back into North
Korea, a truce was signed in July 1953.
The UN has continued its efforts to resolve conflicts in disturbed
regions, such as the Near East and Southeast Asia. But many nations
have tended to favour direct negotiations with one another instead of
discussion through the UN. In 1969, for example, the United States and
the Soviet Union began the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks. In 1972,
those talks led to major agreements that limited each nation's
defensive and offensive nuclear missiles.
Efforts by the UN and direct negotiations among nations have helped
lessen the danger of war. But governments have failed to create a
system of international law that prevents nations from using force to
achieve their aims. Many countries have used such force. For example,
the Soviet Union sent troops into Hungary in 1956 and into
Czechoslovakia in 1968 to ensure that both nations would remain
Communist. During the Vietnam War (1957-1975), the United States
fought in an unsuccessful attempt to prevent the Communist take-over
of South Vietnam. In the Persian Gulf War (1991), a U.S.-led coalition
of nations drove Iraqi troops from Kuwait after Iraq had invaded that
country in 1990. The coalition's actions were based on a number of UN
Security Council resolutions.
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