Wars Throughout History: From Medieval Times to International Laws - Essay Sample

Introduction

Since medieval times, war has been the go-to methodology used by the human race whenever they experience conflict. During the middle ages, the empires that ruled the world always used their superior armies to wage wars against their enemies and conquer more territories. The culmination of war in recent times was during World War I and World War II. Over time, the result of such wars and the implications they had on the economies of the parties involved, lead to the drafting of the International Order meant to outlaw and curb the use of war as an instrument of state policy implementation.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

According to Braumoe`ller (n.d.), an International Order is a set of laws and practices that underpin the principles of legitimacy and balance of power. The legislation also ensures that powerful countries in the world submit to it in exchange for security. While the tenets of modern international order may or derive the majority of its principles from the various conventions that succeeded in the Second World War, the laws also draw their origins from medieval times.

The law of nations, also known as public international law, for instance, was designed out of the medieval tradition of Ius Gentium. The tradition came to be regarded as the specialized body of thinking concerning the relations between leaders. Its foundations were based on the custom and practice of treaty-making, ambassadorial practice, international use of oceanic waters, and the modalities of warfare. In recent times, Professor Michael Akehurst published A Modern Introduction to International Law (Malanczuk, 2002). The book has become an excellent reference material for students of history, and among the many topics, the book covers are the outlawry of warfare by the International Order.

According to Malanczuk (2002), the origins of International Law remains an issue of contention between scholars and historians. While some argue that the genesis of the law being from ancient times through the signing of treaties in 3000BC in the Near East, Persia, and Greece, and also during the Romano-Hellenistic period, nonetheless, the prevailing view in the study of International Law can be traced back to Europe in the successive era after the Peace of Westphalia in the year 1648, immediately after the conclusion of the Thirty Years War (Malanczuk, 2002).

In-state law practice, the Peace of Westphalia, is considered a turning point precisely in Europe was at the time a new political order was emerging. The practice stood for close to two centuries until the defeat of Napoleon in 1815 by the Vienna Congress. From a historical perspective, the significance of the Peace of Westphalia was its representation of the end of the Protestant and Catholic wars that had prevailed during the time. Westphalia Peace leads to the recognition of Protestant powers and also contributed to the separation of state matters from those of the church, ending a period in Europe where were was an instrument used by Christian crusaders (Malanczuk, 2002).

Shaw (2017), similar to Malanczuk (2002), also holds the same position regarding the origins of modern international law. He also mentions the era of the classical Greek and the end of the Middle Eastern caliphates as the genesis of medieval international law. From a modern world perspective, however, Shaw also acknowledges the middle ages and the Renaissance as the time where the state law practice developed further. Of specific interest during the era was the power of the Holy Roman Empire and the canon law (Shaw, 2017). All the same maritime and commercial laws developed at the same pace. Such legislation, growing out of the early Middle Ages, such developments constituted the seeds of international law.

Considering both Shaw’s and Malanczuk’s arguments and recount of the history of International Law, the next significant events that led to modern international law and the International Order existing today are the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Unlike the 18th century or earlier, which focused on the intellectual and philosophical aspects of international law, the 19th century took a more practical, expansionist, and positivist approach (Shaw, 2017). As indicated above by Malanczuk (2002), the Congress of Vienna and the conclusion of the Napoleonic wars.

The century was characterized by European conferences that increased the design and implementation of rules governing the waging of law. The Geneva Conventions are starting in the year 1864 based on the discussions on the subject of humanization of conflict, while the Hague Conferences of 1899 and 1907, which resulted in the treatment of prisoners. The court also managed and supervised the use of war as an instrument of state policy implementation.

Crawford (2019), asserts that it was also at this period that the precedent to International Order, the Law of Nations became apparent. The system of diplomatic relations, recognitions, and international organizations had become recognizably in place. It was common ground for the signing of treaties, especially with the center stage being the Scramble and partition of the African continent. In essence, customary international law had taken shape while colonialism was apace, shaping the globe under a Eurocentric appearance.

By the 1920s, the number of recognized states in the world had reduced to 64, a quarter of which were former colonies of Spain and Portugal in Central and South America. Of the states outside Europe, only seven, including Liberia, Ottoman Empire, Thailand, China, Afghanistan, Japan, and Ethiopia, had managed to maintain their sovereignty (Crawford, 2019). During this entire time as International Law was being developed further taking an Institutional Structure, war as an instrument had taken backstage, with the only notable conflicts being the small number of revolts in the colonies.

The First World War concluded a dynamic optimistic century driven with practicalism and positivists ideologies. The self-confidence of European civilization faded and weakened the universally accepted ideologies of progress. After the war, the League of Nations was created, with its most important legacy being the 1919 Peace Treaty. While the league had minor yet significant successes, it failed to contain determined aggressors. In the year 1931, for example, Japan Invaded China and withdrew from the League (Shaw, 2017). Other aggressors failed to be contained by the organization and the International Laws under its convention, include Italy, who attacked Ethiopia, the Soviet Union who invaded Finland, and Germany, who entered a crusade of internal and external aggressions (Shaw, 2017).

The events of the First World War, led to the formation of the Permanent Court of International Justice in the year 1921, headquartered at The Hague. After the Second World War, the International Court of Justice was set up to succeed in 1946. It is also worth noting that it was during this time the International Labor Organization, which exists today, was set up. Other ideas that arose during the time was the system of mandates where colonies of defeated nations had the obligation of letting the Allies have their countries administered on behalf of the inhabitants. While the ideology was not successful, it opened up the human rights protection initiatives in the successor organization.

After the Second World War, and the tightening up of the Soviet Union upon the death of Stalin, the theoretical terms of the transitional stage was replaced with international law of peaceful coexistence. Consequently, the war was no longer regarded as an inevitable occurrence between capitalist and socialist states, and a period of mutual tolerance and coexistence persisted. After that, it became apparent that there was a solitary arrangement of global law of all inclusive degree rather than the separation the existed earlier between socialist and capitalist countries. The new law’s foundation became based on the agreements between the states binding upon them.

The legislation and the United Nations created after that has been able to maintain international law where the outlawry of war was achieved through basic concepts. One of these was the non-intervention in the internal issues of the member states. It also meant that any idea of world dominion by a single state was condemned as a violation of the principle stated above. Moreover, the spirit of peaceful coexistence was reinforced by the dissolution of the Soviet Union, ushering in a new period of global interdependency and cooperation.

The new internationalization of law destroyed European homogeneity and emphasized a universalist perspective. The International Court of Justice and the Security Council of the United Nations ensured the outlawry of war as an instrument of state policy implementation. Through the court, war is prohibited with perpetrators of such acts being prosecuted and tried by the court, which also enforces the sentencing of instigators of war. Apart from the International Court, war has also been eradicated by Peacekeeping missions by a military-affiliated to the United Nations consisting of soldiers and officers drawn from the different member states.

Conclusively, International Law, even though a long time in the making, has indeed created and maintained world peace and the avoidance of global-scale warfare. The fear of criminal sentences, as well as sanctions and embargos, has been effective in ensuring that the world remains at peace with aggressors being controlled and kept in line by the United Nations through the member states of its security council. The peacekeeping missions by the UN have also been able to quell rebellions and smaller wars within its member states, thus maintaining the nations’ sovereignty while offering a helping hand, thus cementing world peace and the illegality of state-sponsored war activities.

Summary of all Cases

As indicated in the discussion above, the current International Order has been made possible regarding the outlawry of war as an instrument of state policy implementation. Since the establishment of the League of Nations and the Permanent Court of International Justice to the current United Nations and its International Court of Justice, there have been several cases to this extent. Criminals of war, human rights violators among other international criminals have been tried and made an example of to discourage mass use of violence. Moreover, in conjunction with the United Nations Security Council, the court has tried a lot of cases against states which have breached the foundational tenets of International Law threatening world peace.

Generally, these criminals have involved in the involvement of other member states' internal affairs, thus breaking the rules on maintaining the sovereignty of Nations. Other cases involved aggressive countries involved in the programs or technologies that threaten the peace in their region or the world. Iran, for example, was slapped with trading sanctions and embargoes after the motives of its nuclear program seemed ulterior and malicious. Another example is the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) has been facing similar economic and trade sanctions for the same nuclear strategy.

Conclusively, the culmination of the current International Order is illustrated by the many cases in the International Court of Justice against individuals and states who have breached the various doctrines of the current International Law. Through the Security Council, the UN has been able to control aggressive states with the backing of the world's largest economies, often unanimously. In retrospect, all these cases act as warning signs and stepping stones for countries and individuals inte...