The Epochs of International Law

Wilhelm G. Grewe, Michael Byers

• Publisher: De Gruyter
• Year: 2013
• ISBN:
  9783110902907
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Diritto
• Subtopic: Diritto pubblico

Wilhelm G. Grewe's "Epochen der Völkerrechtsgeschichte", published in 1984, is widely regarded as one of the classic twentieth century works of international law. This revised translation by Michael Byers of Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, makes this important book available to non-German readers for the first time.

"The Epocs of International Law" provides a theoretical overview and detailed analysis of the history of international law from the Middle Ages, to the Age of Discovery and the Thirty Years War, from Napoleon Bonaparte to the Treaty of Versailles, the Cold War and the Age of the Single Superpower, and does so in a way that reflects Grewe's own experience as one of Germany's leading diplomats and professors of international law.

A new chapter, written by Wilhelm G. Grewe and Michael Byers, updates the book to October 1998, making the revised translation of interest to German international layers, international relations scholars and historians as well.

Wilhelm G. Grewe was one of Germany's leading diplomats, serving as West German ambassador to Washington, Tokyo and NATO, and was a member of the International Court of Arbitration in The Hague. Subsequently professor of International Law at the University of Freiburg, he remains one of Germany's most famous academic lawyers. Wilhelm G. Grewe died in January 2000.

Professor Dr. Michael Byers, Duke University, School of Law, Durham, North Carolina, formerly a Fellow of Jesus College, Oxford, and a visiting Fellow of the Max-Planck-Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law, Heidelberg.

Table of contents

• Preface
• Translater’s Note
• Preface to the Second Edition
• Preface to the First Edition
• Introduction
• I. The Periodisation of the History of International Law
• II. The Origins of the Law of Nations
• III. International Legal Orders of the Modern State System
• PART ONE. Ius gentium. The Structure of the Law of the Nations during the Middle Ages
• Chapter One. Unity and Subdivision of the Occident under the Dyarchy of Emperor and Pope
• I. The Structure of Political Forces
• II. The »Middle Ages« and the Stages of Their Legal Development
• III. The Unity of Church and Empire and the Two Ministeria
• IV. Political and Territorial Subdivision
• Chapter Two. The Foundation of the International Legal Community: The Occidental Christian Community
• Chapter Three. The Subjects of the International Legal Community: The Polities of the Feudal Age
• I. Feudalism
• II. Personalisation and Territorial Allegiance
• III. »Openness«
• IV. Feuds and the Right of Resistance
• Chapter Four. Admission to the Family of Nations: Approbation and Recognition
• Chapter Five. Law-Making: Natural Law and Treaty Practice
• I. The Law of Nations in the Hierarchy of the Scholastic System of Natural Law
• II. The Practice of Law-Making: Treaty Law and Customary Law
• Chapter Six. The Judiciary: The Development and Structure of Medieval Arbitration
• Chapter Seven. Law Enforcement: The Idea and Reality of the »Just War«
• I. War and Feud
• II. The Teaching of the Church
• III. The Real Face of War
• IV. The »Treuga Dei«
• V. The Roman Tradition
• Chapter Eight. The Legal Forms of Territorial Settlement: Adjudication and Occupation
• Chapter Nine. Law and Dominion of the Sea: Claims by the Coastal States
• PART TWO. Ius inter gentes. The Law of Nations in the Spanish Age 1494–1648
• Chapter One. The Predominance of Spain in the State System
• Chapter Two. The Foundation of the International Legal Community: The Laws of the European Family of Christian Nations
• I. Christianitas afficta: Christendom in the Age of the Confessional Schism
• II. The Closed System of the European Balance of Power: »No Peace Beyond the Line«
• Chapter Three. The Subjects of the International Legal Community: The Early Modern States
• I. The Formation of Modern States in Europe
• II. The Shape of the Early Modern State in the Age of Emerging Absolutism
• III. Religious Intervention
• Chapter Four. Admission to the International Law Community: The Recognition of the Independence of the Netherlands
• Chapter Five. Law-Making: Ius naturae and ius voluntarium
• I. The Law of Nations in the Natural Law System of the Spanish Late Scholastics and of Grotius
• II. The Practice of Law-Making: Sovereigns as Treaty Partners
• Chapter Six. The Judicial Settlement of International Disputes: The Decline of Arbitration
• Chapter Seven. Law Enforcement: The Genesis of the Classical Law of War
• I. »Special Reprisals«
• II. Changes in the Just War Doctrine
• Chapter Eight. The Institutions of the Law of Nations for the Formation of a Territorial Order in the Age of Discoveries
• I. The Legal Titles of Overseas Expansion
• II. The Papal Investiture and the »Raya« of Tordesillas
• III. Discovery as a Title for the Acquisition of Colonial Territories
• Chapter Nine. Law and Dominion of the Sea: Mare clausum vs. mare liberum
• PART THREE. Droit Public de l’Europe. The International Legal Order during the French Age 1648–1815
• Chapter One. The Age of French Predominance in the State System
• Chapter Two. The Foundations of the International Legal Community: European Balance of Power, Dynastic Solidarity, Colonial Expansion
• I. Christendom and Europe in the Age of Tolerance
• II. The »Wider« System of the European Balance of Power
• Chapter Three. The Subjects of the International Legal Community: Closed Territorial States
• I. The Modern State in the Age of Mature Absolutism
• II. The Emergence of Modern State Borders
• III. Political Intervention in the Name of »Balance of Power« and »Convenience«
• Chapter Four. Admission to the Family of Nations: The Recognition of the Independence of the United States
• Chapter Five. The Formation of Legal Rules: Law of Nature and raison d’etat
• I. The Law of Nations in the Natural Law System of Rationalism
• II. The Practice of Concluding Treaties in a World Ruled by raison d’etat
• Chapter Six. Judicature: The Nadir of International Arbitration
• Chapter Seven. Law Enforcement: Cabinat Wars and Contractual Neutrality
• I. »General Reprisals«
• II. The Classical Concept of War and the Beginnings of a Law of Neutrality
• Chapter Eight. The Laws of Territorial Settlement: Symbolic and Effective Occupation
• Chapter Nine. Law and Dominion of the Sea: Neutral Rights in Wartime as »liberté des mers«
• I. The Demise of the Sovereignty of the Sea and the Changed Meaning of the Sea Ceremonial
• II. »Liberté de la navigation et du commerce«
• III. Colonial Blockade: The »Rule of the War of 1756« and the »Doctrine of Continuous Voyage«
• IV. »Freedom of the Seas« as the Freedom of Neutral Trade in War
• Chapter Ten. The French Revolution: Postulates and Ideological Programmes Relating to the Law of Nations
• I. The Traditional Order of the Law of Nations Shaken
• II. Nation and Sovereignity as Central Concepts of the Revolutionary Law of Nations
• III. Non-intervention and Collective Security as Principles, Intervention and Aggressive War as Practice
• IV. The Right of Self-Determination as a Consequence of the Sovereignty of the People
• V. »War Against War«: The Adversary as a Criminal
• PART FOUR. »International Law«. The International Legal Order of the British Age 1815–1919
• Chapter One. British Predominance in the State System
• I. Britain and Europe in the Ninteenth Century
• II. The Holy Alliance and the Concert of Europe
• III. The Age of Bismarck (1871–1890)
• IV. The Desintegration of the European Order (1890–1919)
• V. The Rise of the Empire
• Chapter Two. The Foundations of the International Legal Community: The Idea of Civilisation and a Universal International Law in a Global State System
• I. The Society of »Civilised Nations«
• II. The World-Wide State System and Global Equilibrium
• III. The Widening of the European Law of Nations to Universal International Law
• IV. The Legal Institutions of the New Colonial Law of Nations
• Chapter Three. The Subjects of International Law: The Breakthrough of the Concept of the Nation-State
• I. Constitutionalism and the Rule of Law
• II. Humanitarian Intervention
• Chapter Four. Admission to the Familiy of Nations: The Independence of the Latin American Republics and the Classical Doctrine of Recognition
• Chapter Five. Law-Making: The Consent of States as a Source of International Law
• I. Positivism in International Law
• II. The Practice of Law-Making: Codification Conferences and Law-Making Treaties
• Chapter Six. Adjucation: The Rebirth of Arbitration
• Chapter Seven. Law Enforcement: The Completion of the Classical Law of War and Neutrality
• I. Peace Time Reprisals and Pacific Blockade
• II. The Right of Sovereign States to Wage War
• III. Continental and British Conceptions of War
• IV. Institutional Neutrality
• Chapter Eight. The Law of Territorial Settlement: Acquisition of Territory by Effective Occupation
• Chapter Nine. Law and Dominion of the Sea: Freedom of the Seas under British Maritime Dominion
• I. Britain’s Role in the Law of Naval Warfare
• II. Piracy: The Fall of the Barbary States
• III. »Quasi-Piracy«: The Fight Against the Slave Trade
• IV. »Quasi-Piracy«: The Naval Forces of Rebels and Unrecognised States
• PART FIVE. International Law and the League of Nations. The International Legal Order of the Inter-War Period 1919–1944
• Chapter One. The Transition Period of the Anglo-American Condominium
• Chapter Two. The Foundations of the International Legal Community: A Global Community Dominated by the West
• I. The Post-Classical System of International Law
• II. Mankind as a World-Wide Legal Community
• III. The League of Nations and the Kellogg-Briand Pact as Instruments of the Anglo-American Comdominium
• Chapter Three. The Subjects of International Law: The Modern State in the Age of Mass Democracy
• I. The State as a Self-Organised Society
• II. Collective and »Cold« Intervention
• Chapter Four. Admission to the International Legal Community: The Stimson Doctrine of Non-Recognition
• Chapter Five. The Formation of Legal Rules: The Turn Away from Positivism; A Frenzy of Law-Making
• I. A Return to a Secular Law of Nature
• II. The Practice of Law-Making: Euphoria in Codification; Differentiation among Types and the Registration of Treaties
• Chapter Six. The Administration of Justice: Compulsory Arbitration and the Permanent Court of International Justice
• I. The Paralysis of Arbitration through Political Crises
• II. The Authority and Deficiencies of the Permanent Court of International Justice
• III. The Failure of the System of War Prevention
• Chapter Seven. Law Enforcement: The Outlawry of War, and Sanctions
• I. The Prohibition of War by the Covenant of the League of Nations and the Kellogg-Briand Pact
• II. Reprisals as a Substitute for War and as a Means of Escalating Warfare
• Chapter Eight. The Laws of Territorial Settlement: Contiguity and Sectoral Demarcation
• Chapter Nine. Law and Dominion of the Sea: The Decline of Neutral Rights
• I. From Neutrality to »Non-Belligerence«
• II. Long-Distance Blockade and Economic Warfare
• PART SIX. United Nations: International Law in the Age of American-Soviet Rivalry and the Rise of the Third World 1945–1989
• Chapter One. The Bipolar World System Dominated by Two Super-Powers
• I. 1945 – A Turning Point in the History of International Law?
• II. The Power and Impotence of the Superpowers
• III. Cold War, Containment, Detente
• Chapter Two. The Foundations of the International Legal Community: A Universal Community without Common Values
• I. An Organised Community of Nations
• II. A Universal Legal Community Rising Above Ideological Dissent
• III. The Decline of the Trusteeship System as a Result of Decolonisation
• Chapter Three. The Subjects of International Law: A Heterogeneous World of States
• I. Diversity of Political Systems and the Beginnings of a Communicative Society
• II. Antagonism between Supra-National Integration and National Sovereignty
• III. Intervention: The Protection of Human Rights and the Brezhnev Doctrine of »Fraternal Support«
• Chapter Four. Admission to the International Legal Community: »Peaceloving« as a Criterion for Membership of the United Nations
• Chapter Five. The Formation of Legal Rules: The Role of the United Nations in the Creation of Law
• I. A New Wave of Codification
• II. »Soft Law« and ius cogens
• Chapter Six. Adjudication: Preeminence of Political Rather than Judicial Settlement of Disputes
• Chapter Seven. Law Enforcement: Ius contra bellum and the Use of Force in Practice
• I. A Prohibition on the Use of Force, but no Enforcement Mechanism
• II. Exceptions to the Prohibition on the Use of Force: Sanctions, Self-Defence, »Enemy-States« Clauses
• III. Bellum iustum or bellum legale
• IV. American Conceptions of the »Just and Limited War«
• V. »Wars of Liberation« and Other Interpretations of the Just War Conflicting with the United Nations Charter
• VI. Reprisals and Intervention: Deficiencies in the System and a Return to the Institutions of Classical International Law
• Chapter Eight. Legal Forms of Territorial Settlement: The Distribution of the Last Unoccupied Regions of the Earth; Air and Space Law
• Chapter Nine. Law and Dominion of the Sea: The »Common Heritage of Mankind«
• Conclusion
• PART SEVEN. Epilogue. Epilogue An International Community with a Single Superpower
• I. Epilogue to the Cold War
• II. The Foundations of the International Legal Community: A New Communitarian Approach v. The Hegemony of a Single Superpower
• III. The Subjects of International Law: A Heterogeneous Multitude of States in a Process of Globalisation
• IV. The Rise of the Non-State Actor
• V. Admission to the International Legal Community: Recognition of the Yugoslav Successor States
• VI. Democracy and International Law
• VII. Law-Making: The Changing Emphasis of Codification
• VIII. Public Interest Norms
• IX. Adjudication: International Tribunals for War Crimes
• X. Law Enforcement: War, Civil War, Internal Anarchy
• XI. Territorial Settlement: The Enviroment as the Common Concern of Humankind
• XII. Law of the Sea: The Fate of the 1982 United Nations Convention and the International Tribunal in Hamburg
• Bibliography
• Sources of Illustrations
• Name Index
• Subject Index