Hague Conventions (1899 and 1907)

	Email		Print
	Bookmark		Link

Hague Conventions (1899 and 1907)

The Hague Conventions were international treaties

Treaty

A Treaty is an agreement under international law entered into by actors in international law, namely states and international organizations. A Treaty may also be known as: agreement, protocol, covenant, convention, exchange of letters, etc....
negotiated at the First and Second Peace Conferences at The Hague

The Hague

The Hague is the third largest city in the Netherlands after Amsterdam and Rotterdam, with a population of 475,904 and an area of approximately 100 km?....
, Netherlands in 1899 and 1907, respectively, and were, along with the Geneva Conventions

Geneva Conventions

The Geneva Conventions consist of four treaties formulated in Geneva, Switzerland, that set the standards for international law for humanitarian concerns....
, among the first formal statements of the laws of war

Laws of war

The law of war is law concerning acceptable practices relating to war. In cases other than civil wars, it is considered an aspect of public international law ....
and war crimes in the nascent body of secular international law

International law

Public international law concerns the structure and conduct of states and intergovernmental organizations. To a lesser degree, international law also may affect multinational corporations and individuals, an impact increasingly evolving beyond domestic legal interpretation and enforcement....
.

Hague Convention of 1899
The First Peace Conference was held from May 18 and signed on July 29, 1899, and entered into force on September 4, 1900.

Discussion

Ask a question about 'Hague Conventions (1899 and 1907)'

Start a new discussion about 'Hague Conventions (1899 and 1907)'

Answer questions from other users

Full Discussion Forum

Encyclopedia

The Hague Conventions were international treaties

Treaty

The Hague

Geneva Conventions

Laws of war

International law

Hague Convention of 1899

The First Peace Conference was held from May 18 and signed on July 29, 1899, and entered into force on September 4, 1900. The Hague Convention of 1899 consisted of four main sections and three additional declarations (the final main section is for some reason identical to the first additional declaration):

- Pacific Settlement of International Disputes
- Laws and Customs of War on Land
- Adaptation to Maritime Warfare of Principles of Geneva Convention of 1864
- Prohibiting Launching of Projectiles and Explosives from Balloons
- On the Launching of Projectiles and Explosives from Balloons
- On the Use of Projectiles the Object of Which is the Diffusion of Asphyxiating or Deleterious Gases
- On the Use of Bullets Which Expand or Flatten Easily in the Human Body

The main effect of the Convention was to ban the use of certain types of modern technology in war: bombing from the air, chemical warfare

Chemical warfare

Chemical warfare involves using the poison of chemical substances as weapons to kill, injure, or incapacitate an Enemy .This type of warfare is distinct from the use of conventional weapons or nuclear weapons because the destructive effects of chemical weapons are not primarily due to their explosion force....
, and hollow point bullet

Hollow point bullet

A hollow point is a bullet that has a pit or hollowed out shape in its tip, generally intended to cause the bullet to expand upon entering a target in order to decrease penetration and disrupt more tissue as it travels through the target....
s. The Convention also set up the Permanent Court of Arbitration

Permanent Court of Arbitration

The Permanent Court of Arbitration , is an international organization based in The Hague in the Netherlands.It was established in 1899 as one of the acts of the first Hague Peace Conference, which makes it the oldest institution for international dispute resolution....
.

The conference was summoned at the urging of Mikhail Nikolayevich Muravyov

Mikhail Nikolayevich Muravyov

Count Mikhail Nikolayevich Muravyov was a Russian statesman who advocated transfer of Russian foreign policy from Europe to the Far East. He is probably best remembered for having initiated the Hague Peace Conference....
, Foreign Minister of Russia. Its delegates included Fyodor Martens and Ivan Bloch

Ivan Bloch

Ivan Stanislavovic Bloch , was a Poland banker and railway financier who devoted his private life to the study of modern industrial warfare. Born Jewish and converted to Calvinism, he spent considerable effort to opposing the prevalent Antisemitic polices of the Tsarist government, and was sympathetic to the fledgling Zionist Movement....
.

Hague Convention of 1907

The Second Peace Conference was held from June 15 to October 18, 1907, to expand upon the original Hague Convention, modifying some parts and adding others, with an increased focus on naval warfare. This was signed on October 18, 1907, and entered into force on January 26, 1910. It consisted of thirteen sections, of which twelve were ratified and entered into force:

XII — The Creation of an International Prize Court [Not Ratified]

Two declarations were signed as well:

Declaration I — extending Declaration II from the 1899 Conference to other types of aircraft
Declaration II—- on the obligatory arbitration

The Brazilian delegation was led by the statesman Ruy Barbosa

Ruy Barbosa

Ruy Barbosa de Oliveira, current spelling Rui, was an important Brazilian writer, jurist, and politician.Born in Salvador, Brazil, he was a federal representative, senator, Minister of Finance and diplomat....
, whose contribution was essential for the defense of the principle of legal equality of nations. The British delegation included the 11th Lord Reay (Donald James Mackay), Sir Ernest Satow and Eyre Crowe

Eyre Crowe

Sir Eyre Alexander Barby Wichart Crowe, Order of the Bath, Order of St Michael and St George was a British diplomat.Eyre Crowe was born in Leipzig and educated at D?sseldorf and Berlin and in France, with a Germany mother and a German wife....
. The Russian delegation was led by Fyodor Martens.

Geneva Protocol to Hague Convention

Though not negotiated in The Hague, the Geneva Protocol

Geneva Protocol

The Protocol for the Prohibition of the Use in War of Asphyxiating, Poisonous or other Gases, and of Bacteriological Methods of Warfare, usually called the Geneva Protocol, is a treaty prohibiting the first use of chemical and biological weapons....
to the Hague Convention is considered an addition to the Convention. Signed on June 17, 1925 and entering into force on February 8, 1928, it permanently bans the use of all forms of chemical and biological warfare

Biological warfare

Biological warfare , also known as germ warfare, is the use of pathogens as biological weapons . Using nonliving toxic products, even if produced by living organisms , is considered chemical warfare under the provisions of the Chemical Weapons Convention....
in its single section, entitled Protocol for the Prohibition of the Use in War of Asphyxiating, Poisonous or Other Gases, and of Bacteriological Methods of Warfare. The protocol grew out of the increasing public outcry against chemical warfare following the use of mustard gas and similar agents in World War I

World War I

World War I, or the First World War , was a global military conflict which involved the Great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War I and the Central Powers....
, and fears that chemical and biological warfare could lead to horrific consequences in any future war. The protocol has since been augmented by the Biological Weapons Convention

Biological Weapons Convention

The Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological and Toxin Weapons and on their Destruction was the first multilateral disarmament treaty banning the production of an entire category of weapons ....
(1972) and the Chemical Weapons Convention

Chemical Weapons Convention

The Chemical Weapons Convention is an arms control agreement which outlaws the production, stockpiling and use of chemical warfares. Its full name is the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on their Destruction....
(1993).

Hague Conventions (1899 and 1907)

Hague Convention of 1899

Hague Convention of 1907

Geneva Protocol to Hague Convention

See also

Footnotes