PREFACE This work is a history of and commentary on the laws of war as between belligerents. Some time in the future it is hoped to complete the treatment of the laws of war by a like work on the laws of war as affecting neutrals and eventually to supplement them by a third on amicable means of settling international disputes. Part I is a history of war practice and of the development of a well-recognized body of law regulating it. It attempts to show how changes have come about in war practice and to show the historical position of the great Congresses and Conferences such as those of Paris, Geneva and The Hague. Especially is the Second Peace Conference the subject of careful treatment. Finally it takes up questions which have arisen in late wars such as the conduct of the Germans in France, the reconcentration measures in South Africa and the opening of hostilities in the Russo-Japanese War, and considers them in the light of International Law. The treatment of Russian subjects by the Japanese Government during the Russo-Japanese War is given in special detail in Appendix L. Part II is intended to be a thorough commentary on war practice between belligerents. Particular emphasis is laid on the military as distinguished from the civil side of the laws of war. Comment is made on the international conventions such as those drawn up at the Second Peace Conference, and the Regulations respecting the Laws and Customs of War on Land and the Red Cross Conventions are treated in great detail. For convenience of reference it has been thought best to follow Professor Westlake in referring to the articles of the Regulations as HI, HII, etc., and to those of the Geneva Convention as G I, GII, etc. Articles of the naval Red Cross Convention are also referred to as GNI, G N II, etc. It is hoped that this part may be of use to army and navy officers as a manual. Aside from this practical purpose, the work is intended (ix) as a study in law and it is hoped that the first part es pecially will not be without interest to the general reader. So many authorities are levied on for contributions in a book of this kind that it is hard to show proper appreciation without largely duplicating the list of authorities cited, but of living authors probably Professor Nys and Professor Westlake have been of the greatest assistance; the former, for his researches in the law of the Middle Ages, the latter for his clearheaded analysis of the modern law and especially his comments on the work of the Second Peace Conference. To Dr. Masanosuké Akiyama, of Tokio, especial thanks is due for a copy of his Traitement de Sujets Russes and permission to make extensive use of the same. It is my further pleasure as well as duty to express my thanks here to General George B. Davis for having read the manuscript at an earlier stage; also to the friends who have assisted in the manual preparation of the work and to. the Faculty in Public Law and Jurisprudence of Columbia University. To two members of that Faculty especial thanks are due. Professor Munroe Smith has put me under undying obligations by the stimulus of his lectures on Roman Law and the History of European Law and besides has kindly read a portion of the manuscript while Professor John Bassett Moore, under whom most of my work was done, has been as a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. If there be any value in these pages, let it be regarded as the inspiration of his unfailing kindness and profound insight. NEW YORK, July 28, 1908. PERCY BORDWELL. Among the Ancients-Rules Expanded from the Roman Law-German, Moslem and Byzantine Practice-The Mid- dle Ages - Private Wars - Reprisals-Influence of the Church-Dying out of the Enslavement of Prisoners of War -Chivalry-Henry V-Swiss and Italian Practice-Piracy. The Renaissance-The Italian Writers-The Spanish Writ- Their Moderation-Declarations of War-Substitution of French Revolutionary Wars on the Doctrine of Conquest- THE PERIOD OF. PEACE AND THE DECLARATION OF PARIS......64 Changes in Society-Declaration of Paris-Position of Eng- land-Exemption of Private Property at Sea from Capture -Views of Franklin-The Position of the United States- Instructions for the Armies in the Field-Confiscation, Se- First Steps Towards the Convention of 1864-Conference of 1863-Formation of the Red Cross Societies-Congress of Francs-tireurs-Occupation by Flying Columns Rights of |