In the immediate aftermath of the armistice that ended the First World
War, the Allied nations of Britain, France, and Italy agreed to put
the fallen German Emperor Kaiser Wilhelm II on trial, in what would be
the first ever international criminal tribunal. In Britain, Lloyd
George campaigned for re-election on the slogan 'hang the Kaiser', but
the Italians had only lukewarm support for a trial, and there was
outright resistance from the United States. During the Peace
Conference, international lawyers gathered for the first time to
debate international criminal justice. They recommended trial of the
Kaiser by an international tribunal for war crimes, and the Americans
relented, agreeing to a trial for a 'supreme offence against
international morality'. However, the Kaiser had fled to the
Netherlands where he obtained asylum, and though the Allies threatened
a range of measures if the former Emperor was not surrendered, the
Dutch refused and the demands were dropped in March 1920. This book,
from renowned legal scholar William A. Schabas, sheds light on perhaps
the most important international trial that never was. Schabas draws
on numerous primary sources hitherto unexamined in published work,
including transcripts which vividly illuminate this period of
international law making. As such, he has written a book which
constitutes a history of the very beginnings of international criminal
justice, a history which has never before been fully told.
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Produktdetaljer
ISBN
9780192571182
Publisert
2020
Utgiver
Vendor
OUP Oxford
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Digital bok
Forfatter