Democracies and the Shock of War: The Law as a Battlefield

The emerging democracies developed a code of humanitarian law applicable in wartime. In the 16th and 17th centuries writers were instrumental in codifying and working out the first rules of humanitarian law. In the 19th century governments started to adopt legal codes enshrined in international law. The First World War and the Second World War tested the rules of humanitarian law and witnessed the hasty adoption of domestic laws to control subversive activities at home. Based on the experience of both world wars the governments adapted the rules of international humanitarian law by means of the four Geneva conventions of 1949 and later documents.