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The Emergence of the International Law Societies

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 August 2009

Extract

The history of world politics of the half century before 1914 is full of nationalist wars, imperialist conflicts, and the diplomacy of the armed peace. To the less spectacular developments of internationalism so little attention is usually paid that the League of Nations almost seems to emerge full-grown from the head of Woodrow Wilson. It is true that the dominant trend in the relations between the sovereign states was anything but pacific, and the peoples were increasingly swayed by the emotion of aggressive nationalism. At the same time the world was becoming more interdependent economically and culturally, and there was a quiet but clearly perceptible growth of international-mindedness. A significant expression of this development was the movement of ideas in the eighteen-seventies which led to the establishment of two important law societies, the Institute of International Law and the International Law Association. The story of their origins is an interesting chapter in the history of international law and throws light as well upon its relationships with the organized peace movement.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © University of Notre Dame 1957

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References

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44 International Law Association, Reports of the First and Second Conferences, pp. 2544Google Scholar; London Times, 10 15, 16, 18, 1873Google Scholar. The proceedings, insofar as they related to the Institute were also reported in the Revue de Droit International, V (1873), 695702Google Scholar. Lorimer, although not present at Brussels to take part in the debate, entirely agreed with Bernard. Lorimer, , Studies, pp. 86, 97101.Google Scholar

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