The modern period of international law may be divided into five epochs: (a) From the Peace of Westphalia, 1648, to the Peace of Utrecht, 1713; (b) from the Peace of Utrecht, 1713, to the Congress of Vienna, 1815; (c) from the Congress of Vienna, 1815, to the call for the First Hague Peace Conference, 1898; (d) from the call for the First Hague Peace Conference, 1898, to 1914; (e) from 1914 to the present time.

(a) It became evident at the termination of the Thirty Years' War in 1648 that the old doctrines of world-empire, whether of Pope or of Emperor, could no longer 1648-1713: Development be sustained. The provisions of the Peace of of principles. Westphalia, while not creating a code to govern international relations, did give legal recognition to the existence of many such conditions as Grotius contemplated in "De Jure Belli ac Pacis," in regard to the relations of states regardless of area and power. The decree of James I, in 1604, establishing a neutral zone by "a straight line drawn from one point to another about the realm of England," in which neither of the parties to the war between the United Provinces and Spain should carry on hostilities, formed a precedent in maritime jurisdiction, even though the decree was but imperfectly enforced. This early part of the modern period was especially fruitful in treatises and discussions upon the nature of international law, and upon what it ought to be, and also upon the law of the sea, particularly Grotius's "Mare Liberum," 1609, Selden's "Mare Clausum," 1635, and Bynkershoek's "De Dominio Maris," 1702.1 During this period the public law was diligently studied; the right of legation became generally recognized; French gradually took the place of Latin in international intercourse, with a corresponding modern spirit in

1 The Marine Ordinance of Louis XIV, 1681, became the basis of sea law. 2 With the decline of the influence of the "Holy Roman Empire," the use of Latin in diplomacy became less general.

the practice, though the discussions were usually ponderous and abstract; the idea of the balance of power flourished and formed a subject of frequent controversy; the principle of intervention upon political grounds was propounded and acknowledged; and the opinions of the great publicists, such as Grotius, gained weight and were widely studied. The general principles of neutral trade, including "free ships, free goods," were laid down; prize laws and provisions as to contraband were adopted; numerous treaties of commerce gave witness of the growth of international intercourse; and both men and states became somewhat more tolerant.

1713-1815: Testing of principles.

(b) The Treaty of Utrecht (1713) gave recognition to many of the principles which had become fairly well accepted during the years since 1648. There were evidences of the growing influences of the New World upon the policy of the Old; the American fisheries question appeared; the international regulations in regard to commerce were multiplied; and the central subject of the preamble was a provision on "the balance of power."1 For many years the question of succession to the various seats of royal and princely power formed the chief subject of international discussion. During the eighteenth century the steady growth of England as a maritime power and the European complications over trans-Atlantic possessions gave rise to new international issues. The basis of modern territorial acquisition was found in the Roman law of occupatio, and the Roman law of river boundaries was almost exactly followed.2 From the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (1748), in which former treaties were generally renewed, to 1815, the growth and observation of the principles of international law was spasmodic. By the Peace of Paris and by the Peace of Hubertsburg (1763), many questions of territo

44

1 Abbé Saint-Pierre, in three volumes, 1729, Abrégé du Projet de Paix perpétuelle," outlines a plan for peace by fixed system of balance of power. 2 "Institutes," II, 1, 21, 22.

rial jurisdiction were settled. England, then become the dominant power in North America, with greatly extended power in the East, impressed upon international practice adherence to actual precedent rather than to theoretically correct principles. At the same time in Central Europe the conditions were ripe for that violation of international justice, the partition of Poland in 1772, followed by the further partition in 1793 and 1795. The rights which the concert of nations was thought to hold sacred were the very ones most ruthlessly violated by the neighboring powers. The American Revolution of 1776 and the French Revolution of 1789 introduced new principles. The "armed neutrality" of 1780,1 while maintaining the principle, "free ships, free goods," made impossible the converse, enemy's ships, enemy's goods," which had been held. Both the American and French Revolutions made evident the necessity of the development of the laws of neutrality hitherto greatly confused and disregarded. During the French Revolution it seemed that to Great Britain alone could the states of Europe look for the practice of the principles of international law. After the French Revolution it was necessary to define just intervention that Europe might not be again convulsed. It became clear that the state was an entity and distinct from the person of its king. No longer could the king of France or of any European state say "L'état, c'est moi." Even though personal selfishness of monarchs might pervade the Congress of Vienna, the spirit of nationality could not long be restrained. The period from 1713 to 1815 had tested the general principles propounded during the seventeenth century, and it was found necessary to expand their interpretation, while the growth of commerce and intercourse made necessary new laws of neutrality and new principles of comity, such as were in part laid

1 Declaration of Russia, Feb. 28, 1780.

The works of Moser (1701-1786) and his immediate followers attempt to make practical the principles of international law.

down in the early days of the nineteenth century, as seen in the resistance to the right of search, the declaration against African slave trade, establishment of freedom of river navigation, improved regulations in regard to trade in time of war, neutralization of Switzerland, placing of a protectorate over the Ionian Islands, and determination of precedence and dignities of the various diplomatic agents and the states which they represented. By the year 1815 the theory of the seventeenth century had been severely tested by the practice of the eighteenth century, and it remained for the nineteenth century to profit by the two centuries of modern political experience.

(c) The Peace of Westphalia (1648), the Peace of Utrecht (1713), and the Treaty of Vienna (1815) are the three celebrated cases of combined action of modern European

1815-1898:

cation of

principles.

1

Practical appli- powers. The "balance of power" idea had gradually been supplemented by "the concert of the powers" idea, which would not merely maintain the relative status quo of "the balance," but might enter upon a positive policy of concerted action. The " Holy Alliance" of 1815, to promote "Justice, Christian Charity, and Peace," was first broken by its originators. There was a strong feeling that the principles of international law should be followed, however, and this, the "Declaration of the Five Cabinets," November 15, 1818, distinctly avowed in "their invariable resolution, never to depart, either among themselves, or in their relations with other states, from the strictest observation of the principles of the Rights of Nations." 2 The attempt to extend the principle of intervention in favor of maintaining the various sovereigns on their thrones, and in suppression of internal revolutionary disturbances by foreign force was made in the “ Circular of the Three Powers," December 8, 1820.3 Under many forms intervention was one of the great questions of the nineteenth century, and the growing 3 Ibid., 658.

1 I Hertslet, 317.

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2 Ibid., 573.

proximity and the multiplication of relations of states during that century added many complications.1 The Grecian War of Independence (1821-1829) brought the new principle of pacific blockade (1827), and at its conclusion the powers guaranteed the sovereignty of Greece. Such matters as right of search, foreign enlistment, Monroe Doctrine, freedom of commerce and navigation, expatriation, extradition, neutralized territory, ship canals, consular rights, neutral rights and duties, arbitration, reciprocity, mixed courts, international postage, weights and measures, trade-marks and copyright, rules of war, submarine cables, and sphere of influence, which came to the front during the nineteenth century, indicate in a measure the subjectmatter of international negotiation. Throughout the period since 1815 tendency has been rather to regard what is the international practice.

1898 to 1914: Progress toward inter

national peace.

(d) At the reception of the diplomats at the Foreign Office, St. Petersburg, August 12 (24), 1898, Count Mouravieff handed to each foreign representative a document setting forth at some length the burdens imposed by war and by the preparations for war and expressing the hope that the time was come "to put an end to incessant armaments." This document of Count Mouravieff further declares that, “Filled with this idea, His Majesty has been pleased to order me to propose to all the Governments whose representatives are accredited to the Imperial Court, the meeting of a conference which would have to occupy itself with this grave problem.

"This conference should be, by the help of God, a happy presage for the century which is about to open. It would converge in one powerful focus the efforts of all States which are sincerely seeking to make the great idea of universal peace triumph over the elements of trouble and discord.

"It would, at the same time, confirm their agreement by

1 I Oppenheim, 221.