The Law of Neutrality and State Practice

Chapter 3 explores how Great Britain applied and implemented its neutrality policy after 1870, building a coherent state practice based on its Foreign Enlistment Act. Several case studies from various conflicts after 1870 highlight the main areas of dispute between neutral Great Britain and belligerent powers, dealing with the sale of ships, coaling, contraband, and the destruction of ships. More broadly, the chapter shows the challenges which Great Britain faced in the application of its domestic legislation. It shows the important role of the Foreign Office and the Law Officers of the Crown in dealing with these matters, and how they shaped the understanding of neutrality more generally.

International Law and the Theory of War

Chapter 7 explores the question of the immunity of private property from capture at sea, examining the views of its opponents and supporters. The immunity of private property at sea posed a serious challenge to sea powers—it was feared that this step would result in a further curtailment of belligerent rights. The chapter analyses the positions of the United States, Great Britain, and Germany in the first and second Hague peace conferences. The naval thinkers Alfred T. Mahan and Julian S. Corbett saw the proposal as an existential danger to waging economic warfare. Their reflection on the impact of international law on maritime strategy illustrated the limitation of the adoption of such a far-reaching proposal. The question also demanded a theoretical reflection on warfare and the chapter compares how international lawyers and strategists understood warfare and international law.

The Hague and London Conferences and the Rise of an International Legal Order

Chapter 5 deals with the codification of international maritime law at the second Hague peace conference and the London naval conference. In addition, it is concerned with Great Britain’s position on the process of codification, as well as how Great Britain shaped an international legal order as guidance in a future maritime conflict. As the foremost sea power at the time, Great Britain not only possessed the most comprehensive state practice on international maritime law but also significantly influenced the process of codification. The chapter illuminates Great Britain’s preparatory work for the conferences and evaluates the importance of state practice for the process of codification. The three topics which were particularly important for Great Britain are treated in detail in this chapter: blockade, contraband, and neutrality. Although the Declaration of London provided a comprehensive legal framework, it also illustrated the challenges and limitations of codification with regard to a future maritime conflict.

Conclusion

Custom, state practice, and codification provided important reference points for the legal framework governing international relations in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The Conclusion explores the shifts from custom to codification in international maritime law. It also outlines how Great Britain used international maritime law as an instrument in foreign policy to protect its economic and strategic interests as a sea power. This last chapter then discusses how international maritime law in turn affected visions of future warfare. Great Britain’s neutrality policy, and in particular the Foreign Enlistment Act, shaped the country’s state practice in the second half of the nineteenth century, and the conclusion discusses the importance of state practice in foreign policy at the time.

The Codification of International Maritime Law

Chapter 4 explores the early efforts in codifying international maritime law. The 1860s saw successes in the adoption of the Lieber Code and the Geneva Convention, and it was hoped that states would adopt an international code of conduct in warfare. Yet, the Brussels Declaration of 1874 failed, and subsequently non-governmental organizations such as the Institut de droit international stepped up, advancing the codification of international maritime law. The chapter addresses the views of the supporters as well as those of the sceptics of codification and shows the importance of the Institut de droit international in this process. At the beginning of the twentieth century, the United States Naval War College drafted the first comprehensive Naval War Code, and the chapter presents the motivation of the drafters and examines the broader international debate.

The Making of the Neutrality Policy

Chapter 2 examines the development of the concept of neutrality from the Middle Ages to the golden age of neutrality in the nineteenth century, and shows how Great Britain adopted a policy of neutrality after 1856. The chapter discusses Great Britain’s experience of the American Civil War as a neutral, and examines various instances of international conflict such as the Alexandra case, where Great Britain was accused of breaching neutrality. The negotiations of the Alabama claims tribunal resulted not only in the Treaty of Washington, which outlined neutrality more precisely, but also prompted a change in British domestic legislation, in particular the Foreign Enlistment Act. Both the treaty and the act defined Great Britain’s neutrality policy after 1870.

The Sea as a Legal and Strategic Space

Chapter 1 serves as an introductory chapter, exploring the idea of the sea as a legal and strategic space. The concepts of freedom of the seas and sovereignty of the sea dominated the legal debates about the ownership of the seas. In wartime these concepts clashed as neutrals demanded freedom of the seas while belligerents claimed the sovereignty of the sea. The chapter explores the means to control the seas, in particular, blockade, the right of search and capture, and the rule of 1756. When Great Britain reassessed its strategic position in the mid-nineteenth century, it was John C. R. Colomb who emphasized the importance of imperial defence and the protection of trade in a future maritime conflict. The discussion on the effectiveness of economic warfare brought strategic and legal considerations together since both were concerned with the ability to control the sea.

Introduction

The Introduction provides an outline of the theme of the book, explaining the focus on state practice, custom, and the codification of international maritime law. State practice and custom were important reference points for the codification of international maritime law, and William E. Hall’s definition of international law serves as a starting point for the reflection on the importance of state practice for the making of international law. History was also an important reference point for early international lawyers, and Theodore D. Woolsey’s explanation helps to understand the close relationship between history and law more generally. The history of international law has become a vibrant research area in recent decades thanks to Martti Koskenniemi, whose works have contributed to the understanding of the construction of a legal argument and the philosophical basis of international law.

Maritime Strategic Thought and International Law

Chapter 6 examines the development of maritime strategic thought in Great Britain from 1872 to 1914, analysing the debates at the Royal United Service Institution, which provided one of the most important forums to discuss strategic matters. The early naval strategic thinkers John and Philip Colomb set the agenda, discussing maritime strategy in the context of home and imperial defence. Later strategists, such as Alfred T. Mahan and Julian S. Corbett, focused on command and control of the sea. The chapter examines not only how maritime strategic thought developed but also how the practice and codification of international maritime law shaped ideas about a future maritime conflict.