Davide Rodogno
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691151335
- eISBN:
- 9781400840014
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691151335.003.0003
- Subject:
- History, Middle East History
This chapter examines the legal doctrines of humanitarian intervention that were developed in the second half of the nineteenth century. Drawing on nineteenth-century British and French writings, ...
More
This chapter examines the legal doctrines of humanitarian intervention that were developed in the second half of the nineteenth century. Drawing on nineteenth-century British and French writings, articles, memoirs, journals, pamphlets, and reviews, it shows that the image of the Ottoman Empire and that of its Christian subjects were far from being monolithic. The chapter first considers the reasons why the Ottoman Empire was generally excluded from the Family of Nations, including despotism, Islam, polygamy, slavery, corruption and the absence of a sound social structure, inability to reciprocate in legal dealings, and unwillingness or incapacity to institute reforms that would guarantee security of life and property to Ottoman Christians. It then discusses the main criterion articulated by various legal scholars for the Ottoman Empire's inclusion in the Family of Nations before concluding with an analysis of late-nineteenth-century doctrines of humanitarian intervention.Less
This chapter examines the legal doctrines of humanitarian intervention that were developed in the second half of the nineteenth century. Drawing on nineteenth-century British and French writings, articles, memoirs, journals, pamphlets, and reviews, it shows that the image of the Ottoman Empire and that of its Christian subjects were far from being monolithic. The chapter first considers the reasons why the Ottoman Empire was generally excluded from the Family of Nations, including despotism, Islam, polygamy, slavery, corruption and the absence of a sound social structure, inability to reciprocate in legal dealings, and unwillingness or incapacity to institute reforms that would guarantee security of life and property to Ottoman Christians. It then discusses the main criterion articulated by various legal scholars for the Ottoman Empire's inclusion in the Family of Nations before concluding with an analysis of late-nineteenth-century doctrines of humanitarian intervention.
Mónica García-Salmones Rovira
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- January 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780199685202
- eISBN:
- 9780191765407
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199685202.003.0003
- Subject:
- Law, Public International Law, Philosophy of Law
This chapter examines the work of Lassa Oppenheim, analysing him as a figure connecting several traditions and as the initiator of an important strand of twentieth-century internationalism in ...
More
This chapter examines the work of Lassa Oppenheim, analysing him as a figure connecting several traditions and as the initiator of an important strand of twentieth-century internationalism in international law, pragmatism, with its intellectual origin in the British Empire. It argues that Oppenheim's work was truly groundbreaking in its modernity and in its vision of a liberal-economic, positivist legal international order. It shows that his economic idea of a Family of Nations remains a key notion of international law, but the past century has given time to problematize its legal content, check its self-complacency, and its consequences in practice.Less
This chapter examines the work of Lassa Oppenheim, analysing him as a figure connecting several traditions and as the initiator of an important strand of twentieth-century internationalism in international law, pragmatism, with its intellectual origin in the British Empire. It argues that Oppenheim's work was truly groundbreaking in its modernity and in its vision of a liberal-economic, positivist legal international order. It shows that his economic idea of a Family of Nations remains a key notion of international law, but the past century has given time to problematize its legal content, check its self-complacency, and its consequences in practice.
Davide Rodogno
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691151335
- eISBN:
- 9781400840014
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691151335.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, Middle East History
This book looks at the rise of humanitarian intervention in the nineteenth century, from the fall of Napoleon to World War I. Examining the concept from a historical perspective, the book explores ...
More
This book looks at the rise of humanitarian intervention in the nineteenth century, from the fall of Napoleon to World War I. Examining the concept from a historical perspective, the book explores the understudied cases of European interventions and noninterventions in the Ottoman Empire and brings a new view to this international practice for the contemporary era. While it is commonly believed that humanitarian interventions are a fairly recent development, the book demonstrates that almost two centuries ago an international community, under the aegis of certain European powers, claimed a moral and political right to intervene in other states' affairs to save strangers from massacre, atrocity, or extermination. On some occasions, these powers acted to protect fellow Christians when allegedly “uncivilized” states, like the Ottoman Empire, violated a “right to life.” Exploring the political, legal, and moral status, as well as European perceptions, of the Ottoman Empire, the book investigates the reasons that were put forward to exclude the Ottomans from the so-called Family of Nations. It considers the claims and mixed motives of intervening states for aiding humanity, the relationship between public outcry and state action or inaction, and the bias and selectiveness of governments and campaigners. An original account of humanitarian interventions some two centuries ago, the book investigates the varied consequences of European involvement in the Ottoman Empire and the lessons that can be learned for similar actions today.Less
This book looks at the rise of humanitarian intervention in the nineteenth century, from the fall of Napoleon to World War I. Examining the concept from a historical perspective, the book explores the understudied cases of European interventions and noninterventions in the Ottoman Empire and brings a new view to this international practice for the contemporary era. While it is commonly believed that humanitarian interventions are a fairly recent development, the book demonstrates that almost two centuries ago an international community, under the aegis of certain European powers, claimed a moral and political right to intervene in other states' affairs to save strangers from massacre, atrocity, or extermination. On some occasions, these powers acted to protect fellow Christians when allegedly “uncivilized” states, like the Ottoman Empire, violated a “right to life.” Exploring the political, legal, and moral status, as well as European perceptions, of the Ottoman Empire, the book investigates the reasons that were put forward to exclude the Ottomans from the so-called Family of Nations. It considers the claims and mixed motives of intervening states for aiding humanity, the relationship between public outcry and state action or inaction, and the bias and selectiveness of governments and campaigners. An original account of humanitarian interventions some two centuries ago, the book investigates the varied consequences of European involvement in the Ottoman Empire and the lessons that can be learned for similar actions today.
Tanja Aalberts
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- February 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780198798200
- eISBN:
- 9780191858642
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198798200.003.0039
- Subject:
- Law, Public International Law
This chapter analyses a treaty made on behalf of the Association Internationale du Congo (the infamous private company of King Leopold II of Belgium) with roi Né-Do’ucoula of Boma on 19 April 1884. ...
More
This chapter analyses a treaty made on behalf of the Association Internationale du Congo (the infamous private company of King Leopold II of Belgium) with roi Né-Do’ucoula of Boma on 19 April 1884. Whereas legal analysis would usually focus on the content of the treaty and its provisions to establish legal facts, this chapter moves the attention to the signatures at the bottom. It argues that they constitute an important object of international law, as they provide a counter narrative to the popular Standard of Civilisation as the founding doctrine of the Family of Nations in the nineteenth century. As objects of international law the signatures—or rather marks or crosses—embody at the same time the condition of possibility of the nineteenth-century international legal order, and undermine its defining framework (that is, constitute its condition of impossibility).Less
This chapter analyses a treaty made on behalf of the Association Internationale du Congo (the infamous private company of King Leopold II of Belgium) with roi Né-Do’ucoula of Boma on 19 April 1884. Whereas legal analysis would usually focus on the content of the treaty and its provisions to establish legal facts, this chapter moves the attention to the signatures at the bottom. It argues that they constitute an important object of international law, as they provide a counter narrative to the popular Standard of Civilisation as the founding doctrine of the Family of Nations in the nineteenth century. As objects of international law the signatures—or rather marks or crosses—embody at the same time the condition of possibility of the nineteenth-century international legal order, and undermine its defining framework (that is, constitute its condition of impossibility).
