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This is the second of three chapters that set out the differing contexts through which the dilemma in the laws of war over the distinction between lawful and unlawful combatants can be viewed: political and diplomatic (Chapter 1), social (this chapter) and intellectual (Chapter 3). It explores the social history of army occupation and resistance to it in nineteenth century Europe – from the Napoleonic period to the Franco-Prussian war– and places these diplomatic failures in their broader social and political context. In particular it examines the range of army practices under occupation, and the effect that they had on civilian life. The different sections of the chapter discuss: pillaging, looting, requisitions and billeting; reprisals; hostage-taking; types of civilian behaviour –obedience to the occupier, political and armed acts of resistance, organized acts of resistance –guerrillas and franc-tireurs; levee en masse and other assorted insurrections; ideologies of resistance; religion as a source of resistance; and the influence of nationalism and patriotism.

The chapter looks at the events that happened in the dawn of August 9, 1757, with the defense of Fort William Henry suffering from the third battery of the French. General Webb, the British and colonial officer were unanimous in advising Monro to negotiate honorable terms of surrender. The Indians claimed the right to pillage the fort and were told to respect the properties of war which was to be claimed by the Canadian government and the personal effects of the English officers. This proved to be an unwise move as just moments after; cries of “Murder” and “Help” could be heard from within the fort. This is but the start of numerous atrocities which amounted to a massacre after the capture of Fort William Henry.

This chapter emphasizes the commodifying effects of display. It specifically reveals that sales of Ulúa-style marble vases from Honduras increased after an exhibition of vases in 1992 at the Houston Museum of Fine Arts. It uses data from the Lower Ulúa Valley of northwestern Honduras to address the global problem of pillage. It examines how systematically collected archaeological data provide an invaluable tool for exploring the result of pillage on the landscape. The findings of archaeological projects geared toward documenting the cultural history of the region are outlined to give readers a framework. Next, the correlation between intense looting, development, and the art market in Honduras is investigated. Building on these data, it examines the international art market for a specific object type, Ulúa marble vases, and the intensity and aim of looting activities for these vases.

Heliopolis was considered by the historian Herodotus to be the oldest center of learning in Egypt. It is very difficult to reconstruct the history of this ancient city, despite the fact that in size it rivalled Thebes and Memphis and its temples and cults fascinated the learned men of classical antiquity. Schools founded by Plato and Eudoxus flourished here for a long time. The fate of Heliopolis was in many respects even more tragic than that of Memphis, for the City of the Sun was almost completely robbed of its grand monuments in several successive waves of pillage. The locations of all the cult sites in Heliopolis and what remains of them continue to present a great archaeological puzzle, which may never be wholly solved. Although archaeologists have not yet been able to thoroughly investigate the oldest cult site in Heliopolis and form a more precise idea of how the original sun temple might have looked, evidence from elsewhere in Egypt helps to define the possibilities. Heliopolis was probably the oldest religious center of Egypt. According to the Pyramid Texts, it was at Heliopolis that the god-creator Atum emerged from the chaos as a hill or mound and started on his work of creation.

Arguing against a narrative of rupture, this chapter shows the continuing influence of the Military Enlightenment on Revolutionary and Napoleonic martial cultures. From a military standpoint, grappling with the wars of 1792 to 1815 demanded renewed efforts to optimize systems of logistics, manpower, tactics, technology, and medicine. Enlightenment paradigms of reform – adopting an esprit philosophique, buttressing martial sociability (fraternity, Napoleonic friendship), exercising sensibilité in care for troops, and further democratizing heroism and citizenship – framed these efforts. In addition to highlighting continuity and indeed the apogee of certain aspects of the Military Enlightenment, this chapter also point to transgressions, particularly Napoleon’s alleged promulgation of pillage and rape culture.

Chapter 2 discusses whether the involvement of senior public officials in organized crime may amount to an internationally wrongful act of the state. It shows that the conduct of state officials using the resources of the state to commit of facilitate the commission of organized criminal activities may in most cases be considered attributable to the state, discusses the situations in which the participation of the organs or agents of a state in organized crime may constitute a breach of an international obligation of the state, and outlines the conditions under which other states may be entitled to invoke the responsibility of a state involved in state organized crime where that state may be considered to have committed an internationally wrongful act.

This chapter analyses the potential role that human rights law can play when control over natural resources is associated with loss of life. It examines three different approaches. The first focuses on livelihood and examines situations where life is in danger for lack of access to natural resources essential to sustaining life, and explores how the right to life can be interpreted to include access to essential natural sources such as water and food. The second approach focuses on accountability for crimes during ‘resources conflicts’, and examines the relationship between international human rights law, international humanitarian law, and international criminal law with the objective of analysing the criminal approach to armed conflicts connected to natural resources. The third approach relates to the protection of individuals who have lost their lives, or whose physical integrity is in jeopardy, as result of their personal engagement to protect natural resources. It focuses on the rights of ‘environmental defenders’ and ‘land and natural resources defenders’—those who have become human rights defenders as a result of their actions taken to protect natural resources.