Forschungsprojekt

Kriegsverbrechen. Zur Konstruktion und Sanktion illegitimer militärischer Gewalt im langen 18. Jahrhundert

The implementation of the rules of warfare within the framework of international humanitarian law remains a constant challenge right up to the present day. In the 18th century, during the era of early modern international law, the situation was even more drastic, as institutions such as the International Court of Justice or norms such as the Hague Convention on Land Warfare did not exist. Supranational sanctions were out of reach. The Leviathan of the princely state had established a monopoly on the use of force internally, but between states, it was virtually impossible to curb the use of military force. International law grapples with a ‘claim to standardisation without a monopoly on power’; that is to say, from the perspective of the research focus of this research group, with attempts to standardise pluralistic patterns of rules governing the use of force or a ius in bello. Yet this situation did not lead contemporaries to stand idly by and watch violations of the rules. This is where the project comes in, examining the origins of and approaches to ‘war crimes’ during the long 18th century. Drawing on situations of violence such as battles, sieges and captivity, and acts of violence such as sexual violence, looting and massacres, this study analyses the competition between norms and attempts to contain violence from a praxeological perspective.