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Origins of International Law

Origins of International Law

The evolution of international law from the treaties and customs of the ancient world and the Peace of Westphalia to the modern system of sovereign states, humanitarian conventions, and international courts.

60-Second Review

Express review

A condensed, point-by-point summary of the module, for reviewing right before a test or exam.

  1. From Ancient Precedent to Westphalia. Ancient treaties, Roman ius gentium, just war theory, and Westphalia laid the groundwork for international law.
  2. Grotius, Natural Law, and the Balance of Power. Grotius, Vitoria, and Vattel built the intellectual foundations of the law of nations amid the balance-of-power era.
  3. 19th-Century Codification and the Hague System. The Congress of Vienna, codification efforts, and the Hague Conferences built the first modern international institutions.
  4. Humanitarian Law and Diplomatic Practice. The Red Cross, the Geneva Conventions, diplomatic immunity, and freedom of the seas shaped classical international law.
  5. Colonialism, World War I, and the League of Nations. The "standard of civilization," the Monroe Doctrine, and World War I shaped the founding of the League of Nations.
  6. The League's Rise and Collapse. Wilson's Fourteen Points, the League's failures over Manchuria and Abyssinia, and Kellogg-Briand marked the interwar order.
  7. Nuremberg and the Birth of International Criminal Law. World War II, the Nuremberg and Tokyo trials, and Lemkin's concept of genocide created international criminal law.
  8. Modern International Law: Sources, Sovereignty, and Institutions. Bretton Woods, the ICJ, jus cogens, and the ICC define the sources, limits, and institutions of modern international law.

This is the starting point of Origins of International Law: you don't need any prior knowledge of this subject to begin.

Key points

Visual module map

1From Ancient Precedent to Westphalia
219th-Century Codification and the Hague System
3Colonialism, World War I, and the League of Nations
4The League's Rise and Collapse
5Modern International Law: Sources, Sovereignty, and Institutions

Alternative visual view: a simplified sequence of some of the module's key points, in their order within the syllabus.

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Chronological Order

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Further reading

Bibliography and cited sources used to create this module.

  • Shaw, M. N. (2021). International Law (9th ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • Koskenniemi, M. (2001). The Gentle Civilizer of Nations: The Rise and Fall of International Law 1870-1960. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • Grewe, W. G. (2000). The Epochs of International Law (trans. M. Byers). Berlin: De Gruyter.
  • Neff, S. C. (2014). Justice Among Nations: A History of International Law. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
  • United Nations Treaty Collection. "Historical Overview of the Development of the United Nations Treaty Collection." https://treaties.un.org
  • International Committee of the Red Cross. "History of the ICRC and the Geneva Conventions." https://www.icrc.org