chapter eight

In Full Flower

B

y the early years of the twentieth century, it was diffi cult not to be

impressed by the signifi cant role that law now played in aff airs between

states. In the fi rst half of 1871 alone, three events took place that, in combina-

tion, provide a striking illustration of three diff erent facets of the state of in-

ternational law at the time: dispute resolution, lawmaking, and enforcement.

Th e fi rst event, in January of that year, concerned a dispute sparked by the

Rus sian government. Th e previous autumn, it had taken advantage of Eu-

rope’s focus on the Franco- Prussian War to declare itself absolved from

certain arrangements that had been agreed in 1856, at the conclusion of the

Crimean War). Th ese barred Rus sia from sailing warships on the Black Sea

and had been the source of great resentment in that country. Th e British

government protested that Rus sia had no right under international law to

repudiate a treaty unilaterally— although it was also sympathetic to the Rus-

sian grievance. Th e matter was resolved not by a court or arbitral panel, but

instead in po liti cal channels, in the form of a conference of the major pow-

ers at the British Foreign Offi ce. (Prus sia was represented at the meeting, but

beleaguered France was not.) Th e powers issued a declaration on the subject

of the law of treaties, to the eff ect that a treaty party is not allowed to de-

nounce an agreement unilaterally. Th e consent of all other parties is re-

quired for an alteration. Having registered the point of principle, however,

the conference parties proceeded to resolve the immediate crisis by giving

the necessary consents to the sought- aft er change in the Black Sea rules.

Th e second event, in May of that year, provided an illustration of the pro-

cess of making new law. Representatives of the United States and Great

Britain, aft er several years of intense negotiations, concluded the Treaty of