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V Methodology and Theory, 41 The Periodization of the History of International Law

Oliver Diggelmann

From: The Oxford Handbook of the History of International Law

Edited By: Bardo Fassbender, Anne Peters

From: Oxford Public International Law (http://opil.ouplaw.com). (c) Oxford University Press, 2023. All Rights Reserved.date: 20 March 2023

Subject(s):
1648-1815 — Ancient Times to 1648 — 1815 to World War I — World War I to World War II — Since World War II
The division of historical time into periods is indispensable for any historiographical work. Historical facts cannot be identified without referring to a time frame with a more or less determinable beginning and end. Periods make historical facts ‘thinkable’, as the Polish historian Krzysztof Pomian said.1 This chapter explores the significance of the question of periodization in historiography of international law. Literally, the term ‘peri-hodos’—of which the notions ‘period’ and ‘periodization’ are derived—means ‘the way around’ in ancient Greek. From...
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