History of International Law, 1815 to World War I

1 The history of international law at the beginning of the 19th century is not so much the history of principles of law as an account of the law applied in practice at the time. This does not mean that writers were silent, but that in view of the new political situation prevailing after the Napoleonic Wars and the Vienna Congress (1815) they dealt only with the rules set out in treaties or to be found as customary international law in diplomatic practice (Diplomacy). On the other hand, the attempt at codification of considerable parts of international law shows...