Given that Holland was Occupied from May 1940 on - who actually administrated the Hague Conventions, in particular the provisions listed in them about notifying the Dutch Government of Combatant and Neutral status of nations etc.? Prior to this the neutral Dutch Government served as a repository of signatures and declarations, and offical Declarations of War and declarations of Neutrality etc. were to be transmitted to and via the Hague...
So where were these notifications sent druing the war years? For example - Vichy France's Neutality, Brazil waiving its Neutrality and coming into the United Nations in 1942 etc.
Hague Conventions 1939-45...
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phylo_roadking
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Hague Conventions 1939-45...
"Well, my days of not taking you seriously are certainly coming to a middle." - Malcolm Reynolds
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phylo_roadking
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Re: Hague Conventions 1939-45...
Anyone?
One possibility might be that the Dutch government-in-exile retained this responsibility, but I haven't found any reference to it - or that the ICRC at Geneva took on the role - but ditto, nothing "official" on it...although from 1949 they have shared the amalgamated role of controlling authority behind the 1949 Geneva Convention that brought the Hague and Geneva streams together.
But I'm still searching for something in the 1940-45 gap...
One possibility might be that the Dutch government-in-exile retained this responsibility, but I haven't found any reference to it - or that the ICRC at Geneva took on the role - but ditto, nothing "official" on it...although from 1949 they have shared the amalgamated role of controlling authority behind the 1949 Geneva Convention that brought the Hague and Geneva streams together.
But I'm still searching for something in the 1940-45 gap...
"Well, my days of not taking you seriously are certainly coming to a middle." - Malcolm Reynolds
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sid guttridge
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Re: Hague Conventions 1939-45...
Hi Phylo,
I would put my money on the League of Nations, which was charged with overseeing the administration of the Hague Conventions and other multi-national treaties after WWI. The League of Nations continued to operate in Switzerland throughout WWII. (Its Armaments Year Books for the war years give the best contemporary account of the world's militaries as they were in the late 1930s. Obviously, the secrecy of the war years made them less useful as the war continued).
A second possibility is that the Germans left the court to function uninterrupted from the Hague. They recognised the Hague Conventions and certainly acknowledged their obliugations under them in Western Europe, so there was no need to interefere with its functions there.
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I would put my money on the League of Nations, which was charged with overseeing the administration of the Hague Conventions and other multi-national treaties after WWI. The League of Nations continued to operate in Switzerland throughout WWII. (Its Armaments Year Books for the war years give the best contemporary account of the world's militaries as they were in the late 1930s. Obviously, the secrecy of the war years made them less useful as the war continued).
A second possibility is that the Germans left the court to function uninterrupted from the Hague. They recognised the Hague Conventions and certainly acknowledged their obliugations under them in Western Europe, so there was no need to interefere with its functions there.
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Doktor Krollspell
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Re: Hague Conventions 1939-45...
Not as a comment on the specifics and whereabouts of the Hague convention but as a big off-topic...
WELCOME BACK INTO THE FELDGRAU GAME SID!
I, for one, have missed you...
Cheers
Krollspell
WELCOME BACK INTO THE FELDGRAU GAME SID!
I, for one, have missed you...
Cheers
Krollspell
"Wie es eigentlich gewesen ist"
Leopold von Ranke (1795-1886)
Leopold von Ranke (1795-1886)
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phylo_roadking
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Re: Hague Conventions 1939-45...
Sid, I wondered about the League - but discounted them as THEN the League's presence would at least have been visible at the Nuremberg Tribunals - for the League would then have been responsible for the war crimes prosecutions, and the trials themselve would have had to have been held at a "Neutral" venue like the present World Court at the Hague. To NOT do so, if there was a full, legal successor to the Dutch government's role would have meant the "United nations" would THEMSELVES have been in breach of the Hague Conventions LOL. A bit of a legal tort, but I'm sure you'll see what I mean.
The League also devolved the responsibilities they did to the Dutch government IIRC BECAUSE the membership of the Leaague was NOT contiguous with the signatories of the Hague Convention, and to make sure the Convention's potential legal role if breached wasn't prejudiced by membership - or not- of the league...look at the position of the US vis-a-vis the League, for example
But it's been literally decades since I read that...in fact I think it was in SCHOOL 
Also, there's plenty of references to the Swiss in connection with the ICRC and the Genvea Conventions in POWs reminiscences etc. - e.g. Pat Reid's details of the Swiss red cross ' involvement of the repartiation of the very physically and mentally ill on ocasion - and but never any mention of the Swiss in connection with investigating war crimes...and on tit-for-tat propaganda purposes there WAS some done during the war.
The League also devolved the responsibilities they did to the Dutch government IIRC BECAUSE the membership of the Leaague was NOT contiguous with the signatories of the Hague Convention, and to make sure the Convention's potential legal role if breached wasn't prejudiced by membership - or not- of the league...look at the position of the US vis-a-vis the League, for example
But it's been literally decades since I read that...in fact I think it was in SCHOOL Also, there's plenty of references to the Swiss in connection with the ICRC and the Genvea Conventions in POWs reminiscences etc. - e.g. Pat Reid's details of the Swiss red cross ' involvement of the repartiation of the very physically and mentally ill on ocasion - and but never any mention of the Swiss in connection with investigating war crimes...and on tit-for-tat propaganda purposes there WAS some done during the war.
"Well, my days of not taking you seriously are certainly coming to a middle." - Malcolm Reynolds
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sid guttridge
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Re: Hague Conventions 1939-45...
Hi Phylo,
As a result of your question, I went right out and bought a copy of the League of Nations Handbook for 1938 I had seen in a charity shop. It appears that the Hague Court was under the League, but I forgot to bring the book with me today, so I'll have to give details on Monday.
I think the League dissolved itself in favour of the United Nations in 1946, so it would have had little time to take an active part in the Nuremberg Process.
The handbook has a lot of useful inter-war detail concerning the league, its membership and withdrawals, thumbnail sketches of the disputes brought before it, etc. It is definitely a useful source and I would recommend it at the £2 I paid for it.
Cheers,
Sid.
As a result of your question, I went right out and bought a copy of the League of Nations Handbook for 1938 I had seen in a charity shop. It appears that the Hague Court was under the League, but I forgot to bring the book with me today, so I'll have to give details on Monday.
I think the League dissolved itself in favour of the United Nations in 1946, so it would have had little time to take an active part in the Nuremberg Process.
The handbook has a lot of useful inter-war detail concerning the league, its membership and withdrawals, thumbnail sketches of the disputes brought before it, etc. It is definitely a useful source and I would recommend it at the £2 I paid for it.
Cheers,
Sid.
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sid guttridge
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Re: Hague Conventions 1939-45...
P.S. The technical legality of the Nuremberg process has, indeed, been questioned.
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sid guttridge
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Re: Hague Conventions 1939-45...
Hi Phylo,
The actual title of the booklet is Essential Facts about the League of Nations (Geneva, 1938).
It is a really useful little pocket-sized guide to the disputes, mandates, international institutions and legislation, etc., of the inter-war years.
The Hague section is on pp.103-109.
I have other League of Nations books that continued to be published throughout the war (i.e. the Armaments Year-Book 1939/40 and the Statistical Year-Book 1940/41), so I expect that later editions of Essential Facts about the League of Nations might well answer your question specifically.
Cheers,
Sid.
The actual title of the booklet is Essential Facts about the League of Nations (Geneva, 1938).
It is a really useful little pocket-sized guide to the disputes, mandates, international institutions and legislation, etc., of the inter-war years.
The Hague section is on pp.103-109.
I have other League of Nations books that continued to be published throughout the war (i.e. the Armaments Year-Book 1939/40 and the Statistical Year-Book 1940/41), so I expect that later editions of Essential Facts about the League of Nations might well answer your question specifically.
Cheers,
Sid.