Collectively known as the laws of war, these conventions governed behavior of most combatants in the Second World War. The first Geneva Convention was signed in August of 1864. The First Hague Conference concluded in July of 1899 and the Second Hague Conference in October 1907. Following the First World War, the second and third Geneva Conventions were signed in February 1928 and July 1929.
These conventions had their roots in the classical Western concept of the just war, which was derived from Roman philosophy, Christianized by Augustine of Hippo, and elaborated by Thomas Aquinas. The modern Conventions were closely associated with the Red Cross movement of the 19th century.
The first Geneva Convention established rules for treatment of the wounded and of medical personnel. The latter were granted complete immunity so long as they did not engage in any military activity. There were also provisions for treatment of wounded prisoners and for return of unwounded prisoners on condition that they not again bear arms.
The first Hague Conference adopted three lengthy conventions and three declarations. The first Hague Convention set down rules for international mediation and arbitration of disputes. The second Hague Convention established most of the laws of war recognized in the first half of the 20th century. The third Hague Convention governed hospital ships. The declarations imposed a temporary ban on bombing from balloons, a prohibition on poison gas projectiles, and a prohibition on dum-dum bullets.
The second and third Hague Conventions are of the greatest interest. They required military forces, including militias, to serve under responsible officers of a government and to wear distinctive insignia, visible from a distance. Rules for humane treatment of prisoners of war were laid down. Prisoners of war were to be treated the same as regards food, clothing, shelter, and pay as the captor’s own forces. Military activities against undefended cities or against unarmed civilians were forbidden, as was pillage or unnecessary destruction of enemy property.
The second Hague Conference adopted twelve conventions. These required that hostilities open with a declaration of war or after expiration of an ultimatum with conditional declaration of war; set out rights and obligations of neutrals; established a right of departure for enemy merchant shipping; established procedures for seizure of ships on the high seas; and covered many other areas.
The second Geneva Convention prohibited chemical and biological warfare, and the third Geneva Convention greatly expanded the rules governing prisoners of war.
Both sides violated provisions of these conventions, but it cannot be denied that the Axis violations were much more pervasive than those of any of the Allies except Russia (which was not a signatory to the Conventions.) The most serious allegation against the Allies was that the firebombing of Japanese cities and the nuclear attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki violated the conventions against unnecessary destruction of property and use of force against noncombatants. However, these charges ring hollow given Japanese conduct in China, including the rape of Nanking and the Japanese bombing of Chungking.and other cities. The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor violated the convention on initiation of hostilities, and Japanese mistreatment of prisoners of war was notorious. That Japan used biological and chemical weapons in China is now fairly well established. American commanders in the Pacific were deeply suspicious of the heavy hospital ship traffic under the Japanese flag, but systematic Japanese violations of the rules governing hospital ships has never been proven.
The Tokyo war crimes tribunals have sometimes been condemned on the grounds that Japan was not bound by the Conventions. Japan signed but did not ratify the second and third Geneva Conventions, and she had ratified the Hague Conventions and had announced that she would abide by all the Conventions. There are many reasons to criticize the Tokyo war crimes trials, but the notion that the laws of war were not binding on Japan is probably not one of them.
References
The Pacific War Online Encyclopedia (c) 2007 by Kent G. Budge. Index