HADIJA MOHAMED

22ZAD106549

DISCUSS THE HISTORY OF INTERNATIONAL

LAW
International law is the body of legal rules that apply between sovereign states and other entities
that are legally recognised as international actors

International agreements were signed and diplomatic relations existed before but the peace of
Westphalia has put an end to the 30 year war .it was first a civil war of religious nature between
protestants and roman catholic but grew larger and became fight for power in Europe.Peace of
Westaphalia is considered to be the beginning of modern international law.Through it state
sovereignty was introduced which is one of the central concepts of international law which is the
right to govern without outside interference.

1917 february and then october revolution takes place in Russia and that Tsarist regime is Aurra
from a year later the end of first war became a turning point in the history of international law.
Afterwards the influence of united states increased and soviet union is born as separate legal
entity showing that the european states are no longer the only key players in the international
arena. In 1920 the League of Nations was established with an aim of maintaining international
peace and security. It was considered important because it was a fundamental change in the legal
thinking ,war shall be prevented.

In 1939 another war happened so the commitment to prevent war failed.The USwas not a
member. The soviet union was expelled and some states withdrew .

In 1945 the United Nations was formed after the second world war because it was clear and
strong that the use of force was completely unacceptable. With initially 50 members it now has
193 full members and also has judicial principal organ the International Court of Justice

In 1947the cold war begun. A period of strong geopolitical tension between the united states and
soviet union. The process of decolonization begins ,former colonies gained independence
therefore number of states increased
In 1950 many new organizations appeared such as European coal and steel community. Late
1980s is a period of growing political instability in central and eastern Europe and the soviet
union broke thus the cold war ended.

From the end of cold war upto the present its characterized by a large number of actors states
,international Organizations. The balance of power has changed the world is no longer bipolar.