Hugo Grotius and the Higher Law
This month those who advocate for a world governed by law and at peace with itself celebrate the birth of Hugo Grotius. His thought gave birth to international law.
Grotius was born on April 10 of 1583. He passed away on August 28 in 1645. During his lifetime, Grotius wrote on a variety of subjects: international relations, religion, and philosophy. His ideas on international law were based on the concept of natural law, which states that there are certain rights inherent in nature and those rights can be discovered by human reason.
Grotius lived in the time of the 80 Years’ War, a war between Spain and The Netherlands. He became very concerned about the conflict between nations and individual nations’ lack of restraint when it comes to going to war. Grotius wrote:
“Fully convinced…that there is a common law among nations, which is valid alike for war and in war,” Grotius wrote. “I have had many and weighty reasons for undertaking to write upon the subject. Throughout the Christian world I observed a lack of restraint in relation to war, such as even barbarous races should be ashamed of; I observed that men rush to arms for slight causes, or no cause at all, and that when arms have once been taken up there is no longer any respect for law, divine or human; it is as if, in accordance with a general decree, frenzy had openly been let loose for the committing of all crimes.”
This concern led him to write “On the Law of War and Peace,” which was published in 1625. The book presents a vision of natural law that applied to all individuals and all countries. It spoke of a morality that tried to prevent violence between countries. He wrote of a moral code that should be followed by all nations, or the idea that nations have an obligation to each other. Grotius’ thinking is a part of a period in history called the Renaissance, the era that marked the end of the Middle Ages and a rebirth of learning.
Big thoughts can lead to positive actions and such was the case with Hugo Grotius. International relations theorist Hedley Bull said in 1990: “the idea of international society which Grotius propounded was given concrete expression in the Peace of Westphalia, and Grotius may be considered the intellectual father of this first general peace settlement of modern times.”
The Peace of Westphalia was a series of peace treaties signed in 1648 in the Westphalian cities of Osnabruck and Munster, ending the European Wars of Religion. In addition, the treaties ended the Thirty Years’ War (1618-1648) in the Holy Roman Empire between the Hapsburgs and their Catholic allies on one side, and the Protestant Powers (Sweden, Denmark, Dutch, and Holy Roman principalities) and their Catholic (France) anti-Habsburg allies on the other. The treaties also ended the Eighty Years’ War (1568-1648) between Spain and the Dutch Republic with Spain formally recognizing the independence of the Dutch Republic. The treaties brought to a close tumultuous period of European history with the deaths of approximately eight million people.
Grotius envisioned a morality that existed between nations where peace was better than war. He saw this as a truth ingrained in nature. His thought tells us much in times where a rising populist nationalism threatens to create a sense of separation between the nation-states that make up our world. How do we embrace the ideas of Grotius today?
