Saint Petersburg Declaration of 1868

Last updated
Saint Petersburg Declaration of 1868
TypeMultilateral treaty
Signed11 December 1868 (1868-12-11)
Location Saint Petersburg, Russia

The Saint Petersburg Declaration of 1868 or in full Declaration Renouncing the Use, in Time of War, of Explosive Projectiles Under 400 Grammes Weight is an international treaty agreed in Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire, November 29 / December 11, 1868. It succeeded the First Geneva Convention of 1864. It was a predecessor of the well-known Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907.

Contents

It was signed by the members of the International Military Commission convened for this purpose in the presence of the Imperial Cabinet of Russia.

History

Alexander Gorchakov AM Gorchakov by Bogatsky crop.jpg
Alexander Gorchakov

In 1863, the Russian Army had perfected a fulminating musketball that could explode when it hit a hard target and was designed to blow up powder magazines or ammunition wagons. At the same time several similar projectiles for the same purposes were developed in America, the best one known being the Gardiner's Explosive Bullet, and both sides used them in the US Civil War, inflicting horrible wounds when aimed at people, and that, in turn, caused a public backlash against the weapon. [1] In 1867, Russians perfected an improved explosive musketball that would detonate on any impact after being fired, even soft targets like people or animals. Predicting the disastrous effect of such a discovery on diplomatic relations with their neighbors, Russia decided to negotiate a ban on the development, creation, and use of such weapons before a grisly arms race commenced.[ citation needed ]

Upon the invitation of the Russian diplomat and statesman Prince Alexander Gorchakov, for the purpose of considering the existing rules of war, a conference of delegates met at Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire, in December 1868.

The nations represented were Austria-Hungary, Bavaria, Belgium, Denmark, France, United Kingdom (representing the British Empire), Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Persia, Portugal, Prussia and the North German Confederation (i.e., Greater Prussia), Russia, Sweden-Norway, Switzerland, the Ottoman Empire, and Württemberg. [2] [3] The United States, not considered a major power at the time, was not invited and took no part in the convention. Baden and Brazil ratified the agreement in 1869.

The delegates affirmed that the only legitimate object of war should be to weaken the military force of the enemy, which could be sufficiently accomplished by the employment of highly destructive weapons. With that fact established, the delegates agreed to prohibit the use of less deadly explosives that might merely injure the combatants and thereby create prolonged suffering of such combatants.

The Great Powers agreed to renounce, in case of war among themselves, the use "by their military or naval troops of any projectile of a weight below 400 grams (14 ounces avoirdupois), which is either explosive or charged with fulminating or inflammable substances."

While the declaration bans the use of fragmenting, explosive, or incendiary small arms ammunition, it does not prohibit such ammunition for use in autocannon or artillery rounds.

The influence of this declaration on international humanitarian law were elucidated in the Japanese case Ryuichi Shimoda et al. v. The State (1963):

International law of war is not formulated simply on the basis of humanitarian feelings. It has as its basis both considerations of military necessity and effectiveness and humanitarian considerations, and is formulated on a balance of these two factors. To illustrate this, an example often cited in the textbooks may be given, of the provisions of the St. Petersburg Declaration of 1868 prohibiting the use of projectiles under 400 grammes which are either explosive or charged with combustible or inflammable substances. The reason for the prohibition is explained as follows: such projectiles are small and just powerful enough to kill or wound only one man, and as an ordinary bullet will do for this purpose, there is no overriding need for using these inhuman weapons. On the other hand, the use of a certain weapon, great as its inhuman result may be, need not be prohibited by international law if it has a great military effect. [4]

Notes

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bullet</span> Projectile propelled by a firearm, sling, or air gun

A bullet is a kinetic projectile, a component of firearm ammunition that is shot from a gun barrel. They are made of a variety of materials, such as copper, lead, steel, polymer, rubber and even wax; and are made in various shapes and constructions, including specialized functions such as hunting, target shooting, training, and combat. Bullets are often tapered, making them more aerodynamic. Bullet size is expressed by weight and diameter in both imperial and metric measurement systems. Bullets do not normally contain explosives but strike or damage the intended target by transferring kinetic energy upon impact and penetration.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hollow-point bullet</span> Empty tipped expanding bullet used for controlled penetration of solid objects

A hollow-point bullet is a type of expanding bullet which expands on impact with a soft target, transferring more or all of the projectile's energy into the target over a shorter distance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cartridge (firearms)</span> Pre-assembled firearm ammunition consisting of a casing, projectile, propellant, and primer

A cartridge, also known as a round, is a type of pre-assembled firearm ammunition packaging a projectile, a propellant substance and an ignition device (primer) within a metallic, paper, or plastic case that is precisely made to fit within the barrel chamber of a breechloading gun, for convenient transportation and handling during shooting. Although in popular usage the term "bullet" is often used to refer to a complete cartridge, the correct usage only refers to the projectile.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Law of war</span> International regulations of warfare

The law of war is a component of international law that regulates the conditions for initiating war and the conduct of hostilities. Laws of war define sovereignty and nationhood, states and territories, occupation, and other critical terms of law.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Terminal ballistics</span> Projectiles behavior after reaching their targets

Terminal ballistics is a sub-field of ballistics concerned with the behavior and effects of a projectile when it hits and transfers its energy to a target.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Expanding bullet</span> Bullets that expand on impact with a solid object

Expanding bullets, also known colloquially as dumdum bullets, are projectiles designed to expand on impact. This causes the bullet to increase in diameter, to combat over-penetration and produce a larger wound, thus dealing more damage to a living target. For this reason, they are used for hunting and by police departments, but are generally prohibited for use in war. Two typical designs are the hollow-point bullet and the soft-point bullet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shell (projectile)</span> Payload-carrying projectile

A shell, in a military context, is a projectile whose payload contains an explosive, incendiary, or other chemical filling. Originally it was called a bombshell, but "shell" has come to be unambiguous in a military context. A shell can hold a tracer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907</span> Treaties on the laws of war

The Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907 are a series of international treaties and declarations negotiated at two international peace conferences at The Hague in the Netherlands. Along with the Geneva Conventions, the Hague Conventions were among the first formal statements of the laws of war and war crimes in the body of secular international law. A third conference was planned for 1914 and later rescheduled for 1915, but it did not take place because of the start of World War I.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anti-personnel weapon</span> Materiel designed to kill and injure infantry units

An anti-personnel weapon is a weapon primarily used to maim or kill infantry and other personnel not behind armor, as opposed to attacking structures or vehicles, or hunting game. The development of defensive fortification and combat vehicles gave rise to weapons designed specifically to attack them, and thus a need to distinguish between those systems and ones intended to attack people. For instance, an anti-personnel landmine will explode into small and sharp splinters that tear flesh but have little effect on metal surfaces, while anti-tank mines have considerably different design, using much more explosive power to effect damage to armored fighting vehicles, or use explosively formed penetrators to punch through armor plating.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caseless ammunition</span> Type of weapon-cartridge

Caseless ammunition (CL), or caseless cartridge, is a configuration of weapon-cartridge that eliminates the cartridge case that typically holds the primer, propellant and projectile together as a unit. Instead, the propellant and primer are fitted to the projectile in another way so that a cartridge case is not needed, for example inside or outside the projectile depending on configuration.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MG FF cannon</span> 20 mm autocannon aircraft armament

The MG FF was a drum-fed, blowback-operated, 20 mm aircraft autocannon, developed in 1936 by Ikaria Werke Berlin of Germany. It was a derivative of the Swiss Oerlikon FF F cannon, with the Oerlikon FF design itself a development of the Imperial German World War I Becker 20 mm cannon, and was designed to be used in space-limited, fixed mountings such as inside aircraft wings, although it saw use as both an offensive and a defensive weapon, in both fixed and flexible format. It saw widespread use in those roles by the German Luftwaffe, particularly during the early stages of World War II, although from 1941 onwards it was gradually replaced by the Mauser firm's 20 mm MG 151/20, which had both a higher rate of fire and muzzle velocity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spaced armour</span> Armour with plates spaced a distance apart

Armour with two or more plates spaced a distance apart falls under the category of spaced armour. Spaced armour can be sloped or unsloped. When sloped, it reduces the penetrating power of bullets and solid shot, as after penetrating each plate projectiles tend to tumble, deflect, deform, or disintegrate; spaced armour that is not sloped is generally designed to provide protection from explosive projectiles, which detonate before reaching the primary armour. Spaced armour is used on military vehicles such as tanks and combat bulldozers. In a less common application, it is used in some spacecraft that use Whipple shields.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Raufoss Mk 211</span> .50 caliber (12.7×99mm NATO) ammunition type

The Raufoss Mk 211 is a .50 BMG multi-purpose anti-materiel high-explosive incendiary/armor-piercing ammunition projectile produced by Nammo under the model name NM140 MP. It is commonly referred to as multipurpose or Raufoss, meaning red waterfall in Norwegian. This refers to Nammo's precursor company Raufoss Ammunisjonsfabrikker, an ammunition manufacturer established 1896 in Raufoss, Norway. The "Mk 211" name comes from the nomenclature Mk 211 Mod 0 used by the U.S. military for this round.

Military necessity, along with distinction, and proportionality, are three important principles of international humanitarian law governing the legal use of force in an armed conflict.

Air warfare must comply with laws and customs of war, including international humanitarian law by protecting the victims of the conflict and refraining from attacks on protected persons.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">QF 1-pounder pom-pom</span> Autocannon

The QF 1 pounder, universally known as the pom-pom due to the sound of its discharge, was a 37 mm British autocannon, the first of its type in the world. It was used by several countries initially as an infantry gun and later as a light anti-aircraft gun.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ammunition</span> Material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from a weapon or weapon system

Ammunition is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. Ammunition is both expendable weapons and the component parts of other weapons that create the effect on a target.

The Convention of Saint Petersburg may refer to several diplomatic agreements including

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Explosive weapon</span> Explosive used as a weapon

An explosive weapon is a weapon that uses an explosive to project blast and/or fragmentation from a point of detonation.

In firearms and artillery, the primer is the chemical and/or device responsible for initiating the propellant combustion that will propel the projectiles out of the gun barrel.

References

  1. ↑ https://americansocietyofarmscollectors.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Gardiners-explosive-musket-shell-Civil-War-Hamilton-v120.pdf [ bare URL PDF ]
  2. ↑ Stuart Maslen, Anti-Personnel Mines under Humanitarian Law: a view from the vanishing point, p12, Intersentia nv, 2001
  3. ↑ B. Gasser, Hans-Peter. A look at the Declaration of St.Petersburg of 1868. International Review of the Red Cross, Volume 33, Issue 297 (December 1993), p. 512, note 4.
  4. ↑ Koseki; Mibucihi; Takakuwa (1963). "Evaluation of the act of bombing according to international law". Ryuichi Shimoda et al. v. The State  . point 11, second paragraph – via Wikisource.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.