Suchergebnisse

Hitherto, the 'African part' of the history of international law has often been limited to the (critical engagement with) 'the acquisition of Africa' since the 1880s and questions of 'state succession' and international borders following independence starting in the 1950s. In this historical narrative, the dominance of colonialism is evident. It seems that 'Africa' as a narrative concept in international legal history remains tied to abstract contrasts such as 'foreign domination' versus 'independence', or 'exploitation' versus 'development'. However, if twenty-first century writings about 'international law in Africa' and its histories remain shaped by this perspective, historians may lose sight of issues, questions, or ideas formed in historical Africa that do not fit into this preconceived dichotomous matrix. After discussing methodological challenges, this article asks for other 'contacts', other arenas of 'internationality' and international law in Africa's pre-colonial past. These contacts reach back very far in history. Three arenas are mentioned: the Red Sea area and Ethiopian-Arab relations; the Indian Ocean rim; and finally, the case of nineteenth-century Ethiopia.

This article analyses the interstate dispute settlement mechanisms between member states of the German Confederation (Deutscher Bund). The question as to how disputes between German sovereigns should be decided already had a long (pre-)history dating back to the Middle Ages. Article 11 IV of the German Federal Act (1815) (Bundesakte) was the basic norm of the so-called Austrägal jurisdiction enacted to resolve disputes between states of the German Confederation and stipulated the manner in which the dispute was to be brought to "court" (Austrägalinstanz). During the period of the German Confederation, 10 out of 25 German courts of third instance handled altogether 54 Austrägal cases. Whereas Austrägal jurisdiction was no longer present in the German Kaiserreich, Emperor William II and the professor of public law Paul Laband attempted to resurrect the idea, but failed due to the resistance of the other German princes.

This article analyses a number of academic and journalistic proposals on the negotiated partition of South Africa coming from different schools of thought, from within South Africa and abroad, from the 1920s up to the late 1980s. These proposals of dividing South Africa into a 'predominantly black' and a 'predominantly white' state were presented by their authors as an alternative to apartheid and seen as a way out of the impasse created by the unwillingness of the National Party to accept the one man, one vote principle for a unitary state. The article examines how the proposals gradually foresaw giving the economically most relevant parts of the country to the 'predominantly black state'. The article argues that this debate also has to be seen in the context of the Cold War where the partition of countries had been a means to pacify divided societies, at least temporarily.

Die völkerrechtshistorische Studie beschäftigt sich mit den Auswirkungen des Ersten Weltkriegs in Deutsch-Südwestafrika (Namibia) und Angola.

"In 1885, Germany and Portugal became neighbours in Africa. The newly founded colony of German Southwest Africa prevented the southwards expansion of the ancient colony of Angola. The border along the Cunene and Kavango Rivers remained under dispute. After the outbreak of World War I in Europe, Portugal's neutrality was questioned in German Southwest Africa (GSWA), and when a group of German officials waiting near the border of Angola for food transports were shot in the Angolan fortress Naulila, a state of war between both colonies seemed inevitable. German troops launched several military reprisals against fortresses in southern Angola, most significantly against Naulila in December 1914. After their victory at Naulila, the Germans retreated to GSWA. However, African powers, most notably Kwanyama forces led by King Mandume, used the weakness of the defeated Portuguese army to expel the colonial troops from southern Angola. In 1915, a counter-offensive was launched with troops from Portugal that ended with the complete occupation of Kwanyama territories. After the war, a Luso-German arbitration procedure according to the Treaty of Versailles (1919) assessed the damages in Angola and Germany's responsibility to pay reparations. The arbitration award of 1928 that established Germany's responsibility for the violation of international law when attacking Naulila became a landmark case. It still holds relevance for modern international law. The final part of this book analyses the memorial culture that developed in Angola, Namibia, Germany and Portugal around the war in 1914/15"--