Introduction

Central to this chapter are the European peace treaties from the First Treaty of Paris of 30 May 1814 at the end of the Napoleonic wars to the Peace Treaties of 1919/20 signed in various Parisian suburbs at the end of World War I. Some American and Asian treaties will also be discussed.

These one hundred years cover an era that sawstormy change and development in the area of politics, economics, culture and international law. Peace treaties as legal instruments played an important, although greatly varying role in these developments and changes, according to the circumstances and the then existing relationships between the partners, which themselves could differ greatly from one another. Treaties were instrumental in the judicial organisation of political constellations, which were in no way comparable with one another, either in content or in structure. They were used for bringing to an end classical European wars; for the ordination of the general political and judicial relationships in Europe as well as in other parts of the world; for the subjection of Asian powers to European dominance; for a comprehensive regulation of the fundamentals of economic cohesion, the position of the citizens, etc.; for the regulation of general problems in international lawregarding war and peace, etc.

General developments

General political developments in Europe

The century was marked by an evolution froma European policy towards a world policy.