The Law of Nations and Britain’s Quest for Naval Security: International Law and Arms Control, 1898–1914

331 Pages·2016·2.99 MB·English

by  Scott Andrew Keefer (auth.)

The Law of Nations
and Britain’s Quest for
Naval Security
International Law and Arms Control, 1898 - 1914
Scott Andrew Keefer
The Law of Nations and Britain’s
Quest for Naval Security
Scott   Andrew   Keefer
The Law of Nations
and Britain’s Quest
for Naval Security
International Law and Arms Control, 1898–1914
Scott   Andrew   Keefer
Bournemouth University
Poole , United Kingdom
ISBN 978-3-319-39644-6 ISBN 978-3-319-39645-3 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-39645-3
Library of Congress Control Number: 2016953885
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To Katie
A
CKNOWLEDGEMENTS
There are a number of individuals and institutions I owe a debt of grati-
tude for supporting me in the preparation of this book. The project grew
out of a Fulbright Fellowship undertaken while I was practicing as inter-
national lawyer, leading me away from Washington, DC to Heidelberg,
Germany, and I am forever indebted to the Council for International
Exchange of Scholars and the Fulbright Program for providing this path in
life. Funding from the German–American Fulbright Commission allowed
me to investigate comparative attitudes toward international law and secu-
rity in the modern world. I began researching contemporary international
law, investigating what led states to employ multilateral institutions such
as international law in managing security, gradually shifting to an historical
angle, evaluating the arms control initiatives of a century earlier.
I would like to thank Reiner Rohr, Ines Horbert, and Catharina
Hänsch at the Berlin offi ce of the Fulbright Commission for their support
through the project. While on the Fulbright Fellowship, I worked as a
guest researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law
and International Law in Heidelberg, enjoying access to many obscure
sources of law, and would like to thank and Rüdiger Wolfrum for welcom-
ing me to the Institute, and also thank Peter Macalister-Smith for bringing
the library alive and providing new avenues of research.
I am indebted to the staff at the National Archives in Kew, the British
Library, the Bodleian Library, and the Cambridge University Library for
support while researching the project and assistance in locating docu-
ments. In addition, I would like to thank Robin Harcourt Williams, the
Archivist at Hatfi eld House for his advice in accessing Lord Salisbury’s
vii
viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
manuscripts. I am also grateful for the support and friendship of Rosemary
Wiseman of Richmond, my hostess during numerous trips to the archives
at Kew.
The book incorporates materials from two previously published articles
in The International History Review and War in History , and I wish to
acknowledge these journals, and thank Hew Strachan and the anonymous
reviewers of these periodicals for their insightful comments. Additionally, I
would like to thank Isabel Hull of Cornell University, for taking the time to
review part of my text and for providing outstanding insights. Thanks also
are due to MacGregor Knox for comments and advice on a draft chapter.
I wish also to thank Commissioning Editor at Palgrave Macmillan, Emily
Russell, and Angharad Bishop for their editorial assistance.
The book started as a doctoral thesis under David Stevenson at the
London School of Economics and Political Science, and I would like to
thank him for not only his tireless support throughout this project, but also
his close reading of manuscripts, and endless knowledge of topic. Thanks
also to Joe Maiolo and John Keiger, my doctoral committee members, for
their comments and encouragement. It should go without saying, but is
worth mentioning that while my I have benefi tted immeasurably from the
assistance of numerous people, any mistakes or omissions are solely my
responsibility.
Finally, the work would not have been possible without the constant
encouragement of my wife Katie Terkanian, who has travelled from
Washington to Germany and beyond in support of my project, and to
whom the book is dedicated.
C
ONTENTS
1 Introduction 1
2 Arms Control Antecedents in the Nineteenth Century 1 5
3 International Law in the Nineteenth Century 53
4 The First Hague Peace Conference 9 5
5 Naval Arms Control and Regional Negotiations:
Precedents, Issues, and Implications 1 37
6 Preparations for the Second Hague Peace Conference 177
7 The Second Hague Peace Conference 203
8 International Law and Armaments, 1900–1914 2 25
9 The D readnought Competition and Arms
Control up to 1914 2 53
ix
x CONTENTS
10 Conclusion 2 85
Bibliography 2 95
Index 3 17
L T
IST OF ABLES
Table 1.1 Ships of the line 1820–1860 5
Table 1.2 Ironclad and pre-dreadnought capital ships 6
Table 1.3 Heavy cruisers 6
Table 1.4 Dreadnought battleships and battlecruisers 7
xi