International Law and Justice Working Papers - IILJ
International Law and Justice Working Papers - IILJ
International Law and Justice Working Papers - IILJ
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In a non-legal festive speech titled “Kaiser und Reich” <strong>and</strong> published in 1871 in “Baltische<br />
Monatsschrifte”, Bulmerincq had already earlier celebrated the unification of Germany. This was<br />
a moving patriotic speech in which the author expressed the wish that the Germans “will live at<br />
home in an undisturbed manner, outside, in the council of peoples, let its mighty voice be heard,<br />
to the just ones for help <strong>and</strong> defence (zum Schutz und Trutz), to the arrogant ones for warning<br />
<strong>and</strong> punishment.” 119 – “The strong people in the Middle Empire are ordered to serve as the<br />
guardian <strong>and</strong> guarantor (Hüter und Wächter) of the world peace.” 120 Bulmerincq was also<br />
confident that “the German people is peace loving, its Emperor may not be a breaker of peace.<br />
He will defend his own people, not attack the others.” 121 While this speech was of course not<br />
formulated as legal text, it demonstrated that even international lawyers who insisted on the<br />
separation of law <strong>and</strong> politics, were individuals from flesh <strong>and</strong> bones, with their political dreams<br />
<strong>and</strong> social aspirations that occasionally needed to be expressed <strong>and</strong> celebrated.<br />
In “Praxis, Theorie und Codification des Völkerrechts”, i.e. the same work in which Bulmerincq<br />
dem<strong>and</strong>ed objectivity <strong>and</strong> separation from politics for international law, Bulmerincq made<br />
several passionate comments about the war of 1870/1871 between Prussia <strong>and</strong> France <strong>and</strong> the<br />
ensuing unification of Germany, the new Middle Empire (Reich der Mitte). According to<br />
Bulmerincq, it was necessary for the maintenance of peace that France gave up its “chauvinism<br />
<strong>and</strong> revanchist dreams”. 122 He was also upset that international laws of neutrality had been<br />
violated in the war between Prussia <strong>and</strong> France – when citizens of third countries “in the greatest<br />
fashion” delivered shipments of war material to “one of the warring parties”. 123 It was again the<br />
history that explained quite a lot about the state of international affairs. For example, in some<br />
countries (such as France, Spain <strong>and</strong> Italy) monarchs could claim title according to the principle<br />
119 P. 170.<br />
120 P. 170.<br />
121 P. 170.<br />
122 P. 6.<br />
123 P. 10.