Leipzig war crimes trial
Encyclopedia
Trial of German war criminals of the First World War, held in 1921 before the German supreme court, as part of the penalties imposed on the German government under the Treaty of Versailles
.
violations made during the war.
On 25 January 1919, during the Paris Peace Conference
, the Allied governments established the Commission of Responsibilities
to make recommendations to that effect. As a result, articles 227-230 of the Treaty of Versailles stipulated for the arrest and trial of German officials defined as war criminals by the allied governments. Article 227 stipulated for a special tribunal to be established, presided by a judge from each one of the major allied powers - Great Britain, France, Italy, United States and Japan. It also defined the former Kaiser Wilhelm II as war criminal and demanded an extradition request to be addressed to the Dutch government, which had given him asylum in Holland since he abdicated in November 1918. Article 228 allowed the Allied governments to try in their military tribunals any German war criminal they deemed necessary, nothwithstanding any proceedings taken against the same persons in German courts. The German government was demanded to comply with any extradition order issued by the Allied powers to that effect.
Following the conclusion of the treaty, the Allied government began their legal and diplomatic efforts to bring the former Kaiser to justice. On 28 June 1919, the same day the treaty was signed, the President of the Paris Peace Conference addressed a diplomatic note to the Dutch government, requesting the extradition of the ex-Kaiser. On 7 July came the Dutch reply that any extradition of the former Kaiser would be a violation of Dutch neutrality.
Eventually the issue of trying the ex-Kaiser was dropped, and he remained in Holland until his death on 4 June 1941. In addition, the German government refused to extradite any German citizens to Allied governments, and suggested instead to try them in the German justice system, i.e. the German Supreme Court in Leipzig. This the Allied leaders accepted, and handed the German government a list of 45 persons to be tried.
The cases tried were as follows:
Following the end of the Cold War
, the same trend led to the establishment of the International Criminal Court
in 2002.
Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles was one of the peace treaties at the end of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 1919, exactly five years after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The other Central Powers on the German side of...
.
Background
During the First World War, the Allied leaders came up with a new concept, that as soon as their victory was achieved, defeated enemy leaders should face criminal charges for international lawInternational law
Public international law concerns the structure and conduct of sovereign states; analogous entities, such as the Holy See; and intergovernmental organizations. To a lesser degree, international law also may affect multinational corporations and individuals, an impact increasingly evolving beyond...
violations made during the war.
On 25 January 1919, during the Paris Peace Conference
Paris Peace Conference, 1919
The Paris Peace Conference was the meeting of the Allied victors following the end of World War I to set the peace terms for the defeated Central Powers following the armistices of 1918. It took place in Paris in 1919 and involved diplomats from more than 32 countries and nationalities...
, the Allied governments established the Commission of Responsibilities
Commission of Responsibilities
A commission of experts at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919 that dealt with the issue of prosecution for war crimes committed during the First World War.-Background:...
to make recommendations to that effect. As a result, articles 227-230 of the Treaty of Versailles stipulated for the arrest and trial of German officials defined as war criminals by the allied governments. Article 227 stipulated for a special tribunal to be established, presided by a judge from each one of the major allied powers - Great Britain, France, Italy, United States and Japan. It also defined the former Kaiser Wilhelm II as war criminal and demanded an extradition request to be addressed to the Dutch government, which had given him asylum in Holland since he abdicated in November 1918. Article 228 allowed the Allied governments to try in their military tribunals any German war criminal they deemed necessary, nothwithstanding any proceedings taken against the same persons in German courts. The German government was demanded to comply with any extradition order issued by the Allied powers to that effect.
Following the conclusion of the treaty, the Allied government began their legal and diplomatic efforts to bring the former Kaiser to justice. On 28 June 1919, the same day the treaty was signed, the President of the Paris Peace Conference addressed a diplomatic note to the Dutch government, requesting the extradition of the ex-Kaiser. On 7 July came the Dutch reply that any extradition of the former Kaiser would be a violation of Dutch neutrality.
Eventually the issue of trying the ex-Kaiser was dropped, and he remained in Holland until his death on 4 June 1941. In addition, the German government refused to extradite any German citizens to Allied governments, and suggested instead to try them in the German justice system, i.e. the German Supreme Court in Leipzig. This the Allied leaders accepted, and handed the German government a list of 45 persons to be tried.
The trials
The trials were held before the German Supreme Court in Leipzig from 23 May to 16 July 1921.The cases tried were as follows:
- Sergeant Karl Heynen, charged with mistreating British prisoners of war. He was sentenced to brief prison term of several months.
- Captain Emil MullerEmil MullerEmil Muller was a Captain in the Imperial German Army who was convicted and sentenced at the Leipzig War Crimes Trial in 1921.Muller was born in Karlsruhe and worked as a barrister before joining the army. He was appointed head of the Flavy de Martel prisoner of war camp where approximately 1000...
, charged with mistreating prisoners of war. He was sentenced to six months in prison. - Private Robert Neumann, charged with mistreating prisoners of war. He was sentenced to six months in prison.
- Lieutenant-Captain Karl Neumann, charged with submarine warfareSubmarine warfareNaval warfare is divided into three operational areas: surface warfare, air warfare and underwater warfare. The latter may be subdivided into submarine warfare and anti-submarine warfare as well as mine warfare and mine countermeasures...
. He was found not guilty. - First-Lieutenants Ludwig Dithmar and John Boldt, charged with war crimes on the high seas. They were two officers of the submarine SM U-86 that had sunk the hospital ship Llandovery CastleHMHS Llandovery CastleThe Llandovery Castle, built in 1914 in Glasgow as RMS Llandovery Castle for Union Castle Line, was a Canadian hospital ship torpedoed off southern Ireland on 27 June 1918 with the loss of 234 lives....
and then attacked survivors in lifeboats. They were sentenced each to four years in prison. Their captain Helmut Brümmer-PatzigHelmut Brümmer-PatzigHelmut Patzig, also known as Helmut Brümmer-Patzig was a submarine commander in Germany's Kaiserliche Marine in World War I, and in its World War II successor, the Kriegsmarine...
had left Germany and the courts jurisdiction. - Max Ramdohr, charged with crimes against the civilian population of Belgium. He was found not guilty.
- Lieutenant-General Karl Stenger and Major Benno Crusius, charged with mistreating French prisoners of war. Stenger was found not guilty, while Crusius was sentenced to two years in prison.
- First-Lieutenant Adolph Laule, charged with crimes against the French population. He was found not guilty.
- Lieutenant-General Hans von Schack and Major-General Benno Kruska, charged with mistreating prisoners of war. Both were found not guilty.
Legacy of the trial
The Leipzig trial was the first attempt to devise a comprehensive system for prosecution of violations of international law. This trend was renewed during the Second World War, as Allied governments decided to try after the war defeated Axis leaders for war crimes committed during the war.Following the end of the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
, the same trend led to the establishment of the International Criminal Court
International Criminal Court
The International Criminal Court is a permanent tribunal to prosecute individuals for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression .It came into being on 1 July 2002—the date its founding treaty, the Rome Statute of the...
in 2002.
For further reading
- Claude Mullins, The Leipzig Trials: An Account of the War Criminals' Trials and Study of German Mentality (published by Witherby, London, 1921)
- Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Violation of the Laws and Customs of War: Reports of Majority and Dissenting Reports of American and Japanese Members of the Commission of Responsibilities, Conference of Paris 1919 (London and New York, 1919)
External links
- Report on the Leipzig Trial http://www.lawreports.co.uk/Newsletter/OnlineArticles/LeipzigWarTrialsAug05.htm