Pax Cultura
Encyclopedia
Roerich Pact is a treaty
on Protection of Artistic and Scientific Institutions and Historic Monuments. The most important idea of the Roerich Pact is the legal recognition of the fact that the defense of cultural objects is more important than the defense
in its traditional meaning, and the protection of culture always has precedence over any military necessity
.
Russian painter and philosopher Nicholas Roerich
(1874–1947) initiated the modern movement for the defense of cultural objects, for the idea of “Peace of Civilizations”. Besides the recognition as one of the
greatest Russian painters, Roerich’s most notable achievement
during his lifetime was the Roerich Pact signed on April 15, 1935
by the representatives of American states in the Oval Office
of the White
House (Washington, DC). It was the first international treaty
signed in the Oval Office where Presidents of US are working until present days because
Franklin D. Roosevelt
had relocated the US presidential
office in the White House. Incidentally, Roosevelt kept in his
private rooms a bust of Roerich.
Nicholas Roerich was born on October 9, 1874, in St. Petersburg.
His parents encouraged him to study law, but seeing their son’s inclination
for painting, they allowed him to study both, which he did with
much success. In 1900, Roerich went to Paris
to take lessons from
Fernand Cormon, the well known tutor of Van Gogh and Toulouse Lautrec.
Upon his return to St. Petersburg, he married Helena Shaposhnikova,
who later developed the Agni Yoga philosophy. Soon Roerich
became quite a successful painter. One of his paintings was
purchased by Russian Tsar Nicolas II himself. Roerich also worked as stage
and costume designer for several operas and ballets by Maurice
Maeterlinck and Igor Stravinsky
, premiered in St. Petersburg.
In 1917 Roerich went to live near a lake in Finland
, to strengthen
his health. After the border between Russia and Finland was closed
in 1918, the family travelled across several Scandinavian countries to
Great Britain and eventually left for North America in 1920. There, Roerich
founded two cultural institutions: “Cor Ardens” (Flaming Heart,
a fraternity of artists from several countries) and “The Master Institute
of United Arts” (an organization for education, science, and philosophy).
In 1923, the Roerich Museum was founded in New York. In 1929, it moved to a new building. Presently, the Roerich Museumis located in Manhattan
, at the corner of 107th Street and Riverside Drive.
After leaving America, the Roerich had settled down
in the Kulu Valley at the bottom of the Himalayas where they established
the Urusvati Institute. Nicholas Roerich died of a cardiac
arrest on December 13, 1947.
In 1903, N.Roerich together with his wife Helena Ivanovna Roerich toured through forty ancient Russian cities, including Yaroslavl, Kostroma, Kazan, Nizhny Novgorod, Vladimir, Suzdal, Yuriev-Polsky, Smolensk, Vilna, Izborsk, Pskov. In 1904, proceeding the expedition, N.K.Roerich has visited Uglich, Kalyazin, Kashin, Tver.
During this travel N.Roerich created a large series of architectural studies, created near 90 paintings of the visited sites. Later many Russian churches were destroyed and these paintings remain the only documenting images.
Summarizing this travel, the painter admired the beauty of the ancient monuments. Roerich, expressing his feelings for the state of their protection, wrote in his article “Along the old times” (1903): “Last summer I had an occasion to see many our true antique and little love to it”.
In 1904, Roerich gave a report to the Emperor’s Russian Archeologist Society about the sad state of historical monuments and the necessity to take prompt actions to protect them.
During the Russian-Japan war (1904–1905), Roerich expressed an idea about the necessity of a special treaty for the protection of institutions and cultural monuments. In the course of several years after his travel in 1903-1904, Roerich repeatedly pointed out the state of antique monuments. He wrote several articles dedicated to the poor state of the churches. In the article “Silent Pogroms” (1911) Roerich wrote about the unskillful restoration of St. John the Forerunner Church at Yaroslavl: “Who would defense a beautiful antique from mad pogroms? It is grievously when the antique dies. But it is more terrible when the antique remains disfigured, false, imitation…”.
In 1914, Roerich appealed to the high command of Russian army, as well as the governments of the USA and France with an idea of conclusion of international agreement aimed on the protection of cultural values during armed conflicts. He created a poster “Enemy of Mankind” denouncing the barbaric destruction of cultural monuments, and picture “Glow” expressing a protest against World War I
.
In 1915, Roerich wrote a report for Russian Emperor Nicholas I and Great Prince Nicholas Nikolayevich containing an appeal to make real state measures for national protection of cultural values.
In 1929, Roerich, in cooperation with G.G. Shklyaver, a doctor of international law and political sciences of Paris University prepared a project of the Pact for protection of cultural values. Simultaneously Roerich proposed a distinctive sign to identify the objects that are in need of protection – the Banner of Peace. It represents a white cloth with a red circle and three red circles inscribed in it.
In 1930, text of draft agreement with accompanying Roerich’s appeal to governments and peoples of all countries was published in press and distributed in government, scientific, artistic and educational institutions of the whole world. As a result, the committees supporting the Pact were established in many countries. The draft pact was approved by Committee for Museum affairs at League of Nations
and also by the Committee of the Pan-American Union. A few years after the Second World War, the Roerich Pact played an important role in forming of international law standards and public activity in the field of protection of cultural heritage. In 1949, at the fourth session of general UNESCO conference, a decision was accepted to begin the work for international law regulation in the field of cultural heritage protection in case of armed conflict.
Ideas of Roerich Pact still are not implemented in the international law
, especially its principle of the almost unlimited preference of the preservation of cultural values to the military necessity
.
1930 – A project together with N. Roerich’s covering appeal to governments and peoples of all the countries was published and communicated to the governments, scientific, artistic and educational institutions of the world.
1931 – An International Union of the Roerich Pact was found at Bruges under the guidance of a member of Belgium Committee for monument protection K. Tyulpink.
1932, 7-9 of September - second International conference dedicated to the Roerich Pact had been organized at Bruges. Twenty two countries took part in its work. The Conference has resolved to found at Bruges a special institute for world assistance to implementation of the Roerich Pact ideas in public life. It also took a decision to appeal to all the countries to recognize the Pact as international treaty.
1933, November 15 – Organizing Committee of third international Conference dedicated to the Roerich Pact visited the USA President F. Roosevelt.
1934, April 4 – A report of special committee of Pan-American union dedicated to Roerich Pact was approved.
1935, April 15 – A Treaty named “international pact for protection of artistic and scientific institutions, historic monuments, missions and collections” (Roerich Pact) was signed by representatives of 21 countries in White House, Washington. A distinctive sign for identification of the protected objects (Banner of Peace) proposed by N. Roerich was approved in the frameworks of the Pact.
President F. Roosevelt talked in his radio speech:
“Presenting this Pact for signing by all the countries, we strive for that its world acceptance becomes a vital principle for preserving of modern civilization. This agreement has more profound significance than the text of this document” [1].
1937, October – First Congress of Baltic Roerich societies has resolved to create the committees of Roerich Pact in all Roerich societies of Baltic countries.
1938, November 17 – the Banner of Peace was spread out in Karachi (India).
1942 – American-Russian culture association (ARCA) was formed. E. Hemingway, Ch. Chaplin, R. Kent, P. Geddes, E. Cooper, S. Kusevitsky, V. Tereschenko were its active contributors. The association’s activity was welcomed by world-known scientists Millikan and Compton.
1946, January 23 – first meeting of resumed New York Committee of the Pact and Banner of Peace has been conducted.
1948, August – Indian government headed by J. Nehru has decided to approve the Roerich Pact.
1948-1949 – Italian association of Roerich Pact at Bologna has organized the work to support the Pact on a broad footing. Committees of the Roerich Pact and Banner of Peace worked in Italy, Belgium, Switzerland, France, England, Portugal, Brazil, Columbia, Uruguay, Bolivia and Cuba.
1949 – 4th session of general UNESCO conference has taken a decision to begin a work for international-law regulation in the field of cultural values protection during the military actions.
1950 – A New York Committee of the Roerich Pact has transferred all the documentation about the Pact to UNESCO. 5th session of general UNESCO conference entrusted the general director with preparation and sending of a draft of convention. Special committee of UNESCO has prepared the draft of international convention in view of given documents.
1954, May 14 –U.N.O and UNESCO Conference in Hague has accepted the “Convention for protection of cultural values in the case of armed conflicts” and a protocol accompanying it. The Second protocol to the Hague convention was accepted in March 1999 due to initiative and close participation of UNESCO. A text of the Hague convention pointed directly on that the base for it acceptance is a principle of cultural values protection during the war established at Hague peace conventions in 1899 and 1907 and also in the Roerich Pact. This Hague convention was signed by representatives from 37 countries [2].
1970, November 14 – “Convention about measures aimed on prohibition and prevention of illegal import, export and transfer of rights of property for cultural values” was accepted at 16th session of general U.N.O. conference for problems of education, science and culture in Paris.
1972, November 23 – “Convention about protection of world cultural and natural heritage” was accepted at 17th session of general U.N.O. conference for problems of education, science and culture in Paris.
1974 – Alpinists from Novosibirsk hoisted the Banner of Peace on the Roerich peak near Belukha Mountain (Altai).
1988, May 6 – Banner of Peace was hoisted at Northern Pole.
1990, February 11 – Soviet cosmonauts A. Balandin and A. Solovyov took the Banner of Peace on the board of orbital station “Mir”.
1995, June 26 – Banner of Peace was presented to G. fon Moltke, deputy of secretary for political questions at NATO headquarters in Brussels.
1997 – Banner of Peace was given to the crew of Soviet orbital station “Soyuz-TM” in the frameworks of scientific-enlightener project “Banner of Peace”. It was delivered to orbital station “Mir” and remains in cosmos during two years (August 5, 1997 – August 28, 1999), accompanying the work of international crews.
1998, October 9 – Banner of Peace was hoisted over the Centre-Museum named after N. Roerich in Moscow.
1999, January 5 – Banner of Peace was presented to President of Kazakhstan Republic N. Nazarbayev at President Palace (Almaty). Space pilot A. Leonov and Professor S. Kapitsa took part in the ceremony.
- March 26 – Second protocol to “Convention for protection of cultural values in case of armed conflict” (Hague, 1954) was signed in Hague. The document was written by six languages: English, Arabic, Spanish, Chinese, Russian and French.
2000, January 8 – Banner of Peace was established at Southern Pole.
2003, October 17 – The Convention about protection of non-material cultural heritage was accepted by 32nd session of the General U.N.O. conference for education, science and culture.
2004, October 25 – Banner of Peace from the board of cosmic station “Mir” was presented to Speaker of Indian Parliament Sri Somnath Chatterji on the occasion of 100th Sviatoslav Roerich’s Anniversary.
ARTICLE I
The historic monuments, museums, scientific, artistic, educational and cultural institutions shall be considered as neutral and as such respected and protected by belligerents. The same respect and protection shall be due to the personnel of the institutions mentioned above. The same respect and protection shall be accorded to the historic monuments, museums, scientific, artistic, educational and cultural institutions in time of peace as well as in war.
ARTICLE II
The neutrality of, and protection and respect due to, the monuments and institutions mentioned in the preceding article, shall be recognized in the entire expanse of territories subject to the sovereignty of each of the signatory and acceding States, without any discrimination as to the State allegiance of said monuments and institutions. The respective Governments agree to adopt the measures of internal legislation necessary to insure said protection and respect.
ARTICLE III
In order to identify the monuments and institutions mentioned in article I, use may be made of a distinctive flag (red circle with a triple red sphere in the circle on a white background) in accordance with the model attached to this treaty.
ARTICLE IV
The signatory Governments and those which accede to this treaty, shall send to the Pan American Union, at the time of signature or accession, or at any time thereafter, a list of the monuments and institutions for which they desire the protection agreed to in this treaty. The Pan American Union, when notifying the Governments of signatures or accessions, shall also send the list of monuments and institutions mentioned in this article, and shall inform the other Governments of any changes in said list.
ARTICLE V
The monuments and institutions mentioned in article I shall cease to enjoy the privileges recognized in the present treaty in case they are made use of for military purposes.
ARTICLE VI
The States which do not sign the present treaty on the date it is opened for signature, may sign or adhere to it at any time.
ARTICLE VII
The instruments of accession, as well as those of ratification and denunciation of the present treaty, shall be deposited with the Pan American Union, which shall communicate notice of the act of deposit to the other signatory or acceding States.
ARTICLE VIII
The present treaty may be denounced at any time by any of the signatory or acceding States, and the denunciation shall go into effect three months after notice of it has been given to the other signatory or acceding States.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the Undersigned Plenipotentiaries, after having deposited their full powers found to be in due and proper form, sign this treaty on behalf of their respective governments, and affix thereto their seals, on the dates appearing opposite their signatures.
For the Argentine Republic:
April 15, 1935
FELIPE A. ESPIL
For Bolivia:
April 15, 1935
ENRIQUE FINOT
For Brazil:
April 15, 1935
OSWALDO ARANHA
For Chile:
April 15, 1935
M. TRUCCO
For Colombia:
April 15, 1935
M. LOPEZ PUMAREJO
For Costa Rica:
April 15, 1935
MAN. GONZALEZ
For Cuba:
April 15, 1935
GUILLERMO PATTERSON
For the Dominican Republic:
April 15, 1935
RAF. BRACHE
For Ecuador:
April 15, 1935
C. E. ALFARO
For El Salvador:
April 15, 1935
HECTOR DAVID CASTRO
For Guatemala:
April 15, 1935
ADRIAN RECINOS
For Haiti:
April 15, 1935
A. BLANCHET
For Honduras:
April 15, 1935
M. PAZ BARAONA
For Mexico:
April 15, 1935
F. CASTILLO NAJERA
For Nicaragua:
April 15, 1935
HENRI DE BAYLE
For Panama:
April 15, 1935
R. J. ALFARO
For Paraguay:
April 15, 1935
ENRIQUE BORDENAVE
For Peru:
April 15, 1935
M. DE FREYRE Y S.
For the United States of America:
April 15, 1935
HENRY A. WALLACE
For Uruguay:
April 15, 1935
J. RICHLING
For Venezuela:
April 15, 1935
PEDRO M. ARCAYA
AND WHEREAS the said Treaty has been duly ratified by the United States of America, whose instrument of ratification was deposited with the Pan American Union on July 13, 1935;
AND WHEREAS the said Treaty has been duly ratified also by the Republic of Cuba, whose instrument of ratification was deposited with the Pan American Union on August 26, 1935;
NOW, THEREFORE be it known that I, Franklin D. Roosevelt, President of the United States of America, have caused the said Treaty to be made public to the end that the same and every article and clause thereof may be observed and fulfilled with good faith by the United States of America and the citizens thereof.
IN TESTIMONY WHEREOF, I have caused the Seal of the United States of America to be hereunto affixed.
DONE at the city of Washington this twenty-fifth day of October in the year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred and thirty-five, and of the Independence of the United States of America the one hundred and sixtieth.
By the President: FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT
CORDELL HULL
Secretary of State.
Roerich’s Pact also Pax Cultura ("Cultural Peace" or "Peace through Culture") is the motto of the cultural artifact protection movement founded by Nicholas Roerich, and is symbolized by a maroon on white emblem consisting of three solid circles in a surrounding circle. On April 15, 1935 the Roerich Pact was signed by the United States
and Latin America
n nations, agreeing that "historic monuments, museums, scientific, artistic, educational and cultural institutions" should be protected both in times of peace and war, and identified by their flying a distinctive flag, the Banner of Peace, bearing the Pax Cultura emblem.
According to the Roerich Museum, "The Banner of Peace symbol has ancient origins. Perhaps its earliest known example appears on Stone Age amulets: three dots, without the enclosing circle. Roerich came across numerous later examples in various parts of the world, and knew that it represented a deep and sophisticated understanding of the triune nature of existence. But for the purposes of the Banner and the Pact, Roerich described the circle as representing the totality of culture, with the three dots being Art, Science, and Religion, three of the most embracing of human cultural activities. He also described the circle as representing the eternity of time, encompassing the past, present, and future. The sacred origins of the symbol, as an illustration of the trinities fundamental to all religions, remain central to the meaning of the Pact and the Banner today." http://www.roerich.org/nr.html?mid=pact
The Roerich Pact sign was superseded by the distinctive marking of cultural property as defined by the Hague Convention of 1954
.
However, the emblem of the Roerich Pact is still a valid protective sign in the relations between states which are bound by the Washington Treaty of 1935 but not by the Convention of 1954.
is the share of state budget
annually spent on culture, art and
education, which is must to exceed military expenses. As already mentioned another point is the legal recognition of the fact that the defense of cultural objects is more important than the defense in its traditional meaning, and the protection of culture always has precedence over any
military necessity.
Important in the framework of ideas
of the Roerich Pact is the recognition that the safety of any foreign
cultural object on the territory of a foreign state must be also respected
and treated as a factor much higher in significance than
military willingness to bomb, destroy or use it for military purposes.
Nicholas Roerich managed to continue and develop into a profound and feasible doctrine the famous maxim proclaimed by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, “Beauty will save the World!”
Hence starts a very powerful Russian movement in the development of the concept of aesthetical statehood. The concept of the state as a work of art was first suggested in
the 19th century by Jacob Burckhardt
, who was Swiss historian
of art, specializing in Italian Renaissance
, and who gave
this name to a chapter of one of his books. The concept itself had not been formulated to a completion and was expressed in a general idea that period, as well as their rulers, considered the achievements in culture and art as most important for securing the prestige
both of their states and their own, which finally resulted in the unique Italian Renaissance art, literature, philosophy and science. Roerich produced ideas based on the approaches used by Burkhardt
and Dostoevsky.
Roerich, considered the care for future generations to be a cornerstone of the existence of the rule of law
and the constitutional state. President of the USA, Franklin D. Roosevelt
, in the speech upon the signature of the ‘Roerich Pact’ Treaty said: “In opening this Pact to the adherence of the Nations
of the world, we are endeavoring to make
of universal application one of the principles
vital to the preservation of modern civilization.
This Treaty possesses a spiritual significance far
deeper than the text of the instrument itself. It is important to realize that the Roerich Pact was only
the first step towards the future development of a new legal culture.
All written laws must conform to the universal unwritten principles of
morality, fairness, and justice, equality, autonomy,
dignity, and respect that is known
as a higher law theory.
The concrete conceptual provisions of Roerich’s philosophical and legal concept of the state are based on
the one of Rule According to Higher Law
ideas that the primary duty of the state is
to sustain and develop the spiritual unity of its citizens, by carefully
preserving the best specimens of national cultural heritage,
promoting universal culture and spiritual growth of all people,
especially the young ones. At that, the major share of profits
received by the state should be directed at the development of
culture, which, as it was already mentioned, would lead to a further
growth of economical prosperity.
According to Roerich's concept, the state, as an instrument for the preservation and development
of culture, the instrument defending both domestic and
foreign cultural treasures, the instrument maintaining peace and
avoiding wars, the instrument building a new civilization, based
on the best cultural traditions of today and, therefore, spending
the utmost economically reasonable assets for these purposes, —
all this can be explicitly and exclusively based on
constitutional foundation for using Roerich’s words, “a state of the future” and “a civilization of the future.”
Ideas of Roerich Pact still do not fully implemented in the international law .” and 21st century may be is a good time to resurrect Roerich's concept of beauty and culture as a path to peace.
Characterizing the Roerich Pact, space pilot A.A. Leonov wrote:
Developing the Pact ideas N. Roerich has stated the thoughts about a role of community. The laws for culture protection in itself will not work if the community will not display an activity and interest to this. Later this thought was supported by academician D.S. Likhachev. He said:
At first international conference of Roerich Pact in Bruges (September, 1931) N. Roerich has proposed to create a World League of Culture. One of main aims of the League must be to train care of the nature.
In his article “Pain of the planet” (1933) N. Roerich wrote: “The call about culture, call about the world, and call about creativity and beauty reaches the ear which is strengthen by true values only. Understanding of life as self-improving for the people’s good arises where the respect of the nature is valid. Therefore, the League of Culture together with main enlightener activity must wholesale explain a wise regard for the nature as an origin of merry work, wise joy, continuous cognition and creativity”.
The cultural community highly appreciates N. Roerich’s thought about the implementation of World Day of Culture. N. Roerich wrote:
“… We shall hear about the world Day of Culture too when at all schools and enlightener societies simultaneously the day will dedicated to comprehension of the national and world cultural treasures…”
Treaty
A treaty is an express agreement under international law entered into by actors in international law, namely sovereign states and international organizations. A treaty may also be known as an agreement, protocol, covenant, convention or exchange of letters, among other terms...
on Protection of Artistic and Scientific Institutions and Historic Monuments. The most important idea of the Roerich Pact is the legal recognition of the fact that the defense of cultural objects is more important than the defense
Defense (military)
Defense has several uses in the sphere of military application.Personal defense implies measures taken by individual soldiers in protecting themselves whether by use of protective materials such as armor, or field construction of trenches or a bunker, or by using weapons that prevent the enemy...
in its traditional meaning, and the protection of culture always has precedence over any military necessity
Military necessity
Military necessity, along with distinction, and proportionality, are three important principles of international humanitarian law governing the legal use of force in an armed conflict.-Attacks:...
.
Nicholas Roerich
Nicholas Roerich
Nicholas Roerich, also known as Nikolai Konstantinovich Rerikh , was a Russian mystic, painter, philosopher, scientist, writer, traveler, and public figure. A prolific artist, he created thousands of paintings and about 30 literary works...
(1874–1947) initiated the modern movement for the defense of cultural objects, for the idea of “Peace of Civilizations”. Besides the recognition as one of the
greatest Russian painters, Roerich’s most notable achievement
during his lifetime was the Roerich Pact signed on April 15, 1935
by the representatives of American states in the Oval Office
Oval Office
The Oval Office, located in the West Wing of the White House, is the official office of the President of the United States.The room features three large south-facing windows behind the president's desk, and a fireplace at the north end...
of the White
House (Washington, DC). It was the first international treaty
signed in the Oval Office where Presidents of US are working until present days because
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...
had relocated the US presidential
office in the White House. Incidentally, Roosevelt kept in his
private rooms a bust of Roerich.
Nicholas Roerich was born on October 9, 1874, in St. Petersburg.
His parents encouraged him to study law, but seeing their son’s inclination
for painting, they allowed him to study both, which he did with
much success. In 1900, Roerich went to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
to take lessons from
Fernand Cormon, the well known tutor of Van Gogh and Toulouse Lautrec.
Upon his return to St. Petersburg, he married Helena Shaposhnikova,
who later developed the Agni Yoga philosophy. Soon Roerich
became quite a successful painter. One of his paintings was
purchased by Russian Tsar Nicolas II himself. Roerich also worked as stage
and costume designer for several operas and ballets by Maurice
Maeterlinck and Igor Stravinsky
Igor Stravinsky
Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ; 6 April 1971) was a Russian, later naturalized French, and then naturalized American composer, pianist, and conductor....
, premiered in St. Petersburg.
In 1917 Roerich went to live near a lake in Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
, to strengthen
his health. After the border between Russia and Finland was closed
in 1918, the family travelled across several Scandinavian countries to
Great Britain and eventually left for North America in 1920. There, Roerich
founded two cultural institutions: “Cor Ardens” (Flaming Heart,
a fraternity of artists from several countries) and “The Master Institute
of United Arts” (an organization for education, science, and philosophy).
In 1923, the Roerich Museum was founded in New York. In 1929, it moved to a new building. Presently, the Roerich Museumis located in Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
, at the corner of 107th Street and Riverside Drive.
After leaving America, the Roerich had settled down
in the Kulu Valley at the bottom of the Himalayas where they established
the Urusvati Institute. Nicholas Roerich died of a cardiac
arrest on December 13, 1947.
Origins of the Roerich Pact
An idea about the protection of cultural monuments was formulated for the first time by N.K. Roerich in 1899. During his excavations at Saint-Petersburg province, Roerich began to point to necessity of protection of cultural monuments, which reproduce a world-view of ancient people for us.In 1903, N.Roerich together with his wife Helena Ivanovna Roerich toured through forty ancient Russian cities, including Yaroslavl, Kostroma, Kazan, Nizhny Novgorod, Vladimir, Suzdal, Yuriev-Polsky, Smolensk, Vilna, Izborsk, Pskov. In 1904, proceeding the expedition, N.K.Roerich has visited Uglich, Kalyazin, Kashin, Tver.
During this travel N.Roerich created a large series of architectural studies, created near 90 paintings of the visited sites. Later many Russian churches were destroyed and these paintings remain the only documenting images.
Summarizing this travel, the painter admired the beauty of the ancient monuments. Roerich, expressing his feelings for the state of their protection, wrote in his article “Along the old times” (1903): “Last summer I had an occasion to see many our true antique and little love to it”.
In 1904, Roerich gave a report to the Emperor’s Russian Archeologist Society about the sad state of historical monuments and the necessity to take prompt actions to protect them.
During the Russian-Japan war (1904–1905), Roerich expressed an idea about the necessity of a special treaty for the protection of institutions and cultural monuments. In the course of several years after his travel in 1903-1904, Roerich repeatedly pointed out the state of antique monuments. He wrote several articles dedicated to the poor state of the churches. In the article “Silent Pogroms” (1911) Roerich wrote about the unskillful restoration of St. John the Forerunner Church at Yaroslavl: “Who would defense a beautiful antique from mad pogroms? It is grievously when the antique dies. But it is more terrible when the antique remains disfigured, false, imitation…”.
In 1914, Roerich appealed to the high command of Russian army, as well as the governments of the USA and France with an idea of conclusion of international agreement aimed on the protection of cultural values during armed conflicts. He created a poster “Enemy of Mankind” denouncing the barbaric destruction of cultural monuments, and picture “Glow” expressing a protest against World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
.
In 1915, Roerich wrote a report for Russian Emperor Nicholas I and Great Prince Nicholas Nikolayevich containing an appeal to make real state measures for national protection of cultural values.
In 1929, Roerich, in cooperation with G.G. Shklyaver, a doctor of international law and political sciences of Paris University prepared a project of the Pact for protection of cultural values. Simultaneously Roerich proposed a distinctive sign to identify the objects that are in need of protection – the Banner of Peace. It represents a white cloth with a red circle and three red circles inscribed in it.
- - Regular Committee of the Roerich Pact and Banner of Peace was found in New York
- - Roerich was nominated for the Nobel Prize.
The Roerich Pact
In 1929 Roerich in collaboration with Paris University professor George Chklaver prepared a draft of an international treaty dedicated to protection of cultural values (Roerich Pact). The scheme was to be a cultural analog to the Red Cross for medical neutrality.In 1930, text of draft agreement with accompanying Roerich’s appeal to governments and peoples of all countries was published in press and distributed in government, scientific, artistic and educational institutions of the whole world. As a result, the committees supporting the Pact were established in many countries. The draft pact was approved by Committee for Museum affairs at League of Nations
League of Nations
The League of Nations was an intergovernmental organization founded as a result of the Paris Peace Conference that ended the First World War. It was the first permanent international organization whose principal mission was to maintain world peace...
and also by the Committee of the Pan-American Union. A few years after the Second World War, the Roerich Pact played an important role in forming of international law standards and public activity in the field of protection of cultural heritage. In 1949, at the fourth session of general UNESCO conference, a decision was accepted to begin the work for international law regulation in the field of cultural heritage protection in case of armed conflict.
Ideas of Roerich Pact still are not implemented in the international law
International 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...
, especially its principle of the almost unlimited preference of the preservation of cultural values to the military necessity
Military necessity
Military necessity, along with distinction, and proportionality, are three important principles of international humanitarian law governing the legal use of force in an armed conflict.-Attacks:...
.
The Roerich Pact Chronology
From the book “Banner of Peace” /Compilers O.N. Zvonareva, T.O. Knizhnik, N.G. Mikhailova. – Second edition, supplemented and revised. – Moscow, ICR, 2005. – (series “Large Roerich’s library”).1930 – A project together with N. Roerich’s covering appeal to governments and peoples of all the countries was published and communicated to the governments, scientific, artistic and educational institutions of the world.
- - Project of the Pact was represented to Committee on Museum affairs at League of Nations, and further it was referred to International committee for intellectual cooperation.
- - Committees of the Roerich Pact and Banner of Peace were found in Paris and Bruges (Belgium)
1931 – An International Union of the Roerich Pact was found at Bruges under the guidance of a member of Belgium Committee for monument protection K. Tyulpink.
- - 13-15 of September – first International conference dedicated to the Roerich Pact has been organized at Bruges. Representatives from group of European countries took part in this conference. A plan of promotion of the Pact ideas at educational institutes was developed, and contacts of International Union of the Roerich Pact with an International Committee for art affairs and Organization Committee for arms reduction were established.
1932, 7-9 of September - second International conference dedicated to the Roerich Pact had been organized at Bruges. Twenty two countries took part in its work. The Conference has resolved to found at Bruges a special institute for world assistance to implementation of the Roerich Pact ideas in public life. It also took a decision to appeal to all the countries to recognize the Pact as international treaty.
1933, November 15 – Organizing Committee of third international Conference dedicated to the Roerich Pact visited the USA President F. Roosevelt.
- - 17-18 of November – Third International conference dedicated to the Roerich Pact was carried out in Washington. Thirty five countries have supported this conference and recommended the governments of all the countries to sign the Pact.
- - December – 7th conference of Pan-American Union in Montevideo (Uruguay) has passed a resolution which recommended to the governments of American countries to join with the Roerich Pact.
1934, April 4 – A report of special committee of Pan-American union dedicated to Roerich Pact was approved.
- - August 11 – USA President F Roosevelt has authorized a minister of agriculture H. Wolles to sign the Roerich Pact from USA.
- - September 2 – A Committee of the Pact and Banner of Peace was formed in Harbin (Manchuria).
- - A Committee for promotion of the Pact was formed at Bulgaria.
1935, April 15 – A Treaty named “international pact for protection of artistic and scientific institutions, historic monuments, missions and collections” (Roerich Pact) was signed by representatives of 21 countries in White House, Washington. A distinctive sign for identification of the protected objects (Banner of Peace) proposed by N. Roerich was approved in the frameworks of the Pact.
- - July 2 – the Pact was ratified by USA Senate.
- - July 10 - – the Pact was ratified by USA President.
- - October 25 - – the Pact was promulgated by USA President.
President F. Roosevelt talked in his radio speech:
“Presenting this Pact for signing by all the countries, we strive for that its world acceptance becomes a vital principle for preserving of modern civilization. This agreement has more profound significance than the text of this document” [1].
1937, October – First Congress of Baltic Roerich societies has resolved to create the committees of Roerich Pact in all Roerich societies of Baltic countries.
- - First congress of international research (Paris) unanimously accepted a resolution about joining to the Roerich Pact.
1938, November 17 – the Banner of Peace was spread out in Karachi (India).
1942 – American-Russian culture association (ARCA) was formed. E. Hemingway, Ch. Chaplin, R. Kent, P. Geddes, E. Cooper, S. Kusevitsky, V. Tereschenko were its active contributors. The association’s activity was welcomed by world-known scientists Millikan and Compton.
1946, January 23 – first meeting of resumed New York Committee of the Pact and Banner of Peace has been conducted.
- - April 18 – 6th Pan-Indian conference for cultural unity has supported the Pact.
1948-1949 – Italian association of Roerich Pact at Bologna has organized the work to support the Pact on a broad footing. Committees of the Roerich Pact and Banner of Peace worked in Italy, Belgium, Switzerland, France, England, Portugal, Brazil, Columbia, Uruguay, Bolivia and Cuba.
1949 – 4th session of general UNESCO conference has taken a decision to begin a work for international-law regulation in the field of cultural values protection during the military actions.
1950 – A New York Committee of the Roerich Pact has transferred all the documentation about the Pact to UNESCO. 5th session of general UNESCO conference entrusted the general director with preparation and sending of a draft of convention. Special committee of UNESCO has prepared the draft of international convention in view of given documents.
1954, May 14 –U.N.O and UNESCO Conference in Hague has accepted the “Convention for protection of cultural values in the case of armed conflicts” and a protocol accompanying it. The Second protocol to the Hague convention was accepted in March 1999 due to initiative and close participation of UNESCO. A text of the Hague convention pointed directly on that the base for it acceptance is a principle of cultural values protection during the war established at Hague peace conventions in 1899 and 1907 and also in the Roerich Pact. This Hague convention was signed by representatives from 37 countries [2].
1970, November 14 – “Convention about measures aimed on prohibition and prevention of illegal import, export and transfer of rights of property for cultural values” was accepted at 16th session of general U.N.O. conference for problems of education, science and culture in Paris.
1972, November 23 – “Convention about protection of world cultural and natural heritage” was accepted at 17th session of general U.N.O. conference for problems of education, science and culture in Paris.
1974 – Alpinists from Novosibirsk hoisted the Banner of Peace on the Roerich peak near Belukha Mountain (Altai).
1988, May 6 – Banner of Peace was hoisted at Northern Pole.
1990, February 11 – Soviet cosmonauts A. Balandin and A. Solovyov took the Banner of Peace on the board of orbital station “Mir”.
1995, June 26 – Banner of Peace was presented to G. fon Moltke, deputy of secretary for political questions at NATO headquarters in Brussels.
1998, October 9 – Banner of Peace was hoisted over the Centre-Museum named after N. Roerich in Moscow.
1999, January 5 – Banner of Peace was presented to President of Kazakhstan Republic N. Nazarbayev at President Palace (Almaty). Space pilot A. Leonov and Professor S. Kapitsa took part in the ceremony.
- March 26 – Second protocol to “Convention for protection of cultural values in case of armed conflict” (Hague, 1954) was signed in Hague. The document was written by six languages: English, Arabic, Spanish, Chinese, Russian and French.
2000, January 8 – Banner of Peace was established at Southern Pole.
- - January 28 – Banner of Peace from the Southern Pole was presented to U.N.O. General Secretary K. Annan as a gift from expedition centre “Arctic”, International Centre of the Roerichs and the project “Banner of Peace”.
2003, October 17 – The Convention about protection of non-material cultural heritage was accepted by 32nd session of the General U.N.O. conference for education, science and culture.
2004, October 25 – Banner of Peace from the board of cosmic station “Mir” was presented to Speaker of Indian Parliament Sri Somnath Chatterji on the occasion of 100th Sviatoslav Roerich’s Anniversary.
The Treaty on Protection of Artistic and Scientific Institutions and Historic Monuments
The High Contracting Parties, animated by the purpose of giving conventional form to the postulates of the Resolution approved on December 16, 1933, by all the States represented at the Seventh International Conference of American States, held at Montevideo, which recommended to "the Governments of America which have not yet done so that they sign the 'Roerich Pact', initiated by the Roerich Museum in the United States, and which has as its object, the universal adoption of a flag, already designed and generally known, in order thereby to preserve in any time of danger all nationally and privately owned immovable monuments which form the cultural treasure of peoples", have resolved to conclude a treaty with that end in view, and to the effect that the treasures of culture be respected and protected in time of war and in peace, have agreed upon the following articles:ARTICLE I
The historic monuments, museums, scientific, artistic, educational and cultural institutions shall be considered as neutral and as such respected and protected by belligerents. The same respect and protection shall be due to the personnel of the institutions mentioned above. The same respect and protection shall be accorded to the historic monuments, museums, scientific, artistic, educational and cultural institutions in time of peace as well as in war.
ARTICLE II
The neutrality of, and protection and respect due to, the monuments and institutions mentioned in the preceding article, shall be recognized in the entire expanse of territories subject to the sovereignty of each of the signatory and acceding States, without any discrimination as to the State allegiance of said monuments and institutions. The respective Governments agree to adopt the measures of internal legislation necessary to insure said protection and respect.
ARTICLE III
In order to identify the monuments and institutions mentioned in article I, use may be made of a distinctive flag (red circle with a triple red sphere in the circle on a white background) in accordance with the model attached to this treaty.
ARTICLE IV
The signatory Governments and those which accede to this treaty, shall send to the Pan American Union, at the time of signature or accession, or at any time thereafter, a list of the monuments and institutions for which they desire the protection agreed to in this treaty. The Pan American Union, when notifying the Governments of signatures or accessions, shall also send the list of monuments and institutions mentioned in this article, and shall inform the other Governments of any changes in said list.
ARTICLE V
The monuments and institutions mentioned in article I shall cease to enjoy the privileges recognized in the present treaty in case they are made use of for military purposes.
ARTICLE VI
The States which do not sign the present treaty on the date it is opened for signature, may sign or adhere to it at any time.
ARTICLE VII
The instruments of accession, as well as those of ratification and denunciation of the present treaty, shall be deposited with the Pan American Union, which shall communicate notice of the act of deposit to the other signatory or acceding States.
ARTICLE VIII
The present treaty may be denounced at any time by any of the signatory or acceding States, and the denunciation shall go into effect three months after notice of it has been given to the other signatory or acceding States.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the Undersigned Plenipotentiaries, after having deposited their full powers found to be in due and proper form, sign this treaty on behalf of their respective governments, and affix thereto their seals, on the dates appearing opposite their signatures.
For the Argentine Republic:
April 15, 1935
FELIPE A. ESPIL
For Bolivia:
April 15, 1935
ENRIQUE FINOT
For Brazil:
April 15, 1935
OSWALDO ARANHA
For Chile:
April 15, 1935
M. TRUCCO
For Colombia:
April 15, 1935
M. LOPEZ PUMAREJO
For Costa Rica:
April 15, 1935
MAN. GONZALEZ
For Cuba:
April 15, 1935
GUILLERMO PATTERSON
For the Dominican Republic:
April 15, 1935
RAF. BRACHE
For Ecuador:
April 15, 1935
C. E. ALFARO
For El Salvador:
April 15, 1935
HECTOR DAVID CASTRO
For Guatemala:
April 15, 1935
ADRIAN RECINOS
For Haiti:
April 15, 1935
A. BLANCHET
For Honduras:
April 15, 1935
M. PAZ BARAONA
For Mexico:
April 15, 1935
F. CASTILLO NAJERA
For Nicaragua:
April 15, 1935
HENRI DE BAYLE
For Panama:
April 15, 1935
R. J. ALFARO
For Paraguay:
April 15, 1935
ENRIQUE BORDENAVE
For Peru:
April 15, 1935
M. DE FREYRE Y S.
For the United States of America:
April 15, 1935
HENRY A. WALLACE
For Uruguay:
April 15, 1935
J. RICHLING
For Venezuela:
April 15, 1935
PEDRO M. ARCAYA
AND WHEREAS the said Treaty has been duly ratified by the United States of America, whose instrument of ratification was deposited with the Pan American Union on July 13, 1935;
AND WHEREAS the said Treaty has been duly ratified also by the Republic of Cuba, whose instrument of ratification was deposited with the Pan American Union on August 26, 1935;
NOW, THEREFORE be it known that I, Franklin D. Roosevelt, President of the United States of America, have caused the said Treaty to be made public to the end that the same and every article and clause thereof may be observed and fulfilled with good faith by the United States of America and the citizens thereof.
IN TESTIMONY WHEREOF, I have caused the Seal of the United States of America to be hereunto affixed.
DONE at the city of Washington this twenty-fifth day of October in the year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred and thirty-five, and of the Independence of the United States of America the one hundred and sixtieth.
By the President: FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT
CORDELL HULL
Secretary of State.
Banner of Peace
Roerich’s Pact also Pax Cultura ("Cultural Peace" or "Peace through Culture") is the motto of the cultural artifact protection movement founded by Nicholas Roerich, and is symbolized by a maroon on white emblem consisting of three solid circles in a surrounding circle. On April 15, 1935 the Roerich Pact was signed by the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
n nations, agreeing that "historic monuments, museums, scientific, artistic, educational and cultural institutions" should be protected both in times of peace and war, and identified by their flying a distinctive flag, the Banner of Peace, bearing the Pax Cultura emblem.
According to the Roerich Museum, "The Banner of Peace symbol has ancient origins. Perhaps its earliest known example appears on Stone Age amulets: three dots, without the enclosing circle. Roerich came across numerous later examples in various parts of the world, and knew that it represented a deep and sophisticated understanding of the triune nature of existence. But for the purposes of the Banner and the Pact, Roerich described the circle as representing the totality of culture, with the three dots being Art, Science, and Religion, three of the most embracing of human cultural activities. He also described the circle as representing the eternity of time, encompassing the past, present, and future. The sacred origins of the symbol, as an illustration of the trinities fundamental to all religions, remain central to the meaning of the Pact and the Banner today." http://www.roerich.org/nr.html?mid=pact
The Roerich Pact sign was superseded by the distinctive marking of cultural property as defined by the Hague Convention of 1954
Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict
The Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict is an international treaty that requires its signatories to protect cultural property in war. It was signed at The Hague, Netherlands, on May 14, 1954, and entered into force August 7, 1956...
.
However, the emblem of the Roerich Pact is still a valid protective sign in the relations between states which are bound by the Washington Treaty of 1935 but not by the Convention of 1954.
The Roerich Pact importance for twenty-first century
The Roerich Pact is not only a relatively short text of the international treaty. It is a conglomerate of legal ideas about a new state order in which the State and the Culture are not different but instead very closely permeate each other. A measure of this interferenceis the share of state budget
Budget
A budget is a financial plan and a list of all planned expenses and revenues. It is a plan for saving, borrowing and spending. A budget is an important concept in microeconomics, which uses a budget line to illustrate the trade-offs between two or more goods...
annually spent on culture, art and
education, which is must to exceed military expenses. As already mentioned another point is the legal recognition of the fact that the defense of cultural objects is more important than the defense in its traditional meaning, and the protection of culture always has precedence over any
military necessity.
Important in the framework of ideas
of the Roerich Pact is the recognition that the safety of any foreign
cultural object on the territory of a foreign state must be also respected
and treated as a factor much higher in significance than
military willingness to bomb, destroy or use it for military purposes.
Nicholas Roerich managed to continue and develop into a profound and feasible doctrine the famous maxim proclaimed by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, “Beauty will save the World!”
Hence starts a very powerful Russian movement in the development of the concept of aesthetical statehood. The concept of the state as a work of art was first suggested in
the 19th century by Jacob Burckhardt
Jacob Burckhardt
Carl Jacob Christoph Burckhardt was a historian of art and culture, and an influential figure in the historiography of each field. He is known as one of the major progenitors of cultural history, albeit in a form very different from how cultural history is conceived and studied in academia today...
, who was Swiss historian
of art, specializing in Italian Renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
, and who gave
this name to a chapter of one of his books. The concept itself had not been formulated to a completion and was expressed in a general idea that period, as well as their rulers, considered the achievements in culture and art as most important for securing the prestige
both of their states and their own, which finally resulted in the unique Italian Renaissance art, literature, philosophy and science. Roerich produced ideas based on the approaches used by Burkhardt
and Dostoevsky.
Roerich, considered the care for future generations to be a cornerstone of the existence of the rule of law
Rule of law
The rule of law, sometimes called supremacy of law, is a legal maxim that says that governmental decisions should be made by applying known principles or laws with minimal discretion in their application...
and the constitutional state. President of the USA, Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...
, in the speech upon the signature of the ‘Roerich Pact’ Treaty said: “In opening this Pact to the adherence of the Nations
of the world, we are endeavoring to make
of universal application one of the principles
vital to the preservation of modern civilization.
This Treaty possesses a spiritual significance far
deeper than the text of the instrument itself. It is important to realize that the Roerich Pact was only
the first step towards the future development of a new legal culture.
All written laws must conform to the universal unwritten principles of
morality, fairness, and justice, equality, autonomy,
dignity, and respect that is known
as a higher law theory.
The concrete conceptual provisions of Roerich’s philosophical and legal concept of the state are based on
the one of Rule According to Higher Law
Rule according to higher law
The rule according to a higher law means that no written law may be enforced by the government unless it conforms with certain unwritten, universal principles of fairness, morality, and justice...
ideas that the primary duty of the state is
to sustain and develop the spiritual unity of its citizens, by carefully
preserving the best specimens of national cultural heritage,
promoting universal culture and spiritual growth of all people,
especially the young ones. At that, the major share of profits
received by the state should be directed at the development of
culture, which, as it was already mentioned, would lead to a further
growth of economical prosperity.
According to Roerich's concept, the state, as an instrument for the preservation and development
of culture, the instrument defending both domestic and
foreign cultural treasures, the instrument maintaining peace and
avoiding wars, the instrument building a new civilization, based
on the best cultural traditions of today and, therefore, spending
the utmost economically reasonable assets for these purposes, —
all this can be explicitly and exclusively based on
constitutional foundation for using Roerich’s words, “a state of the future” and “a civilization of the future.”
Ideas of Roerich Pact still do not fully implemented in the international law .” and 21st century may be is a good time to resurrect Roerich's concept of beauty and culture as a path to peace.
World League of Culture and World Day of Culture
In the broad sense the Roerich Pact is understood as not only a legal treaty but also whole complex of measures for protection of cultural values suggested by N. Roerich. Consequently, Roerich Pact has not only legal but also philosophic, enlightener and evolutional significance since it reflects an idea of culture protection in many its manifestations.Characterizing the Roerich Pact, space pilot A.A. Leonov wrote:
“If we are raising a culture and spirituality then it will help us to strengthen an economics, to make the policy moral and to stop the military conflicts. This is a significance of the Roerich Pact today. The more time is passed the more actual for the world it becomes. …”
Developing the Pact ideas N. Roerich has stated the thoughts about a role of community. The laws for culture protection in itself will not work if the community will not display an activity and interest to this. Later this thought was supported by academician D.S. Likhachev. He said:
“… I believe that the best and freely developing social forms of culture can unite creative constructive forces and improve a social life, thereby help the state to maintain high ideals of humanism and peacefulness in the people. …”
At first international conference of Roerich Pact in Bruges (September, 1931) N. Roerich has proposed to create a World League of Culture. One of main aims of the League must be to train care of the nature.
In his article “Pain of the planet” (1933) N. Roerich wrote: “The call about culture, call about the world, and call about creativity and beauty reaches the ear which is strengthen by true values only. Understanding of life as self-improving for the people’s good arises where the respect of the nature is valid. Therefore, the League of Culture together with main enlightener activity must wholesale explain a wise regard for the nature as an origin of merry work, wise joy, continuous cognition and creativity”.
The cultural community highly appreciates N. Roerich’s thought about the implementation of World Day of Culture. N. Roerich wrote:
“… We shall hear about the world Day of Culture too when at all schools and enlightener societies simultaneously the day will dedicated to comprehension of the national and world cultural treasures…”
See also
- Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed ConflictHague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed ConflictThe Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict is an international treaty that requires its signatories to protect cultural property in war. It was signed at The Hague, Netherlands, on May 14, 1954, and entered into force August 7, 1956...
- Nicholas RoerichNicholas RoerichNicholas Roerich, also known as Nikolai Konstantinovich Rerikh , was a Russian mystic, painter, philosopher, scientist, writer, traveler, and public figure. A prolific artist, he created thousands of paintings and about 30 literary works...
- Protective signProtective signProtective signs are symbols to be used during an armed conflict to mark persons and objects under the protection of various treaties of International Humanitarian Law . While their essential meaning can be summarized as "Don't shoot!" or "Don't attack!", the exact conditions implied vary depending...
- Rule of Law in Armed Conflicts Project
- RechtsstaatRechtsstaatRechtsstaat is a concept in continental European legal thinking, originally borrowed from German jurisprudence, which can be translated as "legal state", "state of law", "state of justice", or "state of rights"...
- Jacob BurckhardtJacob BurckhardtCarl Jacob Christoph Burckhardt was a historian of art and culture, and an influential figure in the historiography of each field. He is known as one of the major progenitors of cultural history, albeit in a form very different from how cultural history is conceived and studied in academia today...
- Franklin Delano Roosevelt
- Commonwealth of Independent StatesCommonwealth of Independent StatesThe Commonwealth of Independent States is a regional organization whose participating countries are former Soviet Republics, formed during the breakup of the Soviet Union....
- List of Articles of War
- Command responsibilityCommand responsibilityCommand responsibility, sometimes referred to as the Yamashita standard or the Medina standard, and also known as superior responsibility, is the doctrine of hierarchical accountability in cases of war crimes....
- DebellatioDebellatioDebellatio designates the end of a war caused by complete destruction of a hostile state....
- International Humanitarian LawInternational humanitarian lawInternational humanitarian law , often referred to as the laws of war, the laws and customs of war or the law of armed conflict, is the legal corpus that comprises "the Geneva Conventions and the Hague Conventions, as well as subsequent treaties, case law, and customary international law." It...
- International lawInternational lawPublic 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...
- Laws of warLaws of warThe law of war is a body of law concerning acceptable justifications to engage in war and the limits to acceptable wartime conduct...
- LawfareLawfareLawfare is a recently coined word not yet appearing in the Oxford English Dictionary, a portmanteau of the words 'law' and 'warfare', said to describe a form of asymmetric warfare...
- Law of occupation
- Military necessityMilitary necessityMilitary necessity, along with distinction, and proportionality, are three important principles of international humanitarian law governing the legal use of force in an armed conflict.-Attacks:...
- Nuremberg PrinciplesNuremberg PrinciplesThe Nuremberg principles were a set of guidelines for determining what constitutes a war crime. The document was created by the International Law Commission of the United Nations to codify the legal principles underlying the Nuremberg Trials of Nazi party members following World War II.- Principle...
- Right of conquestRight of conquestThe right of conquest is the right of a conqueror to territory taken by force of arms. It was traditionally a principle of international law which has in modern times gradually given way until its proscription after the Second World War when the crime of war of aggression was first codified in the...
- Rule According to Higher LawRule according to higher lawThe rule according to a higher law means that no written law may be enforced by the government unless it conforms with certain unwritten, universal principles of fairness, morality, and justice...
- Total warTotal warTotal war is a war in which a belligerent engages in the complete mobilization of fully available resources and population.In the mid-19th century, "total war" was identified by scholars as a separate class of warfare...
External links
- L. Shaposhnikova. Roerich’s Pact Urgency in Today’s World “Roerich’s Pact Urgency in Today’s World” Published in magazine “Cultura i Vremya” (“Culture and Time”) No. 4, 2005.
- International Centre of the Roerichs
- Nicholas Roerich Museum.
- Pact and Banner Of Peace Through Culture on the Website of the Nicholas Roerich Museum.