A Legal Guardian: Great Britain and Naval Prize Law, 1856-1914

Abstract

This thesis highlights the political and equivocal nature of naval prize law in the years between 1856 and 1914. It argues that naval prize law, despite its political and equivocal nature, was an important part of international law to Great Britain because it dealt directly with the limitations of naval forces and protection offered to commercial maritime interests in time of war. The purpose of this thesis is to highlight Britain’s relationship with prize law and how Britain interacted, argued and attempted to redefine or sustain definitions of prize law in such a way that it would serve Britain’s commercial and naval interests by regulating the actions of all belligerent naval forces, and by providing protection to Britain’s merchant marine under the laws of the 1856 Declaration of Paris. This relationship with prize law is conveyed through three chapters dedicated to the American Civil War, 1861-1865, The Anglo-Boer and Russo-Japanese Wars, 1899- 1902 and 1904-1905 respectively, and the Second Hague Peace Conference, 1907, and the London Naval Declaration, 1909. The findings of this thesis are that prize law commanded attention and instigated debates among nineteenth-century world powers, particularly Britain. They all accepted the existence of prize law but also attempted to adjust its definitions to fit their own interests and ambitions. The broader implication of these findings is that matters of international law such as naval prize law should be awarded a greater consideration in understanding Britain’s strategic interests and foreign policies in the years between 1856 and 1914.