Planning for the Aftermath. Longue Durée Histories for a New International Legal Order in Kelsen, Lauterpacht and De Visscher

Abstract

Abstract As early as the 1930s, the development of plans for an international legal order to be created in the aftermath of the Second World War were commonplace. This particularly concerned a group of refugee scholars hailing from the German-speaking academic world. The plans of three scholars that were personally affected by the Nazi regime are discussed, those of Hans Kelsen, Hersch Lauterpacht and Charles De Visscher. This contribution compares the plans of the three scholars as formulated in the period between 1934 and 1947, as well as the historical narratives at their core, and ventures to answer the question whether these narratives should be seen as ‘invented traditions’ or that the scholars perceive them as significant and crucial stages of development at the basis of their plans for a post-War international legal order.