War, Law, Society, and the Courts, 1939-1945: An Introduction

This chapter presents in brief the function of courts in a democratic rule of law state, the German ideas and strategies of occupation rule, the international and national laws regarding military occupation (the Hague Regulations for Land Warfare), and the relations between occupier and occupied. The reality of occupation is characterized in sociological and anthropological terms, as distinguished from a moral approach. The choice of cases and the structure of the book are explained, and the possibility of answering the question ‘how did the courts do?’ is addressed.