Wojny XX wieku i ich skutki dla ustrojów państwowych i prawa

Abstract

The Russo-Japanese War, fought between 1904 and 1905, started a period of wars in the 20th century. As a result of the First World War, as many as four empires collapsed and, at the same time, revolutions took place in at least three of them; namely in Russia, German Reich, and the Ottoman Empire while the Hapsburg Empire was affected by the revolution only to a certain extent. As a matter of fact, the First World War did not finish on the 11th of November 1918. Russia – both “white” and “red” – and Turkey resumed their military conflict after the 11th of November 1918. The war ended in March 1921. The so-called Treaty of Versailles which brought an end to World War I constituted an explosive growth of international public law. Its main aim was to preserve international peace and safety; however, it was unsuccessful in this respect. Moreover, the idea of self-determination theoretically gained great importance. New states appeared on the map in Central and Eastern Europe – specifically between Germany and Russia – which did not exist before 1914. And so the end of World War I had to result in the expansion of the reach of democracy. Furthermore, after the Second World War, the principle of international responsibility for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide (Latin genocidium) was partially realized. Nevertheless, it did not pertain to the USSR, which was one of the victors. The first half of the 20th century can be called an era of revolution. The revolutions created the most criminal and genocidal totalitarian systems in the history of mankind. The bond between the totalitarian countries and the civilized world was broken, among others, in regard to law. For example, after the First World War, there was enormous development in labour law which veered towards positive changes for workers. On the other hand, it was common in the totalitarian systems to use slave labour and it was done on a large scale. The end of both world wars in the 20th century resulted in political changes and, consequently, also in changes in the area of criminal law and civil law. The emergence of new states after World War I also led to the process of law codification. Furthermore, this process also took place after the Second War when the states of the so-called Soviet Bloc created their own codes based on Soviet models. As a result of both wars, numerous problems arose which were connected with, for example, war reparations, compensation, territorial changes, justification of ownership transformation, family law as well as marriage law institutions, and others. The Cold War – a confrontation between the communist system and the liberal western system – essentially began together with the beginning of the communist system already in 1917. It only acquired a new dynamic after the Second World War. The Cold War soon spread throughout Asia, Latin America and the Third World countries. The USSR lost the Cold War and in consequence it brought freedom to numerous enslaved countries and nations. Naturally, independence meant new forms of government which were followed by the creation of civil and criminal law systems.