The Acquisition of Africa (1870-1914), The Nature of International Law, The Nature of International Law

Author

Mieke van der Linden

Year

2017

Publisher

Brill

Language

English

Pages

ISBN

978-9-00431-913-4

Link

Last Update

02-Jan-2026

Keywords

Law

Description

The responsibility of European powers for their past actions as colonizers has not wanted for scholarly attention. The present book contributes to this lively debate by exploring that responsibility under international law. Assuming such responsibility presupposes the violation of international law as it stood at the time of colonization. In the ‘Scramble for Africa’¹ (1870–1914) during the age of New Imperialism, European States and non-State actors mainly used cession and protectorate treaties to acquire territorial sovereignty (imperium) and property rights over land (dominium). A key question raised in this book is whether in doing so these European parties did...