Zweierlei Kriegseinhegung durch Recht

The League Covenant and the UN Charter represent two different approaches to collective
security. This contribution shows that the moratorium on war in the Covenant and the prohibition
of the use of force in the Charter are based on differing assumptions about how to
achieve peace through law. Furthermore, the Covenant's introduction of automatic economic
sanctions was inspired by the British naval blockade duringWorldWar I, while the Charter
established a strong Security Council with veto power for permanent members as a
precondition for the participation of the Great powers in theworld organisation. Meanwhile,
the right of self-defence developed slowly and was not fully established until its introduction
into the UN Charter, partly due to an initiative by Latin American states. This article also
points to the interplay between restrictions on war, sanctions, and the right of self-defence.
The prohibition of the use of force in the Charter only became possible when the Great
Powers secured control over and evasion options for legal warfare through the right of veto
and the right of collective self-defence.