§ 153. All destruction of and damage to historical monuments, works of art and science, buildings for charitable, educational, and religious[292] purposes are specially prohibited by article 56 of the Hague Regulations which enacts that the perpetrators of such acts must be prosecuted (poursuivie), that is court-martialed. But it must be emphasised that these objects enjoy this protection only during military occupation of enemy territory. Should a battle be waged around an historical monument on open ground, should a church, a school, or a museum be defended and attacked during military operations, these otherwise protected objects may be damaged or destroyed under the same conditions as other enemy property.
[292] It is of importance to state the fact that, according to Grotius (III. c. 5, §§ 2 and 3), destruction of graves, tombstones, churches, and the like is not prohibited by the Law of Nations, although he strongly (III. c. 12, §§ 5-7) advises that they should be spared unless their preservation is dangerous to the interests of the invader.
General Devastation.
§ 154. The question must also be taken into consideration whether and under what conditions general devastation of a locality, be it a town or a larger part of enemy territory, is permitted. There cannot be the slightest doubt that such devastation is as a rule absolutely prohibited and only in exceptional cases permitted when, to use the words of article 23 (g) of the Hague Regulations, it is "imperatively demanded by the necessities of war." It is, however, impossible to define once for all the circumstances which make a general devastation necessary, since everything depends upon the merits of the special case. But the fact that a general devastation can be lawful must be admitted. And it is, for instance, lawful in case of a levy en masse on already occupied territory, when self-preservation obliges a belligerent to resort to the most severe measures. It is also lawful when, after the defeat of his main forces and occupation of his territory, an enemy disperses his remaining forces into small bands which carry on guerilla tactics and receive food and information, so that there is no hope of ending the war except by a general devastation which cuts off supplies of every kind from the guerilla bands. But it must be specially observed that general devastation is only justified by imperative necessity and by the fact that there is no better and less severe way open to a belligerent.[293]
[293] See Hall, § 186, who gives in nuce a good survey of the doctrine and practice of general devastation from Grotius down to the beginning of the nineteenth century. See also Spaight, pp. 125-139.
Be that as it may, whenever a belligerent resorts to general devastation he ought, if possible, to make some provision for the unfortunate peaceful population of the devastated tract of territory. It would be more humane to take them away into captivity rather than let them perish on the spot. The practice, resorted to during the South African war, to house the victims of devastation in concentration camps, must be approved. The purpose of war may even oblige a belligerent to confine a population forcibly[294] in concentration camps.
[294] See above, [p. 153, note 1]. As regards the devastation resorted to during the South African War, and as regards the concentration camps instituted in consequence of devastation during this war, see Beak, The Aftermath of War (1906), pp. 1-30, and The Times' History of the War in South Africa, vol. V. pp. 250-252.
IX ASSAULT, SIEGE, AND BOMBARDMENT
Vattel, III. §§ 168-170—Hall, § 186—Lawrence, § 204—Westlake, II. pp. 76-79—Moore, VII. § 1112—Halleck, II. pp. 59, 67, 185—Taylor, §§ 483-485—Bluntschli, §§ 552-554B—Heffter, § 125—Lueder in Holtzendorff, IV. pp. 448-457—G. F. Martens, II. § 286—Ullmann, § 181—Bonfils, Nos. 1079-1087—Despagnet, Nos. 528-535—Pradier-Fodéré, VI. Nos. 2779-2786—Rivier, II. pp. 284-288—Nys, III. pp. 210-219—Calvo, IV. §§ 2067-2095—Fiore, III. Nos. 1322-1330, and Code, Nos. 1519-1524—Longuet, §§ 58-59—Mérignhac, pp. 171-182—Pillet, pp. 101-112—Zorn, pp. 161-174—Holland, War, Nos. 80-83—Rolin-Jaequemyns in R.I. II. (1870), pp. 659 and 674, III. (1871), pp. 297-307—Bordwell, pp. 286-288—Meurer, §§ 32-34—Spaight, pp. 157-201—Kriegsbrauch, pp. 18-22—Land Warfare, §§ 117-138.
Assault, Siege, and Bombardment, when lawful.