Fair Game.
War is waged not merely with the hostile combatants but also with the inanimate military resources of the enemy. This includes not only the fortresses but also every town and every village which is an obstacle to military progress. All can be besieged and bombarded, stormed and destroyed, if they are defended by the enemy, and in some cases even if they are only occupied. There has always been a divergence of views, among Professors of International Law, as to the means which are permissible for waging war against these inanimate objects, and these views have frequently been in strong conflict with those of soldiers; it is therefore necessary to go into this question more closely.
We have to distinguish:
(a) Fortresses, strong places, and fortified places.
(b) Open towns, villages, buildings, and the like, which, however, are occupied or used for military purposes.
Fortresses and strong places are important centers of defense, not merely in a military sense, but also in a political and economic sense. They furnish a principal resource to the enemy and can therefore be bombarded just like the hostile army itself.
Of making the most of one’s opportunity.
A preliminary notification of bombardment is just as little to be required as in the case of a sudden assault. The claims to the contrary put forward by some jurists are completely inconsistent with war and must be repudiated by soldiers; the cases in which a notification has been voluntarily given do not prove its necessity. The besieger will have to consider for himself the question whether the very absence of notification may not be itself a factor of success, by means of surprise, and indeed whether notification will not mean a loss of precious time. If there is no danger of this then humanity no doubt demands such a notification.
Since town and fortifications belong together and form an inseparable unity, and can seldom in a military sense, and never in an economic and political sense, be separated, the bombardment will not limit itself to the actual fortification, but it will and must extend over the whole town; the reason for this lies in the fact that a restriction of the bombardment to the fortifications is impracticable; it would jeopardize the success of the operation, and would quite unjustifiably protect the defenders who are not necessarily quartered in the works.
Spare the Churches.
But this does not preclude the exemption by the besieger of certain sections and buildings of the fortress or town from bombardment, such as churches, schools, libraries, museums, and the like, so far as this is possible.