The European Tradition in International Law: Walther Schücking

• Delbrück, Jost

Abstract

Based on a short recapitulation of Schücking’s family background and his formative years as a law student and young scholar, the article then focuses on Schücking as a left-liberal politician and – strongly influenced by Kant’s tract on Perpetual Peace – as an adherent to a progressive international legal order based on the Organization of the World and the rule of law. Schücking participated in the Versailles Peace Conference and in this capacity supported the League of Nations project. However, he became increasingly critical with regard to the Versailles Peace Treaty which he held to be shortsighted and prone to lead to another World War. He withdrew from his political activities and concentrated on developing his concept of an international law as a dynamic tool to induce the necessary process of peaceful change.