St. Petersburg Declaration of 1868

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Upon the invitation of the Russian diplomat and statesman Prince Alexander Gorchakov, for the purpose of considering the existing rules of war, a conference of delegates met at Saint Petersburg, Russia in December, 1868.

The nations represented were Austria-Hungary, Bavaria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Great Britain, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Persia, Portugal, the North German Confederation (i.e., Greater Prussia), Russia, Sweden, Norway, Switzerland, Turkey (i.e.,the Ottoman Empire), and Württemberg. The United States, not considered a major power at the time, took no part in the convention and has never acceded to it.

The delegates affirmed that the only legitimate object of war should be to weaken the military force of the enemy, which could be sufficiently accomplished by the employment of highly destructive weapons. With that fact established, the delegates agreed to prohibit the use of less deadly explosives that might merely injure the combatants and thereby create prolonged suffering of such combatants. The agreement between these nations is referred to as the St Petersburg Declaration of 1868.

The text basically declared that the Great Powers agreed to renounce, in case of war among themselves, the use of any explosive projectile of less weight than 400 grams (14 ounces avoirdupois) or one charged with fulminating or inflammable substances.

This declaration, simply put, bans the use of fragmenting, explosive, or incendiary small arms ammunition but does not prohibit such ammunition for use in autocannon or artillery rounds.

The influence of this deceleration on international humanitarian law were elucidated in Ryuichi Shimoda et al. v. The State (1963)

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... International law of war is not formulated simply on the basis of humanitarian feelings. It has as its basis both considerations of military necessity and effectiveness and humanitarian considerations, and is formulated on a balance of these two factors. To illustrate this, an example often cited in the textbooks may be given, of the provisions of the St. Petersburg Declaration of 1868 prohibiting the use of projectiles under 400 grammes which are either explosive or charged with combustible or inflammable substances. The reason for the prohibition is explained as follows: such projectiles are small and just powerful enough to kill or wound only one man, and as an ordinary bullet will do for this purpose, there is no overriding need for using these inhuman weapons. On the other hand, the use of a certain weapon, great as its inhuman result may be, need not be prohibited by international law if it has a great military effect.^[1]

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[edit] Notes

Ammunition for anti-materiel rifles and heavy machine-guns with a bore of about 12mm to 15mm in diameter straddle the definition between small arms and heavy weapons. Large-bore rifles using high-explosive or incendiary rounds run the risk of violating the Declaration despite the legal use (as specified in the Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907) of such special munitions in heavy machineguns and autocannons. The discussion of their legality often revolves around the weight limitation and whether it applies to the weight of the bullet itself or to the entire cartridge.

It is interesting that the Declaration only bans such munitions during wars among the co-signatory European and Eurasian nations. It notably leaves out instances of war with non-signatory nations, conflicts with undeveloped nations, or military operations in their own colonies and possessions.