CHAPTER X

RUSSIAN AND JAPANESE RULES of Warfare

On February 28, 1904, the Russian Government issued an Imperial Order laying down the following rules of warfare to be observed by Russia during the war:

1. Japanese subjects are authorized to continue, under the protection of Russian law, to reside and to follow peaceful callings in the Russian Empire, except in the territories forming part of the Imperial Lieutenancy in the Far East.

2. Japanese merchant-vessels which, at the time of the declaration of war, happened to be in Russian ports and harbors, are authorized to remain there before putting to sea with cargoes not being articles contraband of war, for such period as may be necessary in proportion to their loading requirements, but which shall in no case exceed forty-eight hours, counting from the moment that the present declaration is published by the local authorities.

3. Subjects of neutral states may continue without hindrance their commercial relations with Russian ports and towns, provided that they conform to the laws of the Empire, and to the principles of the law of nations.

4. The military authorities are bound to take all necessary measures to secure freedom for the lawful trade of neutrals so far as is compatible with war-like operations.

5. The following rules are to be observed with regard to neutral commerce:

(1) The neutral flag covers enemy's goods, with the exception of contraband of war.

(2) Neutral goods, with the exception of contraband of war, may not be seized under the enmy's flag.

(3) Blockade, in order to be binding, must be effective; that is to say, it must be maintained by a force really sufficient to prevent access to the enemy's coast.

6. (Enumerates articles deemed to be contraband of war. See supra, ch. 6.)

7. The following acts, forbidden to neutrals, are assimilated to contraband of war: The transport of enemy's troops, of his dispatches and correspondence, the supply of transports and war-ships to the enemy. Neutral vessels captured in the act of carrying contraband of this nature may, according to circumstances, be seized, and even confiscated.

8. The Imperial Government reserve to themselves the right to depart from the above-mentioned regulations in regard to an enemy or neutral state which, on its side, does not observe them, as well as to take the necessary measures in accordance with special circumstances of each specific case.

9. The detailed regulations which the military authorities are bound to observe during naval warfare are set forth in the "Reglement" relating to prizes sanctioned by His Majesty, the Emperor, on the 27th of March, 1895, as well as in the special instructions approved by the Admiralty Council on the 20th of September, 1900, relating to stoppage, visit, capture, transport, and delivery of captured vessels and goods.

10. In addition, the military authorities are bound to conform to the following International Agreements signed by Russia:

(1) The Geneva Convention of the 10th (22d) August, 1864, for the amelioration of the condition of the wounded in time of war.

(2) The Declaration of St. Petersburg of the 29th November (11th December), 1868, respecting the prohibition of the use of explosive projectiles.

(3) Agreements signed at the International Peace Conference at the Hague, the 17th (29th) July, 1899, and ratified by His Majesty, the Emperor, the 6th May, 1900.

(a) Convention with respect to the laws and customs of war by land.

(b) Convention for adapting to maritime warfare the principles of the Geneva Convention of the 10th (22d) August, 1864.

(c) Declaration relating to the prohibition of the use, for a period of five years, of projectiles and explosives dropped from balloons or by means of other similar new methods.

(d) Declaration relating to the prohibition of the use of projectiles which are only intended to spread asphyxiating or noxious fumes.

(e) Declaration relative to the prohibition of the use of bullets which expand or flatten easily in the human body, such as bullets with hard casing, of which the casing does not entirely cover the core, or is provided with notches.1

On July 14, 1904, the following "Instructions to the

'Reprinted from the Parliamentary Blue Book on Russia, No. I (1905), pp. 4-5.

For the French version from which this translation has been made, see Archives Diplomatiques, t. 94, 3d series, Vol. II (1905), pp. 500 ff. There were also distributed to the Russian armies the following texts: that of the Convention of Geneva of 1864; the Declaration of St. Petersburg of 1868; and the "Regulations Respecting the Laws and Customs of War on Land" of the Hague Conference of 1899, together with the three Declarations thereto annexed. See Holls, Peace Conference, ch. 4 and Appendix I, pp. 423-463, for the Hague Regulations. Art. I of the Second Hague Convention (Holls, pp. 139 and 419), to which the Regulations are merely an annex, declares that the "High Contracting Parties shall issue instructions to their armed land forces, which shall be in conformity with the 'Regulations Respecting the Laws and Customs of War on Land' annexed to the present Convention." It is thus not quite clear whether the Hague Regulations are in themselves binding upon the "High Contracting Parties" or not. M. Renault, the Chairman and Reporter of the Second Committee of the Hague Conference, was of the opinion that they are obligatory, in spite of the somewhat peculiar mode of their adoption-a procedure which, as it seems, was adopted so as not to arouse opposition on the part of certain delegates who appeared to doubt the propriety of giving formal sanction to a body of rules which by their very restrictions implied the recognition of certain belligerent rights. The Russian De Martens, on the other hand, spoke of the Hague Regulations as forming the "solid basis for the instructions which the Governments should hereafter, in case of war, issue to their

Russian Army Respecting the Usages and Customs of Continental War" were ratified by the Czar:

I

INSTRUCTIONS TO OFFICERS

(1) Belligerents

1. In time of war the regular troops of the enemy, the militia and the volunteer corps are considered as belligerents. 2. Volunteer corps and militia should be considered as belligerents only if they are commanded by a leader responsible for his subordinates, if they have very distinctive external badges, if they carry arms openly, and if they observe the laws and customs of war in their operations.

3. The inhabitants of an enemy country who have taken up arms upon the approach of our army, but who have not had sufficient time to organize themselves into volunteer corps, may be considered as belligerent if they observe the laws and customs of war in their operations.

(2) Non-Belligerents (Les Neutres)*

4. Field ambulances and military hospitals are recognized as neuter (non-belligerent, inviolable), but only at a time when there are sick or wounded in them.

arms on land." Holls, p. 136. See especially the comments of Pillet, Les Lois Actuelles de la Guerre. 2d ed., pp. 452 ff. Holland (The Laws and Customs of War on Land, p. 2) appears to be of the opinion that the text is not binding.

These articles correspond almost literally with Arts. 1 and 2 of the Hague Regulations, and with Arts. 9 and 10 of the Rules of the Brussels Conference. Art. 3 of the Hague Regulations (or Art. 11 of the Rules of the Brussels Conference), which provides that non-combatants as well as combatants are to be treated as prisoners of war in case of capture, is omitted in the Russian "Instructions."

The instructions under this head are based upon Arts. 1-4 and Art. 7 of the Geneva Convention of 1864. For Arts. 5 and 6 of the Geneva

This neutrality ceases if the ambulances or hospitals are guarded by a military force.

5. Convoys of wounded and all persons indispensable for conveying them enjoy the right of neutrality.

6. The entire sanitary personnel of field ambulances and hospitals, namely, physicians, officials, nurses, the attachés of sanitary convoys, army chaplains, enjoy the privilege of neutrality during the exercise of their duties.

7. The persons mentioned in the preceding article are free to continue the exercise of their duties and to rejoin their army during the occupation of the enemy's country by our army.

The authorization to rejoin their army must emanate from the corps commander. These persons are to be escorted to the enemy's outposts.

The movables of field-hospitals and pest-houses remain in the possession of the occupying army; this is why the persons attached to these services of sanitation may, in leaving, take with them only their personal belongings.

It is forbidden, however, to take possession of the furnishings of an ambulance designed to follow the troops upon the battle-field.

8. Hospitals, pest-houses and convoys of wounded soldiers shall carry the Red Cross flag.

The entire medical and sanitary personnel of these services shall wear a white arm badge marked with a red cross.

(3) The Rights and Duties of Belligerents

9. The troops should respect the life and honor of the inhabitants of the enemy's country, their property and family rights, and also their religion and their creed.

10. They are permitted to take possession of movables belonging to the belligerent state and serving a military purpose, such as money, stores of arms and ammunition, material for dressing wounds, etc.

Convention, see Arts. 21-24 of the "Instructions." For the text of the Geneva Convention, see Wilson and Tucker, App. IV, pp. 395 ff.