Intervention in XIXth Century International Law and the Distinction between Rebellions, Insurrections and Civil Wars

Abstract

The present article looks at how some of these customary rules on foreign intervention in situations of internal unrest developed. In particular, different forms of internal unrest are examined in order to establish whether they entailed different regimes of external intervention. The article starts with rebellions and insurrections and then moves to discuss civil wars by distinguishing three situations: that where the civil war has led to the de facto secession of part of a state, that where the insurgents have been recognized as belligerents by the government of the state in civil strife and/or by third states, and that of a civil war where no recognition of belligerency has occurred. Finally, this article briefly looks at the alleged existence of a customary rule providing for recognition of insurgency and at its effects on third state intervention.