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Johann Kaspar Bluntschli | |
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| Born | (1808-03-07)7 March 1808 |
| Died | 21 October 1881(1881-10-21) (aged 73) Karlsruhe, Germany |
| Philosophical work | |
| School | German Historical School |
| Main interests | International law,constitutional law, forms of thestate |
Johann Caspar (alsoKaspar)Bluntschli (7 March 1808 – 21 October 1881) was aSwissjurist and politician.[1] Together with fellow liberalsFrancis Lieber andÉdouard René de Laboulaye, he developed one of the first codes of international law and war.[2][3][4]
He was born inZürich to a soap and candle manufacturer. From school he passed into the Politische Institut (a seminary of law and political science) in his native town, and proceeding thence to the universities ofBerlin andBonn, took the degree of doctor juris in the latter in 1829.[1]
Returning to Zürich in 1830, he threw himself with ardour into the political strife which was at the time unsettling all the cantons of the Confederation, and in this year publishedÜber die Verfassung der Stadt Zürich (On the Constitution of the City of Zürich). This was followed byDas Volk und der Souverän (1830), a work in which, while pleading for constitutional government, he showed his bitter repugnance of the growing Swiss radicalism. Elected in 1837 a member of the Great Council (German:Grosser Rath), he became the champion of the moderate conservative party.[1]
Fascinated by themetaphysical views of the philosopherFriedrich Rohmer (1814–1856), a man who attracted little other attention, he endeavoured inPsychologische Studien über Staat und Kirche (1844) to apply them topolitical science generally, and in particular as a panacea for the constitutional troubles of Switzerland. Bluntschli, shortly before his death, remarked, "I have gained renown as a jurist, but my greatest desert is to have comprehended Rohmer." This philosophical essay, however, coupled with his uncompromising attitude towards bothradicalism andultramontanism, brought him many enemies, and rendered his continuance in the council, of which he had been elected president, impossible. He resigned his seat, and on the overthrow of theSonderbund in 1847, perceiving that all hope of power for his party was lost, took leave of Switzerland with the pamphletStimme eines Schweizers über die Bundesreform (1847), and settled atMunich, where he became professor of constitutional law in 1848[1] at theLudwig Maximilian University.[5]
Upon resettling in Germany, Bluntschli's stance became moreliberal and he elaborated an ethical Hegelian theory of the state which was highly influential among both German and American liberals.[6] At Munich he devoted himself with energy to the special work of his chair, and publishedAllgemeines Staatsrecht (1851–1852);Lehre vom modernen Staat (1875–1876); and, in conjunction withKarl Ludwig Theodor Brater (1819–1869),Deutsches Staatswörterbuch (11 vols, 1857–1870; abridged byEdgar Loening in 3 vols., 1869–1875). Meanwhile, he had assiduously worked at his code for the canton of Zürich,Privatrechtliches Gesetzbuch für den Kanton Zürich (1854–1856), a work which was much praised at the time, and which, particularly the section devoted to contracts, served as a model for codes both in Switzerland and other countries.[1]
In 1861 Bluntschli received a call toHeidelberg as professor of constitutional law (Staatsrecht), where he again entered the political arena, endeavouring in hisGeschichte des allgemeinen Staatsrechts und der Politik (1864) to stimulate, as he said, the political consciousness of the German people, to cleanse it of prejudices and to further it intellectually. He was a Freemason and was Master of Lodge Ruprecht zu den fünf Rosen[7] and in 1865 published a public letter against Pope Pius IX'sapostolic exhortationMultiplices inter.[8] In his new home,Baden, he devoted his energies and political influence, during theAustro-Prussian War of 1866, towards keeping the country neutral. From this time Bluntschli became active in the field ofinternational law, and his fame as a jurist belongs rather to this province than to that of constitutional law. HisDas moderne Kriegsrecht (1866);Das moderne Völkerrecht der zivilisierten Staaten, als Rechtsbuch dargestellt (1868), andDas Beuterecht im Krieg (1878) are likely to remain invaluable text-books in this branch of the science of jurisprudence. He also wrote a pamphlet on theAlabama case.[1] His work on the laws of war and public international law were influenced by a long correspondence withFrancis Lieber, a German émigré to the United States.[9]
Bluntschli was one of the founders, atGhent in 1873, of theInstitute of International Law, and was the representative of the German emperor at the conference on the international laws of war atBrussels. He corresponded with the youngerGustave Rolin-Jaequemyns andGustave Moynier about matters pertaining toInternational Humanitarian Law and theRed Cross.[10] During the latter years of his life he took a lively interest in theProtestantenverein, a society formed to combat reactionary and ultramontane views of theology.[1]
He was elected a foreign member of theRoyal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1875.[11]
He died suddenly at Karlsruhe on October 21, 1881. His library was acquired byJohns Hopkins University.[1]
Among his works, other than those before mentioned, may be citedDeutsches Privatrecht (1853–1854);Deutsche Slaatslehre für Gebildete (1874); andDeutsche Staatslehre und die heutige Staatenwelt (1880).[1]
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Bluntschli, Johann Kaspar".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 4 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 93. There the following citations are to be found:
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