World War II was the global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving two opposing military alliances, the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history. In a state of “total war,” the participants placed their entire economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities at the service of the war effort. Marked by significant events involving the mass death of civilians, including the Holocaust and the only use of nuclear weapons in warfare, it was the deadliest conflict in human history.

The Nuremberg Trials mark an important moment in the history of international law. Individual war criminals, prominent members of the political, military, and economic leadership of Nazi-Germany, were held responsible and indicted for war crimes and crimes against humanity and brought to justice before an international tribunal. The Nuremberg Trials provided a legal framework on which thereafter prosecution of international crimes was built and thus laid the foundation for international criminal law to emerge as a modern discipline.