Definition of "Aggressor" at the League of Nations Conference for the Reduction and Limitation of Armaments On the 6th February 1933

On the 6th of February 1933 the then Foreign Commissar of the Soviet Union, Litvinov submitted to the League of Nations Conference for the Reduction and Limitation of Armaments the following definition of "Aggressor":

Considering that, in the interest of general security and in order to facilitate the attainment of an agreement for the maximum reduction of armaments, it is necessary, with the utmost precision, to define aggression, in order to remove any possibility of its justification; Recognizing the principle of equal right of all States to independence, security and self-defence;

Animated by the desire of ensuring to each nation, in the interest of general peace, the right of free development according to its own choice and at the rate that suits it best, and of safeguarding the security, independence and complete territorial inviolability of each State and its right to self-defence against attack or invasion from outside but only within its own frontiers; and

Anxious to provide the necessary guidance to the international organs which may be called upon to define the aggressor:

Declares:

1. The aggressor in an international conflict shall be considered that State which is the first to take any of the following actions:

(a) Declaration of war against another State;

(b) The invasion by its armed forces of the territory of another State without declaration of war;

(c) Bombarding the territory of another State by its land, naval or air forces or knowingly attacking the naval or air forces of another State;

(d) The landing in, or introduction within the frontiers of, another State of land, naval or air forces without the permission of the Government of such a State, or the infringement of the conditions of such permission particularly as regards the duration of sojourn or extension of area;

(e) The establishment of a naval blockade of the coast or ports of another State.

2. No considerations whatsoever of a political, strategical or economic nature, including the desire to exploit natural riches or to obtain any sort of advantages or privileges on the territory of another State, no references to considerable capital investments or other special interests in a given State, or to the alleged absence of certain attributes of State organisation in the case of a given country, shall be accepted as justification of aggression as defined in Clause 1.

in particular, justification for attack cannot be based upon:

A. The internal situation in a given State, as, for instance:

(a) Political, economic or cultural backwardness of a given country;

(b) Alleged maladministration;

(c) Possible danger to life or property of foreign residents;

(d) Revolutionary or counter-revolutionary movements, civil war, disorders or strikes;

(e) The establishment or maintenance in any State of any political, economic or social order.

B. Any acts, laws or regulations of a given State, as for instance:

(a) The infringement of international agreements;

(b) The infringement of the commercial, concessional or other economic rights or interests of a given State or its citizens;

(c) The rupture of diplomatic or economic relations;

(d) Economic or financial boycott;

(e) Repudiation of debts;

(f) Non-admission or limitation of immigration, or restriction of rights or privileges of foreign residents;

(g) The infringement of the privileges of official representatives of other States;

(h) The refusal to allow armed forces transit to the territory of a third State;

(i) Religious or anti-religious measures;

(k) Frontier incidents.

3. In the case of the mobilization or concentration of armed forces to a considerable extent in the vicinity of the frontiers, the State which such activities threaten may have recourse to diplomatic or other means for the peaceful solution of international controversies. it may at the same time take steps of a military nature, analogous to those described above, without, however, crossing the frontier."

The General Commission decided to embody the above principles in the Convention on security and disarmament, or in a special agreement to form an integral part of the said Convention.

Following the Soviet proposals, the Committee on Security Questions drew up, on instructions by the Political Committee of March 10, 1933, a draft Act relating to the Definition of the Aggressor. This Act in general, reproduced the substance of the Soviet proposals, adding in the inculpating acts that of supporting armed bands, and omitting the Soviet paragraph 1 (d) dealing with the landing or introduction of forces into the territory of another State. The added sub-paragraph designated as aggression:

Source:

League of Nations Records of the Conference for the Reduction and Limitation of Armaments, Ser. B. Minutes of the Cen. Com.Vol. 1, Geneva, 1932, pp. 237-38. Cité p.16 dans Security and Non-aggression, Baltic States and USSR Treaties on Non-aggression de E.Krepp, édité par Estonian Inforamtion Centre & Latvian National Foundation, Stockholm 1973