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Why Is The Nuremberg Trials Important

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Nuremberg Trials The Nuremberg Trials were held by the four major Allies of World War II which included the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, the United States, and France. After the war was over, Joseph Stalin, the Soviet Leader, Franklin D Roosevelt, President of the U.S., and Winston Churchill, Prime Minister of Britain signed the Moscow Declaration which stated that the Axis power were to take responsibility for the war. In 1943 US Supreme Court Justice Robert H. Jackson got the four nations together in London to discuss the war crimes committed during the Second World War by Nazi Germany. That is when the leader began discussing a punishment for their crimes. During the Yalta Conference in 1943, Joseph Stalin suggested that they execute …show more content…
There were seven principles to help define war crimes. One of the principles stated that any person who commits a crime under the international criminal law can be punished. Another principle stated that just because the internal law of a country does not punish for an international crime does not exempt the individual from international punishment. In the Nuremberg Trials, the war crimes in Germany committed by many Nazi officers were not crimes in their country at the time but they were still held responsible on an international level. One very important principle is that the orders of a superior officer are not an excuse to break international law. In the Nuremberg Trials many criminals tried to plea that they were only following the demands of their superiors so the judges had to decide whether or not that was an acceptable plea, which it turned out to be not acceptable. When a soldier states that they should not be guilty in court because they were following the orders of a superior officer it is called the Nuremberg defense, since many of the accused German defendants used that defense at Nuremberg. The Nuremberg defense cannot be a defense for any war crimes even today. The Nuremberg Principles also outlined the crimes that are punishable under international …show more content…
In the International Military Tribunal for the Far East (IMTFE) or the Tokyo Trials, the leaders of the Empire of Japan were tried by the United States for similar war crimes as the Nuremberg Trials after the end of World War II in 1946. The Tokyo Trials’ purpose was to prosecute Japanese officials from committing crimes against peace, specifically trying to wage war and crimes against humanity. The framework for both trials is very similar. This is why the Nuremberg Trials served as a model for the IMTFE. The Tokyo Trials showed how the Principles of the Nuremberg Trials could be used for other cases dealing with international crimes. The system of the Tokyo Trials was an improvement compared to the Nuremberg Trials because now it was known that justice could be served to anyone so all criminals could be charged. Each trial afterwards continues to improve from past experience. The Tokyo Trials were just the first steps for the influence of the Nuremberg

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