Francis Lieber

Francis Lieber's life was forged in the tumult of the Napoleonic Wars, which he fought in as a young Prussian. Wounded at Waterloo, his subsequent intellectual pursuits led him to America, where he became a professor of history and political economy. His profound understanding of conflict and governance culminated during the American Civil War when, at the request of General Henry Halleck, he drafted General Orders No. 100, known as the Lieber Code. This document was a revolutionary attempt to humanize warfare, defining concepts like military necessity, distinguishing combatants from civilians, and prohibiting torture. It became the foundational text for all subsequent international laws of armed conflict, embedding ethical considerations into the machinery of war.