Remembering the Caroline

• Author: Craig Forcese
• Pages: 203-208

203

Chapter 26

Remembering the Caroline

Meme, n. — A cultural element or behavioural trait whose transmission

and conseent persience in a population, although occurring by

non-genetic means (esp. imitation), is considered as analogous to the

inheritance of a gene.

— oxford enGlish diCtionary

A   of the Second World War, the allies constituted

the International Military Tribunal (IMT) at Nuremberg to

try Nazi accused. Among the crimes for which the Tribunal

had jurisdiction were crimes against peace, including the “planning,

preparation, initiation or waging of a war of aggression or a war in

violation of international treaties, agreements, or assurances.”1 As

prosecutors soon argued, this crime was built, most notably, on the

Kellogg-Briand Pact.2 Charged with violating these rules, the Nazi

leadership was prosecuted for, among other things, its occupations

of European countries. These included the 1940 invasion of Norway,

which foreclosed a northern f‌lanking move by the Allies and was

later used as a springboard for the German attack on Russia.3

A relatively minor event on the vast canvas of the Second World

War, the Norwegian operation served as a conduit for the f‌irst thor-

ough post-war treatment of the self-defence concept. In their Nurem-

berg trials, the Nazi defendants argued Germany was compelled to

attack Norway to pre-empt an Allied occupation of the country; thus,

it was a preventive operation. Moreover, it was for Germany alone to

decide whether its conduct met the standards of the Kellogg-Briand