Prisoners of War in Law, War and Foreign Policy

To fully appreciate the political response to enemy prisoners of war during the Second World WarSecond World War, it is important to understand the development of international lawsinternational Law and how these laws were applied during the First World WarFirst World War. International laws that oversaw belligerent activities during wartime were not new, however, regulations drafted that specifically detailed belligerent obligations towards and treatment of prisoners of war were relatively new to states in the twentieth century.