The Nuremberg Trials

The Nuremberg Trials were a series of military tribunals held in Nuremberg, Germany, from 1945 to 1949, prosecuting leading members of Nazi Germany for war crimes, crimes against humanity, crimes against peace, and conspiracy to commit these crimes. The first and best known, the Trial of the Major War Criminals, was conducted before the International Military Tribunal, established jointly by the United States, the United Kingdom, France and the Soviet Union under the London Charter of 1945, and ran from November 1945 to October 1946. The trials established that individuals, including heads of state and military commanders, can be held personally criminally responsible for violations of international law, and that following superior orders is not by itself a defense; the resulting Nuremberg principles were later codified by the United Nations International Law Commission and underlie the modern law that established the International Criminal Court.