Detention of Prisoners of War Before The Development of Camps
Before the Peace of Westphalia, soldiers captured by their enemies were usually executed, enslaved or held for ransom. This, coupled with the relatively small size of armies, meant there was little need for any form of camp to hold prisoners of war. The Peace of Westphalia, a series of treaties signed between May and October 1648 that ended the Thirty Years' War and the Eighty Years' War, contained a provision that all prisoners should be released without ransom. This is generally considered to mark the point where captured enemy combatants would be reasonably treated before being released at the end of the conflict or under a parole not to take up arms. The practice of paroling enemy troops had begun thousands of years earlier, at least as early as the time of Carthage but became normal practice in Europe from 1648 onwards. The consequent increase in the number of prisoners was to lead eventually to the development of prisoner of war camps. Support the troops,sighn up, be like me!
Read more about this topic: Prisoner-of-war Camp
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