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The Brussels Conference of 1874 was convened after the Franco-Prussian War (1870-71). At stake was not only the restoration of the fragile balance of power in Europe, but also the articulation of a new ideal of warfare and its role in the European state system. This article discusses the Conference in relation to the "new war" thesis put forth by Mary Kaldor in New and Old Wars (1999). It was at Brussels that the "old war" crystallized as a political ideal: war would be a tournament, fought by professional armies, organized by nation states; civilians who refrained from participation would be protected from being attacked. At Brussels, this view prevailed over the "total war" view, which would permit both deliberate targeting of civilians and violent reprisal against them. Brussels laid the foundations for the further development of international humanitarian law at The Hague Peace Conference of 1899. La Conférence de Bruxelles de 1874, organisée après la guerre franco-prussienne (1870-1871), visait non seulement à restaurer le fragile équilibre des pouvoirs en Europe, mais aussi à formuler un nouvel idéal de guerre et à en définir le rôle au sein des États européens. Cet article aborde la Conférence dans le contexte de la théorie de la « nouvelle guerre » avancée par Mary Kaldor dans son ouvrage New and Old Wars (1999). C'est à Bruxelles que l'« ancienne guerre » s'est cristallisée en un idéal politique où la guerre serait un tournoi mené par des armées professionnelles et organisé par des États-nations, et où les civils qui s'abstiennent d'y participer seraient protégés contre les attaques. À Bruxelles, ce modèle l'a emporté sur une autre vision, celle de la « guerre totale », qui implique au contraire de cibler délibérément des civils et d'exercer des représailles violentes à leur encontre. La Conférence de Bruxelles a jeté les bases nécessaires au développement ultérieur du droit international humanitaire lors de la Conférence de la paix organisée à La Haye en 1899. ; Peer reviewed ; special issue article ; Final article published

In fact, the first organized communities of international law . . . are organizations the function of which is to settle conflicts.Hans KelsenBut here we shall note the recurrence of a paradox . . . . Where practice is least ethical, theory becomes most Utopian.Edward Hallett CarrThe belief that a world free of war might be possible, be more than simply a dream, is a relatively recent phenomenon. In earlier times, war—like disease—was a part of life. There existed then a fatalism about war that no doubt persists in many parts of the world today. During the nineteenth century, however, parts of the world developed a confidence in progress and a hope that progress might extend to the abolition of war. Most importantly for this essay, a popular belief circulated at the e nd of the century that the establishment of a permanent international court would be an important step toward a world free of war. Ad hoc arbitration, as distinct from adjudication by such a permanent court, was not the same and, by itself, not enough. The 1899 Peace Conference was a point of inflection, a turn in the river, in the effort to move beyond ad hoc international arbitration to adjudication by a permanent international court as a means to avoid war a nd preserve international peace and security.