CEVAP:

• The international conventions during the Concert System were ad hoc peace conferences called
for the collective management and resolution of particular international crises. Their outcomes
concerning international norms and international law were not the primary concern. These congresses such as the Paris (1856) and the Berlin (1878) Congresses were rather ‘great power meetings’ and reflected strong characteristics of great power hierarchy of the Concert System.     • The Hague Conference, on the other hand, was the first international meeting that was based on a higher sense of equality among states, regardless of their power status, and more universal representation. All 59 sovereign states were invited to the conference from every corner of the world. Out of its 26 participants, 20 states were from Europe, four from Asia, and two from the Americas. As such, The Hague Conference can be considered as the first global conference in the history of the international relations. It was a universal assembly of states that convened to reach a common compromise for a specific issue, armament, which would be a menace to peace if an action were not taken (Foster, 1904: 14-16).
• Previous international conventions were held in order to resolve specific international crises. However, The Hague Conference was organized to conduct negotiations on a general topic rather than a particular crisis. It did not address any territorial or political problem. Nor did it seek a third- party mediation. Instead, the conference aimed to direct the attention of the invited governments to a collective problem that might pose a threat to all sides if a collective action would not be taken.
• During The Hague Conference, three independent committees were formed to work on these issues: armament, arbitration, and the rules and customs of war. Although this working procedure had been first introduced at the Berlin Congress, the committees proved to be more efficient as the assemblies of state interaction at The Hague Conference. The committees prepared their reports to be discussed in the final meetings of the conference. The final act was the outcome of this procedure, which was successfully conducted for the first time.