18th Century:
New attitude of morality in the Law of Nations, or International Law, had a profound effect upon the issue of Prisoners of War. A political philosopher, Montesquieu- French philosopher, wrote that the only right a captor should have in war is to prevent a prisoner form doing harm. That the captive should no longer be treated as a piece of property, or be disposed of by the need of the victor, but to merely be removed from the fight of war. Other writers soon expanded this theme and this created the quarantine theory for the disposition of prisoners. After this, mistreatment towards prisoners of war was beginning to change and improve.
Mid 19th Century:
In the mid 19th century, definite body principles for the treatment of war prisoners was being recognized. Observance of these principles took place during the American Civil War (1861- 1865). Observation lead to the want for action to take place, that the number of wounded and imprisoned soldiers was too brutal and irrelevant to the war. In 1874 a conference prepared a declaration relative to prisoners of war, but it was not ratified. In 1899 and in 1907 international conferences took place, creating rules of conduct that gained recognition in international law. Then World War 1 occurred and the number of Prisoners ranged in the millions. After the war, the World of Nations gathered at Geneva to devise the convention of 1929.
World War 2:
During WW2, millions of people were taken prisoner that experiences treatment that was completely barbaric. During this war, the U.S. and Great Britain maintained the standards involved with the Geneva Convention, but Germany and Japan did not. About 5,700,000 soldiers were held captive by Germany and only 2,000,000 survived the war. After the war, international war crime trials took place in Germany and Japan. Violations towards the principles of law were recognized, so this treatment was fit as a war crime.
After War:
At the end of WW2, the Geneva Convention of 1929 was revised and set forth in the Geneva Convention of 1949. It continues the concept expressed earlier, that prisoners were to be removed from the combat zone and be humanely treated without loss of citizenship. The protections given prisoners of war, under the Geneva Convention, remain with them throughout their captivity and cannot be taken from them by the captor or given up by the prisoners themselves. At the end of war, prisoners are also to be released and repatriated