After World War I, the Allied and Associated powers concluded a series of peace treaties with the so-called Central powers: Germany (at Versailles, June 28, 1919), Austria/SaintGermain (September 10, 1919), Bulgaria (Neuilly, November 27, 1919), Hungary (Trianon, June 4, 1920), and Turkey, (Sèvres, August 10, 1920). Turkey fought successfully against the implementation of the August 10 treaty, and a new peace agreement was negotiated and signed at Lausanne, July 24, 1923. The United States Senate refused to ratify the treaties, however. Instead, the U.S. government concluded separate peace treaties with the former Central Powers.

None of the peace treaties concluded after World War I contained dispositions concerning the punishment of genocide. Within the context of the overall fighting, there had been many armed conflicts, which led to radical population reductions and even to the total disappearance of some races and nations,...