Home > History Fact Finder > Law and Famous Trials - What Were The Nuremberg Trials?

1. Printable Version
2. Download PDF
3. Cite this Page
4. Tweet This

What were the Nuremberg trials?

The Nuremberg trials were convened by Allied nations (Great Britain, France, the Soviet Union, and the United States) after World War II (1939–45) to try twenty-two German Nazi leaders for war crimes (breaking international agreements on the treatment of prisoners of war). The trials were held at the Nuremberg Palace of Justice in Nuremberg, Germany, and conducted by the International Military Tribunal from November 25, 1945 until September of 1946. The military court charged twenty-two Nazi leaders with conspiracy, crimes against peace (waging war, breaking international treaties), war crimes, and crimes against humanity (murder, extermination, and enslavement, deportation and other brutal acts against civilian populations). Many officials, including Soviet leader Joseph Stalin (1979–1953), believed the Allies should simply execute the Nazi leaders who had been responsible for World...

Join eNotes

The above is a free excerpt. Get total access to this content with the:

eNotes Pass

1. Law
   1. What was the Justinian Code?
   2. What is civil law?
   3. What is common law?
   4. What is the only U.S. state that does not use common law?
   5. What was trial by ordeal?
   6. What is writ of habeas corpus?
   7. What is international law?
   8. What was the Code Napoleon?
   9. How was the composition of the U.S. Supreme Court determined?
   10. Who was the first justice of the U.S. Supreme Court?
   11. What were Jim Crow laws?
   12. What is the Miranda warning?
2. Trials
   1. What was the impact of the Salem witch trials on American society?
   2. What was the significance of the John Peter Zenger trial?
   3. How did the Dred Scott case contribute to outbreak of the Civil War?
   4. Why was Susan B. Anthony put on trial?
   5. Who were Leopold and Loeb?
   6. Who was Mata Hari?
   7. What was the beer hall putsch trial and why was it important?
   8. What was the Scopes "Monkey Trial"?
   9. Why is the court-martial of Billy Mitchell famous?
   10. Was Al Capone tried for mob activities?
   11. What were the Nuremberg trials?
   12. Why were the Rosenbergs executed?
   13. What was the lasting effect of the Clarence Earl Gideon trials?
   14. Why was Nelson Mandela sent to prison?
   15. What was Roe vs. Wade?
   16. What was ABSCAM?
   17. Did a dingo kill Azaria Chamberlain?
   18. What was meant by "the" trial of the twentieth century?

1. Napoleon Bonaparte