2020 IB Extended Essays

Jus in bello

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and civilians were slaughtered, raped, and tortured. The eyewitness account from the Mayor of

Magdeburg says the following:

Accompanied by unspeakable, terrible cries and much hullabaloo, many thousands of innocent men, women, and children were murdered and slaughtered in all sorts of merciless and wretched ways, so that words alone cannot adequately describe these acts nor tears adequately bemoan them . 28

In all, an estimated 20,000 inhabitants lost their lives, and with much of the city having been

burnt down, the city could not sustain itself. It is important to note that, as the sack was a

result of the city refusing to pay a tribute to the emperor, that this battle would likely be

considered a solemn war rather than a just war. Despite this, even with the additional

permissions in a solemn war, rape is still considered illegal, making the Sack of Magdeburg a

clear violation of Grotius’ doctrine. However, given that it has been historically concluded that

the Sack of Magdeburg was an exception rather than the norm in terms of its violence and brutality 29 , it would be unwise to justify Cromwell’s actions in Ireland by promoting the Sack

of Magdeburg as a contemporary, comparative event.

Comparison to Historiographical Perspectives

I have already briefly mentioned two historians with varying claims on the extent of Oliver

Cromwell’s brutality, and following my own analysis, I will now scrutinise their claims more

closely. First, Tom Reilly in Cromwell: An Honourable Enemy focuses on the idea that there was a lack of evidence to substantiate the claims of Cromwell’s violence and brutality. 30 This is a deficient historical argument, as many of Cromwell’s own letters detail his army’s acts in Ireland. 31 While these letters describe Cromwell favourably, it is also relevant that the reason

there are so few other primary sources detailing Cromwell’s actions in Drogheda and Wexford

is due to the annihilation of potential witnesses. Reilly also corroborates his claim and defence

of Cromwell by mentioning that he would occasionally punished his troops for misdeeds and

excessive pilfering. However, arguing this is more difficult, as it begins to bring in ethical

questions such as whether good deeds can sufficiently compensate for bad deeds. Overall,

28 Friedrich Wilhelm Hoffmann, Geschichte der Belagerung, Eroberung und Zerstörung Magdeburg’s von Otto von Guericke, ChurfürstlichBrandenburgischem Rath und Bürgermeister besagter Stadt (Magdeburg: Baensch, 1860), quoted in Julie K. Tanaka, “A Local Apocalypse – The Sack of Magdeburg (1631),” in From the Reformation to the Thirty Years War, 1500-1648 , ed. Rainer A. Müller (Stuttgart: P. Reclam, 1996). 29 Micheál Ó Siochrú, God’s Executioner . 30 Tom Reilly, Cromwell: An Honourable Enemy . 31 See Appendix 1.

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