ABSTRACT
In every military conflict, there has been the opportunity to capture members of the opposing forces. Over more than two millennia of organized warfare, a common understanding of the necessity of taking prisoners, and of the ways in which they may be treated by their captors, has gradually arisen, particularly in the West; and Western assumptions about the proper conduct of warfare have generally dominated international political and legal agreements for the past several centuries. As such, the historiography of prisoners of war (POWs) and their repatriation is largely an examination of Western policies and practices, although there are some exceptions to that rule. However, before commencing a study of modern nation-state POW operations, a brief examination of older approaches will illustrate the need for the modern codification of the expected treatment of POWs.
