Seventy years ago, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Robert Jackson called the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg “the greatest tribute power has ever paid to reason.” It was.

The IMT, which put 22 members of Hitler’s regime on trial for crimes against peace, war crimes, and crimes against humanity, began in November 1945 and lasted almost a year. Jackson served as chief prosecutor. Beyond its focus of administering justice to Nazi leaders, the tribunal became the foundation for international law and planted the seed for the International Criminal Court.

Mark M. Hull, an associate professor of military history at the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, discusses the proceedings, the defendants, and the contentious issues the trials addressed, as well as Nuremberg’s legacy.