'The trial that never was': Why there was no second international trial of major war criminals at Nuremberg

This article examines the foreign policies of Britain and the United States in the contexts of the occupation of Germany and the growing cold war to explain the abortion of a proposed second international trial of major war criminals in Nuremberg. It then illustrates and explains why, while the American legal authorities attempted to reinforce the principles established at the trial of Hermann Goring et al. by further trials of major war criminals within their zone of occupation, the British looked only to try 'lesser' war criminals, and to phase out their punishment programme altogether.