Arbitration has been identified in various primitive forms in several international systems, and in the modern system its emergence predated the later nineteenth century. There were 70 arbitrations between 1794 and 1850. But between 1851 and 1875, there were 100 and in the following twenty-five years almost exactly twice that number and no less than 149 in the following fourteen years. The number of arbitration treaties also rose sharply: 90 were concluded between 1880 and 1900 and 100 were in force by 1914. Thus, there is no doubt when the device took off as a feature of international practice; nor was its arrival lost on contemporary observers. ‘We have got rid of private wars between small magnate and large magnate in this country; we have got rid of the duel between man and man, and we are slowly, as far as we can, substituting arbitration for struggles in international disputes.’. The source of this rather noticeably qualified observation was the great Lord Salisbury. The reasons for Salisbury's observation can be seen relatively easily: the reason for the qualification will be discussed later.

The development of arbitration during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries falls into three main sections: the period before the Alabama claim (1871), the period between 1871 and the first Hague Conference (1899) and finally that between 1899 and the establishment of the League of Nations. The characteristic technique for arbitrations in the first period involved the setting up of mixed commissions, formed of varying numbers of commissioners from each party to the dispute, who were often required to add to their number by agreement or by drawing lots.