... the state of war’, on the one hand, and ‘its acts’, on the other. A state of war can exist even in the absence of any acts of waron the part of either side. ‘War’, concluded Grotius, ‘is the ... maintained that the war between France and the Netherlands in1672 resulted from the irritation of the French King, Louis XIV, over the issuing of certain medals and the spreading of offensive jokes.15 ... another.98WAR AND THE LAW OF NATIONSunpractised eye. The partnership was not, however, seen as an equal one. The deeper and more fundamental of the two kinds of law was the law of nature. Grotius...