Your world history or AP European History class just hit the Nuremberg Trials, and the reading is dense: conspiracy counts, crimes against humanity, ex post facto arguments, twelve subsequent proceedings. You need the story straight before the exam, not another slog through a doorstop textbook.

This TLDR primer walks through how the Allies decided to put Nazi leadership on trial instead of executing them outright, and how the London Charter of August 1945 built an international court from scratch. You'll meet the four counts — conspiracy, crimes against peace, war crimes, and the newly invented crimes against humanity — and see why that last one changed international law permanently. You'll sit in on the Palace of Justice as the tribunal works through the major defendants, the evidence, and the October 1946 verdicts. You'll also get the strongest objections raised at the time — victor's justice, ex post facto law, the 'just following orders' defense — and how the judges answered each one.

The guide closes with what came after: the follow-up trials of doctors, judges, and industrialists, the parallel tribunal in Tokyo, and the long chain running from the 1948 Genocide Convention through the Yugoslavia and Rwanda tribunals to today's International Criminal Court.

Written for high schoolers, AP students, and anyone who wants postwar justice explained clearly, this works as a quick reference for history students who need the concepts straight, not a survey of every document filed at trial. No filler, no padding — just the case, the arguments, and why it still matters.

Grab it, read it before class, walk in ready.

• Explain why the Allies chose a trial rather than summary execution and how the London Charter created the tribunal.
• Identify the four charges — conspiracy, crimes against peace, war crimes, and crimes against humanity — and what each meant.
• Recall the major defendants, verdicts, and sentences from the main IMT trial.
• Assess the main legal and moral criticisms of the trials, including the ex post facto and 'victor's justice' arguments.
• Trace the trials' legacy in modern international law, from the Genocide Convention to the ICC.

1. 1. Why a Trial? From Churchill's Firing Squad to the London Charter
   How the Allies decided to prosecute Nazi leaders in court instead of shooting them, and how the London Charter of August 1945 built the tribunal.
2. 2. The Four Counts: Conspiracy, Peace, War Crimes, and Crimes Against Humanity
   The novel legal framework used at Nuremberg, with special attention to the newly-defined 'crimes against humanity.'
3. 3. The Defendants and the Courtroom: 218 Days at the Palace of Justice
   The 24 major defendants, how the trial actually ran, the evidence presented, and the verdicts handed down in October 1946.
4. 4. The Objections: Ex Post Facto Law, Victor's Justice, and the Nuremberg Defense
   The strongest legal and moral criticisms of the trial and how the tribunal answered them.
5. 5. After the Main Trial: The Subsequent Proceedings and Tokyo
   The twelve follow-up trials at Nuremberg (Doctors, Judges, Einsatzgruppen, Industrialists) and the parallel Tokyo tribunal.
6. 6. The Legacy: From the Genocide Convention to the ICC
   How Nuremberg's principles reshaped international law, from the 1948 Genocide Convention to the ad hoc tribunals for Yugoslavia and Rwanda to today's ICC.