|
| Tratado de Paz de Versalles (1919) |
El Tratado de Versalles es un tratado de paz firmado el 28 de junio de 1919 entre los Países Aliados y Alemania en el Salón de los Espejos del Palacio de Versalles que puso fin oficialmente a la Primera Guerra Mundial (llamada entonces La Gran Guerra). Entró en vigor el 10 de enero de 1920.
- Parte I El Pacto de la SDN (artículos 1 al 26 y anexo).
- Parte II Las Fronteras de Alemania (artículos 27 al 30).
- Parte III cláusulas para Europa (artículos 31 al 117 y anexos).
- Parte IV Derechos e intereses alemanes fuera de Alemania (artículos 118 al 158 y anexos).
- Parte V Cláusulas militares, navales y aéreas (artículos 159 al 213).
- Parte VI Prisioneros de guerra y cementerios (artículos 214 al 226).
- Parte VII Sanciones (artículos 227 al 230).
- Parte VIII Reparaciones (artículos 231 al 247 y anexos).
- Parte IX Cláusulas financieras (artículos 248 al 263).
- Parte X Cláusulas económicas (artículos 264 al 312).
- Parte XI Navegación aérea (artículos 313 al 320 y anexos).
- Parte XII Puertos, vías marítimas y vías férreas (artículos 321 al 386).
- Parte XIII Organización Internacional del Trabajo (artículos 387 al 399).
- Procedimientos (artículos 400 al 427 y anexo).
- Parte XIV Garantías (artículos 428 al 433).
- Parte XV Previsiones, misceláneas (artículos 434 al 440 y anexo).
____________
June 28,1919
THE COVENANT OF THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS.
THE HIGH CONTRACTING PARTIES, In order to promote
international co-operation and to achieve international peace and security by
the acceptance of obligations not to resort to war by the prescription of open,
just and honourable relations between nations by the firm establishment of the
understandings of international law as the actual rule of conduct among
Governments, and by the maintenance of justice and a scrupulous respect for all
treaty obligations in the dealings of organised peoples with one another Agree
to this Covenant of the League of Nations.
ARTICLE I.
The original Members of the League of Nations shall be
those of the Signatories which are named in the Annex to this Covenant and also
such of those other States named in the Annex as shall accede without
reservation to this Covenant. Such accession shall be effected by a Declaration
deposited with the Secretariat within two months of the coming into force of the
Covenant Notice thereof shall be sent to all other Members of the League. Any
fully self-governing State, Dominion, or Colony not named in the Annex may
become a Member of the League if its admission is agreed to by two-thirds of the
Assembly provided that it shall give effective guarantees of its sincere
intention to observe its international obligations, and shall accept such
regulations as may be prescribed by the League in regard to its military, naval,
and air forces and armaments. Any Member of the League may, after two years'
notice of its intention so to do, withdraw from the League, provided that all
its international obligations and all its obligations under this Covenant shall
have been fulfilled at the time of its withdrawal.
ARTICLE 2.
The action of the League under this Covenant shall be
effected through the instrumentality of an Assembly and of a Council, with a
permanent Secretariat.
ARTICLE 3.
The Assembly shall consist of Representatives of the
Members of the League. The Assembly shall meet at stated intervals and from time
to time as occasion may require at the Seat of the League or at such other place
as may be decided upon.The Assembly may deal at its meetings with any matter
within the sphere of action of the League or affecting the peace of the world.
At meetings of the Assembly each Member of the League shall have one vote, and
may not have more than three Representatives.
ARTICLE 4.
The Council shall consist of Representatives of the
Principal Allied and Associated Powers, together with Representatives of four
other Members of the League. These four Members of the League shall be selected
by the Assembly from time to time in its discretion. Until the appointment of
the Representatives of the four Members of the League first selected by the
Assembly, Representatives of Belgium, Brazil, Spain, and Greece shall be members
of the Council. With the approval of the majority of the Assembly, the Council
may name additional Members of the League whose Representatives shall always be
members of the Council; the Council with like approval may increase the number
of Members of the League to be selected by the Assembly for representation on
the Council. The Council shall meet from time to time as occasion may require,
and at least once a year, at the Seat of the League, or at such other place as
may be decided upon. The Council may deal at its meetings with any matter within
the sphere of action of the League or affecting the peace of the world. Any
Member of the League not represented on the Council shall be invited to send a
Representative to sit as a member at any meeting of the Council during the
consideration of matters specially affecting the interests of that Member of the
League. At meetings of the Council, each Member of the League represented on the
Council shall have one vote, and may have not more than one Representative.
ARTICLE 5.
Except where otherwise expressly provided in this
Covenant or by the terms of the present Treaty, decisions at any meeting of the
Assembly or of the Council shall require the agreement of all the Members of the
League represented at the meeting. All matters of procedure at meetings of the
Assembly or of the Council, including the appointment of Committees to
investigate particular matters, shall be regulated by the Assembly or by the
Council and may be decided by a majority of the Members of the League
represented at the meeting. The first meeting of the Assembly and the first
meeting of the Council shall be summoned by the
President of the United States of America.
ARTICLE 6.
The permanent Secretariat shall be established at the
Seat of the League. The Secretariat shall comprise a Secretary General and such
secretaries and staff as may be required.The first Secretary General shall be
the person named in the Annex; thereafter the Secretary General shall be
appointed by the Council with the approval of the majority of the Assembly.The
secretaries and staff of the Secretariat shall be appointed by the Secretary
General with the approval of the Council.The Secretary General shall act in that
capacity at all meetings qf the Assembly and of the Council.The expenses of the
Secretariat shall be borne by the Members of the League in accordance with the
apportionment of the expenses of the International Bureau of the Universal
Postal Union.
ARTICLE 7.
The Seat of the League is established at Geneva. The
Council may at any time decide that the Seat of the League shall be established
elsewhere. All positions under or in connection with the League, including he
Secretariat, shall be open equally to men and women. Representatives of the
Members of the League and officials of he League when engaged on the business of
the League shall enjoy diplomatic privileges and immunities.The buildings and
other property occupied by the League or its officials or by Representatives
attending its meetings shall be inviolable.
ARTICLE 8.
The Members of the League recognise that the
maintenance of peace requires the reduction of national armaments to the lowest
point consistent with national safety and the enforcement by common action of
international obligations. The Council, taking account of the geographical
situation and circumstances of each State, shall formulate plans for such
reduction for the consideration and action of the several Governments. Such
plans shall be subject to reconsideration and revision at least every ten years.
After these plans shall have been adopted by the several Governments, the limits
of armaments therein fixed shall not be exceeded without the concurrence of the
Council. The Members of the League agree that the manufacture by private
enterprise of munitions and implements of war is open to grave objections. The
Council shall advise how the evil effects attendant upon such manufacture can be
prevented,
due regard being had to the necessities of those
Members of the League which are not able to manufacture the munitions and
implements of war necessary for their safety. The Members of the League
undertake to interchange full and frank information as to the scale of their
armaments, their military, naval, and air programmes and the condition of such
of their industries as are adaptable to war-like purposes.
ARTICLE 9.
A permanent Commission shall be constituted to advise
the Council on the execution of the provisions of Articles 1 and 8 and on
military, naval, and air questions generally.
ARTICLE 10.
The Members of the League undertake to respect and
preserve as against external aggression the territorial integrity and existing
political independence of all Members of the League. In case of any such
aggression or in case of any threat or danger of such aggression the Council
shall advise upon the means by which this obligation shall be fulfilled.
ARTICLE 11.
Any war or threat of war, whether immediately affecting
any of the Members of the League or not, is hereby declared a matter of concern
to the whole League, and the League shall take any action tnat may be deemed
wise and effectual to safeguard the peace of nations. In case any such emergency
should arise the Secretary General shall on the request of any Member of the
League forthwith summon a meeting of the Council. It is also declared to be the
friendly right of each Member of the League to bring to the attention of the
Assembly or of the Council any circumstance whatever affecting international
relations which threatens to disturb international peace or the good
understanding between nations upon which peace depends.
ARTICLE 12.
The Members of the League agree that if there should
arise between them any dispute likely to lead to a rupture, they will submit the
matter either to arbitration or to inquiry by the Council, and they agree in no
case to resort to war until three months after the award by the arbitrators or
the report by the Council. In any case
under this Article the award of the arbitrators shall
be made within a reasonable time, and the report of the Council shall be made
within six months after the submission of the dispute.
ARTICLE 13.
The Members of the League agree that whenever any
dispute shall arise between them which they recognise to be suitable for
submission to arbitration and which cannot be satisfactorily settled by
diplomacy, they will submit the whole subject-matter to arbitration. Disputes as
to the interpretation of a treaty, as to any question of international law, as
to the existence of any fact which if established would constitute a breach of
any international obligation, or as to the extent and nature of the reparation
to be made or any such breach, are declared to be among those which are
generally suitable for submission to arbitration. For the consideration of any
such dispute the court of arbitraion to which the case is referred shall be the
Court agreed on by the parties to the dispute or stipulated in any convention
existing between them. The Members of the League agree that they will carry out
in full good faith any award that may be rendered, and that they will not resort
to war against a Member of the League which complies therewith. In the event of
any failure to carry out such an award, the Council shall propose what steps
should be taken to give effect thereto.
ARTICLE 14.
The Council shall formulate and submit to the Members
of the League for adoption plans for the establishment of a Permanent Court of
International Justice. The Court shall be competent to hear and determine any
dispute of an international character which the parties thereto submit to it.
The Court may also give an advisory opinion upon any dispute or question
referred to it by the Council or by the Assembly.
ARTICLE 15.
If there should arise between Members of the League any
dispute likely to lead to a rupture, which is not submitted to arbitration in
accordance with Article 13, the Members of the League agree that they will
submit the matter to the Council. Any party to the dispute may effect such
submission by giving notice of the existence of the dispute to the Secretary
General, who will make all necessary arrangements for a full investigation and
conside ation thereof. For this purpose the parties to the dispute will
communicate to the Secretary General, as promptly as
possible, statements of their case with all the relevant facts and papers, and
the Council may forthwith direct the publication thereof. The Council shall
endeavour to effect a settlement of the dispute, and if such efforts are
successful, a statement shall be made public giving such facts and explanations
regarding the dispute and the terms of settlement thereof as the Council may
deem appropriate. If the dispute is not thus settled, the Council either
unanimously or by a majority vote shall make and publish a report containing a
statement of the facts of the dispute and the recommendations which are deemed
just and proper in regard thereto Any Member of the League represented on the
Council may make public a statement of the facts of the dispute and of its
conclusions regarding the same. If a report by the Council is unanimously agreed
to by the members thereof other than the Representatives of one or more of the
parties to the dispute, the Members of the League agree that they will not go to
war with any party to the dispute which complies with the recommendations of the
report. If the Council fails to reach a report which is unanim-usly agreed to by
the members thereof, other than the Representatives of one or more of the
parties to the dispute, the Members of the League reserve to themselves the
right to take such action as they shall consider necessary for the maintenance
of right and justice. If the dispute between the parties is claimed by one of
them, and is found by the Council, to arise out of a matter which by
international law is solely within the domestic jurisdiction of that party, the
Council shall so report, and shall make no recommendation as to its settlement.
The Council may in any case under this Article refer the dispute to the
Assembly. The dispute shall be so referred at the request of either party to the
dispute, provided that such request be made within fourteen days after the
submission of the dispute to the Council. In any case referred to the Assembly,
all the provisions of this Article and of Article 12 relating to the action and
powers of the Council shall apply to the action and powers of the Assembly,
provided that a report made by the Assembly, if concurred in by the
Representatives of those Members of the League represented on the Council and of
a majority of the other Members of the League, exclusive in each case of the
Rpresentatives of the parties to the dispute shall have the same force as a
report by the Council concurred in by all the members thereof other than the
Representatives of one or more of the parties to the dispute.
ARTICLE 16.
Should any Member of the League resort to war in
disregard of its
covenants under Articles 12,13, or 15, it shall ipso
facto be
deemed to have committed an act of war against all
other Members of
the League, which hereby undertake immediately to
subject it to the severance of all trade or financial relations, the prohibition
of all intercourse between their nations and the nationals of the
covenant-breaking State, and the prevention of all financial, commercial, or
personal intercourse between the nationals of the covenant-breaking State and
the nationals of any other State, whether a Member of the League or not. It
shall be the duty of the Council in such case to recommend to the several
Governments concerned what effective military, naval, or air force the Members
of the League shall severally contribute to the armed forces to be used to
protect the covenants of the League. The Members of the League agree, further,
that they will mutually support one another in the financial and economic
measures which are taken under this Article, in order to minimise the loss and
inconvenience resulting from the above measures, and that they will mutually
support one another in resisting any special measures aimed at one of their
number by the covenantbreaking State, and that they will take the necessary
steps to afford passage through their territory to the forces of any of the
Members of the League which are co-operating to protect the covenants of the
League. Any Member of the League which has violated any covenant of the League
may be declared to be no longer a Member of the League by a vote of the Council
concurred in by the Representatives of all the other Members of the League
represented thereon.
ARTICLE 17.
In the event of a dispute between a Member of the
League and a State which is not a Member of the League, or between States not
Members of the League, the State or States, not Members of the League shall be
invited to accept the obligations of membership in the League for the purposes
of such dispute, upon such conditions as the Council may deem just. If such
invitation is accepted, the provisions of Articles 12 to 16 inclusive shall be
applied with such modifications as may be deemed necessary by the Council. Upon
such invitation being given the Council shall immediately institute an inquiry
into the circumstances of the dispute and recommend such action as may seem best
and most effectual in the circumstances.If a State so invited shall refuse to
accept the obligations of membership in the League for the purposes of such
dispute, and shall resort to war against a Member of the League, the provisions
of Article 16 shall be applicable as against the State taking such action. If
both parties to the dispute when so invited refuse to accept the obligations of
membership in the League for the purpose of such dispute, the Council may take
such measures and make such recommendations as will prevent hostilities and will
result in the settlement of the dispute.
ARTICLE 18.
Every treaty or international engagement entered into
hereafter by any Member of the League shall be forthwith registered with the
Secretariat and shall as soon as possible be published by it. No such treaty or
international engagement shall be binding until so registered.
ARTICLE 19.
The Assembly may from time to time advise the
reconsideration by Members of the League of treaties which have become
inapplicable and the consideration of international conditions whose continuance
might endanger the peace of the world.
ARTICLE 20.
The Members of the League severally agree that this
Covenant is accepted as abrogating all obligations or understandings inter se
which are inconsistent with the terms thereof, and solemnly undertake that they
will not hereafter enter into any engagements inconsistent with the terms
thereof. In case any Member of the League shall, before becoming a Member of the
League, have undertaken any obligations inconsistent with the terms of this
Covenant, it shall be the duty of such Member to take immediate steps to procure
its release from such obligations.
ARTICLE 21.
Nothing in this Covenant shall be deemed to affect the
validity of international engagements, such as treaties of arbitration or
regional understandings like the Monroe doctrine, for securing the maintenance
of peace.
ARTICLE 22.
To those colonies and territories which as a
consequence of the late war have ceased to be under the sovereignty of the
States which formerly governed them and which are inhabited by peoples not yet
able to stand by themselves under the strenuous conditions of the modern world,
there should be applied the principle that the well-being and development of
such peoples form a sacred trust of civilisation and that securities for the
performance of this trust should be embodied in this Covenant. The best method
of giving practical effect to this principle is that the tutelage of such
peoples should be entrusted to advanced nations who by reason of their
resources, their experience or their geographical position can best undertake
this responsibility, and who are willing to accept it, and that this tutelage
should be exercised by them as Mandatories on behalf of the League. The
character of the mandate must differ according to the stage of the development
of the people, the geographical situation of the territory, its economic
conditions, and other similar circumstances. Certain communities formerly
belonging to the Turkish Empire have reached a stage of development where their
existence as independent nations can be provisionally recognised subject to the
rendering of administrative advice and assistance by a Mandatory until such time
as they are able to stand alone. The wishes of these communities must be a
principal consideration in the selection of the Mandatory. Other peoples,
especially those of Central Africa, are at such a stage that the Mandatory must
be responsible for the administration of the territory under conditions which
will guarantee freedom of conscience and religion, subject only to the
maintenance of public order and morals, the prohibition of abuses such as the
slave trade, the arms traffic, and the liquor traffic, and the prevention of the
establishment of fortifications or military and naval bases and of military
training of the natives for other than police purposes and the defence of
territory, and will also secure equal opportunities for the trade and commerce
of other Members of the League. There are territories, such as South-West Africa
and certain of the South Pacific Islands, which, owing to the sparseness of
their population, or their small size, or their remoteness from the centres of
civilisation, or their geographical contiguity to the territory of the
Mandatory, and other circumstances, can be best administered under the laws of
the Mandatory as integral portions of its territory, subject to the safeguards
above mentioned in the interests of the indigenous population. In every case of
mandate, the Mandatory shall render to the Council an annual report in reference
to the territory committed to its charge. The degree of authority, control, or
administration to be exercised by the Mandatory shall, if not previously agreed
upon by the Members of the League, be explicitly defined in each case by the
Council. A permanent Commission shall be constituted to receive and examine the
annual reports of the Mandatories and to advise the Council on all matters
relating to the observance of the mandates.
ARTICLE 23.
Subject to and in accordance with the provisions of
international conventions existing or hereafter to be agreed upon, the Members
of the League: (a) will endeavour to secure and maintain fair and humane
conditions of labour for men, women, and children, both in their own countries
and in all countries to which their commercial and industrial relations extend,
and for that purpose will establish and maintain the necessary international
organisations; (b) undertake to secure just treatment of the native inhabitants
of territories under their control; (c) will entrust the League with the general
supervision over the execution of agreements with regard to the traffic in women
and children, and the traffic in opium and other dangerous drugs; (d) will
entrust the League with the general supervision of the trade in arms and
ammunition with the countries in which the control of this traffic is necessary
in the common interest; (e) will make provision to secure and maintain freedom
of communications and of transit and equitable treatment for the commerce of all
Members of the League. In this connection, the special necessities of the
regions devastated during the war of 1914-1918 shall be borne in mind; (f) will
endeavour to take steps in matters of international concern for the prevention
and control of disease.
ARTICLE 24.
There shall be placed under the direction of the League
all international bureaux already established by general treaties if the parties
to such treaties consent. All such international bureaux and all commissions for
the regulation of matters of international interest hereafter constituted shall
be placed under the direction of the League. In all matters of international
interest which are regulated by general conventions but which are not placed
under the control of international bureaux or commissions, the Secretariat of
the League shall, subject to the consent of the Council and if desired by the
parties, collect and distribute all relevant information and shall render any
other assistance which may be necessary or desirable. The Council may include as
part of the expenses of the Secretariat the expenses of any bureau or commission
which is placed under the direction of the League.
ARTICLE 25.
The Members of the League agree to encourage and
promote the establishment and co-operation of duly authorised voluntary national
Red Cross organisations having as purposes the improvement of health, the
prevention of disease, and the mitigation of suffering throughout the world.
ARTICLE 26.
Amendments to this Covenant will take effect when
ratified by the Members of the League whose representatives compose the Council
and by a majority of the Members of the League whose Representatives compose the
Assembly. No such amendment shall bind any Member of the League which signifies
its dissent therefrom, but in that case it shall cease to be a Memb,er of the
League.
ANNEX.
I. ORIGINAL MEMRERS OF THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS
SIGNATORIES OF THE TREATY OF PEACE.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, BELGIUM, BOLIVIA, BRAZIL, BRITISH EUPIRE, CANADA, AUSTRALIA, SOUTH AFRICA, NEW ZEALAND, INDIA, CHINA, CUBA, ECUADOR, FRANCE, GREECE, GUATEMALA, HAITI, HEDJAZ, HONDURAS, ITALY, JAPAN, LIBERIA, NICARAGUA, PANAMA, PERU, POLAND, PORTUGAL, ROUMANIA, SERB-CROAT-SLOVENE STATE, SIAM, CZECHO-SLOVAKIA, URUGUAY
STATES INVITED TO ACCEDE TO THE COVENANT.
ARGENTINE REPUBLIC, CHILE, COLOMBIA, DENMARK,
NETHERLANDS, NORWAY, PARAGUAY,
PERSIA, SALVADOR, SPAIN, SWEDEN, SWITZERLAND, VENEZUELA.
II. FIRST SECRETARY GENERAL OF THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS.
The Honourable Sir James Eric Drummond, K.C.M.G., C.B.
PART II.
BOUNDARIES OF GERMANY.
ARTICLE 27.
The boundaries of Germany will be determined as
follows:
1. With Belgium:
From the point common to the three frontiers of
Belgium, Holland, and Germany and in a southerly direction: the north-eastern
boundary of the former territory of ne~tral Moresnet' then the eastern boundary
of the Kreis of Eupen, then the frontier between Belgium and the Kreis of
Montjoie, then the northeastern and eastern boundary of the Kreis of Malmedy to
its junction with the frontier of Luxemburg.
2. With Luxemburg:
The frontier of August 3, 1914, to its junction with
the frontier of France of the 18th July, 1870.
3. With France:
The frontier of July 18,1870, from Luxemburg to
Switzerland with the reservations made in Article 48 of Section IV (Saar Basin)
of Part HI.
4. With Switzerland: The present frontier.
5. With Austria.
The frontier of August 3,1914, from Switzerland to
Czechoslovakia as hereinafter defined.
6. With Czecho-Slovakia:
The frontier of August 3,1914, between Germany and
Austria from its junction with the old administrative boundary separating
Bohemia and the province of Upper Austria to the point north of the salient of
the old province of Austrian Silesia situated at about 8 kilometres east of
Neustadt.
7. With Poland:
From the point defined above to a point to be fixed on
the ground about 2 kilometres east of Lorzendorf: the frontier as it will be
fixed in accordance with Article 88 of the present Treaty; thence in a northerly
direction to the point where the administrative boundary of Posnania crosses the
river Bartsch: a line to be fixed on the ground leaving the following places in
Poland: Skorischau, Reichthal, Trembatschau, Kunzendorf, Schleise, Gross Koscl,
Schreibersdorf, Rippin, Furstlich-Niefken, Pawelau, Tscheschen, Konradau,
Johallnisdorf, Modzenowe, Bogdaj, and in Gerrmany: Lorzendorf, Kaulwitz,
Glausche, Dalbersdorf, Reesewitz, Stradam, Gross Wartenberg, Kraschen, Neu
Mittelwalde, Domaslawitz, Wedelsdorf, Tscheschen Hammer; thence the
administrative boundary of Posnania northwestwards to the point where it cuts
the Rawitsch-Herrnstadt railway; thence to the point where the administrative
boundary of Posnania cuts the Reisen-Tschirnau road: a line to be fixed on the
ground passing west of Triebusch and Gabel and east of Saborwitz; thence the
administrative boundary of Posnania to its junction with the eastern
administrative boundary of the Kreis of Fraustadt; thence in a north-westerly
direction to a point to be chosen on the road between the villages of Unruhstadt
and Kopnitz: a line to be fixed on the ground passing west of Geyersdorf,
Brenno, Fehlen, Altkloster, Klebel, and east of Ulbersdorf, Buchwald,
Hgen,Weine, Lupitze, Schwenten: thence in a northerly direction to the
northernmost point of Lake Chlop: a line to be fixed on the ground following the
median line of the lakes; the town and the station of Bentschen however
(including the junction of the lines Schwiebus-Bentschen and
Zullichau-Bentschen) remaining in Polish territory; thence in a north-easterly
direction to the point of junction of the boundaries of the Kreise of Schwerin,
Birnbaum, and Meseritz: a line to be fixed on the ground passing east of
Betsche; thence in a northerly direction the boundary separating the Kreise of
Schwerin and Birnbaum, then in an easterly direction the northern boundary of
Posnania to the point where it cuts the river Netze; thence upstream to its
confluence with the Kaddow: the course of the Netze; thence upstream to a point
to be chosen about 6 kilometres southeast of Schneidemuhl: the course of the
Kuddow; thence north-eastwards to the most southern point of the reentant of the
northern boundary of Posnania about 5 kilometres west of Stahren: a line to be
fixed on the ground leaving the SchneidemuhlKonitz railway in this area entirely
in German territory; thence the boundary of Posnania north-eastwards to the
point of the salient it makes about 15 kilometres east of Flatow; thence
north-eastwards to the point where the river Kamionka meets the southern
boundary of the Kreis of Konitz about 3 kilometres north-east of Grunau: a line
to be fixed on the ground leaving the following places to Poland: Jasdrowo, Gr.
Lutau, Kl. Lutau, Wittkau, and to Germany: Gr. Butzig, Cziskowo, Battrow, Bock,
Grunau; thence in a northerly direction the boundary between the Kreise of
Konitz and Schlochau to the point where this boundary cuts the river Brahe;
thence to a point on the boundary of Pomerania 15 kilometres east of
Rummelsburg: a line to be fixed on the ground leaving the following places in
Poland: Konarzin, Kelpin, Adi. Briesen, and in Germany: Sampohl, Neuguth,
Steinfort, Gr. Peterkau; then the boundary of Pomerania in an easterly direction
to its junction with the boundary between the Kreise of Konitz and Schlochau;
thence northwards the boundary between Pomerania and West Prussia to the point
on the river Rheda about 3 kilometres northwest of Gohra where that river is
joined by a tributary from the northwest; thence to a point to be selected in
the bend of the Piasnitz river about 1 1/2 kilometres north-west of Warschkau: a
line to be fixed on the ground; thence this river downstream, then the median
line of Lake Zarnowitz, then the old boundary of West Prussia to the Baltic Sea.
8. With Denmark:
The frontier as it will be fixed in accordance with
Articles 109 to HI of Part ffl, Section XH (Schleswig).
ARTICLE 28.
The boundaries of East Prussia, with the reservations
made in Section IX (East Prussia) of Part ffl, will be determined as follows:
from a point on the coast of the Baltic Sea about 1 1/2 kilometres north of
Probbernau church in a direction of about 159° East from true North: a line to
be fixed on the ground for about 2 kilometres; thence in a straight line to the
light at the bend of the Elbing Channel in approximately latitude 54° 19 1/2'
North, longitude 19° 26' East of Greenwich; thence to the easternmost mouth of
the Nogat River at a bearing of approximately 209° East from true North; thence
up the course of the Nogat River to the point where the latter leaves the
Vistula (Weichsel);thence up the principal channel of navigation of the Vistula,
then the southern
boundary of the Kreis of Marienwerder, then that of the Kreis of Rosenberg
eastwards to the point where it meets the old boundary of East Prussia, thence
the old boundary between East and West Prussia, then the boundary between the
Kreise of Osterode and Neidenburg, then the course of the river Skottau
downstream, then the course of the Neide upstream to a point situated about 5
kilometres west of Bialutten being the nearest point to the old frontier of
Russia; thence in an easterly direction to a point immediately south of the
intersection of the road Neidenburg-Mlava with the old frontier of Russia: a
line to be fixed on the ground passing north of Bialutten; thence the old
frontier of Russia to a point east of Schmalleningken, then the principal
channel of navigation of the Niemen (Memel) downstream, then the Skierwieth arm
of the delta to the Kurisches Haff; thence a straight line to the point where
the eastern shore of the Kurische Nehrung meets the administrative boundary
about 4 kilometres south-west of Nidden; thence this administrative boundary to
the western shore of the Kurische Nehrung.
ARTICLE 29.
The boundaries as described above are drawn in red on a
one-in-a-million map which is annexed to the present Treaty (Map No. 1). [See
Introduction.] In the case of any discrepancies between the text of the Treaty
and this map or any other map which may be annexed, the text will be final.
ARTICLE 30.
In the case of boundaries which are defined by a
waterway, the terms "course" and "channel" used in the
present Treaty signify: in the case of non-navigable rivers, the median line of
the waterway or of its principal arm, and, in the case of navigable rivers, the
median line of the principal channel of navigation It will rest with the
Boundary Commissions provided by the present Treaty to specify in each case
whether the frontier line shall follow any changes of the course or channel
which may take place or whether it shall be definitely fixed by the position of
the course or channel at the time when the present Treaty comes into force.
PART II.
POLITICAL CLAUSES FOR EUROPE
SECTION I.
BELGIUM.
ARTICLE 31.
Germany, recognising that the Treaties of April 19,
1839, which established the status of Belgium before the war, no longer conform
to the requirements of the situation, consents to the abrogation of the said
Treaties and undertakes immediately to recognise and to observe whatever
conventions may be entered into by the Principal Allied and Associated Powers,
or by any of them, in concert with the Governments of Belgium and of the
Netherlands, to replace the said Treaties of 1839. If her formal adhesions
should be required to such conventions or to any of their stipulations, Germany
undertakes immediately to give it.
ARTICLE 32.
Germany recognises the full sovereignty of Belgium over
the whole of the contested territory of Moresnet (called Moresnet neutre).
ARTICLE 33.
Germany renounces in favour of Belgium all rights and
title over the territory of Prussian Moresnet situated on the west of the road
from Liege to Aix-la-Chapelle; the road will belong to Belgium where it bounds
this territory.
ARTICLE 34.
Germany renounces in favour of Belgium all rights and
title over the territory comprising the whole of the Kreise of Eupen and of
Malmedy. During the six months after the coming into force of this Treaty,
registers will be opened by the Belgian authority at Eupen and Malmedy in which
the inhabitants of the above territory will be entitled to record in writing a
desire to see the whole or part of it remain under German sovereignty. The
results of this public expression of opinion will be communicated by the Belgian
Government to the League of Nations, and Belgium undertakes to accept the
decision of the League.
ARTICLE 35.
A Commission of seven persons, five of whom will be
appointed by the Principal Allied and Associated Powers, one by Germany and one
by Belgium, will be set up fifteen days after the coming into force of the
present Treaty to settle on the spot the new frontier line between Belgium and
Germany, taking into account the economic factors and the means of
communication. Decisions will be taken by a majority and will be binding on the
parties concerned.
ARTICLE 36.
When the transfer of the sovereignty over the
territories referred to above has become definite, German nationals habitually
resident in the territories will definitively acquire Belgian nationality ipso
facto, and will lose their German nationality. Nevertheless, German nationals
who became resident in the territories after August 1,1914, shall not obtain
Belgian nationality without a permit from the Belgian Government
ARTICLE 37.
Within the two years following the definitive transfer
of the sovereignty over the territories assigned to Belgium under the present
Treaty, German nationals over 18 years of age habitually resident in those
territories will be entitled to opt for German nationality. Option by a husband
will cover his wife, and option by parents will cover their children under 18
years of age. Persons who have exercised the above right to opt must within the
ensuing twelve months transfer their place of residence to Germany. They will be
entitled to retain their immovable property in the territories acquired by
Belgium. They may carry with them their movable property of every description.
No export or import duties may be imposed upon them in connection with the
removal of such property.
ARTICLE 38.
The German Government will hand over without delay to
the Belgian Government the archives, registers, plans, title deeds and documents
of every kind concerning the civil, military, financial, judicial or other
administrations in the territory transferred to Belgian sovereignty. The German
Government will likewise restore to the Belgian Government the archives and
documents of every kind carried off during the war by the German authorities
from the Belgian public administrations, in particular from the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs at Brussels.
ARTICLE 39.
The proportion and nature of the financial liabilities
of Germany and of Prussia with Belgium will have to bear on account of the
territories ceded to her shall be fixed in conformity with Articles 254 and 256
of Part IX (Financial Clauses) of the present Treaty.
SECTION II.
LUXEMBURG.
ARTICLE 40.
With regard to the Grand Duchy of Luxemburg, Germany
renounces the benefit of all the provisions inserted in her favour in the
Treaties of February 8, 1842, April 2, 1847, October 20-25, 1865, August 18,
1866, February 21 and May 11, 1867, May 10, 1871, June 11, 1872, and November
11, 1902, and in all Conventions consequent upon such Treaties. Germany
recognises that the Grand Duchy of Luxemburg ceased to form part of the German
Zollverein as from January 1,1919, renounces all rights to the exploitation of
the railways, adheres to the termination of the regime of neutrality of the
Grand Duchy, and accepts in advance all international arrangements which may be
concluded by the Allied and Associated Powers relating to the Grand Duchy.
ARTICLE 41.
Germany undertakes to grant to the Grand Duchy of
Luxemburg, when a demand to that effect is made to her by the Principal Allied
and Associated Powers, the rights and advantages stipulated in favour of such
Powers or their nationals in the present Treaty with regard to economic
questions, to questions relative to transport and to aerial navigation.
SECTION III.
LEFT BANK OF THE RHINE.
ARTICLE 42.
Germany is forbidden to maintain or construct any
fortifications either on the left bank of the Rhine or on the right bank to the
west of a line drawn 50 kilometres to the East of the Rhine.
ARTICLE 43.
In the area defined above the maintenance and the
assembly of armed forces, either permanently or temporarily, and military
maneuvers of any kind, as well as the upkeep of all permanent works for
mobilization, are in the same way forbidden.
ARTICLE 44.
In case Germany violates in any manner whatever the
provisions of Articles 42 and 43, she shall be regarded as committing a hostile
act against the Powers signatory of the present Treaty and as calculated to
disturb the peace of the world.
SECTION IV.
SAAR BASIN.
ARTICLE 45.
As compensation for the destruction of the coal-mines
in the north of France and as part payment towards the total reparation due from
Germany for the damage resulting from the war, Germany cedes to France in full
and absolute possession, with exclusive rights of exploitation, unencumbered and
free from all debts and charges of any kind, the coal-mines situated in the Saar
Basin as defined in Article 48.
ARTICLE 46.
In order to assure the rights and welfare of the
population and to guarantee to France complete freedom in working the mines,
Germany agrees to the provisions of Chapters I and n of the Annex hereto.
ARTICLE 47.
In order to make in due time permanent provision for
the government of the Saar Basin in accordance with the wishes of the
populations, France and Germany agree to the provisions of Chapter HI of the
Annex hereto.
ARTICLE 48.
The boundaries of the territory of the Saar Basin, as
dealt with in the present stipulations, will be fixed as follows: On the south
and south-west: by the frontier of France as fixed by the present Treaty. On the
north-west and north: by a line following the northern administrative boundary
of the Kreis of Merzig from the point where it leaves the French frontier to the
point where it meets the administrative boundary separating the commune of
Saarholzbach from the commune of Britten; following this communal boundary
southwards and reaching the administrative boundary of the canton of Merzig so
as to include in the territory of the Saar Basin the canton of Mettlach, with
the exception of the commune of Britten; following successively the northern
boundaries of the cantons of Merzig and Haustedt, which are incorporated in the
aforesaid Saar Basin, then successively the administrative boundaries separating
the Kreise of Sarrelouis, Ottweiler, and Saint-Wendel from the Kreise of Merzig,
Treves (Trier), and the Principality of Birkenfeld as far as a point situated
about 500 metres north of the village of Furschweiler (viz., the highest point
of the Metzelberg). On the north-east and east: from the last point defined
above to a point about 3 1/2 kilometres east-north-east of Saint-Wendel: a line
to be fixed on the ground passing east of Furschweiler, west of Roschberg, east
of points 418, 329 (south of Roschberg) west of Leitersweiler, north-east of
point 464, and following the line of the crest southwards to its junction with
the administrative boundary of the Kreis of Kusel thence in a southerly
direction the boundary of the Kreis of Kusel, then the boundary of the Kreis of
Homburg towards the south-south-east to a point situated about 1000 metres west
of Dunzweiler; thence to a point about 1 kilometre south of Hornbach- a line to
be fixed on the ground passing through point 424 (about 1000 metres south-east
of Dunzweiler), point 363 (Fuchs-Berg), point 322 (south-west of Waldmohr), then
east of Jagersburg and Erbach, then encircling Homburg, passing through the
points 361 (about 2-1/2 kilometres north-east by east of that town), 342 (about
2 kilometres south-east of that town), 347 (Schreiners-Berg), 356, 350 (about
1-1/2 kilometres south-east of Schwarzenbach), then passing east of Einod,
south-east of points 322 and 333, about 2 kilometres east of Webenheim, about 2
kilometres east of Mimbach, passing east of the plateau which is traversed by
the road from Mimbach to Bockweiler (so as to include this road in the territory
of the Saar Basin), passing immediately north of the junction of the roads from
Bockweiler and Altheim situated about 2 kilometres north of Altheim, then
passing south of Ringweilerhof and north of point 322, rejoining the frontier of
France at the angle which it makes about 1 kilometre south of Hornbach (see Map
No. 2 scale 1/100,000 annexed to the present treaty). [See Introduction ]
A Commission composed of five members, one appointed by
France, one by Germany, and three by the Council of the League of Nations, which
will select nationals of other Powers, will be constituted within fifteen days
from the coming into force of the present Treaty, to trace on the spot the
frontier line described above.
In those parts of the preceding line which do not
coincide with administrative boundaries, the Commission will endeavour to keep
to the line indicated, while taking into consideration, so far as is possible,
local economic interests and existing communal boundaries.
The decisions of this Commission will be taken by a
majority, and will be binding on the parties concerned.
ARTICLE 49.
Germany renounces in favour of the League of Nations,
in the capacity of trustee, the government of the territory defined above.
At the end of fifteen years from the coming into force
of the present Treaty the inhabitants of the said territory shall be called upon
to indicate the sovereignty under which they desire to be placed.
ARTICLE 50.
The stipulations under which the cession of the mines
in the Saar Basin shall be carried out, together with the measures intended to
guarantee the rights and the well-being of the inhabitants and the government of
the territory, as well as the conditions in accordance with which the plebiscite
herein before provided for is to be made, are laid down in the Annex hereto.
This Annex shall be considered as an integral part of the present Treaty, and
Germany declares her adherence to it.
ANNEX.
In accordance with the provisions of Articles 45 to 50
of the present Treaty, the stipulations under which the cession by Germany to
France of the mines of the Saar Basin will be effected, as well as the measures
intended to ensure respect for the rights and well-being of the population and
the government of the territory, and the conditions in which the inhabitants
will be called upon to indicate the sovereignty under which they may wish to be
placed, have been laid down as follows:
CHAPTER I.
CESSION AND EXPLOITATION OF MINING PROPERTY.
From the date of the coming into force of the present
Treaty, all the deposits of coal situated within the Saar Basin as defined
in Article 48 of the said Treaty, become the complete
and absolute property of the French State.
The French State will have the right of working or not
working the said mines, or of transferring to a third party the right of working
them, without having to obtain any previous authorisation or to fulfil any
formalities.
The French State may always require that the German
mining laws and regulations referred to below shall be applied in order to
ensure the determination of its rights.
2.
The right of ownership of the French State will apply
not only to the deposits which are free and for which concessions have not yet
been granted, but also to the deposits for which concessions have already been
granted, whoever may be the present proprietors, irrespective of whether they
belong to the Prussian State, to the Bavarian State, to other States or bodies,
to companies or to individuals, whether they have been worked or not, or whether
a right of exploitation distinct from the right of the owners of the surface of
the soil has or has not been recognised.
3.
As far as concerns the mines which are being worked,
the transfer of the ownership to the French State will apply to all the
accessories and subsidiaries of the said mines, in particular to their plant and
equipment both on and below the surface to their extracting machinery, their
plants for transforming coal into electric power, coke and by-products, their
workshops means of communication, electric lines, plant for catching and
distributing water, land, buildings such as offices, managers, employees, and
workmen's dwellings, schools, hospitals and dispensaries, their stocks and
supplies of every description, their archives and plans, and in general
everything which those who own or exploit the mines possess or enjoy for the
purpose of exploiting the mines and their accessories and subsidiaries.
The transfer will apply also to the debts owing for
products delivered before the entry into possession by the French State and
after the signature of the present Treaty, and to deposits of money made by
customers, whose rights will be guaranteed by the French State.
4.
The French State will acquire the property free and
clear of all debts and charges. Nevertheless, the rights acquired, or in course
of being acquired, by the employees of the mines and their accessories and
subsidiaries at the date of the coming into force of the present Treaty, in
connection with pensions for old age or disability, will not be affected. In
return, Germany must pay over to the French State a sum representing the
actuarial amounts to which the said employees are entitled.
5.
The value of the property thus ceded to the French
State will be determined by the Reparation Commission referred to in Article 233
of Part VIE (Reparation) of the present Treaty.
This value shall be credited to Germany in part payment
of the amount due for reparation. It will be for Germany to indemnify the
proprietors or parties concerned, whoever they may be.
6.
No tariff shall be established on the German railways
and canals which may directly or indirectly discriminate to the prejudice of the
transport of the personnel or products of the mines and their accessories or
subsidiaries, or of the material necessary to their exploitation. Such transport
shall enjoy all the rights and privileges which any international railway
conventions may . guarantee to similar products of French origin.
7.
The equipment and personnel necessary to ensure the
despatch and transport of the products of the mines and their accessories and
subsidiaries, as well as the carriage of workmen and employees, will be provided
by the local railway administration of the Basin.
8.
No obstacle shall be placed in the way of such
improvements of railways or waterways as the French State may judge necessary to
assure the despatch and the transport of the products of the mines and their
accessories and subsidiaries, such as double trackage, enlargement of stations,
and construction of yards and appurtenances. The distribution of expenses will,
in the event of disagreement, be submitted to arbitration.
The French State may also establish any new means of
communication, such as roads, electric lines, and telephone connections which it
may consider necessary for the exploitation of the mines it may exploit freely
and without any restrictions the means of communication of which it may become
the owner, particularly those connecting the mines and their accessories and
subsidiaries with the means of communication situated in French territory.
9.
The French State shall always be entitled to demand the
application of the German mining laws and regulations in force on November
11,1918, excepting provisions adopted exclusively in view of the state of war,
with a view to the acquisition of such land as it may judge necessary for the
exploitation of the mines and their accessories and subsidiaries.
The payment for damage caused to immovable property by
the working of the said mines and their accessories and subsidiaries shall be
made in accordance with the German mining laws and regulations above referred
to.
10.
Every person whom the French State may substitute for
itself as regards the whole or part of its rights to the exploitation of the
mines and their accessories and subsidiaries shall enjoy the benefit of the
privileges provided in this Annex.
11.
The mines and other immovable property which become the
property of the French State may never be made the subject of measures of
forfeiture, forced sale, expropriation or requisition, nor of any other measure
affecting the right of property.
The personnel and the plant connected with the
exploitation of these mines or their accessories and subsidiaries, as well as
the product extracted from the mines or manufactured in their accessories and
subsidiaries, may not at any time be made the subject of any measures of
requisition.
12.
The exploitation of the mines and their accessories and
subsidiaries, which become the property of the French State will continue,
subject to the provisions of paragraph 23 below, to be subject to the regime
established by the German laws and regulations in force on November 11,1918,
excepting provisions adopted exclusively in view of the state of war.
The rights of the workmen shall similarly be
maintained, subject to the
provisions of the said paragraph 23, as established on
November 11,1918, by the
German laws and regulations above referred to.
No impediment shall be placed in the way of the
introduction or employment in the mines and their accessories and subsidiaries
of workmen from without the Basin.
The employees and workmen of French nationality shall
have the right to belong to French labour unions.
13.
The amount contributed by the mines and their
accessories and subsidiaries, either to the local budget of the territory of the
Saar Basin or to the communal funds, shall be fixed with due regard to the ratio
of the value of the mines to the total taxable wealth of the Basin.
14.
The French State shall always have the right of
establishing and maintaining, as incidental to the mines, primary or technical
schools for its employees and their children, and of causing instruction therein
to be given in the French language, in accordance with such curriculum and by
such teachers as it may select.
It shall also have the right to establish and maintain
hospitals, dispensaries, workmen's houses and gardens, and other charitable and
social institutions.
15.
The French State shall enjoy complete liberty with
respect to the distribution, dispatch and sale prices of-the products of the
mines and their accessories and subsidiaries.
Nevertheless, whatever may be the total product of the
mines, the French Government undertakes that the requirements of local
consumption for industrial and domestic purposes shall always be satisfied in
the proportion existing in 1913 between the amount consumed locally and the
total output of the Saar Basin.
CHAPTER H.
GOVERNMENT OF THE TERRITORY OF THE SAAR BASIN.
16.
The Government of the territory of the Saar Basin shall
be entrusted to a Commission representing the League of Nations. This Commission
shall sit in the territory of the Saar Basin.
17.
The Governing Commission provided for by paragraph 16
shall consist of five members chosen by the Council of the League of Nations,
and will include one citizen of France, one native inhabitant of the Saar Basin,
not a citizen of France, and three members belonging to three countries other
than France or Germany.
The members of the Governing Commission shall be
appointed for one year and may be re-appointed. They can be removed by the
Council of the League of Nations, which will provide for their replacement.
The members of the Governing Commission will be
entitled to a salary which will be fixed by the Council of the League of
Nations, and charged on the local revenues.
18.
The Chairman of the Governing Commission shall be
appointed for one year from among the members of the Commission by the Council
of the League of Nations and may be re-appointed. The Chairman will act as the
executive of the Commission.
19.
Within the territory of the Saar Basin the Governing
Commission shall have all-the powers of government hitherto belonging to the
German Empire, Prussia, or Bavaria, including the appointment and dismissal of
officials, and the creation of such administrative and representative bodies as
it may deem necessary.
It shall have full powers to administer and operate the
railways, canals, and the different public services. Its decisions shall be
taken by a majority.
20.
Germany will place at the disposal of the Governing
Commission all official documents and archives under the control of Germany, of
any German State, or of any local authority, which relate to the territory of
the Saar Basin or to the rights of the inhabitants thereof.
21.
It will be the duty of the Governing Commission to
ensure, by such means and under such conditions as it may deem suitable, the
protection abroad of the interests of the inhabitants of the territory of the
Saar Basin.
22.
The Governing Commission shall have the full right of
user of all property, other than mines, belonging, either in public or in
private domain, to the Government of the German Empire, or the Government of any
German State, in the territory of the Saar Basin.
As regards the railways an equitable apportionment of
rolling stock shall be made by a mixed Commission on which the Government of the
territory of the Saar Basin and the German railways will be represented.
Persons, goods, vessels, carriages, wagons and mails
coming from or going to the Saar Basin shall enjoy all the rights and privileges
relating to transit and transport which are specified in the provisions of Part
XII (Ports, Waterways and Railways) of the present Treaty.
23.
The laws and regulations in force on November 11,1918,
in the territory of the Saar Basin (except those enacted in consequence of the
state of war) shall continue to apply.
24
If, for general reasons or to bring these laws and
regulations into accord with the provisions of the present Treaty, it is
necessary to introduce modifications, these shall be decided on, and put into
effect by the Governing Commission, after consultation with the elected
representatives of the inhabitants in such a manner as the Commission may
determine.
No modification may be made in the legal regime for the
exploitation of the mines, provided for in paragraph 12, without the French
State being previously consulted, unless such modification results from a
general regulation respecting labour adopted by the League of Nations.
In fixing the conditions and hours of labour for men,
women and children, the Governing Commission is to take into consideration the
wishes expressed by the local labour organisations, as well as the principles
adopted by the League of Nations.
Subject to the provisions of paragraph 4, no rights of
the inhabitants of the Saar Basin acquired or in process of acquisition at the
date of coming into force of this Treaty, in respect of any insurance system of
Germany or in respect of any pension of any kind, are affected by any of the
provisions of the present Treaty.
Germany and the Government of the territory of the Saar
Basin will preserve and continue all of the aforesaid rights.
25.
The civil and criminal courts existing in the territory
of the Saar Basin shall continue.
A civil and criminal court will be established by the
Governing Commission to hear appeals from the decisions of the said courts
and to decide matters for which these courts are not
competent.
The Governing Commission will be responsible for
settling the organisation and jurisdiction of the said court.
Justice will be rendered in the name of the Governing
Commission. 26.
The Governing Commission will alone have the power of
levying taxes and dues in the territory of Saar Basin.
These taxes and dues will be exclusively applied to the
needs of the territory.
26
The fiscal system existing on November 11,1918, will be
maintained as far as possible, and no new tax except customs duties may be
imposed without previously consulting the elected representatives of the
inhabitants.
27.
The present stipulation will not affect the existing
nationality of the inhabitants of the territory of the Saar Basin.
No hindrance shall be placed in the way of those who
wish to acquire a different nationality, but in such case the acquisition of the
new nationality will involve the loss of any other.
28.
Under the control of the Governing Commission the
inhabitants will retain their local assemblies, their religious liberties, their
schools and their language.
The right of voting will not be exercised for any
assemblies other than the local assemblies, and will belong to every inhabitant
over the age of twenty years, without distinction of sex.
29.
Any of the inhabitants of the Saar Basin who may desire
to leave the territory will have full liberty to retain in it their immovable
property or to sell it at fair prices, and to remove their movable property free
of any charges.
30.
There will be no military service, whether compulsory
or voluntary, in the territory of the Saar Basin, and the construction of
fortifications therein is forbidden.
Only a local gendarmerie for the maintenance of order
may be established.
It will be the duty of the Governing Commission to
provide in all cases for the protection of persons and property in the Saar
Basin.
31.
The territory of the Saar Basin as defined by Article
48 of the present Treaty shall be subjected to the French customs regime. The
receipts from the customs duties on goods intended for local consumption shall
be included in the budget of the said territory after deduction of all costs of
collection.
No export tax shall be imposed upon metallurgical
products or coal exported from the said territory to Germany, nor upon the
German exports for the use of the industries of the territory of the Saar Basin.
Natural or manufactured products originating in the
Basin in transit over German territory and, similarly, German products in
transit over the territory of the Basin shall be free
of all customs duties.
Products which both originate in and pass from the
Basin into Germany shall be free of import duties for a period of five years
from the date of the coming into force of the present Treaty, and during the
same period articles imported from Germany into the territory of the Basin for
local consumption, shall likewise be free of import duties.
During these five years the French Government reserves
to itself the right of limiting to the annual average of the quantities imported
into Alsace-Lorraine and France in the years 1911 to 1913 the quantities which
may be sent into France of all articles coming from the Basin which include raw
materials and semimanufactured goods imported duty free from Germany. Such
average shall be determined after reference to all available official
information and statistics.
32.
No prohibition or restriction shall be imposed upon the
circulation of French money in the territory of the Saar Basin.
The French State shall have the right to use French
money in all purchases, payments, and contracts connected with the exploitation
of the mines or their accessories and subsidiaries.
33.
The Governing Commission shall have power to decide all
questions arising from the interpretation of the preceding provisions.
France and Germany agree that any dispute involving a
difference of opinion as to the interpretation of the said provision shall in
the same way be submitted to the Governing Commission and the decision of a
majority of the Commission shall be binding on both countries.
CHAPTER HI. PLEBISCITE.
34.
At the termination of a period of fifteen years from
the coming into force of the present Treaty, the population of the territory
of the Saar Basin will be called upon to indicate their
desires in the following manner: A vote will take place by communes or
districts, on the three following alternatives: (a) maintenance of the regime
established by the present Treaty and by this Annex; (b) union with France; (c)
union with Germany.
All persons without distinction of sex, more than
twenty years old at the date of the voting, resident in the territory at the
date of the signature of the present Treaty, will have the right to vote.
The other conditions, methods, and the date of the
voting shall be fixed by the Council of the League of Nations in such a way as
to secure the freedom, secrecy and trustworthiness of the voting
35.
The League of Nations shall decide on the sovereignty
under which the territory is to be placed, taking into account the wishes of the
inhabitants as expressed by the voting.
(a) If, for the whole or part of the territory, the
League of Nations decides in favour of the maintenance of the regime established
by the present Treaty and
this Annex, Germany hereby agrees to make such
renunciation of her sovereignty in favour of the League of Nations as the latter
shall deem necessary. It will be the duty of the League of Nations to take
appropriate steps to adapt the regime definitively adopted to the permanent
welfare of the territory and the general interest;
(b) If, for the whole or part of the territory, the
League of Nations decides in favour of union with France, Germany hereby agrees
to cede to France in accordance with the decision of the League of Nations, all
rights and title over the territory specified by the League.
(c) If, for the whole or part of the territory, the
League of Nations decides in favour of union with Germany, it will be the duty
of the League of Nations to cause the German Government to be re-established in
the government of the territory specified by the League.
36.
If the League of Nations decides in favour of the union
of the whole or part of the territory of the Saar Basin with Germany, France's
rights of ownership in the mines situated in such part of
the territory will be repurchased by Germany in their
entirety at
a price payable in gold. The price to be paid will be
fixed by three experts, one nominated by Germany, one by France, and one,
who shall be neither a Frenchman nor a German, by the
Council of the League of Nations; the decision of the experts will be given by a
majority.
The obligation of Germany to make such payment shall be
taken into account by the Reparation Commission, and for the
purpose of this payment Germany may create a prior
charge upon her assets or revenues upon such detailed terms as shall be agreed
to by the Reparation Commission. If, nevertheless, Germany after a period of one
year from the date on which the payment becomes due shall not have effected the
said payment, the Reparation Commission shall do so in accordance with such
instructions as may be given by the League of Nations, and, if necessary, by
liquidating that part of the mines which is in question.
37.
If, in consequence of the repurchase provided for in
paragraph
36, the ownership of the mines or any part of them is
transferred to Germany, the French State and French nationals shall have the
right to purchase such amount of coal of the Saar Basin as their industrial and
domestic needs are found at that time to require. An equitable arrangement
regarding amounts of coal, duration of contract, and prices will be fixed in due
time by the Council of the League of Nations.
38.
It is understood that France and Germany may, by
special agreements concluded before the time fixed for the payment of the price
for the repurchase of the mines, modify the provisions of paragraphs 36 and 37.
39.
The Council of the League of Nations shall make such
provisions as may be necessary for the establishment of the regime which is to
take effect after the decisions of the League of Nations mentioned in paragraph
35 have become operative, including an equitable apportionment of any
obligations of the Government of the territory of the Saar Basin arising from
loans raised by the Commission or from other causes.
From the coming into force of the new regime, the
powers of the Governing Commission will terminate, except in the case provided
for in paragraph 35 (a).
In all matters dealt with in the present Annex, the
decisions of the Council of the League of Nations will be taken by a majority.
SECTION V. ALSACE-LORRAINE.
The HIGH CONTRACTING PARTIES, recognising the moral
obligation to redress the wrong done by Germany in 1871 both to the rights of
France and to the wishes of the population of Alsace and Lorraine, which were
separated from their country in spite of the solemn protest of their
representatives at the Assembly of Bordeaux
Agree upon the following Articles: ARTICLE 51.
The territories which were ceded to Germany in
accordance with the Preliminaries of Peace signed at Versailles on February
26,1871, and the Treaty of Frankfort of May lo, 1871, are restored to French
sovereignty as from the date of the Armistice of November 11, 1918.
The provisions of the Treaties establishing the
delimitation of the frontiers before 1871 shall be restored.
ARTICLE 52.
The German
Government shall hand over without delay to the French Government all archives,
registers, plans, titles and documents of every kind concerning the civil,
military, financial, judicial or other administrations of the territories
restored to French sovereignty. If any of these documents, archives, registers,
titles or plans nave been misplaced, they will be restored by the German
Government on the demand of the French Government.
ARTICLE 53.
Separate agreements shall be made between France and
Germany dealing with the interests of the inhabitants of the territories
referred to in Article 51, particularly as regards their civil rights, their
business and the exercise of their professions, it being understood that Germany
undertakes as from the present date to recognise and accept the regulations laid
down in the Annex hereto regarding the nationality of the inhabitants or natives
of the said territories, not to claim at any time or in any place whatsoever as
German nationals those who shall have been declared on any ground to be French,
to
30
receive all others in her territory, and to conform, as
regards the property of German nationals in the territories indicated in Article
51, with the provisions of Article 297 and the Annex to Section IV of Part X
(Economic Clauses) of the present Treaty.
Those German nationals who without acquiring French
nationality shall receive permission from the French Government to reside in the
said territories shall not be subjected to the provisions of the said Article.
ARTICLE 54.
Those persons who have regained French nationality in
virtue of paragraph 1 of the Annex hereto will be held to be Alsace-Lorrainers
for the purposes of the present Section.
The persons referred to in paragraph 2 of the said
Annex will from the day on which they have claimed French nationality be held to
be Alsace-Lorrainers with retroactive effect as from November 11,1918. For those
whose application is rejected, the privilege will terminate at the date of the
refusal.
Such juridical persons will also have the status of
AlsaceLorrainers as shall have been recognised as possessing this quality
whether by the French administrative authorities or by a judicial decision.
ARTICLE 55.
The territories referred to in Article 51 shall return
to France free and quit of all public debts under the conditions laid down in
Article 255 of Part IX (Financial Clauses) of the present Treaty.
ARTICLE 56.
In conformity with the provisions of Article 256 of
Part IX (Financial Clauses) of the present Treaty, France shall enter into
possession of all property and estate, within the
territories referred to in Article 51, which belong to the German Empire or
German States, without any payment or credit on this account to any of the
States ceding the territories.
This provision applies to all movable or immovable
property of public or private domain together with all rights whatsoever
belonging to the German Empire or German States or to their administrative
areas.
Crown property and the property of the former Emperor
or other German sovereigns shall be assimilated to property of the public
domain.
ARTICLE 57.
Germany shall not take any action, either by means of
stamping or by any other legal or administrative measures not applying equally
to the rest of her territory, which may be to the detriment of the legal value
or redeemability of Germany monetary instruments or monies which, at the date of
the signature of the present Treaty, are legally current, and at that date are
in the possession of the French Government.
ARTICLE 58.
A special Convention will determine the conditions for
repayment in marks of the exceptional war expenditure advanced during the course
of the war by Alsace-Lorraine or by the public bodies in Alsace-Lorraine on
account of the Empire in accordance with German law, such as payment to the
families of persons mobilised, requisitions, billeting of troops, and assistance
to persons who have been evacuated. In fixing the amount of these sums Germany
shall be credited with that portion which Alsace-Lorraine would have contributed
to the Empire to meet the expenses resulting from these payments, this
contribution being calculated according to the proportion of the Imperial
revenues derived from Alsace-Lorraine in 1913.
ARTICLE 59.
The French Government will collect for its own account
the Imperial taxes, duties and dues of every kind leviable in the territories
referred to in Article 51 and not collected at the time of the Armistice of
November 11,1918.
ARTICLE 60.
The German Government shall without delay restore to
AlsaceLorrainers (individuals, juridical persons and public institutions) all
property, rights and interests belonging to them on November 11,1918, in so far
as these are situated in German territory.
ARTICLE 61.
The German Government undertakes to continue and
complete without delay the execution of the financial clauses regarding
Alsace-Lorraine contained in the Armistice Conventions.
ARTICLE 62.
The German Government undertakes to bear the expense of
all civil and military pensions which had been earned in Alsace. Lorraine on
date of November 11, 1918, and the maintenance of which was a charge on the
budget of the German Empire.
The German Government shall furnish each year the funds
necessary for the payment in francs, at the average rate of exchange for that
year, of the sums in marks to which persons resident in Alsace-Lorraine would
have been entitled if Alsace-Lorraine had remained under German jurisdiction.
ARTICLE 63.
For the purposes of the obligation assumed by Germany
in Part VET (Reparation) of the present Treaty to give compensation for damages
caused to the civil populations of the Allied and Associated countries in the
form of fines, the inhabitants of the territories referred to in Article 51
shall be assimilated to the above-mentioned populations.
ARTICLE 64.
The regulations concerning the control of the Rhine and
of the Moselle are laid down in Part XII (Ports, Waterways and Railways) of the
present Treaty.
ARTICLE 65.
Within a period of three weeks after the coming into
force of the present Treaty, the port of Strasburg and the port of Kehl shall be
constituted, for a period of seven years, a single unit from the point of view
of exploitation.
The administration of this single unit will be carried
on by a manager named by the Central Rhine Commission, which shall also have
power to remove him.
This manager shall be of French nationality.
He will reside in Strasburg and will be subject to the
supervision of the Central Rhine Commission.
There will be established in the two ports free zones
in conformity with Part XII (Ports, Waterways and Railways) of the present
Treaty.
A special Convention between France and Germany which
shall be submitted to the approval of the Central Rhine Commission, will fix the
details of this organisation, particularly as regards finance.
It is understood that for the purpose of the present
Article the port of Kehl includes the whole of the area necessary for the
movement of the port and the trains which serve it, including the harbour, quays
and railroads, platforms, cranes, sheds and warehouses, silos, elevators and
hydro-electric plants, which make up the equipment of the port.
The German Government undertakes to carry out all
measures which shall be required of it in order to assure that all the making-up
and switching of trains arriving at or departing from Kehl, whether for the
right bank or the left bank of the Rhine, shall be carried on in the best
conditions possible.
All property rights shall be safeguarded. In particular
the administration of the ports shall not prejudice any property rights of the
French or Baden railroads.
Equality of treatment as respects traffic shall be
assured in both ports to the nationals, vessels and goods of every country.
In case at the end of the sixth year France shall
consider that the progress made in the improvement of the port of Strasburg
still requires a prolongation of this temporary regime, she may ask for such
prolongation from the Central Rhine Commission, which may grant an extension for
a period not exceeding three years.
Throughout the whole period of any such extension the
free zones above provided for shall be maintained.
Pending appointment of the first manager by the Central
Rhine Commission a provisional manager who shall be of French nationality may be
appointed by the Principal Allied and Associated Powers subject to the foregoing
provisions.
For all purposes of the present Article the Central
Rhine Commission will decide by a majority of votes.
ARTICLE 66.
The railway and other bridges across the Rhine now
existing within the limits of Alsace-Lorraine shall, as to all their parts and
their whole length, be the property of the French State, which shall ensure
their upkeep.
The French Government is substituted in all the, rights
of the German Empire over all the railways which were administered by the
Imperial railway administration and which are actually working or under
construction.
The same shall apply to the rights of the Empire with
regard to railway and tramway concessions within the territories referred to in
Article 51.
This substitution shall not entail any payment on the
part of the French State.
The frontier railway stations shall be established by a
subsequent agreement, it being stipulated in advance that on the Rhine frontier
they shall be situated on the right bank.
ARTICLE 67
The French Government is substituted in all the rights
of the German Empire over all the railways which were administered by the
Imperial railway administration and which are actually working or under
construction.
The same shall apply to the rights of the Empire with
regard to railway and tramway concessions within the territories referred to in
Article 51.
This substitution shall not entail any payment on the
part of the French State.
The frontier railway stations shall be established by a
subsequent agreement, it being stipulated in advance that on the Rhine frontier
they shall be situated on the right bank.
ARTICLE 68.
In accordance with the provisions of Article 268 of
Chapter I of Section I of Part X (Economic Clauses) of the present Treaty, for a
period of five years from the coming into force of the present Treaty, natural
or manufactured products originating in and coming from the territories referred
to in Article 51 shall, on importation into German customs territory, be exempt
from all customs duty.
The French Government may fix each year, by decree
communicated to the German Government, the nature and amount of the products
which shall enjoy this exemption.
The amount of each product which may be thus sent
annually into Germany shall not exceed the average of the amounts sent annually
in the years 1911-1913.
Further, during the period of five years above
mentioned, the German Government shall allow the free export from Germany and
the free reimportation into Germany, exempt from all customs, duties and other
charges (including internal charges), of yarns, tissues, and other textile
materials or textile products of any kind and in any condition, sent from
Germany into the territories referred to in Article 51, to be subjected there to
any finishing process, such as bleaching, dyeing, printing, mercerization,
gassing, twisting or dressing.
During a period of ten years from the coming into force
of the present Treaty, central electric supply works situated in German
territory and formerly furnishing electric power to the territories referred to
in Article 51 or to any establishment the working of which passes permanently or
temporarily from Germany to France, shall be required to continue such supply up
to the amount of consumption corresponding to the undertakings and contracts
current on November 11, 1918.
Such supply shall be furnished according to the
contracts in force and at a rate which shall not be higher than that paid to the
said works by German nationals.
ARTICLE 69.
During a period of ten years from the coming into force
of the present Treaty, central electric supply works situated in German
territory and formerly furnishing electric power to the territories referred to
in Article 51 or to any establishment the working of which passes permanently or
temporarily from Germany to France, shall be required to continue such supply up
to the amount of consumption corresponding to the undertakings and contracts
current on November 11, 1918.
Such supply shall be furnished according to the
contracts in force and at a rate which shall not be higher than that paid to the
said works by German nationals.
ARTICLE 70.
It is understood that the French Government preserves
its right to prohibit in the future in the territories referred to in Article 51
all new German participation:
(1) In the management or exploitation of the public
domain and of public services, such as railways, navigable waterways, water
works, gas works, electric power, etc.;
(2) In the ownership of mines and quarries of every
kind and in enterprises connected therewith;
(3) In metallurgical establishments, even though their
working may not be connected with that of any mine.
ARTICLE 71.
As regards the territories referred to in Article 51,
Germany renounces on behalf of herself and her nationals as from November
11,1918, all rights under the law of May 25, 1910, regarding the trade in potash
salts, and generally under any stipulations for the intervention of German
organisations in the working of the potash mines. Similarly, she renounces on
behalf of herself and her- nationals all rights under any agreements,
stipulations or laws which may exist to her benefit with regard to other
products of the aforesaid territories.
ARTICLE 72.
The settlement of the questions relating to debts
contracted before November 11, 1918, between the German Empire and the German
States or their nationals residing in Germany on the one part and
Alsace-Lorrainers residing in Alsace-Lorraine on the other part shall be
effected in accordance with the provisions of Section in of Part X (Economic
Clauses) of the present Treaty, the expression "before the war"
therein being replaced by the expression "before November 11,1918,. The
rate of exchange applicable in the case of such settlement shall be the average
rate quoted on the Geneva Exchange during the month preceding November 11, 1918.
There may be established in the territories referred to
in Article 51, for the settlement of the aforesaid debts under the conditions
laid down in Section HI of Part X (Economic Clauses) of the present Treaty, a
special clearing office, it being understood that this office shall be regarded
as a "central office" under the provisions of paragraph 1 of the Annex
to the said Section.
ARTICLE 73.
The private property, rights and interests of
Alsace-Lorrainers in Germany will be regulated by the stipulations of Section IV
of Part X (Economic Clauses) of the present Treaty.
ARTICLE 74.
The French Government reserves the right to retain and
liquidate all the property, rights and interests which German nationals or
societies controlled by Germany possessed in the territories referred to in
Article 51 on November 11, 1918, subject to the conditions laid down in the last
paragraph of Article 53 above. Germany will directly compensate her nationals
who may have been dispossessed by the aforesaid liquidations. The product of
these liquidations shall be applied in accordance with the stipulations of
Sections HI and IV of Part X (Economic Clauses) of the present Treaty.
ARTICLE 75.
Notwithstanding the stipulations of Section V of Part X
(Economic Clauses) of the present Treaty, all contracts made before the date of
the promulgation in Alsace-Lorraine of the French decree of November 30,1918,
between Alsace-Lorrainers (whether individuals or juridical persons) or others
resident in Alsace-Lorraine on the one part and the German Empire or German
States and their nationals resident in Germany on the other part, the execution
of which has been suspended by the Armistice or by subsequent French
legislation, shall be maintained.
Nevertheless, any contract of which the French
Government shall notify the cancellation to Germany in the general interest
within a period of six months from the date of the coming into force of the
present Treaty, shall be annulled except in respect of any debt or other
pecuniary obligation arising out of any act done or money paid thereunder before
November 11,1918. If this dissolution would cause one of the parties substantial
prejudice, equitable compensation, calculated solely on the capital employed
without taking account of loss of profits, shall be accorded to the prejudiced
party.
With regard to prescriptions, limitations and
forfeitures in Alsace-Lorraine, the provisions of Articles 300 and 301 of
Section V of Part X (Economic Clauses) shall be applied with the substitution
for the expression "outbreak of war" of the expression "November
11, 1918", and for the expression "duration of the war" of the
expression "period from November 11, 1918, to the date of the coming into
force of the present Treaty".
ARTICLE 76.
Questions concerning rights in industrial, literary or
artistic property of Alsace-Lorrainers shall be regulated in accordance with the
general stipulations of Section VII of Part X (Economic Clauses) of the present
Treaty, it being understood that AlsaceLorrainers holding rights of this nature
under German legislation will preserve full and entire enjoyment of those rights
on German territory.
ARTICLE 77
The German Government undertakes to pay over to the
French Government such proportion of all reserves accumulated by the Empire or
by public or private bodies dependent upon it, for the purposes of disability
and old age insurance, as would fall to the disability and old age insurance
fund at Strasburg.
The same shall apply in respect of the capital and
reserves accumulated in Germany falling legitimately to other social insurance
funds, to miners, superannuation funds, to the fund of the railways of
Alsace-Lorraine, to other superannuation organisations established for the
benefit of the personnel of public administrations and institutions operating in
Alsace-Lorraine and also in respect of the capital and reserves due by the
insurance fund of private employees at Berlin, by reason of engagements entered
into for the benefit of insured persons of that category resident in
Alsace-Lorraine. A special Convention shall determine the conditions and
procedure of these transfers.
ARTICLE 78.
With regard to the execution of judgments, appeals and
prosecutions, the following rules shall be applied:
(1) All civil and commercial judgments which shall have
been given since August
3,1914, by the Courts of Alsace-Lorraine between
Alsace-Lorrainers, or between Alsace-Lorrainers and foreigners, or between
foreigners, and which shall not have been appealed from before November 11,1918,
shall be regarded as final and susceptible of immediate execution without
further formality.
When the judgment has been given between
Alsace-Lorrainers and Germans or between Alsace-Lorrainers and subjects of the
allies of Germany, it shall only be capable of execution after the issue of an
exequatur by the corresponding new tribunal in the restored territory referred
to in Article 51.
(2) All judgments given by German Courts since August
3,1914, against Alsace-Lorrainers for political crimes or misdemeanors shall be
regarded as null and void.
(3) All sentences passed since November 11,1918, by the
Court of the Empire at Leipzig on appeals against the decisions of the Courts of
Alsace-Lorraine shall
be regarded as null and void and shall be so
pronounced. The papers in regard to the cases in which such sentences have been
given shall be returned to the Courts of Alsace-Lorraine concerned.
All appeals to the Court of the Empire against
decisions of the Courts of Alsace-Lorraine shall be suspended. The papers shall
be returned under the aforesaid conditions for transfer without delay to the
French Cour de Cassation, which shall be competent to decide them.
(4) All prosecutions in Alsace-Lorraine for offences
committed during the period between November 11,1918, and the coming into force
of the present Treaty will
38
be conducted under German law except in so far as this
has been modified by decrees duly published on the spot by the French
authorities.
(5) All other questions as to competence, procedure or
administration of justice shall be determined by a special Convention between
France and Germany.
ARTICLE 79.
The stipulations as to nationality contained in the
Annex hereto shall be considered as of equal force with the provisions of the
present Section.
All other questions concerning Alsace-Lorraine which
are not regulated by the present Section and the Annex thereto or by the general
provisions of the present Treaty will form the subject of further conventions
between France and Germany.
ANNEX. 1..
As from November 11, 1918, the following persons are
ipso facto reinstated in French nationality:
(1) Persons who lost French nationality by the
application of the Franco-German Treaty of May 10, 1871, and who have not since
that date acquired any nationality other than German;
(2) The legitimate or natural descendants of the
persons referred to in the immediately preceding paragraph, with the exception
of those whose ascendants in the paternal line include a German who migrated
into Alsace-Lorraine after July 15, 1870;
(3) All persons born in Alsace-Lorraine of unknown
parents, L or whose nationality is unknown.
2.
Within the period of one year from the coming into
force of the present Treaty, persons included in any of the following categories
may claim French nationality:
(1) All persons not restored to French nationality
under paragraph 1 above, whose ascendants include a Frenchman or Frenchwoman who
lost French nationality under the conditions referred to in the said paragraph;
(2) All foreigners, not nationals of a German State,
who acquired the status of a citizen of Alsace-Lorraine before August 3, 1914;
(3) All Germans domiciled in Alsace-Lorraine, if they
have been so domiciled since a date previous to July 15,1870, or if one of their
ascendants was at that date domiciled in Alsace-Lorraine;
(4) All Germans born or domiciled in Alsace-Lorraine
who have served in the Allied or Associated armies during the present war, and
their descendants;
(5) All persons born in Alsace-Lorraine before May 10,
1871, of foreign parents, and the descendants of such persons;
(6) The husband or wife of any person whose French
nationality may have been restored under paragraph 1, or who may have claimed
and obtained French nationality in accordance with the preceding provisions.
The legal representative of a minor may exercise, on
behalf of that minor, the right to claim French nationality; and if that right
has not been exercised, the minor may claim French nationality within the year
following his majority.
Except in the cases provided for in No.(6) of the
present paragraph, the French authorities reserve to themselves the right, in
individual cases, to reject the claim to French nationality.
3.
Subject to the provisions of paragraph 2, Germans born
or domiciled in Alsace-Lorraine shall not acquire French nationality by reason
of the restoration of Alsace-Lorraine to France, even though they may have the
status of citizens of Alsace-Lorraine.
They may acquire French nationality only by
naturalisation, on condition of having been domiciled in Alsace-Lorraine from a
date previous to August 3, 1914, and of submitting proof of unbroken residence
within the restored territory for a period of three years from November 11,1918.
France will be solely responsible for their diplomatic
and consular protection from the date of their application for French
naturalisation.
The French Government shall determine the procedure by
which reinstatement in French nationality as of right shall be effected, and the
conditions under which decisions shall be given upon claims to such nationality
and applications for naturalisation, as provided by the present Annex.
SECTION VI.
AUSTRIA.
ARTICLE 80.
Germany acknowledges and will respect strictly the
independence of Austria, within the frontiers which may be fixed in a Treaty
between that State and the
Principal Allied and Associated Powers; she agrees that
this independence shall be inalienable, except with the consent of the Council
of the League of Nations.
SECTION VII.
CZECHO-SLOVAK STATE.
ARTICLE 81.
Germany, in conformity with the action already taken by
the Allied and Associated Powers, recognises the complete independence of the
Czecho-Slovak State which will include the autonomous territory of the
Ruthenians to the south of the Carpathians. Germany hereby recognises the
frontiers of this State as determined by the Principal Allied and Associated
Powers and the other interested States.
ARTICLE 82.
The old frontier as it existed on August 3, 1914,
between Austria-Hungary and the German Empire will constitute the frontier
between Germany and the Czecho-Slovak State.
ARTICLE 83.
Germany renounces in favour of the Czecho-Slovak State
all rights and title over the portion of Silesian territory defined as follows:
starting from a point about 2 kilometres south-east of Katscher, on the boundary
between the Kreise of Leobschutz and Ratibor: the boundary between the two
Kreise; then, the former boundary between Germany and Austria-Hungary up to a
point on the Oder immediately to the south of the Ratibor-Oderberg railway;
thence, towards the north-west and up to a point about 2 kilometres to the
south-east of Katscher: a line to be fixed on the spot passing to the west of
Kranowitz. A Commission composed of seven members, five nominated by the
Principal Allied and Associated Powers, one by Poland and one by the
Czecho-Slovak State, will be appointed fifteen days after the coming into force
of the present Treaty to trace on the spot the frontier line between Poland and
the Czecho-Slovak State. The decisions of this Commission will be taken by a
majority and shall be binding on the parties concerned. Germany hereby agrees to
renounce in favour of the Czecho-Slovak State all rights and title over the part
of the Kreis of Leobschutz comprised within the following boundaries in case
after the determination of the frontier between Germany and Poland the said part
of that Kreis should become isolated from Germany: from the south-eastern
extremity of the salient of the former Austrian frontier at about 5 kilometres
to the west of Leobschutz southwards and up to the point of junction with the
boundary between the Kreise of Leobschutz and Ratibor: the former frontier
between Germany and Austria-Hungary; then, northwards, the administrative
boundary between the Kreise of Leobschutz and Ratibor up to a point situated
about 2 kilometres to the south-east of Katscher; thence, north-westwards and up
to the starting-point of this definition: a line to be fixed on the spot passing
to the east of Katscher,
ARTICLE 84.
German nationals habitually resident in any of the
territories recognised as forming part of the Czecho-Slovak State will obtain
Czecho-Slovak nationality ipso facto and lose their German nationality.
ARTICLE 85.
Within a period of two years from the coming into force
of the present Treaty, German nationals over eighteen years of age habitually
resident in any of the territories recognized as forming part of the
Czecho-Slovak State will be entitled to opt for German, nationality.
Czecho-Slovaks who are German nationals and are habitually resident in Germany
will have a similar right to opt for Czecho-Slovak nationality.
Option by a husband will cover his wife and option by
parents will cover their children under eighteen years of age.
Persons who have exercised the above right to opt must
within the succeeding twelve months transfer their place of residence to the
State for which they have opted.
They will be entitled to retain their landed property
in the territory of the other State where they had their place of residence
before exercising the right to opt. They may carry with them their movable
property of every description. No export or import duties may be imposed upon
them in connection with the removal of such property.
Within the same period Czecho-Slovaks, who are German
nationals and are in a foreign country will be entitled, in the absence of any
provisions to the contrary in the foreign law, and if they have not acquired the
foreign nationality, to obtain Czecho-Slovak nationality and lose their German
nationality by complying with the requirements laid down by the Czecho-Slovak
State.
ARTICLE 86.
The Czecho-Slovak State accepts and agrees to embody in
a Treaty with the Principal Allied and Associated Powers such provisions as may
be deemed necessary by the said Powers to protect the interests of inhabitants
of that State who differ from the majority of the population in race, language,
or religion.
The Czecho-Slovak State further accepts and agrees to
embody in a Treaty with the said Powers such provisions as they may deem
necessary to protect freedom of transit and equitable treatment of the commerce
of other nations.
The proportion and nature of the financial obligations
of Germany and Prussia which the Czecho-Slovak State will have to assume on
account of the Silesian
territory placed under its sovereignty will be determined in accordance
with Article 254 of Part IX (Financial Clauses) of the present Treaty.
Subsequent agreements will decide all questions not
decided by the present Treaty which may arise in consequence of the cession of
the said territory.
SECTION VIII.
POLAND.
ARTICLE 87.
Germany, in conformity with the action already taken by
the Allied and Associated Powers, recognises the complete independence of
Poland, and renounces in her favour all rights and title over the territory
bounded by the Baltic Sea, the eastern frontier of Germany as laid down in
Article 27 of Part n (Boundaries of Germany) of the present Treaty up to a point
situated about 2 kilometres to the east of Lorzendorf, then a line to the acute
angle which the northern boundary of Upper Silesia makes about 3 kilometres
north-west of Simmenau, then the boundary of Upper Silesia to its meeting point
with the old frontier between Germany and Russia, then this frontier to the
point where it crosses the course of the Niemen, and then the northern frontier
of East Prussia as laid down in Article 28 of Part n aforesaid.
The provisions of this Article do not, however, apply
to the territories of East Prussia and the Free City of Danzig, as defined in
Article 28 of Part n (Boundaries of Germany) and in Article lOo of Section XI
(Danzig) of this Part.
The boundaries of Poland not laid down in the present
Treaty will be subsequently determined by the Principal Allied and Associated
Powers.
A Commission consisting of seven members, five of whom
shall be nominated by the Principal Allied and Associated Powers, one by Germany
and one by Poland, shall be constituted fifteen days after the coming into force
of the present Treaty to delimit on the spot the frontier line between Poland
and Germany. The decisions of the Commission will be taken by a majority of
votes and shall be binding upon the parties concerned.
ARTICLE 88.
In the portion of Upper Silesia included within the
boundaries described below, the inhabitants will be called upon to indicate by a
vote whether they wish to be attached to Germany or to Poland: starting from the
northern point of the salient of the old province of Austrian Silesia situated
about 8 kilometres east of Neustadt, the former frontier between Germany and
Austria to its junction with the boundary between the Kreise of Leobschutz and
Ratibor; thence in a northerly direction to a point about 2 kilometres
south-east of Katscher: the boundary between the Kreise of Leobschutz and
Ratibor; thence in a south-easterly direction to a point on the course of the
Oder immediately south of the Ratibor-Oderberg railway: a line to be fixed on
the ground passing south of Kranowitz; thence the old boundary between Germany
and Austria, then the old boundary between Germany and Russia to its junction
with the administrative boundary between Posnania and Upper Silesia; thence this
administrative boundary to its junction with the administrative boundary between
Upper and Middle Silesia, thence westwards to the point where the administrative
boundary turns in an acute angle to the south-east about 3 kilometres north-west
of Simmenau: the boundary between Upper and Middle Silesia; then in a westerly
direction to a point to be fixed on the ground about 2 kilometres east of
Lorzendorf: a line to be fixed on the ground passing north of Klein Hennersdorf:
thence southwards to the point where the boundary between Upper and Middle
Silesia cuts the Stadtel-Karlsruhe road: a line to be fixed on the ground
passing west of Hennersdorf, Polkowitz, Noldau, Steinersdorf, and Dammer, and
east of Strehlitz, Nassadel, Eckersdorf, Schwirz, and Stadtel; thence the
boundary between Upper and Middle Silesia to its junction with the eastern
boundary of the Kreis of Falkenberg; then the eastern boundary of the Kreis of
Falkenberg to the point of the salient which is 3 kilometres east of Puschine;
thence to the northern point of the salient of the old province of Austrian
Silesia situated about 8 kilometres east of Neustadt: a line to be fixed on the
ground passing east of Zulz.
The regime under which this plebiscite will be taken
and given effect to is laid down in the Annex hereto.
The Polish and German Governments hereby respectively
bind themselves to conduct no prosecutions on any part of their territory and to
take no exceptional proceedings for any political action performed in Upper
Silesia during the period of the regime laid down in the Annex hereto and up to
the settlement of the final status of the country.
Germany hereby renounces in favour of Poland all rights
and title over the portion of Upper Silesia lying beyond the frontier line fixed
by the Principal Allied and Associated Powers as the result of the plebiscite.
ANNEX. 1.
Within fifteen days from the coming into force of the
present Treaty the German troops and such officials as may be designated by the
Commission set up under the provisions of paragraph 2 shall evacuate the
plebiscite area. Up to the moment of the completion of the evacuation they shall
refrain from any form of requisitioning in money or in kind and from all acts
likely to prejudice the material interests of the country.
Within the same period the Workmen's and Soldiers'
Councils which have been constituted in this area shall be dissolved. Members of
such Councils who are natives of another region and are exercising their
functions at the date of the coming into force of the present Treaty, or who
have gone out of office since March 1,1919, shall be evacuated.
All military and semi-military unions formed in the
said area by inhabitants of the district shall be immediately disbanded All
members of such military organisations who are not domiciled in the said area
shall be required to leave it.
2.
The plebiscite area shall be immediately placed under
the authority of an International Commission of four members to be designated by
the following Powers: the United States of America, France, the British Empire,
and Italy. It shall be occupied by troops belonging to the Allied and Associated
Powers, and the German Government undertakes to give facilities for the
transference of these troops to Upper Silesia.
3.
The Commission shall enjoy all the powers exercised by
the German or the Prussian Government, except those of legislation or taxation.
It shall also be substituted for the Government of the province and the
Regierungsbezirk.
It shall be within the competence of the Commission to
interpret the powers hereby conferred upon it and to determine to what extent it
shall exercise them, and to what extent they shall be left in the hands of the
existing authorities.
Changes in the existing laws and the existing taxation
shall only be brought into force with the consent of the Commission.
The Commission will maintain order with the help of the
troops which will be at its disposal, and, to the extent which it may deem
necessary, by means of gendarmerie recruited among the inhabitants of the
country.
The Commission shall provide immediately for the
replacement of the evacuated German officials and, if occasion arises, shall
itself order the evacuation of such authorities and proceed to the replacement
of such local authorities as may be required.
It shall take all steps which it thinks proper to
ensure the freedom, fairness, and secrecy of the vote. In particular, it shall
have the right to order the expulsion of any person who may in any way have
attempted to distort the result of the plebiscite by methods of corruption or
intimidation.
The Commission shall have full power to settle all
questions arising from the execution of the present clauses. It shall be
assisted by technical advisers chosen by it from among the local population.
The decisions of the Commission shall be taken by a
majority vote.
4.
The vote shall take place at such date as may be
determined by the Principal Allied and Associated Powers, but not sooner than
six months or later than eighteen months after the establishment of the
Commission in the area.
The right to vote shall be given to all persons without
distinction of sex who:
(a) Have completed their twentieth year on the 1st
January of the year in which the plebiscite takes place-
(b) Were born in the plebiscite area or have been
domiciled there since a date to be determined by the Commission, which shall not
be subsequent to January 1, 1919, or who have been expelled by the German
authorities and have not retained their domicile there.
Persons convicted of political offences shall be
enabled to exercise their right of voting.
Every person will vote in the commune where he is
domiciled or in which he was born, if he has not retained his domicile in the
area.
The result of the vote will be determined by communes
according to the majority of votes in each commune.
5.
On the conclusion of the voting, the number of votes
cast in each commune will be communicated by the Commission to the Principal
Allied and Associated Powers, with a full report as to the taking of the vote
and a recommendation as to the line which ought to be adopted as the frontier of
Germany in Upper Silesia. In this recommendation regard will be paid to the
wishes of the inhabitants as shown by the vote, and to the geographical and
economic conditions of the locality.
6.
As soon as the frontier has been fixed by the Principal
Allied and Associated Powers, the German authorities will be notified by the
International Commission that they are free to take over the administration of
the territory which it is recognised should be German, the said authorities must
proceed to do so within one month of such notification and in the manner
prescribed by the Commission.
Within the same period and in the manner prescribed by
the commission, the Polish Government must proceed to take over the
administration of the territory which it is recognized should be Polish.
When the administration of the territory has been
provided for by the German and Polish authorities respectively, the powers of
the Commission will terminate.
The cost of the army of occupation and expenditure by
the Commission, whether in discharge of its own functions or in the
administration of the territory, will be a charge on the area.
ARTICLE 89.
Poland undertakes to accord freedom of transit to
persons, goods, vessels, carriages, wagons, and mails in transit between East
Prussia and the rest of Germany over Polish territory, including territorial
waters, and to treat them at least as favourably as the persons, goods, vessels,
carriages, wagons and mails respectively of Polish or of any other more favoured
nationality, origin importation, starting point, or ownerships as regards
facilities, restrictions and all other matters.
Goods in transit shall be exempt from all customs or
other similar duties.
Freedom of transit will extend to telegraphic and
telephonic services under the conditions laid down by the conventions referred
to in Article 98.
ARTICLE 90.
Poland undertakes to permit for a period of fifteen
years the exportation to Germany of the products of the mines in any part of
Upper Silesia transferred to Poland in accordance with the present Treaty.
Such products shall be free from all export duties or
other charges or restrictions on exportation.
Poland agrees to take such steps as may be necessary to
secure that any such products shall be available for sale to purchasers in
Germany on terms as favourable as are applicable to like products sold under
similar conditions to purchasers in Poland or in any other country.
ARTICLE 91.
German nationals habitually resident in territories
recognised as forming part of Poland will acquire Polish nationality ipso facto
and will lose their German nationality. German nationals, however, or their
descendants who became resident in these territories after January 1,1908, will
not acquire Polish nationality without a special authorisation from the Polish
State.
Within a period of two years after the coming into
force of the present Treaty, German nationals over 18 years of age habitually
resident in any of the territories recognised as forming part of Poland will be
entitled to opt for German nationality.
Poles who are German nationals over 18 years of age and
habitually resident in Germany will have a similar right to opt for Polish
nationality.
Option by a husband will cover his wife and option by
parents will cover their children under 18 years of age.
Persons who have exercised the above right to opt may
within the succeeding twelve months transfer their place of residence to the
State for which they have opted.
They will be entitled to retain their immovable
property in the territory of the other State where they had their place of
residence before exercising the right to opt.
They may carry with them their movable property of
every description. No export or import duties or charges may be imposed upon
them in connection with the removal of such property.
Within the same period Poles who are German nationals
and are in a foreign country will be entitled, in the absence of any provisions
to the contrary in the foreign law, and if they have not acquired the foreign
nationality, to obtain Polish nationality and to lose their German nationality
by complying with the requirements laid down by the Polish State.
In the portion of Upper Silesia submitted to a
plebiscite the provisions of this Article shall only come into force as from the
definitive attribution of the territory.
ARTICLE 92.
The proportion and the nature of the financial
liabilities of Germany and Prussia which are to be borne by Poland will be
determined in accordance with Article 254 of Part IX (Financial Clauses) of the
present Treaty.
There shall be excluded from the share of such
financial liabilities assumed by Poland that portion of the debt which,
according to the finding of the Reparation Commission referred to in the
above-mentioned Article, arises from measures adopted by the German and Prussian
Governments with a view to German colonisation in Poland.
In fixing under Article 256 of the present Treaty the
value of the property and possessions belonging to the German Empire and to the
German States which pass to Poland with the territory transferred above, the
Reparation Commission shall exclude from the valuation buildings, forests, and
other State property which belonged to the former Kingdom of Poland; Poland
shall acquire these properties free of all costs and charges.
In all the German territory transferred in accordance
with the present Treaty and recognised as forming definitively part of Poland,
the property, rights, and interests of German nationals shall not be liquidated
under Article 297 by the Polish Government except in accordance with the
following provisions:
(1) The proceeds of the liquidation shall be paid
direct to the owner;
(2) If on his application the Mixed Arbitral Tribunal
provided for by Section VI of Part X (Economic Clauses) of the present Treaty,
or an arbitrator appointed by that Tribunal, is satisfied that the conditions of
the sale or measures taken by
the Polish Government outside its general legislation
were unfairly prejudicial to the price obtained, they shall have discretion to
award to the owner equitable compensation to be paid by the Polish Government.
Further agreements will regulate all questions arising
out of the cession of the above territory which are not regulated by the present
Treaty.
ARTICLE 93.
Poland accepts and agrees to embody in a Treaty with
the Principal Allied and Associated Powers such provisions as may be deemed
necessary by the said Powers to protect the interests of inhabitants of Poland
who differ from the majority of the population in race, language, or religion.
Poland further accepts and agrees to embody in a Treaty
with the said Powers such provisions as they may deem necessary to protect
freedom of transit and equitable treatment of the commerce of other nations.
SECTION IX. EAST
PRUSSIA.
ARTICLE 94.
In the area between the southern frontier of East
Prussia, as described in Article 28 of Part n (Boundaries of Germany) of the
present Treaty, and the line described below, the inhabitants will be called
upon to indicate by a vote the State to which they wish to belong:
The western and northern boundary of Regierungsbezirk
Allenstein to its junction with the boundary between the Kreise of Oletsko and
Angerburg; thence, the northern boundary of the Kreis of Oletsko to its junction
with the old frontier of East Prussia.
ARTICLE 95.
The German troops and authorities will be withdrawn
from the area defined above within a period not exceeding fifteen days after the
coming into force of the present treaty. Until the evacuation is completed they
will abstain from all requisitions in money or in kind and from all measures
injurious to the economic interests of the country.
On the expiration of the above-mentioned period the
said area will be placed under the authority of an International Commission of
five members appointed by
the Principal Allied and Associated Powers. This Commission will have
general powers of administration and, in particular, will be charged with the
duty of arranging for the vote and of taking such measures as it may deem
necessary to ensure its freedom, fairness, and secrecy. The Commission will have
all necessary authority to decide any questions to which the execution of these
provisions may give rise. The Commission will make such arrangements as may be
necessary for assistance in the exercise of its functions by officials chosen by
itself from the local population. Its decisions will be taken by a majority.
Every person, irrespective of sex, will be entitled to
vote who:
(a) Is 20 years of age at the date of the coming into
force of the present Treaty, and
(b) Was born within the area where the vote will take
place or has been habitually resident there from a date to be fixed by the
Commission.
Every person will vote in the commune where he is
habitually resident or, if not habitually resident in the area, in the commune
where he was born.
The result of the vote will be determined by communes
(Gemeinde) according to the majority of the votes in each commune.
On the conclusion of the voting the number of votes
cast in each commune will be communicated by the Commission to the Principal
Allied and Associated Powers, with a full report as the taking of the vote and a
recommendation as to the line which ought to be adopted as the boundary of East
Prussia in this region . In this recommendation regard will be paid to the
wishes of the inhabitants as shown by the vote and to the geographical and
economic conditions of the locality. The Principal Allied and Associated Powers
will then fix the frontier between East Prussia and Poland in this region.
If the line fixed by the Principal Allied and
Associated Powers is such as to exclude from East Prussia any part of the
territory defined in Article 94, the renunciation of its rights by Germany in
favour of Poland, as provided in Article 87 above, will extend to the
territories so excluded.
As soon as the line has been fixed by the Principal
Allied and Associated Powers, the authorities administering East Prussia will be
notified by the International Commission that they are free to take over the
administration of the territory to the north of the line so fixed, which they
shall proceed to do within one month of such notification and in the manner
prescribed by the Commission. Within the same period and as prescribed by the
Commission, the Polish Government must proceed to take over the administration
of the territory to the south of the line. The administration of the territory
by the East Prussian and Polish authorities respectively has been provided for,
the powers of the Commission will terminate.
Expenditure by the Commission, whether in the discharge
of its own functions or in the administration of the territory, will be borne by
the local revenues East Prussia will be required to bear such proportion of any
deficit as may be fixed by the Principal Allied and Associated Powers.
ARTICLE 96.
In the area comprising the Kreise of Stuhm and
Rosenberg and the portion of the Kreis of Marienburg which is situated east of
the Nogat and that of Marienwerder east of the Vistula, the inhabitants will be
called upon to indicate by a vote, to be taken in each commune (Gemeinde),
whether they desire the various communes situated in this territory to belong to
Poland or to East Prussia.
ARTICLE 97.
The German troops and authorities will be withdrawn
from the area defined in Article 96 within a period not exceeding fifteen days
after the coming into force of the present Treaty. Until the evacuation is
completed they will abstain from all requisitions in money or in kind and from
all measures injurious to the economic interests of the country.
On the expiration of the above-mentioned period, the
said area will be placed under the authority of an International Commission of
five members appointed by the Principal Allied and Associated Powers. This
Commission, supported if occasion arises by the necessary forces, will have
general powers of administration and in particular will be charged with the duty
of arranging for the vote and of taking such measures as it may deem necessary
to ensure its freedom, fairness, and secrecy. The Commission will conform as far
as possible to the provisions of the present Treaty relating to the plebiscite
in the Allenstein area; its decisions will be taken by a majority.
Expenditure by the Commission, whether in the discharge
of its own functions or in the administration of the territory, will be borne by
the local revenues.
On the conclusion of the voting the number of votes
cast in each commune will be communicated by the Commission to the Principal
Allied and Associated Powers with a full report as to the taking of the vote and
a recommendation as to the line which ought to be adopted as the boundary of
East Prussia in this region. In this recommendation regard will be paid to the
wishes of the inhabitants as shown by the vote and to the geographical and
economic conditions of the locality. The Principal Allied and Associated Powers
will then fix the frontier between East Prussia and Poland in this region,
leaving in any case to Poland for the whole of the section bordering on the
Vistula full and complete control of the river including the east bank as far
east of the river as may be necessary for its regulation and improvement,
Germany agrees that in any portion of the said territory which remains German,
no fortifications shall at any time be erected. The Principal Allied and
Associated Powers will at the same time draw up
regulations for assuring to the population of
East Prussia to the fullest extent and under equitable conditions access to the
Vistula and the use of it for themselves, their commerce, and their boats.
The determination of the frontier and the foregoing
regulations shall be binding upon all the parties concerned.
When the administration of the territory has been taken
over by the East Prussian and Polish authorities respectively, the powers of the
Commission will terminate.
ARTICLE 98.
Germany and Poland undertake, within one year of the
coming into force of this Treaty, to enter into conventions of which the terms,
in case of difference, shall be settled by the Council of the League of Nations,
with the object of securing, on the one hand, to Germany full and adequate
railroad, telegraphic and telephonic facilities for communication between the
rest of Germany and East Prussia over the intervening Polish territory, and on
the other hand to Poland full and adequate railroad, telegraphic and telephonic
facilities for communication between Poland and the Free City of Danzig over any
German territory that may, on the right bank of the Vistula, intervene between
Poland and the Free City of Danzig.
SECTION X. MEMEL.
ARTICLE 99.
Germany renounces in favour of the Principal Allied and
Associated Powers all rights and title over the territories included between the
Baltic, the north-eastern frontier of East Prussia as defined in Article 28 of
Part n (Boundaries of Germany) of the present Treaty and the former frontier
between Germany and Russia. Germany undertakes to accept the settlement made by
the Principal Allied and Associated Powers in regard to these territories,
particularly in so far as concerns the nationality of the inhabitants.
SECTION XI.
FREE CITY OF DANZIG.
ARTICLE 100.
Germany renounces in favour of the Principal Allied and
Associated Powers all rights and title over the territory comprised within the
following limits:
from the Baltic Sea southwards to the point where the
principal channels of navigation of the Nogat and the Vistula (Weichsel) meet:
the
boundary of East Prussia as described in Article 28 of Part n (Boundaries of
Germany) of the present Treaty;
thence the principal channel of navigation of the
Vistula downstream to a point about 6-1/2 kilometres north of the bridge of
Dirschau;
thence north-west to point 5-1/2 kilometres south-east
of the church of Guttiand: a line to be fixed on the ground,
thence in a general westerly direction to the salient
made by the boundary of the Kreis of Berent 8-1/2 kilometres north-east of
Schoneck:
a line to be fixed on the ground passing between
Muhlbanz on the south and Rambeltsch on the north;
thence the boundary of the Kreis of Berent westwards to
the re-entrant which it forms 6 kilometres north-north-west Schoneck; thence to
a point on the median line of Lonkener See:
a line to be fixed on the ground passing north of Neu
Fietz and Schatarpi and south of Barenhutte and Lonken;
thence the median line of Lonkener See to its
northernmost point;
thence to the southern end of Pollenziner See:
a line to be fixed on the ground;
thence the median line of Pollenziner See to its
northernmost point;
thence in a north-easterly direction to a point about 1
kilometre south of Koliebken church, where the Danzig-Neustadt railway crosses a
stream:
a line to be fixed on the ground passing south-east of
Kamehlen, Krissau, Fidlin, Sulmin (Richthof), Mattern, Schaferei, and to the
north-west of Neuendorf, Marschau, Czapielken, Hoch- and Klein-Kelpin,
Pulvermuhl, Renneberg, and the towns of Oliva and Zoppot;
thence the course of the stream mentioned above to the
Baltic Sea. The boundaries described above are drawn on a German map, scale
1/100,000, attached to the present Treaty (Map No. 3).
ARTICLE 101.
A Commission composed of three members appointed by the
Principal Allied and Associated Powers, including a High Commissioner as
President, one member appointed by Germany and one member appointed by Poland,
shall be constituted within fifteen days of the coming into force of the present
Treaty for the purpose
of delimiting on the spot the frontier of the territory as described above,
taking into account as far as possible the existing communal boundaries.
ARTICLE 102.
The Principal Allied and Associated Powers undertake to
establish the town of Danzig, together with the rest of the territory described
in Article 100, as a Free City. It will be placed under the protection of the
League of Nations.
ARTICLE 103.
A constitution for the Free City of Danzig shall be
drawn up by the duly appointed representatives of the Free City in agreement
with a High Commissioner to be appointed by the League of Nations. This
constitution shall be placed under the guarantee of the League of Nations.
The High Commissioner will also be entrusted with the
duty of dealing in the first instance with all differences arising between
Poland and the Free City of Danzig in regard to this Treaty or any arrangements
or agreements made thereunder.
The High
Commissioner shall reside at Danzig.
ARTICLE 104.
The Principal Allied and Associated Powers undertake to
negotiate a Treaty between the Polish Government and the Free City of Danzig,
which shall come into force at the same time as the establishment of the said
Free City, with the following objects:
(1) To effect the inclusion of the Free City of Danzig
within the Polish Customs frontiers, and to establish a free area in the port;
(2) To ensure to Poland without any restriction the
free use and service of all waterways, docks, basins, wharves and other works
within the territory of the Free City necessary for Polish imports and exports;
(3) To ensure to Poland the control and administration
of the Vistula and of the whole railway system within the Free City, except such
street and other railways as serve primarily the needs of the Free City, and of
postal, telegraphic and telephonic communication between Poland and the port of
Danzig;
(4) To ensure to Poland the right to develop and
improve the waterways, docks, basins, wharves, railways and other works and
means of communication mentioned in this Article, as well as to lease or
purchase through appropriate processes such land and other property as may be
necessary for these purposes,
(5) To provide against any discrimination within the
Free City of Danzig to the detriment of citizens of Poland and other persons of
Polish origin or speech;
(6) To provide that the Polish Government shall
undertake the conduct of the foreign relations of the Free City of Danzig as
well as the diplomatic protection of citizens of that city when abroad.
ARTICLE 105.
On the coming into force of the present Treaty German
nationals ordinarily resident in the territory described in Article 100 will
ipso facto lose their German nationality in order to become nationals of the
Free City of Danzig.
ARTICLE 106.
Within a period of two years from the coming into force
of the present Treaty, German nationals over 18 years of age ordinarily resident
in the territory described in Article 100 will have the right to opt for German
nationality.
Option by a husband will cover his wife and option by
parents will cover their children less than 18 years of age.
All persons who exercise the right of option referred
to above must during the ensuing twelve months transfer their place of residence
to Germany.
These persons will be entitled to preserve the
immovable property possessed by them in the territory of the Free City of
Danzig. They may carry with them their movable property of every description. No
export or import duties shall be imposed upon upon them in this connection.
ARTICLE 107.
All property situated within the territory of the Free
City of Danzig belonging to the German Empire or to any German State shall pass
to the Principal Allied and Associated Powers for transfer to the Free City of
Danzig or to the Polish State as they may consider equitable.
ARTICLE 108.
The proportion and nature of the financial liabilities
of Germany and of Prussia to be borne by the Free City of Danzig shall be fixed
in accordance with Article 254 of Part IX (Financial Clauses) of the present
Treaty.
All other questions which may arise from the cession of
the territory referred to in Article 100 shall be settled by further agreements.
SECTION XII.
SCHLESWIG.
ARTICLE 109.
The frontier between Germany and Denmark shall be fixed
in conformity with the wishes of the population.
For this purpose, the population inhabiting the
territories of the former German Empire situated to the north of a line, from
East to West, (shown by a brown line on the map No. 4, annexed to the present
Treaty):
leaving the Baltic Sea about 13 kilometres
east-north-east of Flensburg,
running south-west so as to pass south-east of: Sygum,
Ringsberg, Munkbrarup, Adelby, Tastrup, Jarplund, Oversee, and northwest of:
Langballigholz, Langballig, Bonstrup, Rullschau, Weseby, Kleinwolstrup,
Gross-Solt,
thence westwards passing south of Frorup and north of
Wanderup,
thence in a south-westerly direction passing south-east
of Oxlund, Stieglund and Ostenau and north-west of the villages on the
Wanderup-Kollund road,
thence in a north-westerly direction passing south-west
of Lowenstedt, Joldelund, Goldelund, and north-east of Kolkerheide and Hogel to
the bend of the Soholmer Au, about 1 kilometre east of Soholm, where it meets
the southern boundary of the Kreis of Tondern, following this boundary to the
North Sea,passing south of the islands of Fohr and Amrum and north of the
islands of Oland and Langeness, shall be called upon to pronounce by a vote
which will be taken under the following conditions:
(1) Within a period not exceeding ten days from the
coming into force of the present Treaty, the German troops and authorities
(including the Oberprasidenten, Regjerungs-prasidenten, Landrathe,
Amtsvorsteher, Oberburgermeister) shall evacuate the zone lying to the north of
the line above fixed.
Within the same period the Workmen's and Soldiers',
Councils which have been constituted in this zone shall be dissolved; members of
such councils who are natives of another region and are exercising their
functions at the date of the coming into force of the present Treaty, or who
have gone out of office since March 1,1919, shall also be evacuated.
The said zone shall immediately be placed under the
authority of an International Commission, composed of five members, of whom
three will be designated by the Principal Allied and Associated Powers; the
Norwegian and Swedish Governments will each be requested to designate a member;
in the event of their failing to do so, these two members will be chosen by the
Principal Allied and Associated Powers.
The Commission, assisted in case of need by the
necessary forces, shall have general powers of administration. In particular, it
shall at once provide for filling the places of the evacuated German
authorities, and if necessary shall itself give orders for their evacuation, and proceed to fill the places
of such local authorities as may be required. It shall take all steps which it
thinks proper to ensure the freedom, fairness, and secrecy of the vote. It shall
be assisted by German and Danish technical advisers chosen by it from among the
local population. Its decisions will be taken by a majority.
One-half of the expenses of the Commission and of the
expenditure occasioned by the plebiscite shall be paid by Germany.
(2) The right to vote shall be given to all persons,
without distinction of sex, who:
(a) Have completed their twentieth year at the date of
the coming into force of the present Treaty; and
(b) Were born in the zone in which the plebiscite is
taken, or have been domiciled there since a date before January 1,1900, or had
been expelled by the German authorities without having retained their domicile
there.
Every person will vote in the commune (Gemeinde) where
he is domiciled or of which he is a native.
Military persons, officers, non-commissioned officers
and soldiers of the German army, who are natives of the zone of Schleswig in
which the plebiscite is taken, shall be given the opportunity to return to their
native place in order to take part in the voting there.
(3) In the section of the evacuated zone lying to the
north of a line, from East to West (shown by a red line on map No. 4 which is
annexed to the present Treaty). [See Introduction]:
passing south of the island of Alsen and following the
median line of Flensburg Fjord,
leaving the fjord about 6 kilometres north of Flensburg
and following the course of the stream flowing past Kupfermuhle upstream to a
point north of Niehuus, passing north of Pattburg and Ellund and south of
Froslee to meet the eastern boundary of the Kreis of Tondern at its junction
with the boundary between the old jurisdiction of Slogs and Kjaer (Slogs,
Herred, and Kaer Herred), following the latter boundary to where it meets the
Scheidebek, following the course of the Scheidebek (Alte Au), Suder Au, and Wied
Au downstream successively to the point where the latter bends northwards about
1,500 metres west of Ruttebull thence, in a west-north-westerly direction to
meet the North Sea north of Sieltoft, thence, passing north of the island of
Sylt, the vote above provided for shall be taken within a period not exceeding
three weeks after the evacuation of the country by the German troops and
authorities.
The result will be determined by the majority of votes
cast in the whole of this section. This result will be immediately communicated
by the Commission to the Principal Allied and Associated Powers and proclaimed.
If the vote results in favour of the reincorporation of
this territory in the Kingdom of Denmark, the Danish Government in agreement
with the Commission will be entitled to effect its occupation with their
military and administrative authorities immediately after the proclamation.
(4) In the section of the evacuated zone situated to
the south of the preceding section and to the north of the line which starts
from the Baltic Sea 13 kilometres from Flensburg and ends north of the islands
of Oland and Langeness, the vote will be taken within a period not exceeding
five weeks after the plebiscite shall have been held in the first section.
The result will be determined by communes (Gemeinden),
in accordance with the majority of the votes cast in each commune (Gemeinde).
ARTICLE 110.
Pending a delimitation on the spot, a frontier line
will be fixed by the Principal Allied and Associated Powers according to a line
based on the result of the voting, and proposed by the International Commission,
and taking into account the particular geographical and economic conditions of
the localities in question.
From that time the Danish Government may effect the
occupation of these territories with the Danish civil and military authorities,
and the German Government may reinstate up to the said frontier line the German
civil and military authorities whom it has evacuated.
Germany hereby renounces definitely in favour of the
Principal Allied and Associated Powers all rights of sovereignty over the
territories situated to the north of the frontier line fixed in accordance with
the above provisions. The Principal Allied and Associated Powers will hand over
the said territories to Denmark.
ARTICLE 111.
A Commission composed of seven members, five of whom
shall be nominated by the Principal Allied and Associated Powers, one by
Denmark, and one by Germany, shall be constituted within fifteen days from the
date when the final result of the vote is known, to trace the frontier line on
the spot.
The decisions of the Commission will be taken by a
majority of votes and shall be binding on the parties concerned.
ARTICLE 112.
All the inhabitants of the territory which is returned
to Denmark will acquire Danish nationality ipso facto, and will lose their
German nationality.
Persons, however, who had become habitually resident in
this territory after October 1,1918, will not be able to acquire Danish
nationality without permission from the Danish Government.
ARTICLE 113.
Within two years from the date on which the sovereignty
over the whole or part of the territory of Schleswig subjected to the plebiscite
is restored to Denmark:
Any person over 18 years of age, born in the territory
restored to Denmark not habitually resident in this region, and possessing
German nationality, will be entitled to opt for Denmark;
Any person over 18 years of age habitually resident in
the territory restored to Denmark will be entitled to opt for Germany.
Option by a husband will cover his wife and option by
parents will cover their children less than 18 years of age.
Persons who have exercised the above right to opt must
within the ensuing twelve months transfer their place of residence to the State
in favour of which they have opted.
They will be entitled to retain the immovable property
which they own in the territory of the other State in which they were habitually
resident before opting. They may carry with them their movable property of every
description. No export or import duties may be imposed upon them in connection
with the removal of such property.
ARTICLE 114.
The proportion and nature of the financial or other
obligations of Germany and Prussia which are to be assumed by Denmark will be
fixed in accordance with Article 254 of Part IX (Financial Clauses) of the
present Treaty.
Further stipulations will determine any other questions
arising out of the transfer to Denmark of the whole or part of the territory of
which she was deprived by the Treaty of October 30,1864.
SECTION XIII.
HELIGOLAND.
ARTICLE 115.
The fortifications, military establishments, and
harbours, of the Islands of Heligoland and Dune shall be destroyed under the
supervision of the Principal Allied Governments by German labour and at the
expense of Germany within a period to be determined by the said Governments.
The term "harbours,, shall include the north-east
mole, the west wall, the outer and inner breakwaters, and reclaimed land within
them, and all naval and military works, fortifications, and buildings,
constructed or under construction, between lines connecting the following
positions taken from the British Admiralty chart No. 126 of April 19,1918:
(a) lat. 54° 10' 49" N.; long. 7° 53' 39" E.; (b) 54° 10' 35" N.; 7° 54' 18" E.; (c) 54° 10' 14" N.; 7° 54' 00" E.; (d) 54° 10' 17" N.; 7° 53' 37" R; (e) 54° 10' 44" N.; 7° 53' 26" E.
These fortifications, military establishments, and
harbours shall not be reconstructed nor shall any similar works be constructed
in future.
SECTION XIV.
RUSSIA AND RUSSIAN STATES.
ARTICLE 116.
Germany acknowledges and agrees to respect as permanent
and inalienable the independence of all the territories which were part of the
former Russian Empire on August 1, 1914.
In accordance with the provisions of Article 259 of
Part IX (Financial Clauses) and Article 292 of Part X (Economic Clauses) Germany
accepts definitely the abrogation of the Brest-Litovsk Treaties and of all other
treaties, conventions, and agreements entered into by her with the Maximalist
Government in Russia.
The Allied and Associated Powers formally reserve the
rights of Russia to obtain from Germany restitution and reparation based on the
principles of the present Treaty.
ARTICLE 117.
Germany undertakes to recognise the full force of all
treaties or agreements which may be entered into by the Allied and Associated
Powers with States now existing or coming into existence in future in the whole
or part of the former Empire of Russia as it existed on August 1,1914, and to
recognise the frontiers of any such States as determined therein.
MANDATES IN
AFRICA
[see MAP]
PART IV.
GERMAN RIGHTS AND INTERESTS OUTSIDE GERMANY.
ARTICLE 118.
In territory outside her European frontiers as fixed by
the present Treaty, Germany renounces all rights, titles and privileges whatever
in or over territory which belonged to her or to her allies, and all rights,
titles and privileges whatever their origin which she held as against the Allied
and Associated Powers.
Germany hereby undertakes to recognise and to conform
to the measures which may be taken now or in the future by the Principal Allied
and Associated Powers, in agreement where necessary with third Powers, in order
to carry the above stipulation into effect
In particular Germany declares her acceptance of the
following Articles relating to certain special subjects.
SECTION I. GERMAN
COLONIES. ARTICLE 119.
Germany renounces in favour of the Principal Allied and
Associated Powers all her rights and titles over her oversea possessions.
ARTICLE 120.
All movable and immovable property in such territories
belonging to the German Empire or to any German State shall pass to the
Government exercising authority over such territories, on the terms laid down in
Article 257 of Part IX (Financial Clauses) of the present Treaty. The decision
of the local courts in any dispute as to the nature of such property shall be
final.
ARTICLE 121.
The provisions of Sections I and IV of Part X (Economic
Clauses) of the present Treaty shall apply in the case of these territories
whatever be the form of Government adopted for them.
ARTICLE 122.
The Government exercising authority over such
territories may make such provisions as it thinks fit with reference to the
repatriation from them of German nationals and to the conditions upon which
German subjects of European origin shall, or shall not, be allowed to reside,
hold property, trade or exercise a profession in them.
ARTICLE 123.
The provisions of Article 260 of Part IX (Financial
Clauses) of the present Treaty shall apply in the case of all agreements
concluded with German nationals for the construction or exploitation of public
works in the German oversea possessions, as well as any sub-concessions or
contracts resulting therefrom which may have been made to or with such
nationals.
ARTICLE 124.
Germany hereby undertakes to pay, in accordance with
the estimate to be presented by the French Government and approved by the
Reparation Commission, reparation for damage suffered by French nationals in the
Cameroons or the frontier zone by reason of the acts of the German civil and
military authorities and of German private individuals during the period from
January 1, 1900, to August 1, 1914.
ARTICLE 125.
Germany renounces all rights under the Conventions and
Agreements with France of November 4,1911, and September 28,1912, relating to
Equatorial Africa. She undertakes to pay to the French Government, in accordance
with the estimate to be presented by that Government and approved by the
Reparation Commission, all the deposits, credits, advances, etc., effected by
virtue of these instruments in favour of Germany.
ARTICLE 126.
Germany undertakes to accept and observe the agreements
made or to be made by the Allied and Associated Powers or some of them with any
other Power with regard to the trade in arms and spirits, and to the matters
dealt with in the General Act of Berlin of February 26,1885, the General Act of
Brussels of July 2, 1890, and the conventions completing or modifying the same.
ARTICLE 127.
The native inhabitants of the former German oversea
possessions shall be entitled to the diplomatic protection of the Governments
exercising authority over those territories.
SECTION II. CHINA.
ARTICLE 128.
Germany renounces in favour of China all benefits and
privileges resulting from the provisions of the final Protocol signed at Peking
on September 7,1901, and from all annexes, notes and documents supplementary
thereto. She likewise renounces in favour of China any claim to indemnities
accruing thereunder subsequent to March 14, 1917.
ARTICLE 129.
From the coming into force of the present Treaty the
High Contracting Parties shall apply, in so far as concerns them respectively:
(1) The Arrangement of August 29,1902, regarding the
new Chinese customs tariff;
(2) The Arrangement of September 27, 1905, regarding
Whang-Poo, and the provisional supplementary Arrangement of April 4, 1912.
China, however, will no longer be bound to grant to
Germany the advantages or privileges which she allowed Germany under these
Arrangements.
[SEE MAP p. 87]
ARTICLE 130.
Subject to the provisions of Section VIE of this Part,
Germany cedes to China all the buildings, wharves and pontoons, barracks, forts,
arms and munitions of war, vessels of all kinds, wireless telegraphy
installations and other public property belonging to the German Government,
which are situated or may be in the German Concessions at Tientsin and Hankow or
elsewhere in Chinese territory.
It is understood, however, that premises used as
diplomatic or consular residences or offices are not included in the above
cession, and, furthermore, that no steps shall be taken by the Chinese
Government to dispose of the German public and private property situated within
the so-called Legation Quarter at Peking without the consent of the Diplomatic
Representatives of the Powers which, on the coming into force of the present
Treaty, remain Parties to the Final Protocol of September 7,1901.
ARTICLE 131.
Germany undertakes to restore to China within twelve
months from the coming into force of the present Treaty all the astronomical
instruments which her troops in 1900-1901 carried away from China, and to defray
all expenses which may be incurred in effecting such restoration, including the
expenses of dismounting, packing, transporting, insurance and installation in
Peking.
ARTICLE 132.
Germany agrees to the abrogation of the leases from the
Chinese Government under which the German Concessions at Hankow and Tientsin are
now held.
China, restored to the full exercise of her sovereign
rights in the above areas, declares her intention of opening them to
international residence and trade. She further declares that the abrogation of
the leases under which these concessions are now held shall not affect the
property rights of nationals of Allied and Associated Powers who are holders of
lots in these concessions.
ARTICLE 133
Germany waives all claims against the Chinese
Government or against any Allied or Associated Government arising out of the
internment of German nationals in China and their repatriation. She equally
renounces all claims arising out of the capture and condemnation of German ships
in China, or the liquidation, sequestration or control of German properties,
rights and interests in that country since August 14, 1917. This provision,
however, shall not affect the rights of the parties interested in the proceeds
of any such liquidation, which shall be governed by the provisions of Part X
(Economic Clauses) of the present Treaty.
ARTICLE 134
Germany renounces in favour of the Government of His
Britannic Majesty the German State property in the British Concession at Shameen
at Canton. She renounces in favour of the French and Chinese Governments
conjointly the property of the German school situated in the French Concession
at Shanghai.
SECTION III.
SIAM.
ARTICLE 135.
Germany recognises that all treaties, conventions and
agreements between her and Siam, and all rights, title and privileges derived
therefrom, including all rights of extraterritorial jurisdiction, terminated as
from July 22,1917.
ARTICLE 136.
All goods and property in Siam belonging to the German
Empire or to any German State, with the exception of premises used as diplomatic
or consular residences or offices, pass ipso facto and without compensation to
the Siamese Government.
The goods, property and private rights of German
nationals in Siam shall be dealt with in accordance with the provisions of Part
X (Economic Clauses) of the present Treaty.
ARTICLE 137
Germany waives all claims against the Siamese
Government on behalf of herself or her nationals arising out of the seizure or
condemnation of German ships, the liquidation of German property, or the
internment of German nationals in Siam. This provision shall not affect the
rights of the parties interested in the proceeds of any such liquidation, which
shall be governed by the provisions of Part X (Economic Clauses) of the present
Treaty.
SECTION IV.
LIBERIA.
ARTICLE 138.
Germany renounces all rights and privileges arising
from the arrangements of 1911 and 1912 regarding Liberia, and particularly the
right to nominate a German Receiver of Customs in Liberia.
She further renounces all claim to participate in any
measures whatsoever which may be adopted for the rehabilitation of Liberia.
ARTICLE 139.
Germany recognises that all treaties and arrangements
between her and Liberia terminated as from August 4,1917.
ARTICLE 140
The property, rights and interests of Germans in
Liberia shall be dealt with in accordance with Part X (Economic Clauses) of the
present Treaty.
SECTION V.
MOROCCO. ARTICLE 141.
Germany renounces all rights, titles and privileges
conferred on her by the General Act of Algeciras of April 7, 1906, and by the
Franco-German Agreements of February 9, 1909, and November 4, 1911. All
treaties, agreements, arrangements and contracts concluded by her with the
Sherifian Empire are regarded as abrogated as from August 3,1914
In no case can Germany take advantage of these
instruments and she undertakes not to intervene in any way in negotiations
relating to Morocco which may take place between France and the other Powers.
ARTICLE 142.
Germany having recognised the French Protectorate in
Morocco, hereby accepts all the consequences of its establishment, and she
renounces the regime of the capitulations therein.
This renunciation shall take effect as from August
3,1914. ARTICLE 143.
The Sherifian Government shall have complete liberty of
action in regulating the status of German nationals in Morocco and the
conditions in which they may establish themselves there.
German protected persons, semsars and "associes
agricoles", shall be considered as having ceased, as from August 3,1914, to
enjoy the privileges attached to their status and shall be subject to the
ordinary law.
ARTICLE 144.
All property and possessions in the Sherifian Empire of
the German Empire and the German States pass to the Maghzen without payment.
For this purpose, the property and possessions of the
German Empire and States shall be deemed to include all the property of the
Crown, the Empire or the States, and the private property of the former German
Emperor and other Royal personages.
All movable and immovable property in the Sherifian
Empire belonging to German nationals shall be dealt with in accordance with
Sections HI and IV of Part X (Economic Clauses) of the present Treaty.
Mining rights which may be recognised as belonging to
German nationals by the Court of Arbitration set up under the Moroccan Mining
Regulations shall form the subject of a valuation, which the arbitrators shall
be requested to make, and these rights shall then be treated in the same way as
property in Morocco belonging to German nationals.
ARTICLE 145.
The German Government shall ensure the transfer to a
person nominated by the French Government of the shares representing Germany's
portion of the capital of the State Bank of Morocco. The value of these shares,
as assessed by the Reparation Commission, shall be paid to the Reparation
Commission for the credit of Germany on account of the sums due for reparation.
The German Government shall be responsible for indemnifying its nationals so
dispossessed.
This transfer will take place without prejudice to the
repayment of debts which German nationals may have contracted towards the State
Bank of Morocco.
ARTICLE 146.
Moroccan goods entering Germany shall enjoy the
treatment accorded to French goods
SECTION VI.
EGYPT.
ARTICLE 147.
Germany declares that she recognises the Protectorate
proclaimed over Egypt by Great Britain on December 18,1914, and that she
renounces the regime of the Capitulations in Egypt.
This renunciation
shall take effect as from August 4,1914.
ARTICLE 148
All treaties, agreements, arrangements and contracts
concluded by Germany with Egypt are regarded as abrogated as from August 4,1914.
In no case can Germany avail herself of these
instruments and she undertakes not to intervene in any way in negotiations
relating to Egypt which may take place between Great Britain and the other
Powers.
ARTICLE 149.
Until an Egyptian law of judicial organization
establishing courts with universal jurisdiction comes into force, provision
shall be made, by means of decrees issued by His Highness the Sultan, for the
exercise of jurisdiction over German nationals and property by the British
Consular Tribunals.
ARTICLE 150
The Egyptian Government shall have complete liberty of
action in regulating the status of German nationals and the conditions under
which they may establish themselves in Egypt.
ARTICLE 151.
Germany consents to the abrogation of the decree issued
by His Highness the Khedive on November 28,1914, relating to the Commission of
the Egyptian Public Debt, or to such changes as the Egyptian Government may
think it desirable to make therein.
ARTICLE 152.
Germany consents, in so far as she is concerned, to the
transfer to His Britannic Majesty's Government of the powers conferred on His
Imperial Majesty the Sultan
by the Convention signed at Constantinople on October
29, 1888, relating to the free navigation of the Suez Canal.
She renounces all participation in the Sanitary,
Maritime, and Quarantine Board of Egypt and consents, in so far as she is
concerned, to the transfer to the Egyptian Authorities of the powers of that
Board.
ARTICLE 153.
All property and possessions in Egypt of the German
Empire and the German States pass to the Egyptian Government without payment.
For this purpose, the property and possessions of the
German Empire and States shall be deemed to include all the property of the
Crown, the Empire or the States, and the private property of the former German
Emperor and other Royal personages.
All movable and immovable property in Egypt belonging
to German nationals shall be dealt with in accordance with Sections HI and IV of
Part X (Economic Clauses) of the present Treaty.
ARTICLE 154.
Egyptian goods entering Germany shall enjoy the
treatment accorded to British goods.
SECTION VII
TURKEY AND BULGARIA.
ARTICLE 155.
Germany undertakes to recognise and accept all
arrangements which the Allied and Associated Powers may make with Turkey and
Bulgaria with reference to any rights, interests and privileges whatever which
might be claimed by Germany or her nationals in Turkey and Bulgaria and which
are not dealt with in the provisions of the present Treaty.
SECTION VIII
SHANTUNG.
ARTICLE 156.
Germany renounces, in favour of Japan, all her rights,
title and privileges" particularly those concerning the territory of
Kiaochow, railways, mines and submarine cableswhich she acquired in virtue of
the Treaty concluded by her with China on March 6 1898, and of all other
arrangements relative to the Province of Shantung.
All German rights in the Tsingtao-Tsinanfu Railway,
including its branch lines together with its subsidiary property of all kinds,
stations, shops, fixed and rolling stock, mines, plant and material for the
exploitation of the mines, are and remain acquired by Japan, together with all
rights and privileges attaching thereto.
The German State submarine cables from Tsingtao to
Shanghai and from Tsingtao to Chefoo, with all the rights, privileges and
properties attaching thereto, are similarly acquired by Japan, free and clear of
all charges and encumbrances.
ARTICLE 157.
The movable and immovable property owned by the German
State in the territory of Kiaochow, as well as all the rights which Germany
might claim in consequence of the works or improvements made or of the expenses
incurred by her, directly or indirectly, in connection with this territory, are
and remain acquired by Japan, free and clear of all charges and encumbrances.
ARTICLE 158.
Germany shall hand over to Japan within three months
from the coming into force of the present Treaty the archives, registers, plans,
title-deeds and documents of every kind, wherever they may be, relating to the
administration, whether civil, military, financial, judicial or other, of the
territory of Kiaochow.
Within the same period Germany shall give particulars
to Japan of all treaties, arrangements or agreements relating to the rights,
title or privileges referred to in the two preceding Articles.
PARTY.
MILITARY, NAVAL AND AIR CLAUSES.
In order to render possible the initiation of a general
limitation of the armaments of all nations, Germany undertakes strictly to
observe the military, naval and air clauses which follow.
SECTION I.
MILITARY CLAUSES.
CHAPTER I.
EFFECTIVES AND CADRES OF THE GERMAN ARMY.
ARTICLE 159.
The German military forces shall be demobilised and
reduced as prescribed hereinafter.
ARTICLE 160.
(1) By a date which must not be later than March
31,1920, the German Army must not comprise more than seven divisions of infantry
and three divisions of
cavalry.
After that date the total number of effectives in the
Army of the States constituting Germany must not exceed one hundred thousand
men, including officers and establishments of depots. The Army shall be devoted
exclusively to the maintenance of order within the territory and to the control
of the frontiers.
The total effective strength of officers, including the
personnel of staffs, whatever their composition, must not exceed four thousand.
(2) Divisions and Army Corps headquarters staffs shall
be organised in accordance with Table No. 1 annexed to this Section.
The number and strengths of the units of infantry,
artillery, engineers, technical services and troops laid down in the aforesaid
Table constitute maxima which must not be exceeded.
The following units may each have their own depot:
An Infantry regiment; A Cavalry regiment; A regiment of
Field Artillery; A battalion of Pioneers.
(3) The divisions must not be grouped under more than
two army corps headquarters staffs.
The maintenance or formation of forces differently
grouped or of other organisations for the command of troops or for preparation
for war is forbidden.
The Great German General Staff and all similar
organisations shall be dissolved and may not be reconstituted in any form.
The officers, or persons in the position of officers,
in the Ministries of War in the different States in Germany and in the
Administrations attached to them, must not exceed three hundred in number and
are included in the maximum strength of four thousand laid down in the third
sub-paragraph of paragraph (1) of this Article.
ARTICLE 161.
Army administrative services consisting of civilian
personnel not included in the number of effectives prescribed by the present
Treaty will have such personnel reduced in each class to one-tenth of that laid
down in the Budget of 1913.
ARTICLE 162.
The number of employees or officials of the German
States such as customs officers, forest guards and coastguards, shall not exceed
that of the employees or officials functioning in these capacities in 1913.
The number of gendarmes and employees or officials of
the local or municipal police may only be increased to an extent corresponding
to the increase of population since 1913 in the districts or municipalities in
which they are employed.
These employees
and officials may not be assembled for military training.
ARTICLE: 163.
The reduction of the strength of the German military
forces as provided for in Article 160 may be effected gradually in the following
manner:
Within three months from the coming into force of the
present Treaty the total number of effectives must be reduced to 200,000 and the
number of units must not exceed twice the number of those laid down in Article
160.
At the expiration of this period, and at the end of
each subsequent period of three months, a Conference of military experts of the
Principal Allied and Associated Powers will fix the reductions to be made in the
ensuing three months, so that by March 31,1920, at the latest the total number
of German effectives does not exceed the maximum number of 100,000 men laid down
in Article 160. In these successive reductions the same ratio between the number
of officers and of men, and between the various kinds of units, shall be
maintained as is laid down in that Article.
CHAPTER H.
ARMAMENT, MUNITIONS AND MATERIAL.
ARTICLE 164.
Up till the time at which Germany is admitted as a
member of the League of Nations the German Army must not possess an armament
greater than the amounts fixed in Table No. II annexed to this Section, with the
exception of an optional increase not exceeding one-twentyfifth part for small
arms and one-fiftieth part for guns, which shall be exclusively used to provide
for such eventual replacements as may be necessary.
Germany agrees that after she has become a member of
the League of Nations the armaments fixed in the said Table shall remain in
force until they are modified by the Council of the League. Furthermore she
hereby agrees strictly to observe the decisions of the Council of the League on
this subject.
ARTICLE 165.
The maximum number of guns, machine guns,
trench-mortars, rifles and the amount of ammunition and equipment which Germany
is allowed to maintain during the period between the coming into force of the
present Treaty and the date of March 31,1920, referred to in Article 160, shall
bear the same proportion to the amount authorized in Table No. HI annexed to
this Section as the strength of the German Army as reduced from time to time in
accordance with Article 163 bears to the strength permitted under Article 160.
ARTICLE 166
At the date of March 31,1920, the stock of munitions
which the German Army may have at its disposal shall not exceed the amounts
fixed in Table No. HI annexed to this Section.
Within the same period the German Government will store
these stocks at points to be notified to the Governments of the Principal Allied
and Associated Powers. The German Government is forbidden to establish any other
stocks, depots or reserves of munitions.
ARTICLE 167.
The number and calibre of the guns constituting at the
date of the coming into force of the present Treaty the armament of the
fortified works, fortresses, and any land or coast forts which Germany is
allowed to retain must be notified immediately by the German Government to the
Governments of the Principal Allied and Associated Powers, and will constitute
maximum amounts which may not be exceeded.
Within two months from the coming into force of the
present Treaty, the maximum stock of ammunition for these guns will be reduced
to, and maintained at, the following uniform rates: fifteen hundred rounds per
piece for those the calibre of which is 10.5 cm. and under: five hundred rounds
per piece for those of higher calibre.
ARTICLE 168.
The manufacture of arms, munitions, or any war
material, shall only be carried out in factories or works the location of which
shall be communicated to and approved by the Governments of the Principal Allied
and Associated Powers, and the number of which they retain the right to
restrict.
Within three months from the coming into force of the
present Treaty, all other establishments for the manufacture, preparation,
storage or design of arms, munitions, or any war material whatever shall be
closed down. The same applies to all arsenals except those used as depots for
the authorised stocks of munitions. Within the same period the personnel of
these arsenals will be dismissed.
ARTICLE 169.
Within two months from the coming into force of the
present Treaty German arms, munitions and war material, including anti-aircraft
material, existing in Germany in excess of the quantities allowed, must be
surrendered to the Governments of the Principal Allied and Associated Powers to
be destroyed or rendered useless. This will also apply to any special plant
intended for the manufacture of military material, except such as may be
recognised as necessary for equipping the authorised strength of the German
army.
The surrender in question will be effected at such
points in German territory as may be selected by the said Governments.
Within the same period arms, munitions and war
material, including anti-aircraft material, of origin other than German, in
whatever state they may be, will be delivered to the said Governments, who will
decide as to their disposal.
Arms and munitions which on account of the successive
reductions in the strength of the German army become in excess of the amounts
authorised by Tables n and HI annexed to this Section must be handed over in the
manner laid down above within such periods as may be decided by the Conferences
referred to in Article 163.
ARTICLE 170.
Importation into Germany of arms, munitions and war
material of every kind shall be strictly prohibited.
The same applies to the manufacture for, and export to,
foreign countries of arms, munitions and war material of every kind.
ARTICLE 171
The use of asphyxiating, poisonous or other gases and
all analogous liquids, materials or devices being prohibited, their manufacture
and importation are strictly forbidden in Germany.
The same applies to materials specially intended for
the manufacture, storage and use of the said products or devices.
The manufacture and the importation into Germany of
armoured cars, tanks and all similar constructions suitable for use in war are
also prohibited.
ARTICLE 172.
Within a period of three months from the coming into
force of the present Treaty, the German Government will disclose to the
Governments of the Principal Allied and Associated Powers the nature and mode of
manufacture of all explosives, toxic substances or other like chemical
preparations used by them in the war or prepared by them for the purpose of
being so used.
CHAPTER HI
RECRUITING AND MILITARY TRAINING
ARTICLE 173.
Universal compulsory military service shall be
abolished in Germany.
The German Army may only be constituted and recruited
by means of voluntary enlistment.
ARTICLE 174
The period of enlistment for non-commissioned officers
and privates must be twelve consecutive years.
The number of men discharged for any reason before the
expiration of their term of enlistment must not exceed in any year five per
cent, of the total effectives fixed by the second subparagraph of paragraph (I)
of Article 160 of the present Treaty.
ARTICLE 175.
The officers who are retained in the Army must
undertake the obligation to serve in it up to the age of forty-five years at
least.
Officers newly appointed must undertake to serve on the
active list for twenty-five consecutive years at least.
Officers who have previously belonged to any formations
whatever of the Army, and who are not retained in the units allowed to be
maintained, must not take part in any military exercise whether theoretical or
practical, and will not be under any military obligations whatever.
The number of officers discharged for any reason before
the expiration of their term of service must not exceed in any year five per
cent, of the total effectives of officers provided for in the third
sub-paragraph (I) of Article 160 of the present Treaty.
ARTICLE 176.
On the expiration of two months from the coming into
force of the present Treaty there must only exist in Germany the number of
military schools which is absolutely indispensable for the recruitment of the
officers of the units allowed. These schools will be exclusively intended for
the recruitment of officers of each arm, in the proportion of one school per
arm.
The number of students admitted to attend the courses
of the said schools will be strictly in proportion to the vacancies to be filled
in the cadres of officers.
The students and the cadres will be reckoned in the
effectives fixed by the second and third subparagraphs of paragraph (I) of
Article 160 of the present Treaty.
Consequently, and during the period fixed above, all
military academies or similar institutions in Germany, as well as the different
military schools for officers, student officers (Aspiranten), cadets,
non-commissioned officers or student non-commissioned officers (Aspiranten),
other than the schools above provided for, will be abolished.
ARTICLE 177.
Educational establishments, the universities, societies
of discharged soldiers, shooting or touring clubs and, generally speaking
associations of every description, whatever be the age of their members, must
not occupy themselves with any military matters.
In particular they will be forbidden to instruct or
exercise their members or to allow them to be instructed or exercised, in the
profession or use of arms.
These societies, assocktions, educational
establishments and universities must have no connection with the Ministries of
War or any other military authority.
ARTICLE 178.
All measures of mobilisation or appertaining to
mobilisation are forbidden.
In no case must formations, administrative services or
General Staffs include supplementary cadres.
ARTICLE 179.
Germany agrees, from the coming into force of the
present Treaty, not to accredit nor to send to any foreign country any military,
naval or air mission, nor to allow any such mission to leave her territory, and
Germany further agrees to take appropriate measures to prevent German nationals
from leaving her territory to become enrolled in the Army, Navy or Air service
of any foreign Power, or to be attached to such Army, Navy or Air service for
the purpose of assisting in the military, naval or air training thereof, or
otherwise for the purpose of giving military, naval or air instruction in any
foreign country.
The Allied and Associated Powers agree, so far as they
are concerned, from the coming into force of the present Treaty, not to enroll
in nor to attach to their armies or naval or air forces any German national for
the purpose of assisting in the military training of such armies or naval or air
forces, or otherwise to employ any such German national as military, naval or
aeronautic instructor.
The present provision does not, however, affect the
right of France to recruit for the Foreign Legion in accordance with French
military laws and regulations.
CHAPTER IV.
FORTIFICATIONS
ARTICLE 180.
All fortified works, fortresses and field works
situated in German territory to the west of a line drawn fifty kilometres to the
east of the Rhine shall be disarmed and dismantled.
Within a period of two months from the coming into
force of the present Treaty such of the above fortified works, fortresses and
field works as are situated in territory not occupied by Allied and Associated
troops shall be disarmed, and within a further period of four months they shall
be dismantled. Those which are situated in territory occupied by Allied and
Associated troops shall be disarmed and dismantled within such periods as may be
fixed by the Allied High Command.
The construction of any new fortification, whatever its
nature and importance, is forbidden in the zone referred to in the first
paragraph above.
The system of fortified works of the southern and
eastern frontiers of Germany shall be maintained in its existing state.
[SEE TABLES]
SECTION II. NAVAL
CLAUSES.
ARTICLE 181.
After the expiration of a period of two months from the
coming into force of the present Treaty the German naval forces in commission
must not exceed:
6 battleships of the Deutschland or Lothringen type, 6
light cruisers, 12 destroyers, 12 torpedo boats, or an equal number of ships
constructed to replace them as provided in Article 190.
No submarines are to be included. All other warships,
except where there is provision to the contrary in the present Treaty, must be
placed in reserve or devoted to commercial purposes.
ARTICLE 182.
Until the completion of the minesweeping prescribed by
Article 193 Germany will keep in commission such number of minesweeping vessels
as may be fixed by the Governments of the Principal Allied and Associated
Powers.
ARTICLE 183.
After the expiration of a period of two months from the
coming into force of the present Treaty, the total personnel of the German Navy,
including the manning of the Deet, coast defences, signal stations,
administration and other land services, must not exceed fifteen thousand,
including officers and men of all grades and corps,
The total strength of officers and warrant officers
must not exceed fifteen hundred.
Within two months from the coming into force of the
present Treaty the personnel in excess of the above strength shall be
demobilised.
No naval or military corps or reserve force in
connection with the Navy may be organised in Germany without being included in
the above strength.
From the date of the coming into force of the present
Treaty all the German surface warships which are not in German ports cease to
belong to Germany, who renounces all rights over them.
Vessels which, in compliance with the Armistice of
November 11,1918, are now interned in the ports of the Allied and Associated
Powers are declared to be finally surrendered.
Vessels which are now interned in neutral ports will be
there surrendered to the Governments of the Principal Allied and Associated
Powers. The German Government must address a notification to that effect to the
neutral Powers on the coming into force of the present Treaty.
ARTICLE 184.
From the date of the coming into force of the present
Treaty, all the German surface warships which are not in German port cease to
belong to Germany, who renounces all rights over them.
Vessels which, in compliance with the Armistice of
November 11,1918, are now interned in the ports of the Allied and Associated
Powers are declared to be finally surrendered.
Vessels which are now interned in neutral ports will be
there surrendered to the Governments of the Principal Allied and Associated
Powers. The German Government must address all notification to that effect to
the neutral Powers on the coming into force of the present Treaty.
ARTICLE 185.
Within a period of two months from the coming into
force of the present Treaty the German surface warships enumerated below will be
surrendered to the Governments of the Principal Allied and Associated Powers in
such Allied ports as the said Powers may direct.
These warships will have been disarmed as provided in
Article XXffl of the Armistice of November 11, 1918. Nevertheless they must have
all their guns on board.
BATTLESHIPS.
Oldenburg. Thuringen. Ostfriesland. Helgoland. Posen.
Westfalen. Rheinland. Nassau.
LIGHT CRUISERS.
Stettin. Danzig. Munchen. Lubeck. Stralsund. Augsburg.
Kolberg. Stuttgart.
and, in addition, forty-two modern destroyers and fifty
modern torpedo boats, as chosen by the Governments of the Principal Allied and
Associated Powers.
ARTICLE 186.
On the coming into force of the present Treaty the
German Government must undertake, under the supervision of the Governments of
the Principal Allied and Associated Powers, the breaking up of all the German
surface warships now under construction.
ARTICLE 187.
The German auxiliary cruisers and fleet auxiliaries
enumerated below will be disarmed and treated as merchant ships.
INTERNED IN NEUTRAL COUNTRIES: Berlin. Santa
Fe. Seydlitz. Yorck.
IN GERMANY:
Ammon. Answald. Bosnia. Cordoba. Cassel. Dania. Rio Negro. Rio Pardo. Santa Cruz. Schwaben.
Solingen. Steigerwald. Franken. Gundomar. Furst Bulow. Gertrud.
Kigoma. Rugia. Santa Elena. Schleswig. Mowe. Sierra Ventana. Chemnitz. Emil Georg von Strauss. Habsburg.
Meteor. Waltraute. Scharnhorst.
ARTICLE 188.
On the expiration of one month from the coming into
force of the present Treaty all German submarines, submarine salvage vessels and
docks for submarines, including the tubular dock, must have been handed over to
the Governments of the Principal Allied and Associated Powers.
Such of these submarines, vessels and docks as are
considered by the said Governments to be fit to proceed under their own power or
to be towed shall be taken by the German Government, into such Allied ports as
have been indicated
The remainder, and also those in course of
construction, shall be broken up entirely by the German Government under the
supervision of the said Governments. The breaking-up must be completed within
three months at the most after the coming into force of the present Treaty.
ARTICLE 189.
Articles, machinery and material arising from the
breaking-up of German warships of all kinds, whether surface vessels or
submarines, may not be used except for purely industrial or commercial purposes.
They may not be sold or disposed of to foreign
countries. ARTICLE 190.
Germany is forbidden to construct or acquire any
warships other than those intended to replace the units in commission provided
for in Article 181 of the present Treaty
The warships intended for replacement purposes as above
shall not exceed the following displacement:
Armoured ships 10,000 tons Light cruisers 6,000 tons
Destroyers 800 tons Torpedo boats 200 tons
Except where a ship has been lost, units of the
different classes shall only be replaced at the end of a period of twenty years
in the case of battleships and cruisers, and fifteen years in the case of
destroyers and torpedo boats, counting from the launching of the ship.
ARTICLE 191 .
The construction or acquisition of any submarine, even
for commercial purposes, shall be forbidden in Germany.
ARTICLE 192.
The warships in commission of the German fleet must
have on board or in reserve only the allowance of arms, munitions and war
material fixed by the Principal Allied and Associated Powers. Within a month
from the fixing of the quantities as above, arms, munitions and war material of
all kinds, including mines and torpedoes, now in the hands of the German
Government and in excess of the said quantities, shall be surrendered to the
Governments of the said Powers at places to be indicated by them. Such arms,
munitions and war material will be destroyed or rendered useless.
All other stocks, depots or reserves of arms, munitions
or naval war material of all kinds are forbidden.
The manufacture of these articles in German territory
for, and their export to, foreign countries shall be forbidden.
ARTICLE 193.
On the coming into force of the present Treaty Germany
will forthwith sweep up the mines in the following areas in the North Sea to the
eastward of longitude 4° 00', E. of Greenwich:
(1) Between parallels of latitude 53° 00', N. and 59°
00', N.; (2) To the northward of latitude 60° 30' N.
Germany must keep these areas free from mines.
Germany must also sweep and keep free from mines such
areas in the Baltic as may ultimately be notified by the Governments of the
Principal Allied and Associated Powers.
ARTICLE 194.
The personnel of the German Navy shall be recruited
entirely by voluntary engagements entered into for a minimum period of
twenty-five consecutive years for officers and warrant officers; twelve
consecutive years for petty officers and men.
The number engaged to replace those discharged for any
reason before the expiration of their term of service must not exceed five per
cent, per annum of the totals laid down in this Section (Article 183).
The personnel discharged from the Navy must not receive
any kind of naval or military training or undertake any further service in the
Navy or Army.
Officers belonging to the Germany Navy and not
demobilised must engage to serve till the age of forty-five, unless discharged
for sufficient reasons.
80
No officer or man of the German mercantile marine shall
receive any training in
the Navy.
ARTICLE 195.
In order to ensure free passage into the Baltic to all
nations, Germany shall not erect any fortifications in the area comprised
between latitudes 55° 27' N. and 54° 00' N. and longitudes 9°EOO' E. and 16°EOO'
E. of the meridian of Greenwich, nor install any guns commanding the maritime
routes between the North Sea and the Baltic. The fortifications now existing in
this area shall be demolished and the guns removed under the supervisions of the
Allied Governments and in periods to be fixed by them.
The German Government shall place at the disposal of
the Governments of the Principal Allied and Associated Powers all information
now in its possession concerning the channels and adjoining waters between the
Baltic and the North Sea.
ARTICLE 196.
All fortified works and fortifications, other than
those mentioned in Section Xin (Heligoland) of Part in (Political Clauses for
Europe) and in Article 195, now established within fifty kilometres of the
German coast or on German islands off that coast shall be considered as of a
defensive nature and may remain in their existing condition.
No new fortifications shall be constructed within these
limits. The armament of these defences shall not exceed, as regards the number
and calibre of guns, those in position at the date of the coming into force of
the present Treaty. The German Government shall communicate forthwith
particulars thereof to all the European Governments.
On the expiration of a period of two months from the
coming into force of the present Treaty the stocks of ammunition for these guns
shall be reduced to and maintained at a maximum figure of fifteen hundred rounds
per piece for calibres of 4.1-inch and under, and five hundred rounds per piece
for higher calibres.
ARTICLE 197.
During the three months following the coming into force
of the present Treaty the German high-power wireless telegraphy stations at
Nauen, Hanover and Berlin shall not be used for the transmission of messages
concerning naval, military or political questions of interest to Germany or any
State which has been allied to Germany in the war, without the assent of the
Governments of the Principal Allied and Associated Powers. These stations may be
used for commercial purposes, but only under the supervision of the said
Governments, who will decide the wavelength to be used.
During the same period Germany shall not build any more
high-power wireless telegraphy stations in her own territory or that of Austria,
Hungary, Bulgaria or Turkey.
SECTION III.
AIR CLAUSES.
ARTICLE 198.
The armed forces of Germany must not include any
military or naval air forces.
Germany may, during a period not extending beyond
October 1, 1919, maintain a maximum number of one hundred seaplanes or flying
boats, which shall be exclusively employed in searching for submarine mines,
shall be furnished with the necessary equipment for this purpose, and shall in
no case carry arms, munitions or bombs of any nature whatever.
In addition to the engines installed in the seaplanes
or flying boats above mentioned, one spare engine may be provided for each
engine of each of these craft.
No dirigible
shall be kept.
ARTICLE 199.
Within two months from the coming into force of the
present Treaty the personnel of air forces on the rolls of the German land and
sea forces shall be demobilised. Up to October 1, 1919, however, Germany may
keep and maintain a total number of one thousand men, including officers, for
the whole of the cadres and personnel, flying and non-flying, of all formations
and establishments.
ARTICLE 200.
Until the complete evacuation of German territory by
the Allied and Associated troops, the aircraft of the Allied and Associated
Powers shall enjoy in Germany freedom of passage through the air, freedom of
transit and of landing.
ARTICLE 201.
During the six months following the coming into force
of the present Treaty, the manufacture and importation of aircraft, parts of
aircraft, engines for aircraft, and parts of engines for aircraft, shall be
forbidden in all German territory.
ARTICLE 202.
On the coming into force of the present Treaty, all
military and naval aeronautical material, except the machines mentioned in the
second and third paragraphs
of Article 198, must be delivered to the Governments of the Principal Allied and
Associated Powers.
Delivery must be effected at such places as the said
Governments may select, and must be completed within three months.
In particular, this material will include all items
under the following heads which are or have been in use or were designed for
warlike purposes:
Complete aeroplanes and seaplanes, as well as those
being manufactured, repaired or assembled.
Dirigibles able to take the air, being manufactured,
repaired or assembled.
Plant for the manufacture of hydrogen.
Dirigible sheds and shelters of every kind for
aircraft.
Pending their delivery, dirigibles will, at the expense
of Germany, be maintained inflated with hydrogen; the plant for the manufacture
of hydrogen, as well as the sheds for dirigibles may at the discretion of the
said Powers, be left to Germany until the time when the dirigibles are handed
over.
Engines for aircraft. Nacelles and fuselages.
Armament (guns, machine guns, light machine guns,
bombdropping apparatus, torpedo-dropping apparatus, synchronisation apparatus,
aiming apparatus).
Munitions (cartridges, shells, bombs loaded or
unloaded, stocks of explosives or of material for their manufacture).
Instruments for use on aircraft.
Wireless apparatus and photographic or cinematograph
apparatus for use on aircraft.
Component parts of any of the items under the preceding
heads.
The material referred to above shall not be removed
without special permission from the said Governments.
SECTION IV.
INTER-ALLIED COMMISSIONS OF CONTROL.
ARTICLE 203.
All the military, naval and air clauses contained in
the present Treaty, for the execution of which a time-limit is prescribed, shall
be executed by Germany under the control of Inter-Allied Commissions specially
appointed for this purpose by the Principal Allied and Associated Powers.
ARTICLE 204.
The Inter-Allied Commissions of Control will be
specially charged with the duty of seeing to the complete execution of the
delivery, destruction, demolition and rendering things useless to be carried out
at the expense of the German Government in accordance with the present Treaty.
They will communicate to the German authorities the
decisions which the Principal Allied and Associated Powers have reserved the
right to take, or which the execution of the military, naval and air clauses may
necessitate.
ARTICLE 205.
The Inter-Allied Commissions of Control may establish
their organisations at the seat of the central German Government.
They shall be entitled as often as they think desirable
to proceed to any point whatever in German territory, or to send subcommissions,
or to authorise one or more of their members to go, to any such point.
ARTICLE 206.
The German Government must give all necessary
facilities for the accomplishment of their missions to the Inter-Allied
Commissions of Control and to their members.
It shall attach a qualified representative to each
Inter-Allied Commission of Control for the purpose of receiving the
communications which the Commission may have to address to the German Government
and of supplying or procuring for the Commission all information or documents
which may be required.
The German Government must in all cases furnish at its
own cost all labour and material required to effect the deliveries and the works
of destruction, dismantling, demolition, and of rendering things useless,
provided for in the present Treaty.
ARTICLE 207.
The upkeep and cost of the Commissions of Control and
the expenses involved by their work shall be borne by Germany.
ARTICLE 208.
The Military Inter-Allied Commission of Control will
represent the Governments of the Principal Allied and Associated Powers in
dealing with the German Government in all matters concerning the execution of
the military clauses.
In particular it will be its duty to receive from the
German Government the notifications relating to the location of the stocks and
depots of munitions, the armament of the fortified works, fortresses and forts
which Germany is allowed to retain, and the location of the works or factories
for the production of arms, munitions and war material and their operations.
It will take delivery of the arms, munitions and war
material, will select the points where such delivery is to be effected, and will
supervise the works of destruction, demolition, and of rendering things useless,
which are to be carried out in accordance with the present Treaty.
The German Government must furnish to the Military
Inter-Allied Commission of Control all such information and documents as the
latter may deem necessary to ensure the complete execution of the military
clauses, and in particular all legislative and administrative documents and
regulations.
ARTICLE 209.
The Naval Inter-Allied Commission of Control will
represent the Governments of the Principal Allied and Associated Powers in
dealing with the German Government in all matters concerning the execution of
the naval clauses.
In particular it will be its duty to proceed to the
building yards and to supervise the breaking-up of the ships which are under
construction there, to take delivery of all surface ships or submarines, salvage
ships, docks and the tubular docks, and to supervise the destruction and
breaking-up provided for.
The German Government must furnish to the Naval
Inter-Allied Commission of Control all such information and documents as the
Commission may deem necessary to ensure the complete execution of the naval
clauses, in particular the designs of the warships, the composition of their
armaments, the details and models of the guns, munitions, torpedoes, mines,
explosives, wireless telegraphic apparatus and, in general, everything relating
to naval war material, as well as all legislative or administrative documents or
regulations.
ARTICLE 210.
The Aeronautical Inter-Allied Commission of Control
will represent the Governments of the Principal Allied and Associated Powers in
dealing with the German Government in all matters concerning the execution of
the air clauses.
In particular it will be its duty to make an inventory
of the aeronautical material existing in German territory, to inspect aeroplane,
balloon and motor manufactories, and factories producing arms, munitions and
explosives capable of being used by aircraft, to visit all aerodromes, sheds,
landing grounds, parks
and depots, to authorise, where necessary, a
removal of material and to take delivery of such material.
The German Government must furnish to the Aeronautical
Inter-Allied Commission of Control all such information and legislative,
administrative or other documents which the Commission may consider necessary to
ensure the complete execution of the air clauses, and in particular a list of
the personnel belonging to all the German Air Services, and of the existing
material, as well as of that in process of manufacture or on order, and a list
of all establishments working for aviation, of their positions, and of all sheds
and landing grounds.
SECTION V.
GENERAL ARTICLES.
ARTICLE 211.
After the expiration of a period of three months from
the coming into force of the present Treaty, the German laws must have been
modified and shall be maintained by the German Government in conformity with
this Part of the present Treaty.
Within the same period all the administrative or other
measures relating to the execution of this Part of the Treaty must have been
taken.
ARTICLE 212.
The following portions of the Armistice of November
11,1918 Article VI, the first two and the sixth and seventh paragraphs of
Article VII; Article IX; Clauses I, H and V of Annex n° 2, and the Protocol,
dated April 4,1919, supplementing the Armistice of November 11,1918, remain in
force so far as they are not inconsistent with the above stipulations.
ARTICLE 213.
So long as the present Treaty remains in force, Germany
undertakes to give every facility for any investigation which the Council of the
League of Nations, acting if need be by a majority vote, may consider necessary.
PART VI.
PRISONERS OF WAR AND GRAVES.
SECTION I.
PRISONERS OF WAR.
ARTICLE 214.
The repatriation of prisoners of war and interned
civilians shall take place as soon as possible after the coming into force of
the present Treaty and shall be carried out with the greatest rapidity.
ARTICLE 215.
The repatriation of German prisoners of war and
interned civilians shall, in accordance with Article 214, be carried out by a
Commission composed of representatives of the Allied and Associated Powers on
the one part and of the German Government on the other part.
For each of the Allied and Associated Powers a
Sub-Commission, composed exclusively of Representatives of the interested Power
and of Delegates of the German Government, shall regulate the details of
carrying into effect the repatriation of the prisoners of war.
ARTICLE 216.
From the time of their delivery into the hands of the
German authorities the prisoners of war and interned civilians are to be
returned without delay to their homes by the said authorities.
Those amongst them who before the war were habitually
resident in territory occupied by the troops of the Allied and Associated Powers
are likewise to be sent to their homes, subject to the consent and control of
the military authorities of the Allied and Associated armies of occupation.
ARTICLE 217.
The whole cost of repatriation from the moment of
starting shall be borne by the German Government who shall also provide the land
and sea transport and staff considered necessary by the Commission referred to
in Article 215.
ARTICLE 218.
Prisoners of war and interned civilians awaiting
disposal or undergoing sentence for offences against discipline shall be
repatriated irrespective of the completion of their sentence or of the
proceedings pending against them.
This stipulation shall not apply to prisoners of war
and interned civilians punished for offences committed subsequent to May 1,
1919.
During the period pending their repatriation all
prisoners of war and interned civilians shall remain subject to the existing
regulations, more especially as regards work and discipline.
ARTICLE 219.
Prisoners of war and interned civilians who are
awaiting disposal or undergoing sentence for offences other than those against
discipline may be detained.
ARTICLE 220.
The German Government undertakes to admit to its
territory without distinction all persons liable to repatriation.
Prisoners of war or other German nationals who do not
desire to be repatriated may be excluded from repatriation; but the Allied and
Associated Governments reserve to themselves the right either to repatriate them
or to take them to a neutral country or to allow them to reside in their own
territories.
The German Government undertakes not to institute any
exceptional proceedings against these persons or their families nor to take any
repressive or vexatious measures of any kind whatsoever against them on this
account.
ARTICLE 221.
The Allied and Associated Governments reserve the right
to make the repatriation of German prisoners of war or German nationals in their
hands conditional upon the immediate notification and release by the German
Government of any prisoners of war who are nationals of the Allied and
Associated Powers and may still be in Germany.
ARTICLE 222.
Germany undertakes:
(1) To give every facility to Commissions to enquire
into the cases of those who cannot be traced; to furnish such Commissions with
all necessary means of transport; to allow them access to camps, prisons,
hospitals and all other places; and to place at their disposal all documents,
whether public or private, which would facilitate their enquiries;
(2) To impose penalties upon any German officials or
private persons who have concealed the presence of any nationals of any of the
Allied and Associated Powers or have neglected to reveal the presence of any
such after it had come to their knowledge.
ARTICLE 223.
Germany undertakes to restore without delay from the
date of the coming into force of the present Treaty all articles, money,
securities and documents which have belonged to nationals of the Allied and
Associated Powers and which have been retained by the German authorities.
ARTICLE 224.
The High Contracting Parties waive reciprocally all
repayment of sums due for the maintenance of prisoners of war in their
respective territories.
SECTION II.
GRAVES.
ARTICLE 225.
The Allied and Associated Governments and the German
Government will cause to be respected and maintained the graves of the soldiers
and sailors buried in their respective territories.
They agree to recognise any Commission appointed by an
Allied or Associated Government for the purpose of identifying, registering,
caring for or erecting suitable memorials over the said graves and to facilitate
the discharge of its duties.
Furthermore they agree to afford, so far as the
provisions of their laws and the requirements of public health allow, every
facility for giving effect to requests that the bodies of their soldiers and
sailors may be transferred to their own country.
ARTICLE 226.
The graves of prisoners of war and interned civilians
who are nationals of the different belligerent States and have died in captivity
shall be properly maintained in accordance with Article 225 of the present
Treaty.
The Allied and Associated Governments on the one part
and the German Government on the other part reciprocally undertake also to
furnish to each other:
(1) A complete list of those who have died, together
with all information useful for identification;
(2) All information as to the number and position of
the graves of all those who have been buried without identification.
PART VII.
PENALTIES.
ARTICLE 227.
The Allied and Associated Powers publicly arraign
William n of Hohenzollern, formerly German Emperor, for a supreme offence
against international morality and the sanctity of treaties.
A special tribunal will be constituted to try the
accused, thereby assuring him the guarantees essential to the right of defence.
It will be composed of five judges, one appointed by each of the following
Powers: namely, the United States of America, Great Britain, France, Italy and
Japan.
In its decision the tribunal will be guided by the
highest motives of international policy, with a view to vindicating the solemn
obligations of international undertakings and the validity of international
morality. It will be its duty to fix the punishment which it considers should be
imposed.
The Allied and Associated Powers will address a request
to the Government of the Netherlands for the surrender to them of the ex-Emperor
in order that he may be put on trial.
ARTICLE 228.
The German Government recognises the right of the
Allied and Associated Powers to bring before military tribunals persons accused
of having committed acts in violation of the laws and customs of war. Such
persons shall, if found guilty, be sentenced to punishments laid down by law.
This provision will apply notwithstanding any proceedings or prosecution before
a tribunal in Germany or in the territory of her allies.
The German Government shall hand over to the Allied and
Associated Powers, or to such one of them as shall so request, all persons
accused of having committed an act in violation of the laws and customs of war,
who are specified either by name or by the rank, office or employment which they
held under the German authorities.
ARTICLE 229.
Persons guilty of criminal acts against the nationals
of one of the Allied and Associated Powers will be brought before the military
tribunals of that Power.
Persons guilty of criminal acts against the nationals
of more than one of the Allied and Associated Powers will be brought before
military tribunals composed of members of the military tribunals of the Powers
concerned.
In every case the accused will be entitled to name his
own counsel. ARTICLE 230.
The German Government undertakes to furnish all
documents and information of every kind, the production of which may be
considered necessary to ensure the full knowledge of the incriminating acts, the
discovery of offenders and the just appreciation of responsibility.
REPARATION.
SECTION 1.
GENERAL
PROVISIONS.
ARTICLE 231.
The Allied and Associated Governments affirm and
Germany accepts the responsibility of Germany and her allies for causing all the
loss and damage to which the Allied and Associated Governments and their
nationals have been subjected as a consequence of the war imposed upon them by
the aggression of Germany and her allies.
ARTICLE: 232.
The Allied and Associated Governments recognise that
the resources of Germany are not adequate, after taking into account permanent
diminutions of such resources which will result from other provisions of the
present Treaty, to make complete reparation for all such loss and damage.
The Allied and Associated Governments, however,
require, and Germany undertakes, that she will make compensation for all damage
done to the civilian population of the Allied and Associated Powers and to their
property during the period of the belligerency of each as an Allied or
Associated Power against Germany by such aggression by land, by sea and from the
air, and in general all damage as defined in Annex 1 hereto.
In accordance with Germany's pledges, already given, as
to complete restoration for Belgium, Germany undertakes, in addition to the
compensation for damage elsewhere in this Part provided for, as a consequence of
the violation of the Treaty of 1839, to make reimbursement of all sums which
Belgium has borrowed from the Allied and Associated Governments up to November
11,1918, together with interest at the rate of five per cent (5%) per annum on
such sums. This amount shall be determined by the Reparation Commission, and the
German Government undertakes thereupon forthwith to make a special issue of
bearer bonds to an equivalent amount payable in marks gold, on May 1,1926, or,
at the option of the German Government, on the 1st of May in any year up to
1926. Subject to the foregoing, the form of such bonds shall be determined by
the Reparation Commission. Such bonds shall be handed over to the Reparation
Commission, which has authority to take and acknowledge receipt thereof on
behalf of Belgium.
ARTICLE 233.
The amount of the above damage for which compensation
is to be made by Germany shall be determined by an Inter-Allied Commission, to
be called the Reparation Commission and constituted in the form and with the
powers set forth hereunder and in Annexes n to YE inclusive hereto.
This Commission shall consider the claims and give to
the German Government a just opportunity to be heard.
The findings of the Commission as to the amount of
damage defined as above shall be concluded and notified to the German Government
on or before May 1,1921, as representing the extent of that Government's
obligations.,
The Commission shall concurrently draw up a schedule of
payments prescribing the time and manner for securing and discharging the entire
obligation within a period of thirty years from May 1,1921. If, however, within
the period mentioned, Germany fails to discharge her obligations, any balance
remaining unpaid may, within the discretion of the Commission, be postponed for
settlement in subsequent years, or may be handled otherwise in such manner as
the Allied and Associated Governments, acting in accordance with the procedure
laid down in this Part of the present Treaty, shall determine.
ARTICLE 234.
The Reparation Commission shall after May 1 ,1921, from
time to time, consider the resources and capacity of Germany, and, after giving
her representatives a just opportunity to be heard, shall have discretion to
extend the date, and to modify the form of payments, such as are to be provided
for in accordance with Article 233; but not to cancel any part, except with the
specific authority of the several Governments represented upon the Commission.
ARTICLE 235.
In order to enable the Allied and Associated Powers to
proceed at once to the restoration of their industrial and economic life,
pending the full determination of their claims, Germany shall pay in such
installments and in such manner (whether in gold, commodities, ships, securities
or otherwise) as the Reparation Commission may fix, during 1919, 1920 and the
first four months Of 1921, the equivalent of 20,000,000,000 gold marks. Out of
this sum the expenses of the armies of occupation subsequent to the Armistice of
November 11, 1918, shall first be met, and such supplies of food and raw
materials as may be judged by the Governments of the Principal Allied and
Associated Powers to be essential to enable Germany to meet her obligations for
reparation may also, with the approval of the said Governments, be paid for out
of the above sum. The balance shall be reckoned towards liquidation of the
amounts due for reparation. Germany shall further deposit bonds as prescribed in
paragraph 12 (c) Of Annex n hereto.
ARTICLE 236.
Germany further agrees to the direct application of her
economic resources to reparation as specified in Annexes, ffl, IV, V, and VI,
relating respectively to merchant shipping, to physical restoration, to coal and
derivatives of coal, and to dyestuffs and other chemical products; provided
always that the value of the property transferred and any services rendered by
her under these Annexes, assessed in the manner therein prescribed shall be credited to her
towards liquidation of her obligations under the above Articles.
ARTICLE 237.
The successive installments, including the above sum,
paid over by Germany in satisfaction of the above claims will be divided by the
Allied and Associated Governments in proportions which have been determined upon
by them in advance on a basis of general equity and of the rights of each.
For the purposes of this division the value of property
transferred and services rendered under Article 243, and under Annexes in, IV,
V, VI, and VH, shall be reckoned in the same manner as cash payments effected in
that year.
ARTICLE 238.
In addition to the payments mentioned above Germany
shall effect, in accordance with the procedure laid down by the Reparation
Commission, restitution in cash of cash taken away, seized or sequestrated, and
also restitution of animals, objects of every nature and securities taken away,
seized or sequestrated, in the cases in which it proves possible to identify
them in territory belonging to Germany or her allies.
Until this procedure is laid down, restitution will
continue in accordance with the provisions of the Armistice of November 11,1918,
and its renewals and the Protocols thereto.
ARTICLE 239.
The German Government undertakes to make forthwith the
restitution contemplated by Article 238 and to make the payments and deliveries
contemplated by Articles 233, 234, 235 and 236.
ARTICLE 240.
The German Government recognises the Commission
provided for by Article 233 as the same may be constituted by the Allied and
Associated Governments in accordance with Annex n, and agrees irrevocably to the
possession and exercise by such Commission of the power and authority given to
it under the present Treaty.
The German Government will supply to the Commission all
the information which the Commission may require relative to the financial
situation and operations and to the property, productive capacity, and stocks
and current production of raw materials and manufactured articles of Germany and
her nationals, and further any information relative to military operations which
in the judgment of the Commission may be necessary for the assessment of
Germany's liability for reparation as defined in Annex I.
The German Government will accord to the members of the
Commission and its authorised agents the same rights and immunities as are
enjoyed in Germany by duly accredited diplomatic agents of friendly Powers.
Germany further agrees to provide for the salaries and
expenses of the Commission and of such staff as it may employ.
ARTICLE 241.
Germany undertakes to pass, issue and maintain in force
any legislation, orders and decrees that may be necessary to give complete
effect to these provisions.
ARTICLE 242.
The provisions of this Part of the present Treaty do
not apply to the property, rights and interests referred to in Sections HI and
IV of Part X (Economic Clauses) of the present Treaty, nor to the product of
their liquidation, except so far as concerns any final balance in favour of
Germany under Article 243 (a).
ARTICLE 243
The following shall be reckoned as credits to Germany
in respect of her reparation obligations:
(a) Any final balance in favour of Germany under
Section V (Alsace-Lorraine) of Part HI (Political Clauses for Europe) and
Sections in and IV of Part X (Economic Clauses) of the present Treaty;
(b) Amounts due to Germany in respect of transfers
under Section IV (Saar Basin) of Part HI (Political Clauses for Europe), Part IX
Financial Clauses), and Part XII (Ports, Waterways and Railways);
(c) Amounts which in the judgment of the Reparation
Commission should be credited to Germany on account of any other transfers under
the present Treaty of property, rights, concessions or other interests.
In no case, however, shall credit be given for property
restored in accordance with Article 238 of the present Part.
ARTICLE 244
The transfer of the German submarine cables which do
not form the subject of particular provisions of the present Treaty is regulated
by Annex VII hereto.
ANNEX I.
Compensation may be claimed from Germany under Article
232 above in respect of the total damage under the following categories:
(1) Damage to injured persons and to surviving
dependents by personal injury to or death of civilians caused by acts of war,
including bombardments or other attacks on land, on sea, or from the air, and
all the direct consequences thereof, and of all operations of war by the two
groups of belligerents wherever arising.
(2) Damage caused by Germany or her allies to civilian
victims of acts of cruelty, violence or maltreatment (including injuries to life
or health as a consequence of imprisonment, deportation, internment or
evacuation, of exposure at sea or of being forced to labour), wherever arising,
and to the surviving dependents of such victims.
(3) Damage caused by Germany or her allies in their own
territory or in occupied or invaded territory to civilian victims of all acts
injurious to health or
capacity to work, or to honour, as well as to the
surviving dependents of such victims.
(4) Damage caused by any kind of maltreatment of
prisoners of war.
(5) As damage caused to the peoples of the Allied and
Associated Powers, all pensions and compensation in the nature of pensions to
naval and military victims of war (including members of the air force), whether
mutilated, wounded, sick or invalided, and to the dependents of such victims,
the amount due to the Allied and Associated Governments being calculated for
each of them as being the capitalised cost of such pensions and compensation at
the date of the coming into force of the present Treaty on the basis of the
scales in force in France at such date.
(6) The cost of assistance by the Government of the
Allied and Associated Powers to prisoners of war and to their families and
dependents.
(7) Allowances by the Governments of the Allied and
Associated Powers to the families and dependents of mobilised persons or persons
serving with the forces, the amount due to them for each calendar year in which
hostilities occurred being calculated for each Government on the basis of the
average scale for such payments in force in France during that year.
(8) Damage caused to civilians by being forced by
Germany or her allies to labour without just remuneration.
(9) Damage in respect of all property wherever situated
belonging to any of the Allied or Associated States or their nationals, with the
exception of naval and military works or materials, which has been carried off,
seized, injured or destroyed by the acts of Germany or her allies on land, on
sea or from the air, or damage directly in consequence of hostilities or of any
operations of war.
(10) Damage in the form of levies, fines and other
similar exactions imposed by Germany or her allies upon the civilian population.
ANNEXE II.
1.
The Commission referred to in Article 233 shall be
called "The Reparation Commission" and is hereinafter referred to as
"the Commission".
2.
Delegates to this Commission shall be nominated by the
United States of America, Great Britain, France, Italy, Japan, Belgium and the
Serb-Croat-Slovene State. Each of these Powers will appoint one Delegate and
also one Assistant Delegate, who will take his place in case of illness or
necessary absence, but at other times will only have the right to be present at
proceedings without taking any part therein.
On no occasion shall the Delegates of more than five of
the above Powers have the right to take part in the proceedings of the
Commission and to record their votes. The Delegates of the United States, Great
Britain, France and Italy shall have this right on all occasions. The Delegate
of Belgium shall have this right on all occasions other than those referred to
below. The Delegate of Japan shall have this right on occasions when questions
relating to damage at sea, and questions arising under Article 200 of Part IX
(Financial Clauses) in which Japanese interests are concerned, are under
consideration. The Delegate of the Serb-Croat-Slovene State shall have this
right when questions relating to Austria, Hungary or Bulgaria are under
consideration.
Each Government represented on the Commission shall
have the right to withdraw therefrom upon twelve months, notice filed with the
Commission and confirmed in the course of the sixth month after the date of the
original notice.
3.
Such of the other Allied and Associated Powers as may
be interested shall have the right to appoint a Delegate to be present and act
as Assessor only while their respective claims and interests are under
examination or discussion, but without the right to vote.
4.
In case of the death, resignation or recall of any
Delegate, Assistant Delegate or Assessor, a successor to him shall be nominated
as soon as possible.
5.
The Commission will have its principal permanent Bureau
in Paris and will hold its first meeting in Paris as soon as practicable after
the coming into force of the present Treaty, and thereafter will meet in such
place or places and at such time as it may deem convenient and as may be necessary for the most
expeditious discharge of its duties.
6.
At its first meeting the Commission shall elect, from
among the Delegates referred to above, a Chairman and a Vice-Chairman, who shall
hold office for one year and shall be eligible for re-election. If a vacancy in
the Chairmanship or Vice-Chairmanship should occur during the annual period, the
Commission shall proceed to a new election for the remainder of the said period.
7.
The Commission is authorised to appoint all necessary
officers, agents and employees who may be required for the execution of its
functions, and to fix their remuneration; to constitute committees, whose
members need not necessarily be members of the Commission, and to take all
executive steps necessary for the purpose of discharging its duties; and to
delegate authority and discretion to officers, agents and committees.
8.
All proceedings of the Commission shall be private,
unless, on particular occasions, the Con mission shall otherwise determine for
special reasons.
The Commission shall be required, if the German
Government so desire, to hear, within a period which it will fix from time to
time, evidence and arguments on the part of Germany on any question connected
with her capacity to pay.
10.
The Commission shall consider the claims and give to
the German Government a just opportunity to be heard, but not to take any part
whatever in the decisions of the Commission The Commission shall afford a
similar opportunity to the allies of Germany, when it shall consider that their
interests are in question
11.
The Commission shall not be bound by any particular
code or rules of law or by any particular rule of evidence or of procedure, but
shall be guided by justice, equity and good faith. Its decisions must follow the
same principles and rules in all cases where they are applicable. It will
establish rules relating to methods of proof of claims. It may act on any
trustworthy modes of computation.
12.
The Commission shall have all the powers conferred upon
it, and shall exercise all the functions assigned to it, by the present Treaty.
The Commission shall in general have wide latitude as
to its control and handling of the whole reparation problem as dealt with in
this Part of the present Treaty and shall have authority to interpret its
provisions. Subject to the provisions of the present Treaty, the Commission is
constituted by the several Allied and Associated Governments referred to in
paragraphs 2 and 3 above as the exclusive agency of the said Governments
respectively for receiving, selling, holding, and distributing the reparation
payments to be made by Germany under this Part of the present Treaty. The
Commission must comply with the following conditions and provisions:
(a) Whatever part of the full amount of the proved
claims is not paid in gold, or in ships, securities and commodities or
otherwise, Germany shall be required, under such conditions as the Commission
may determine, to cover by way of guarantee by an equivalent issue of bonds,
obligations or otherwise, in order to constitute an acknowledgment of the said
part of the debt.
(b) In periodically estimating Germany's capacity to
pay, the Commission shall examine the German system of taxation, first, to the
end that the sums for reparation which Germany is required to pay shall become a
charge upon all her revenues prior to that for the service or discharge of any
domestic loan, and secondly, so as to satisfy itself that, in general, the
German scheme of taxation is fully as heavy proportionately as that of any of
the Powers represented on the Commission.
(c) In order to facilitate and continue the immediate
restoration of the economic life of the Allied and Associated countries, the
Commission will as provided in Article 235 take from Germany by way of security
for and acknowledgment of her debt a first installment of gold bearer bonds free
of all taxes and charges of every description established or to be established
by the Government of the German Empire or of the German States, or by any
authority subject to them; these bonds will be delivered on account and in three
portions, the marks gold being payable in conformity with Article 262 of Part IX
(Financial Clauses) of the present Treaty as follows:
(1) To be issued forthwith, 20,000,000,000 Marks gold
bearer bonds, payable not later than May 1, 1921, without interest. There shall
be specially applied
towards the amortisation of these bonds the payments
which Germany is pledged to make in conformity with Article 235, after deduction
of the sums used for the reimbursement of expenses of the armies of occupation
and for payment of foodstuffs and raw materials. Such bonds as have not been
redeemed by May 1, 1921, shall then be exchanged for new bonds of the same type
as those provided for below (paragraph 12, C, (2).
(2) To be issued forthwith, further 40,000,000,000
Marks gold bearer bonds, bearing interest at 2-1/2 per cent, per annum between
1921 and 1926, and thereafter
at 5 per cent, per annum with an additional 1 per cent, for amortisation
beginning in 1926 on the whole amount of the issue.
(3) To be delivered forthwith a covering undertaking in
writing to issue when, but not until, the Commission is satisfied that Germany
can meet such interest and sinking fund obligations, a further installment of
40,000,000,000 Marks gold 5 per cent, bearer bonds, the time and mode of payment
of principal and interest to be determined by the Commission.
The dates for payment of interest, the manner of
applying the amortisation fund, and all other questions relating to the issue,
management and regulation of the bond issue shall be determined by the
Commission from time to time.
Further issues by way of acknowledgment and security
may be required as the Commission subsequently determines from time to time.
(d) In the event of bonds, obligations or other
evidence of indebtedness issued
by Germany by way of security for or acknowledgment of
her reparation debt being disposed of outright, not by way of pledge, to persons
other than the several Governments in whose favour Germany's original reparation
indebtedness was created, an amount of such reparation indebtedness shall be
deemed to be extinguished corresponding to the nominal value of the bonds, etc.,
so disposed of outright, and the obligation of Germany in respect of such bonds
shall be confined to her liabilities to the holders of the bonds, as expressed
upon their face.
(e) The damage for repairing, reconstructing and
rebuilding property in the invaded and devastated districts, including
reinstallation of furniture, machinery and other equipment, will be calculated
according to the cost at the dates when the work is done.
(f) Decisions of the Commission relating to the total
or partial cancellation of
the capital or interest of any verified debt of Germany
must be accompanied by a statement of its reasons.
13.
As to voting, the Commission will observe the following
rules:
When a decision of the Commission is taken, the votes
of all the Delegates entitled to vote, or in the absence of any of them, of
their Assistant Delegates, shall be recorded. Abstention from voting is to be
treated as a vote against the proposal under discussion. Assessors have no vote.
On the following questions unanimity is necessary:
(a) Questions involving the sovereignty of any of the
Allied and Associated Powers, or the cancellation of the whole or any part of
the debt or obligations of Germany;
(b) Questions of determining the amount and conditions
of bonds or other obligations to be issued by the German Government and of
fixing the time and manner for selling, negotiating or distributing such bonds;
(c) Any postponement, total or partial, beyond the end
of 1930, of the payment of installments falling due between May 1,1921, and the
end of 1926 inclusive;
(d) Any postponement, total or partial, of any
installment falling due after 1926 for a period exceeding three years;
(e) Questions of applying in any particular case a
method of measuring damages different from that which has been previously
applied in a similar case;
(f) Questions of the interpretation of the provisions
of this Part of the present Treaty.
All other questions shall be decided by the vote of a
majority.
In case of any difference of opinion among the
Delegates, which cannot be solved by reference to their Governments, upon the
question whether a given case is one which requires a unanimous vote for its
decision or not, such difference shall be referred to the immediate arbitration
of some impartial person to be agreed upon by their Governments, whose award the
Allied and Associated Governments agree to accept.
14.
Decisions of the Commission, in accordance with the
powers conferred upon it, shall forthwith become binding and may be put into
immediate execution without further Proceedings.
15.
The Commission will issue to each of the interested
Powers, in such form as the Commission shall fix:
(1) A certificate stating that it holds for the account
of the said Power bonds
of the issues mentioned above, the said certificate, on
the demand of the Power concerned, being divisible in a number of parts not
exceeding five;
(2) From time to time certificates stating the goods
delivered by Germany on account of her reparation debt which it holds for the
account of the said Power.
The said certificates shall be registered, and upon
notice to the Commission, may be transferred by endorsement.
When bonds are issued for sale or negotiation, and when
goods are delivered by the Commission, certificates to an equivalent value must
be withdrawn.
16.
Interest shall be debited to Germany as from May
1,1921, in respect of her debt as determined by the Commission, after allowing
for sums already covered by cash payments or their equivalent, or by bonds
issued to the Commission, or under Article 243. The rate of interest shall be 5
per cent, unless the Commission shall determine at some future time that
circumstances justify a variation of the rate.
The Commission, in fixing on May 1,1921, the total
amount of the debt of Germany, may take account of interest due on sums arising
out of the reparation of material damage as from November 11,1918, up to May
1,1921.
17.
In case of default by Germany in the performance of any
obligation under this Part of the present Treaty, the Commission will forthwith
give notice of such default to each of the interested Powers and may make such
recommendations as to the action to be taken in consequence of such default as
it may think necessary.
18.
The measures which the Allied and Associated Powers
shall have the right to take, in case of voluntary default by Germany, and which
Germany agrees not to regard as acts of war may include economic and financial
prohibitions and reprisals and in general such other measures as the respective
Governments may determine to be necessary in the circumstances.
19.
Payments required to be made in gold or its equivalent
on account of the proved claims of the Allied and Associated Powers may at any
time be accepted by the Commission in the form of chattels, properties,
commodities, businesses, rights, concessions within or without German territory,
ships, bonds, shares or securities of any kind, or currencies of Germany or
other States, the value of such substitutes for good being fixed at a fair and
just amount by the Commission itself.
20.
The Commission, in fixing or accepting payment in
specified properties or rights, shall have due regard for any legal or equitable
interests of the Allied and Associated Powers or of neutral Powers or of their
nationals therein.
21.
No member of the Commission shall be responsible,
except to the Government appointing him, for any action or omission as such
member. No one of the Allied or Associated Governments assumes any responsibility in respect of any
other Government.
22.
Subject to the provisions of the present Treaty this
Annex may be amended by the unanimous decision of the Governments represented
from time to time upon the Commission.
23
When all the amounts due from Germany and her allies
under the present Treaty or the decisions of the Commission have been discharged
and all sums received, or their equivalents, shall have been distributed to the
Powers interested, the Commission shall be dissolved.
ANNEX III.
1.
Germany recognises the right of the Allied and
Associated Powers to the replacement, ton for ton (gross tonnage) and class for
class, of all merchant ships and fishing boats lost or damaged owing to the war.
Nevertheless, and in spite of the fact that the tonnage
of German shipping at present in existence is much less than that lost by the
Allied and Associated Powers in consequence of the German aggression, the right
thus recognised will be enforced on German ships and boats under the following
conditions:
The German Government, on behalf of themselves and so
as to bind all other persons interested, cede to the Allied and Associated
Governments the property in all the German merchant ships which are of 1,600
tons gross and upwards; in one-half, reckoned in tonnage, of the ships which are
between 1,000 tons and 1,600 tons gross; in one-quarter, reckoned in tonnage, of
the steam trawlers; and in one-quarter, reckoned in tonnage, of the other
fishing boats.
2.
The German Government will, within two months of the
coming into force of the present Treaty, deliver to the Reparation Commission
all the ships and boats mentioned in paragraph 1.
3.
The ships and boats mentioned in paragraph 1 include
all ships and boats which (a) fly, or may be entitled to fly, the German
merchant flag; or (b) are owned by any German national, company or corporation
or by any company or corporation belonging to a country other than an Allied or
Associated country and under the control or direction of German nationals; or
(c) are now under construction (1) in Germany, (2) in other than Allied or
Associated countries for the account of any German national, company or
corporation.
4.
For the purpose of providing documents of title for the
ships and boats to be handed over as above mentioned, the German Government
will:
(a) Deliver to the Reparation Commission in respect of
each vessel a bill of sale or other document of title evidencing the transfer to
the Commission of the entire property in the vessel free from all encumbrances,
charges and liens of all kinds, as the Commission may require;
(b) Take all measures that may be indicated by the
Reparation Commission for ensuring that the ships themselves shall be placed at
its disposal.
5.
As an additional part of reparation, Germany agrees to
cause merchant ships to be built in German yards for the account of the Allied
and Associated Governments as follows:
(a) Within three months of the coming into force of the
present Treaty, the Reparation Commission will notify to the German Government
the amount of tonnage to be laid down in German ship-yards in each of the two
years next succeeding the three months mentioned above.
(b) Within two years of the coming into force of the
present Treaty, the Reparation Commission will notify to the German Government
the amount of tonnage to be laid down in each of the three years following the
two years mentioned above.
(c) The amount of tonnage to be laid down in each year
shall not exceed 200,000 tons, gross tonnage.
(d) The specifications of the ships to be built, the
conditions under which they are to be built and delivered, the price per ton at
which they are to be accounted for by the Reparation Commission, and all other
questions relating to the accounting ordering, building and delivery of the
ships, shall be determined by the Commission.
6.
Germany undertakes to restore in kind and in normal
condition of upkeep to the Allied and Associated Powers, within two months of
the coming into force of the present Treaty, in accordance with procedure to be
laid down by the Reparation Commission, any boats and other movable appliances
belonging to inland navigation which since August 1,1914, have by any means
whatever come into her possession or into the possession of her nationals, and
which can be identified
With a view to make good the loss in inland navigation
tonnage from whatever cause arising, which has been incurred during the war by
the Allied and Associated Powers, and which cannot be made good by means of the
restitution prescribed above, Germany agrees to cede to the Reparation
Commission a portion of the German river fleet up to the amount of the loss
mentioned above, provided that such cession shall not exceed 20 per cent, of the
river fleet as it existed on November 11,1918.
The conditions of this cession shall be settled by the
arbitrators referred to in Article 339 of Part XII (Ports, Waterways and
Railways) of the present Treaty, who are charged with the settlement of
difficulties relating to the apportionment of river tonnage resulting from the
new international regime applicable to certain river systems or from the
territorial changes affecting those systems.
7.
Germany agrees to take any measures that may be
indicated to her by the Reparation Commission for obtaining the full title to
the property in all ships which have during the war been transferred, or are in
process of transfer, to neutral flags, without the consent of the Allied and
Associated Governments.
8.
Germany waives all claims of any description against
the Allied and Associated Governments and their nationals in respect of the
detention, employment, loss or damage of any German ships or boats, exception
being made of payments due in respect of the employment of ships in conformity
with the Armistice Agreement of January 13, 1919, and subsequent Agreements.
The handing over of the ships of the German mercantile
marine must be continued without interruption in accordance with the said
Agreement.
9.
Germany waives all claims to vessels or cargoes sunk by
or in consequence of naval action and subsequently salved, in which any of the
Allied or Associated Governments or their nationals may have any interest either
as owners, charterers, insurers or otherwise, notwithstanding any decree of
condemnation which may have been made by a Prize Court of Germany or of her
allies.
ANNEX IV.
1.
The Allied and Associated Powers require, and Germany
undertakes, that in part satisfaction of her obligations expressed in the
present Part she will, as hereinafter provided, devote her economic resources
directly to the physical
restoration of the invaded areas of the Allied and Associated Powers, to
the extent that these Powers may determine.
2.
The Allied and Associated Governments may file with the
Reparation Commission lists showing:
(a) Animals, machinery, equipment, tools and like
articles of a commercial character, which have been seized, consumed or
destroyed by Germany or destroyed in direct consequence of military operations,
and which such Governments, for the purpose of meeting immediate and urgent
needs, desire to have replaced by animals and articles of the same nature which
are in being in German territory at the
date of the coming into force of the present Treaty;
(b) Reconstruction materials (stones, bricks,
refractory bricks, tiles, wood, window-glass, steel, lime, cement, etc.),
machinery, heating apparatus, furniture and like articles of a commercial
character which the said Governments desire to have produced and manufactured in
Germany and delivered to them to permit of the restoration of the invaded areas.
3.
The lists relating to the articles mentioned in 2 (a)
above shall be filed within sixty days after the date of the coming into force
of the present Treaty.
The lists relating to the articles in 2 (b) above shall
be filed on or before December 31,1919.
The lists shall contain all such details as are
customary in commercial contracts dealing with the subject matter, including
specifications, dates of delivery (but not extending over more than four years),
and places of delivery, but not price or value, which shall be fixed as
hereinafter provided by the Commission.
4.
Immediately upon the filing of such lists with the
Commission, the Commission shall consider the amount and number of the materials
and animals mentioned in the lists provided for above which are to be required
of Germany. In reaching a decision on this matter the Commission shall take into
account such domestic requirements of Germany as it deems essential for the
maintenance of Germany's social and economic life, the prices and dates at which
similar articles can be obtained in the Allied and Associated countries as
compared with those to be fixed for German articles, and the general interest of
the Allied and Associated Governments that the industrial life of Germany be not
so disorganised as to affect adversely the ability of Germany to perform the
other acts of reparation stipulated for.
105
Machinery, equipment, tools and like articles of a
commercial character in actual industrial use are not, however, to be demanded
of Germany unless there is no free stock of such articles respectively which is
not in use and is available, and then not m excess of thirty per cent, of the
quantity of such articles in use in any one establishment or undertaking.
The Commission shall give representatives of the German
Government an opportunity and a time to be heard as to their capacity to furnish
the said materials, articles and animals.
The decision of the Commission shall thereupon and at
the earliest possible moment be communicated to the German Government and to the
several interested Allied and Associated Governments.
The German Government undertakes to deliver the
materials, articles and animals as specified in the said communication, and the
interested Allied and Associated Governments severally agree to accept the same,
provided they conform to the specification given, or are not, in the judgment of
the Commission, unfit to be utilised in the work of reparation.
5.
The Commission shall determine the value to be
attributed to the materials, articles and animals to be delivered in accordance
with the foregoing, and the Allied or Associated Power receiving the same agrees
to be charged with such value, and the amount thereof shall be treated as a
payment by Germany to be divided in accordance with Article 237 of this Part of
the present Treaty.
In cases where the right to require physical
restoration as above provided is exercised, the Commission shall ensure that the
amount to be credited against the reparation obligation of Germany shall be the
fair value of work done or materials supplied by Germany, and that the claim
made by the interested Power in respect of the damage so repaired by physical
restoration shall be discharged to the extent of the proportion which the damage
thus repaired bears to the whole of the damage thus claimed for.
6.
As an immediate advance on account of the animals
referred to in paragraph 2 (a) above, Germany undertakes to deliver in equal
monthly installments in the three months following the coming into force of the
present Treaty the following quantities of live stock:
(1) To the French Government. 500 stallions (3 to 7
years);
30,000 fillies and mares (18 months to 7 years), type:
Ardennais, Boulonnais or Belgian; 2,000 bulls (18 months to 3 years); 90,000 milch cows (2 to 6 years);
1,000 rams; 100,000 sheep; 10,000 goats.
(2) To the Belgian Government.
200 stallions (3 to 7 years), large Belgian type; 5,000
mares (3 to 7 years), large Belgian type; 5,000 fillies (18 months to 3 years),
large Belgian type; 2,000 bulls (18 months to 3 years); 50,000 milch cows (2 to
6 years); 40,000 heifers; 200 rams; 20,000 Sheep; 15,000 sows.
The animals delivered shall be of average health and
condition.
To the extent that animals so delivered cannot be
identified as animals taken away or seized, the value of such animals shall be
credited against the reparation obligations of Germany in accordance with
paragraph 5 of this Annex.
7.
Without waiting for the decisions of the Commission
referred to in paragraph 4 of this Annex to be taken, Germany must continue the
delivery to France of the agricultural material referred to in Article HI of the
renewal dated January 16, 1919, of the Armistice.
ANNEX V.
1.
Germany accords the following options for the delivery
of coal and derivatives of coal to the undermentioned signatories of the present
Treaty.
2.
Germany undertakes to deliver to France seven million
tons of coal per year for ten years. In addition, Germany undertakes to deliver
to France annually for a period not exceeding ten years an amount of coal equal
to the difference between the annual production before the war of the coal mines
of the Nord and Pas de Calais, destroyed as a result of the war, and the
production of the mines of the same area during the years in question: such
delivery not to exceed twenty million tons in any one year of the first five
years, and eight million tons in any one year of the succeeding five years.
It is understood that due diligence will be exercised
in the restoration of the destroyed mines in the Nord and the Pas de Calais.
3.
Germany undertakes to deliver to Belgium eight million
tons of coal annually for ten years.
4.
Germany undertakes to deliver to Italy up to the
following . quantities of coal:
July 1919 to June 1920 4-1/2 million tons, 1920 1921 6
1921 19227-1/2 1922 1923 8 1923 1924 and each of the following five years 8-1/2
At least two-thirds of the actual deliveries to be
land-borne. 5.
Germany further undertakes to deliver annually to
Luxemburg, if directed by the Reparation Commission, a quantity of coal equal to
the pre-war annual consumption of German coal in Luxemburg.
6.
The prices to be paid for coal delivered under these
options shall be as follows:
(a) For overland delivery, including delivery by barge,
the German pithead price to German nationals, plus the freight to French,
Belgian, Italian or Luxemburg frontiers, provided that the pithead price does
not exceed the pithead price of British coal for export. In the case of Belgian
bunker coal, the price shall not exceed the Dutch bunker price.
Railroad and barge tariffs shall not be higher than the
lowest similar rates paid in Germany.
(b) For sea delivery, the German export price f. o. b.
German ports, or the British export price f. o. b. British ports, whichever may
be lower.
7.
The Allied and Associated Governments interested may
demand the delivery, in place of coal, of metallurgical coke in the proportion
of 3 tons of coke to 4 tons of coal.
8.
Germany undertakes to deliver to France, and to
transport to the French frontier by rail or by water, the following products,
during each of the three years following the coming into force of this Treaty:
Benzol 35,000 tons. Coal tar 50,000 tons Sulphate of
ammonia 30,000 tons.
All or part of the coal tar may, at the option of the
French Government, be replaced by corresponding quantities of products of
distillation, such as light oils, heavy oils, anthracene, napthalene or pitch
9.
The price paid for coke and for the articles referred
to in the preceding paragraph shall be the same as the price paid by German
nationals under the same conditions of shipment to the French frontier or to the
German ports, and shall be subject to any advantages which may be accorded
similar products furnished to German nationals.
10.
The foregoing options shall be exercised through the
intervention of the Reparation Commission, which, subject to the specific
provisions hereof, shall have power to determine all questions relative to
procedure and the qualities and quantities of products, the quantity of coke
which may be substituted for coal, and the times and modes of delivery and
payment. In giving notice to the German Government of the foregoing options the
Commission shall give at least 120 days, notice of deliveries to be made after
January 1,1920, and at least 30 days, notice of deliveries to be made between
the coming into force of this Treaty and January 1, 1920. Until Germany has
received the demands referred to in this paragraph, the provisions of the
Protocol of DecemberE25,1918, (Execution of Article VI of the Armistice of
November 11,1918) remain in force. The notice to be given to the German
Government of the exercise of the right of substitution accorded by paragraphs 7
and 8 shall be such as the Reparation Commission may consider sufficient. If the
Commission shall determine that the full exercise of the foregoing options would
interfere unduly with the industrial requirements of Germany, the Commission is
authorised to postpone or to cancel deliveries, and in so doing to settle all
questions of priority; but the coal to replace coal from destroyed mines shall
receive priority over other deliveries.
ANNEX VI.
1.
Germany accords to the Reparation Commission an option
to require as part of reparation the delivery by Germany of such quantities and
kinds of dyestuffs and chemical drugs as the Commission may designate, not
exceeding 50 per cent, of the total stock of each and every kind of dyestuff and
chemical drug in Germany or under German control at the date of the coming into
force of the present Treaty.
This option shall be exercised within sixty days of the
receipt by the Commission of such particulars as to stocks as may be considered
necessary by the Commission.
2.
Germany further accords to the Reparation Commission an
option to require delivery during the period from the date of the coming into
force of the present Treaty until January 1,1920, and during each period of six
months thereafter until January 1 ,1925, of any specified kind of dyestuff and
chemical drug up to an amount not exceeding 25 per cent, of the German
production of such dyestuffs and chemical drugs during the previous six months
period. If in any case the production during such previous six months was, in
the opinion of the Commission, less than normal, the amount required may be 25
per cent, of the normal production.
Such option shall be exercised within four weeks after
the receipt of such particulars as to production and in such form as may be
considered necessary by the Commission; these particulars shall be furnished by
the German Government immediately after the expiration of each six months
period.
3.
For dyestuffs and chemical drugs delivered under
paragraph 1, the price shall be fixed by the Commission having regard to prewar
net export prices and to subsequent increases of cost.
For dyestuffs and chemical drugs delivered under
paragraph 2, the price shall be fixed by the Commission having regard to pre-war
net export prices and subsequent variations of cost, or the lowest net selling
price of similar dyestuffs and chemical drugs to any other purchaser. [See Map
The Former German Cables] 4.
All details, including mode and times of exercising the
options, and making delivery, and all other questions arising under this
arrangement shall be determined by the Reparation Commission; the German
Government will furnish to the Commission all necessary information and other
assistance which it may require.
5.
The above expression ,,dyestuffs and chemical drugs,,
includes all synthetic dyes and drugs and intermediate or other products used in
connection with dyeing, so far as they are manufactured for sale. The present
arrangement shall also apply to cinchona bark and salts of quinine.
ANNEX VII.
Germany renounces on her own behalf and on behalf of
her nationals in favour of the Principal Allied and Associated Powers all
rights, titles or privileges of whatever nature in the submarine cables set out
below, or in any portions thereof:
Emden-vigo: from the Straits of Dover to off vigo;
Emden-Brest: from off Cherbourg to Brest; Emden-Teneriffe: from off Dunkirk to
off Teneriffe; Emden-Azores (1): from the Straits of Dover to Fayal;
Emden-Azores (2): from the Straits of Dover to Fayal; Azores-New York (1): from
Fayal to New York; Azores-New York (2): from Fayal to the longitude of Halifax,
Teneriffe-Monrovia: from off Teneriffe to off Monrovia; Monrovia-Lome:
from about lat. :2° 30' N.; long.:?0 40' W. of
Greenwich: to about lat. :2° 20' N.; long.:5° 30, W. of Greenwich; and from
about lat. :3° 48' N.; long.:0° 00', to Lome;
Lome-Duala: from Lome to Duala; Monrovia-Pernambuco:
from off Monrovia to off Pernambuco; Constantinople-Constanza: from
Constantinople to Constanza; Yap-Shanghai, Yap-Guam, and Yap-Menado (Celebes):
from Yap Island to Shanghai, from Yap Island to Guam Island, and from Yap Island
to Menado.
The value of the above mentioned cables or portions
thereof in so far as they are privately owned, calculated on the basis of the
original cost less a suitable allowance for depreciation, shall be credited to
Germany in the reparation account.
SECTION II.
SPECIAL PROVISIONS.
ARTICLE 245.
Within six months after the coming into force of the
present Treaty the German Government must restore to the French Government the
trophies, archives, historical souvenirs or works of art carried away from
France by the German authorities in the course of the war of 1870-1871 and
during this last war, in accordance with a list which will be communicated to it
by the French Government; particularly the French flags taken in the course of
the war of 1870-1871 and all the political papers taken by the German
authorities on October lo, 1870, at the chateau of Cercay, near Brunoy
(Seine-et-Oise) belonging at the time to Mr. Rouher, formerly Minister of State.
ARTICLE 246.
Within six months from the coming into force of the
present Treaty, Germany will restore to His Majesty the King of the Hedjaz the
original Koran of the Caliph Othman, which was removed from Medina by the
Turkish authorities and is stated to have been presented to the ex-Emperor
William n.
Within the same period Germany will hand over to His
Britannic Majesty's Government the skull of the Sultan Mkwawa which was removed
from the Protectorate of German East Africa and taken to Germany.
The delivery of the articles above referred to will be
effected in such place and
in such conditions as may be laid down by the
Governments to which they are to be
restored.
ARTICLE 247.
Germany undertakes to furnish to the University of
Louvain, within three months after a request made by it and transmitted through
the intervention of the Reparation Commission, manuscripts, incunabula, printed
books, maps and objects of collection corresponding in number and value to those
destroyed in the burning by Germany of the Library of Louvain. All details
regarding such replacement will be determined by the Reparation Commission.
Germany undertakes to deliver to Belgium, through the
Reparation Commission, within six months of the coming into force of the present
Treaty, in order to enable Belgium to reconstitute two great artistic works:
(1) The leaves of the triptych of the Mystic Lamb
painted by the Van Eyck brothers, formerly in the Church of St. Bavon at Ghent,
now in the Berlin Museum;
(2) The leaves of the triptych of the Last Supper,
painted by Dierick Bouts, formerly in the Church of St. Peter at Louvain, two of
which are now in the Berlin Museum and two in the Old Pinakothek at Munich.
PART IX.
FINANCIAL
CLAUSES.
ARTICLE 248.
Subject to such exceptions as the Reparation Commission
may approve, a first charge upon all the assets and revenues of the German
Empire and its constituent States shall be the cost of reparation and all other
costs arising under the present Treaty or any treaties or agreements
supplementary thereto or under arrangements concluded between Germany and the
Allied and Associated Powers during the Armistice or its extensions.
Up to May 1,1921, the German Government shall not
export or dispose of, and shall forbid the export or disposal of, gold without
the previous approval of the Allied and Associated Powers acting through the
Reparation Commission.
ARTICLE 249.
There shall be paid by the German Government the total
cost of all armies of the Allied and Associated Governments in occupied German
territory from the date of the signature of the Armistice of November 11,1918,
including the keep of men and beasts, lodging and billeting, pay and allowances,
salaries and wages, bedding, heating, lighting, clothing, equipment, harness and
saddlery, armament and rolling-stock, air services, treatment of sick and
wounded, veterinary and remount services, transport service of all sorts (such
as by rail, sea or river, motor lorries), communications and correspondence, and
in general the cost of all administrative or technical services the working of
which is necessary for the training of troops and for keeping their numbers up
to strength and preserving their military efficiency.
The cost of such liabilities under the above heads so
far as they relate to purchases or requisitions by the Allied and Associated
Governments in the occupied territories shall be paid by the German Government
to the Allied and Associated Governments in marks at the current or agreed rate
of exchange. All other of the above costs shall be paid in gold marks.
ARTICLE 250.
Germany confirms the surrender of all material handed
over to the Allied and Associated Powers in accordance with the Armistice of
November 11, 1918, and subsequent Armistice Agreements, and recognises the title
of the Allied and Associated Powers to such material.
There shall be credited to the German Government,
against the sums due from it to the Allied and Associated Powers for reparation,
the value, as assessed by the Reparation Commission, referred to in Article 233
of Part VIE (Reparation) of the present Treaty, of the material handed over in
accordance with Article YE of the Armistice of November 11,1918, or Article HI
of the Armistice Agreement of January 16, 1919, as well as of any other material
handed over in accordance with the Armistice of November 11, 1918, and of
subsequent Armistice Agreements, for which, as having non-military value, credit
should in the judgment of the Reparation Commission be allowed to the German
Government.
Property belonging to the Allied and Associated
Governments or their nationals restored or surrendered under the Armistice
Agreements in specie shall not be credited to the German Government.
ARTICLE 251.
The priority of the charges established by Article 248
shall, subject to the qualifications made below, be as follows:
(a) The cost of the armies of occupation as defined
under Article 249 during the Armistice and its extensions;
(b) The cost of any armies of occupation as defined
under Article 249 after the coming into force of the present Treaty;
(c) The cost of reparation arising out of the present
Treaty or any treaties or conventions supplementary thereto;
(d) The cost of all other obligations incumbent on
Germany under the Armistice Conventions or under this Treaty or any treaties or
conventions supplementary thereto.
The payment for such supplies of food and raw material
for Germany and such other payments as may be judged by the Allied and
Associated Powers to be essential to enable Germany to meet her obligations in
respect of reparation will have priority to the extent and upon the conditions
which have been or may be determined by the Governments of the said Powers.
ARTICLE 252.
The right of each of the Allied and Associated Powers
to dispose of enemy assets and property within its jurisdiction at the date of
the coming into force of the present Treaty is not affected by the foregoing
provisions.
ARTICLE 253.
Nothing in the foregoing provisions shall prejudice in
any manner charges or mortgages lawfully effected in favour of the Allied or
Associated Powers or their nationals respectively, before the date at which a
state of war existed between Germany and the Allied or Associated Power
concerned, by the German Empire or its constituent States, or by German
nationals, on assets in their ownership at that date.
ARTICLE 254
The Powers to which German territory is ceded shall,
subject to the qualifications made in Article 255, undertake to pay:
(1) A portion of the debt of the German Empire as it
stood on August 1, 1914, calculated on the basis of the ratio between the
average for the three financial years 1911,1912,1913, of such revenues of the
ceded territory, and the average for the same years of such revenues of the
whole German Empire as in the judgment of the Reparation Commission are best
calculated to represent the relative ability of the respective territories to
make payment;
A portion of the debt as it stood on August 1, 1914, of
the German State to which the ceded territory belonged, to be determined in
accordance with the principle stated above.
Such portions shall be determined by the Reparation
Commission.
The method of discharging the obligation, both in
respect of capital and of interest, so assumed shall be fixed by the Reparation
Commission. Such method may take the form, inter alia, of the assumption by the
Power to which the territory is ceded of Germany's liability for the German debt
held by her nationals. But in the event of the method adopted involving any
payments to the German Government, such payments shall be transferred to the
Reparation Commission on account of the sums due for reparation so long as any
balance in respect of such sums remains unpaid.
ARTICLE 255.
(1) As an exception to the above provision and inasmuch
as in 1871 Germany refused to undertake any portion of the burden of the French
debt, France shall be, in respect of Alsace-Lorraine, exempt from any payment
under Article 254.
(2) In the case of Poland that portion of the debt
which, in the opinion of the Reparation Commission, is attributable to the
measures taken by the German and Prussian Governments for the German
colonisation of Poland shall be excluded from the apportionment to be made under
Article 254.
(3) In the case of all ceded territories other than
Alsace-Lorraine, that portion of the debt of the German Empire or German States
which, in the opinion of the Reparation Commission, represents expenditure by
the Governments of the German Empire or States upon the Government properties
referred to in Article 256 shall be excluded from the apportionment to be made
under Article 254.
ARTICLE 256.
Powers to which German territory is ceded shall acquire
all property and possessions situated therein belonging to the German Empire or
to the German States, and the value of such acquisitions shall be fixed by the
Reparation Commission, and paid by the State acquiring the territory to the
Reparation Commission for the credit of the German Government on account of the
sums due for reparation.
For the purposes of this Article the property and
possessions of the German Empire and States shall be deemed to include all the
property of the Crown, the Empire or the States, and the private property of the
former German Emperor and other Royal personages.
In view of the terms on which Alsace-Lorraine was ceded
to Germany in 1871, France shall be exempt in respect thereof from making any
payment or credit under this Article for any property or possessions of the
German Empire or States situated therein.
Belgium also shall be exempt from making any payment or
any credit under this Article for any property or possessions of the German
Empire or States situated in German territory ceded to Belgium under the present
Treaty.
ARTICLE 257.
In the case of the former German territories, including
colonies, protectorates or dependencies, administered by a Mandatory under
Article 22 of Part I (League of Nations) of the present Treaty, neither the
territory nor the Mandatory Power shall be charged with any portion of the debt
of the German Empire or States.
All property and possessions belonging to the German
Empire or to the German States situated in such territories shall be transferred
with the territories to the Mandatory Power in its capacity as such and no
payment shall be made nor any credit given to those Governments in consideration
of this transfer.
For the purposes of this Article the property and
possessions of the German Empire and of the German States shall be deemed to
include all the property of the Crown, the Empire or the States and the private
property of the former German Emperor and other Royal personages.
ARTICLE 258.
Germany renounces all rights accorded to her or her
nationals by treaties, conventions or agreements, of whatsoever kind, to
representation upon or participation in the control or administration of
commissions, state banks, agencies or other financial or economic organisations
of an international character, exercising powers of control or administration,
and operating in any of the Allied or Associated States, or in Austria, Hungary,
Bulgaria or Turkey, or in the dependencies of these States, or in the former
Russian Empire.
ARTICLE 259.
(1) Germany agrees to deliver within one month from the
date of the coming into force of the present Treaty, to such authority as the
Principal Allied and Associated Powers may designate, the sum in gold which was
to be deposited in the Reichsbank in the name of the Council of the
Administration of the Ottoman Public Debt as security for the first issue of
Turkish Government currency notes.
(2) Germany recognises her obligation to make annually
for the period of twelve years the payments in gold for which provision is made
in the German Treasury Bonds deposited by her from time to time in the name of
the Council of the Administration of the Ottoman Public Debt as security for the
second and subsequent issues of Turkish Government currency notes.
(3) Germany undertakes to deliver, within one month
from the coming into force of the present Treaty, to such authority as the
Principal Allied and Associated Powers may designate, the gold deposit
constituted in the Reichsbank or elsewhere, representing the residue of the
advance in gold agreed to on May 5, 1915, by the Council of the Administration
of the Ottoman Public Debt to the Imperial Ottoman Government.
(4) Germany agrees to transfer to the Principal Allied
and Associated Powers any title that she may have to the sum in gold and silver
transmitted by her to the Turkish Ministry of Finance in November, 1918, in
anticipation of the payment to be made in May, 1919, for the service of the
Turkish Internal Loan.
(5) Germany undertakes to transfer to the Principal
Allied and Associated Powers, within a period of one month from the coming into
force of the present Treaty, any sums in gold transferred as pledge or as
collateral security to the German Government or its nationals in connection with
loans made by them to the Austro-Hungarian Government.
(6) Without prejudice to Article 292 of Part X
(Economic Clauses) of the present Treaty, Germany confirms the renunciation
provided for in Article XV of the Armistice of November 11,1918, of any benefit
disclosed by the Treaties of Bucharest and of Brest-Litovsk and by the treaties
supplementary thereto.
Germany undertakes to transfer, either to Roumania or
to the Principal Allied and Associated Powers as the case may be, all monetary
instruments, specie, securities and negotiable instruments, or goods, which she
has received under the aforesaid Treaties.
(7) The sums of money and all securities, instruments
and goods of whatsoever nature, to be delivered, paid and transferred under the
provisions of this Article, shall be disposed of by the Principal Allied and
Associated Powers in a manner hereafter to be determined by those Powers.
ARTICLE 260.
Without prejudice to the renunciation of any rights by
Germany on behalf of herself or of her nationals in the other provisions of the
present Treaty, the Reparation Commission may within one year from the coming
into force of the present Treaty demand that the German Government become
possessed of any rights and interests of German nationals in any public utility
undertaking or in any concession operating in Russia, China, Turkey, Austria,
Hungary and Bulgaria, or in the possessions or dependencies of these States or
in any territory formerly belonging to Germany or her allies, to be ceded by
Germany or her allies to any Power or to be administered by a Mandatory under
the present Treaty, and may require that the German Government transfer, within
six months of the date of demand, all such rights and interests and any similar
rights and interests the German Government may itself possess to the Reparation
Commission.
Germany shall be responsible for indemnifying her
nationals so dispossessed, and the Reparation Commission shall credit Germany,
on account of sums due for reparation, with such sums in respect of the value of
the transferred rights and interests as may be assessed by the Reparation
Commission, and the German Government shall, within six months from the coming
into force of the present Treaty, communicate to the Reparation Commission all
such rights and interests, whether already granted, contingent or not yet
exercised, and shall renounce on behalf of itself and its nationals in favour of
the Allied and Associated Powers all such rights and interests which have not
been so communicated.
ARTICLE 261.
Germany undertakes to transfer to the Allied and
Associated Powers any claims she may have to payment or repayment by the
Governments of Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria or Turkey, and, in particular, any
claims which may arise, now or hereafter, from the fulfilment of undertakings
made by Germany during the war to those Governments.
ARTICLE 262.
Any monetary obligation due by Germany arising out of
the present Treaty and expressed in terms of gold marks shall be payable at the
option of the creditors in pounds sterling payable in London; gold dollars of
the United States of America payable in New York; gold francs payable in Paris;
or gold lire payable in Rome.
For the purpose of this Article the gold coins
mentioned above shall be defined as being of the weight and fineness of gold as
enacted by law on January 1,1914.
ARTICLE 263.
Germany gives a guarantee to the Brazilian Government
that all sums representing the sale of coffee belonging to the State of Sao
Paolo in the ports of Hamburg, Bremen, Antwerp and Trieste, which were deposited
with the Bank of Bleichroder at Berlin, shall be reimbursed together with
interest at the rate or rates agreed upon. Germany having prevented the transfer
of the sums in question to the State of Sao Paolo at the proper time, guarantees
also that the reimbursement shall be effected at the rate of exchange of the day
of the deposit.
PART X.
ECONOMIC CLAUSES.
SECTION 1.
COMMERCIAL RELATIONS.
CHAPTER I.
CUSTOMS REGULATIONS, DUTIES AND RESTRICTIONS.
ARTICLE 264.
Germany undertakes that goods the produce or
manufacture of any one of the Allied or Associated States imported into Germany
territory, from whatsoever place arriving, shall not be subjected to other or
higher duties or charges (including internal charges) than those to which the
like goods the produce or manufacture of any other such State or of any other
foreign country are subject.
Germany will not maintain or impose any prohibition or
restriction on the importation into German territory of any goods the produce or
manufacture of the territories of any one of the Allied or Associated States,
from whatsoever place arriving, which shall not equally extend to the
importation of the like goods the produce or manufacture of any other such State
or of any other foreign country.
ARTICLE 265.
Germany further undertakes that, in the matter of the
regime applicable on importation, no discrimination against the commerce of any
of the Allied and Associated States as compared with any other of the said
States or any other foreign country shall be made, even by indirect means, such
as customs regulations or procedure, methods of verification or analysis
conditions of payment of duties, tariff classification or interpretation, or the
operation of monopolies.
ARTICLE 266.
In all that concerns exportation Germany undertakes
that goods, natural products or manufactured articles, exported from German
territory to the territories of any one of the Allied or Associated States shall
not be subjected to other or higher duties or charges (including internal
charges) than those paid on the like goods exported to any other such State or
to any other foreign country.
Germany will not maintain or impose any prohibition or
restriction on the exportation of any goods sent from her territory to any one
of the Allied or Associated States which shall not equally extend to the
exportation of the like goods, natural products or manufactured articles, sent
to any other such State or to any other foreign country.
ARTICLE: 267.
Every favour, immunity or privilege in regard to the
importation, exportation or transit of goods granted by Germany to any Allied or
Associated State or to any other foreign country whatever shall simultaneously
and unconditionally, without request and without compensation, be extended to
all the Allied and Associated States.
ARTICLE 268.
The provisions of Articles 264 to 267 inclusive of this
Chapter and of Article 323 of Part XII (Ports, Waterways and Railways) of the
present Treaty are subject to the following exceptions:
(a) For a period of five years from the coming into
force of the present Treaty, natural or manufactured products which both
originate in and come from the territories of Alsace and Lorraine reunited to
France shall, on importation into German customs territory, be exempt from all
customs duty.
The French Government shall fix each year, by decree
communicated to the German Government, the nature and amount of the products
which shall enjoy this exemption.
The amount of each product which may be thus sent
annually into Germany shall not exceed the average of the amounts sent annually
in the years 1911-1913.
Further, during the period above mentioned the German
Government shall allow the free export from Germany, and the free re-importation
into Germany, exempt from all customs duties and other charges (including
internal charges), of yarns, tissues, and other textile materials or textile
products of any kind and in any condition, sent from Germany into the
territories of Alsace or Lorraine, to be subjected there to any finishing
process, such as bleaching, dyeing, printing, mercerisation, gassing, twisting
or dressing.
(b) During a period of three years from the coming into
force of the present Treaty natural or manufactured products which both
originate in and come from Polish territories which before the war were part of
Germany shall, on importation into German customs territory, be exempt from all
customs duty.
The Polish Government shall fix each year, by decree
communicated to the German Government, the nature and amount of the products
which shall enjoy this exemption.
The amount of each product which may be thus sent
annually into Germany shall not exceed the average of the amounts sent annually
in the years 1911-1913.
(c) The Allied and Associated Powers reserve the right
to require Germany to accord freedom from customs duty, on importation into
German customs territory, to natural products and manufactured articles which
both originate in and come from the Grand Duchy of Luxemburg, for a period of
five years from the coming into force of the present Treaty.
The nature and amount of the products which shall enjoy
the benefits of this regime shall be communicated each year to the German
Government.
The amount of each product which may be thus sent
annually into Germany shall not exceed the average of the amounts sent annually
in the years 1911-1913.
ARTICLE 269.
During the first six months after the coming into force
of the present Treaty, the duties imposed by Germany on imports from Allied and
Associated States shall not be higher than the most favourable duties which were
applied to imports into Germany on July 31, 1914.
During a further period of thirty months after the
expiration of the first six months, this provision shall continue to be applied
exclusively with regard to products which, being comprised in Section A of the
First Category of the German Customs Tariff of December 25,1902, enjoyed at the
above-mentioned date (July 31, 1914) rates conventionalised by treaties with the
Allied and Associated Powers, with the addition of all kinds of wine and
vegetable oils, of artificial silk and of washed or scoured wool whether or not
they were the subject of special conventions before July 31, 1914.
ARTICLE 270.
The Allied and Associated Powers reserve the right to
apply to German territory occupied by their troops a special customs regime as
regards imports and exports, in the event of such a measure being necessary in
their opinion in order to safeguard the economic interests of the population of
these territories.
CHAPTER H.
SHIPPING.
ARTICLE 271.
As regards sea fishing, maritime coasting trade, and
maritime towage, vessels of the Allied and Associated Powers shall enjoy, in
German territorial waters, the treatment accorded to vessels of the most
favoured nation.
ARTICLE 272.
Germany agrees that, notwithstanding any stipulation to
the contrary contained in the Conventions relating to the North Sea fisheries
and liquor traffic, all rights of inspection and police shall, in the case of
fishing-boats of the Allied Powers, be exercised solely by ships belonging to
those Powers.
ARTICLE 273.
In the case of vessels of the Allied or Associated
Powers, all classes of certificates or documents relating to the vessel, which
were recognised as valid by Germany before the war, or which may hereafter be
recognised as valid by the principal maritime States, shall be recognised by
Germany as valid and as equivalent to the corresponding certificates issued to
German vessels.
A similar recognition shall be accorded to the
certificates and documents issued to their vessels by the Governments of new
States, whether they have a sea-coast or not, provided that such certificates
and documents shall be issued m conformity with the general practice observed in
the principal maritime States.
The High Contracting Parties agree to recognise the
flag flown by the vessels of an Allied or Associated Power having no seacoast
which are registered at some one specified place situated in its territory; such
place shall serve as the port of registry of such vessels.
CHAPTER HI
UNFAIR COMPETITION.
ARTICLE 274.
Germany undertakes to adopt all the necessary
legislative and administrative measures to protect goods the produce or
manufacture of any one of the Allied and Associated Powers from all forms of
unfair competition in commercial transactions.
Germany undertakes to prohibit and repress by seizure
and by other appropriate remedies the importation, exportation, manufacture,
distribution, sale or offering for sale in its territory of all goods bearing
upon themselves or their usual get-up or wrappings any marks, names, devices, or
description whatsoever which are calculated to convey directly or indirectly a
false indication of the origin, type, nature, or special characteristics of such
goods.
ARTICLE 275
Germany undertakes on condition that reciprocity is
accorded in these matters to respect any law, or any administrative or judicial
decision given in conformity with such law, in force in any Allied or Associated
State and duly communicated to her by the proper authorities, defining or
regulating the right to any regional appellation in respect of wine or spirits
produced in the State to which the region belongs, or the conditions under which
the use of any such appellation may be permitted; and the importation,
exportation, manufacture, distribution, sale or offering for sale of products or
articles bearing regional appellations inconsistent with such law or order shall
be prohibited by the German Government and repressed by the measures prescribed
in the preceding Article.
CHAPTER IV.
TREATMENT OF NATIONALS OF ALLIED AND ASSOCIATED POWERS.
ARTICLE 276. Germany undertakes:
(a) Not to subject the nationals of the Allied and
Associated Powers to any prohibition in regard to the exercise of occupations,
professions, trade and industry, which shall not be equally applicable to all
aliens without exception;
(b) Not to subject the nationals of the Allied and
Associated Powers in regard to the rights referred to in paragraph (a) to any
regulation or restriction which might contravene directly or indirectly the
stipulations of the said paragraph,
or which shall be other or more disadvantageous than
those which are applicable to nationals of the most favoured nation;
(c) Not to subject the nationals of the Allied and
Associated Powers, their property, rights or interests, including companies and
associations In which they are interested, to any charge, tax or impost, direct
or indirect, other or higher than those which are or may be imposed on her own
nationals or their property, rights or interests;
(d) Not to subject the nationals of any one of the
Allied and Associated Powers to any restriction which was not applicable on July
1,1914, to the nationals of such Powers unless such restriction is likewise
imposed on her own nationals.
ARTICLE 277.
The nationals of the Allied and Associated Powers shall
enjoy in German territory a constant protection for their persons and for their
property, rights and interests, and shall have free access to the courts of law.
ARTICLE 278.
Germany undertakes to recognise any new nationality
which has been or may be acquired by her nationals under the laws of the Allied
and Associated Powers and in accordance with the decisions of the competent
authorities of these Powers pursuant to naturalisation laws or under treaty
stipulations, and to regard such persons as having, in consequence of the
acquisition of such new nationality, in all respects severed their allegiance to
their country of origin.
ARTICLE 279.
The Allied and Associated Powers may appoint
consuls-general, consuls, vice-consuls, and consular agents in German towns and
ports. Germany undertakes to approve the designation of the consuls-general,
consuls, vice-consuls, and consular agents, whose names shall be notified to
her, and to admit them to the exercise of their functions in conformity with the
usual rules and customs.
CHAPTER V.
GENERAL ARTICLES ARTICLE 280.
The obligations imposed on Germany by Chapter I and by
Articles 271 and 272 of Chapter II above shall cease to have effect five years
from the date of the coming into force of the present Treaty, unless otherwise
provided in the text, or unless the Council of the League of Nations shall, at
least twelve months before the expiration of that period, decide that these
obligations shall be maintained for a further period with or without amendment.
Article 276 of Chapter IV shall remain in operation,
with or without amendment, after the period of five years for such further
period, if any, not exceeding five years, as may be determined by a majority of
the Council of the League of Nations.
ARTICLE 281.
If the German Government engages in international
trade, it shall not in respect thereof have or be deemed to have any rights,
privileges or immunities of sovereignty.
SECTION II.
TREATIES.
ARTICLE 282.
From the coming into force of the present Treaty and
subject to the provisions thereof the multilateral treaties, conventions and
agreements of an economic or technical character enumerated below and in the
subsequent Articles shall alone be applied as between Germany and those of the
Allied and Associated Powers party thereto:
(1) Conventions of March 14,1884, December 1,1886, and
March 23,1887, and Final Protocol of July 7,1887, regarding the protection of
submarine cables.
(2) Convention of October 11,1909, regarding the
international circulation of motor-cars.
(3) Agreement of May 15, 1886, regarding the sealing of
railway trucks subject to customs inspection, and Protocol of May 18, 1907.
(4) Agreement of May 15, 1886, regarding the technical
standardisation of railways.
(5) Convention of July 5,1890, regarding the
publication of customs tariffs and the organisation of an International Union
for the publication of customs tariffs.
(6) Convention of December 31, 1913, regarding the
unification of commercial statistics.
(7) Convention of April 25,1907, regarding the raising
of the Turkish customs tariff.
(8) Convention of March 14, 1857, for the redemption of
toll dues on the Sound and Belts.
(9) Convention of June 22,1861, for the redemption of
the Stade Toll on the Elbe.
(10) Convention of July 16,1863, for the redemption of
the toll dues on the Scheldt.
(11) Convention of October 29,1888, regarding the
establishment of a definite arrangement guaranteeing the free use of the Suez
Canal.
(12) Conventions of September 23, 1910, respecting the
unification of certain regulations regarding collisions and salvage at sea.
(13) Convention of December 21,1904, regarding the
exemption of hospital ships from dues and charges in ports
(14) Convention of February 4, 1898, regarding the
tonnage measurement of vessels for inland navigation.
(15) Convention of September 26, 1906, for the
suppression of nightwork for women.
(16) Convention of September 26, 1906, for the
suppression of the use of white phosphorus in the manufacture of matches.
(17) Conventions of May 18, 1904, and May 4, 1910,
regarding the suppression of the White Slave Traffic.
(18) Convention of May 4, 1910, regarding the
suppression of obscene publications.
(19) Sanitary Conventions of January 30, 1892, April
15,1893, April 3,1894, March 19,1897, and December 3,1903.
(20) Convention of May 20, 1875, regarding the
unification and improvement of the metric system.
(21) Convention of November 29,1906, regarding the
unification of pharmacopoeial formulae for potent drugs.
(22) Convention of November 16 and 19,1885, regarding
the establishment of a concert pitch.
(23) Convention of June 7,1905, regarding the creation
of an International Agricultural Institute at Rome.
(24) Conventions of November 3, 1881, and April
15,1889, regarding precautionary measures against phylloxera.
(25) Convention of March 19,1902, regarding the
protection of birds useful to agriculture.
(26) Convention of June 12, 1902, as to the protection
of minors. ARTICLE 283.
From the coming into force of the present Treaty the
High Contracting Parties shall apply the conventions and agreements hereinafter
mentioned, in so far as concerns them, on condition that the special
stipulations contained in this Article are fulfilled by Germany.
Postal Conventions:
Conventions and agreements of the Universal Postal
Union concluded at Vienna, July 4, 1891.
Conventions and agreements of the Postal Union signed
at Washington, June 15, 1897.
Conventions and agreements of the Postal Union signed
at Rome, May 26, 1906.
Telegraphic Conventions:
International Telegraphic Conventions signed at St.
Petersburg July 10, 22, 1875.
Regulations and Tariffs drawn up by the International
Telegraphic Conference, Lisbon, June 11, 1908.
Germany undertakes not to refuse her assent to the
conclusion by the new States of the special arrangements referred to in the
conventions and agreements relating to the Universal Postal Union and to the
International Telegraphic Union, to which the said new States have adhered or
may adhere.
ARTICLE 284.
From the coming into force of the present Treaty the
High Contracting Parties shall apply, in so far as concerns them, the
International Radio-Telegraphic Convention of July S, 1912, on condition that
Germany fulfills the provisional regulations which will be indicated to her by
the Allied and Associated Powers.
If within five years after the coming into force of the
present Treaty a new convention regulating international radio-telegraphic
communications should have been concluded to take the place of the Convention of
July 5,1912, this new convention shall bind Germany, even if Germany should
refuse either to take part in drawing up the convention, or to subscribe
thereto.
This new
convention will likewise replace the provisional regulations in force.
ARTICLE 285.
From the coming into force of the present Treaty, the
High Contracting Parties shall apply in so far as concerns them and under the
conditions stipulated in Article 272, the conventions hereinafter mentioned:
(1) The Conventions of May 6, 1882, and February 1,
1889, regulating the fisheries in the North Sea outside territorial waters.
(2) The Conventions and Protocols of November 16, 1887,
February 14, 1893, and April 11, 1894, regarding the North Sea liquor traffic.
ARTICLE 286.
The International Convention of Paris of March 20,
1883, for the protection of industrial property, revised at Washington on June
2, 1911; and the International Convention of Berne of September 9,1886, for the
protection of literary and artistic works, revised at Berlin on November 13,
1908, and completed by the additional Protocol signed at Berne on March 20,
1914, will again come into effect as from the coming into force of the present
Treaty, in so far as they are not affected or modified by the exceptions and
restrictions resulting therefrom.
ARTICLE 287.
From the coming into force of the present Treaty the
High Contracting Parties shall apply, in so far as concerns them, the Convention
of the Hague of July 17, 1905, relating to civil procedure. This renewal,
however, will not apply to France, Portugal and Roumania.
ARTICLE 288.
The special rights and privileges granted to Germany by
Article 3 of the Convention of December 2,1899, relating to Samoa shall be
considered to have terminated on August 4,1914.
ARTICLE 289.
Each of the Allied or Associated Powers, being guided
by the general principles or special provisions of the present Treaty, shall
notify to Germany the bilateral treaties or conventions which such Allied or
Associated Power wishes to revive with Germany.
The notification referred to in the present Article
shall be made either directly or through the intermediary of another Power.
Receipt thereof shall be acknowledged in writing by Germany. The date of the
revival shall be that of the notification.
The Allied and Associated Powers undertake among
themselves not to revive with Germany any conventions or treaties which are not
in accordance with the terms of the present Treaty.
The notification shall mention any provisions of the
said conventions and treaties which, not being in accordance with the terms of
the present Treaty, shall not be considered as revived.
In case of any difference of opinion, the League of
Nations will be called on to decide.
A period of six months from the coming into force of
the present Treaty is allowed to the Allied and Associated Powers within which
to make the notification.
Only those bilateral treaties and conventions which
have been the subject of such a notification shall be revived between the Allied
and Associated Powers and Germany; all the others are and shall remain
abrogated.
The above regulations apply to all bilateral treaties
or conventions existing between all the Allied and Associated Powers signatories
to the present Treaty and Germany, even if the said Allied and Associated Powers
have not been in a state of war with Germany.
ARTICLE 290.
Germany recognises that all the treaties, conventions
or agreements which she has concluded with Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria or Turkey
since August 1,1914, until the coming into force of the present Treaty are and
remain abrogated by the present Treaty.
ARTICLE 291.
Germany undertakes to secure to the Allied and
Associated Powers, and to the officials and nationals of the said Powers, the
enjoyment of all the rights and advantages of any kind which she may have
granted to Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria or Turkey, or to the officials and
nationals of these States by treaties, conventions or arrangements concluded
before August 1, 1914, so long as those treaties, conventions or arrangements
remain in force.
The Allied and Associated Powers reserve the right to
accept or not the enjoyment of these rights and advantages.
ARTICLE 292.
Germany recognises that all treaties, conventions or
arrangements which she concluded with Russia, or with any State or Government of
which the territory previously formed a part of Russia, or with Roumania, before
August 1, 1914, or after that date until coming into force of the present
Treaty, are and remain abrogated.
ARTICLE 293.
Should an Allied or Associated Power, Russia, or a
State or Government of which the territory formerly constituted a part of
Russia, have been forced since August 1, 1914, by reason of military occupation
or by any other means or for any other cause, to grant or to allow to be granted
by the act of any public authority, concessions, privileges and favours of any
kind to Germany or to a German national, such concessions, privileges and
favours are ipso facto annulled by the present Treaty.
No claims or indemnities which may result from this
annulment hall be charged against the Allied or Associated Powers or the Powers,
States, Governments or public authorities which are released from their
engagements by the present Article.
ARTICLE 294.
From the coming into force of the present Treaty
Germany undertakes to give the Allied and Associated Powers and their nationals
the benefit ipso facto of the rights and advantages of any kind which she has
granted by treaties, conventions, or arrangements to nonbelligerent States or
their nationals since August 1,1914, until the coming into force of the present
Treaty, so long as those treaties, conventions or arrangements remain in force.
ARTICLE 295.
Those of the High Contracting Parties who have not yet
signed, or who have signed but not yet ratified, the Opium Convention signed at
The Hague on January 23, 1912, agree to bring the said Convention into force,
and for this purpose to enact the necessary legislation without delay and in any
case within a period of twelve months from the coming into force of the present
Treaty.
Furthermore, they agree that ratification of the
present Treaty should in the case of Powers which have not yet ratified the
Opium Convention be deemed in all respects equivalent to the ratification of
that Convention and to the signature of the Special Protocol which was opened at
The Hague in accordance with the resolutions adopted by the Third Opium
Conference in 1914 for bringing the said Convention into force.
For this purpose the Government of the French Republic
will communicate to the Government of the Netherlands a certified copy of the
protocol of the deposit of ratifications of the present Treaty, and will invite
the Government of the Netherlands to accept and deposit the said certified copy
as if it were a deposit of ratifications of the Opium Convention and a signature
of the Additional Protocol of 1914.
SECTION III.
DEBTS.
ARTICLE 296.
There shall be settled through the intervention of
clearing offices to be established by each of the High Contracting Parties
within three months of the notification referred to in paragraph (e) hereafter
the following classes of pecuniary obligations:
(1) Debts payable before the war and due by a national
of one of the Contracting Powers, residing within its territory, to a national
of an Opposing Power, residing within its territory;
(2) Debts which became payable during the war to
nationals of one Contracting Power residing within its territory and arose out
of transactions or contracts with the nationals of an Opposing Power, resident
within its territory, of which the total or partial execution was suspended on
account of the declaration of war;
(3) Interest which has accrued due before and during
the war to a national of one of the Contracting Powers in respect of securities
issued by an Opposing Power, provided that the payment of interest on such
securities to the nationals of that Power or to neutrals has not been suspended
during the war;
(4) Capital sums which have become payable before and
during the war to nationals of one of the Contracting Powers in respect of
securities issued by one of the Opposing Powers, provided that the payment of
such capital sums to nationals of that Power or to neutrals has not been
suspended during the war.
The proceeds of liquidation of enemy property, rights
and interests mentioned in Section IV and in the Annex thereto will be accounted
for through the Clearing Offices, in the currency and at the rate of exchange
hereinafter provided in paragraph (d), and disposed of by them under the
conditions provided by the said Section and Annex.
The settlements provided for in this Article shall be
effected according to the following principles and in accordance with the Annex
to this Section:
(a) Each of the High Contracting Parties shall
prohibit, as from the coming into force of the present Treaty, both the payment
and the acceptance of payment of such debts, and also all communications between the interested parties
with regard to the settlement of the said debts otherwise than through the
Clearing Offices;
(b) Each of the High Contracting Parties shall be
respectively responsible for the payment of such debts due by its nationals,
except in the cases where before the war the debtor was in a state of bankruptcy
or failure, or had given formal indication of insolvency or where the debt was
due by a company whose business has been liquidated under emergency legislation
during the war. Nevertheless, debts due by the inhabitants of territory invaded
or occupied by the enemy before the Armistice will not be guaranteed by the
States of which those territories form part;
(c) The sums due to the nationals of one of the High
Contracting Parties by the nationals of an Opposing State will be debited to the
Clearing Office of the country of the debtor, and paid to the creditor by the
Clearing Office of the country of the creditor;
(d) Debts shall be paid or credited in the currency of
such one of the Allied and Associated Powers, their colonies or protectorates,
or the British Dominions or India, as may be concerned. If the debts are payable
in some other currency they shall be paid or credited in the currency of the
country concerned, whether an Allied or Associated Power, Colony, Protectorate,
British Dominion or India, at the pre-war rate of exchange.
For the purpose of this provision the pre-war rate of
exchange shall be defined as the average cable transfer rate prevailing in the
Allied or Associated country concerned during the month immediately preceding
the outbreak of war between the said country concerned and Germany.
If a contract provides for a fixed rate of exchange
governing the conversion of the currency in which the debt is stated into the
currency of the Allied or Associated country concerned, then the above
provisions concerning the rate of exchange shall not apply.
In the case of new States the currency in which and the
rate of exchange at which debts shall be paid or credited shall be determined by
the Reparation Commission provided for in Part VET (Reparation);
(e) The provisions of this Article and of the Annex
hereto shall not apply as between Germany on the one hand and any one of the
Allied and Associated Powers, their colonies or protectorates, or any one of the
British Dominions or India on the other hand, unless within a period of one
month from the deposit of the ratification of the present Treaty by the Power in
question, or of the ratification on behalf of such Dominion or of India, notice
to that effect is given to Germany by the Government of such Allied or
Associated Power or of such Dominion or of India as the case may be;
(f) The Allied and Associated Powers who have adopted
this Article and the Annex hereto may agree between themselves to apply them to
their respective nationals established in their territory so far as regards
matters between their nationals and German nationals. In this case the payments
made by application of this provision will be subject to arrangements between
the Allied and Associated Clearing Offices concerned.
ANNEX.
1.
Each of the High Contracting Parties will, within three
months from the notification provided for in Article 296, paragraph (e)
establish a Clearing Office for the collection and payment of enemy debts.
Local Clearing Offices may be established for any
particular portion of the territories of the High Contracting Parties. Such
local Clearing Offices may perform all the functions of a central Clearing
Office in their respective districts, except that all transactions with the
Clearing Office in the Opposing State must be effected through the central
Clearing Office.
2.
In this Annex the pecuniary obligations referred to in
the first paragraph of Article 296 are described "as enemy debts", the
persons from whom the same are due as "enemy debtors", the persons to
whom they are due as "enemy creditors", the Clearing Office in the
country of the creditor is called the "Creditor Clearing Office", and
the Clearing Office in the country of the debtor is called the "Debtor
Clearing Office."
3.
The High Contracting Parties will subject
contraventions of paragraph (a) of Article 296 to the same penalties as are at
present provided by their legislation for trading with the enemy. They will
similarly prohibit within their territory all legal process relating to payment
of enemy debts, except in accordance with the provisions of this Annex.
4.
The Government guarantee specified in paragraph (b) of
Article 296 shall take effect whenever, for any reason, a debt shall not be
recoverable, except in a case where at the date of the outbreak of war the debt
was barred by the laws of prescription in force in the country of the debtor, or
where the debtor was at that time in a state of bankruptcy or failure or had
given formal indication of insolvency, or where the debt was due by a company
whose business has been liquidated under emergency legislation during the war.
In such case the procedure specified by this Annex shall apply to payment of the
dividends.
The terms "bankruptcy" and
"failure" refer to the application of legislation providing for such
juridical conditions. The expression "formal indication of insolvency"
bears the same meaning as it has in English law.
5.
Creditors shall give notice to the Creditor Clearing
Office within six months of its establishment of debts due to them, and shall
furnish the Clearing Office with any documents and information required of them.
The High Contracting Parties will take all suitable
measures to trace and punish collusion between enemy creditors and debtors. The
Clearing Offices will communicate to one another any evidence and information
which might help the discovery and punishment of such collusion.
The High Contracting Parties will facilitate as much as possible postal and telegraphic communication at the expense of the parties concerned and through the intervention of the Clearing Offices between debtors and creditors desirous of coming to an agreement as to the amount of their debt.