The Versailles Treaty
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 sha11 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 I6 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 NATION5.
The Honourable Sir James Eric Drummond, K.C.M.G.,
C.B.
Return to Table of Contents
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 III.
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
fronticr 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 placcs 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, Ilgen,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, Adl. 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 north-west; 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 III of Part III, Section XII (Schleswig).
ARTICLE 28.
The boundaries of East Prussia, with the
reservations made in Section IX (East Prussia) of Part III, 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.
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 ll.
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 II 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 III 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 VIII
(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.
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 II.
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.
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.
24.
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.
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 III.
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 5l.
The territories which were ceded to Germany in
accordance with the Preliminaries
of Peace signed at Versailles on February 26, 187l, 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
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 5l 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 5l, 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 l913.
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 5l and
not collected at the time of the Armistice of November 11, 19l8.
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 VIII (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 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 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 III
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 III
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 III
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
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.
CZECH0-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 II
(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 II 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 II
(Boundaries of Germany) and in Article 10o 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 Iying beyond the frontier line fixed by the
Principal
Allied and Associated Powers as the result of the plebiscite.
ANNEX.
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.
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 II (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 II
(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 II (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 Guttland:
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,
Regierungs-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 (AIte 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
SieItoft,
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" E.;
(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 VIII 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 III 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 III 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.
PART V.
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 l00,000 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 II.
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. III 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.
III 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 II and
III 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 III
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 171.
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, associations, educational
establishments and universities must
have no connection with the Ministries of War or any other military
authority.
ARTICLE l78.
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 l80.
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
l90.
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 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 XXIII 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 l89.
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
l81 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.
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°Ê00' E. and 16°Ê00' 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
XIII (Heligoland) of Part III (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, II 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 II 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.
PART VIII.
REPARATION.
SECTION l.
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 l 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 II to VII 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 II
hereto.
ARTICLE 236.
Germany further agrees to the direct application
of her economic resources to
reparation as specified in Annexes, III, 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 III, IV, V, VI, and
VII, 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 II, 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 III 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 III (Political Clauses for Europe) and Sections III 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 III (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:
(l) 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.
ANNEX 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.
9
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 l, 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 l,
1921, shall then be exchanged for new bonds of the same type as
those provided
for below (paragraph l2, 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 l926,
and
thereafter at 5 per cent. per annum with an additional l 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:
(l) 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.
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 III 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 1922 7-1/2 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 DecemberÊ25, 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.:7° 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 1o,
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 II.
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 VIII
(Reparation) of
the present Treaty, of the material handed over in accordance with
Article VII of
the Armistice of November 11, 1918, or Article III of the Armistice
Agreement of
January l6, 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 l.
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 II.
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 III
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 l, 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 27l 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 28l.
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:
(l) Conventions of March l4, 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 l5, l893, April 3, l894,
March l9, 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, 188l, and April
l5, l889, regarding precautionary
measures against phylloxera.
(25) Convention of March 19, l902, regarding the
protection of birds useful to
agriculture.
(26) Convention of June l2, 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 VIII (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.
6.
When a debt has been admitted, in whole or in
part, the Debtor Clearing Office
will at once credit the Creditor Clearing Office with the amount
admitted, and at
the same time notify it of such credit.
7.
The debt shall be deemed to be admitted in full
and shall be credited forthwith
to the Creditor Clearing Office unless within three months from the
receipt of
the notification or such longer time as may be agreed to by the
Creditor Clearing
Office notice has been given by the Debtor Clearing Office that it
is not
admitted.
8.
When the whole or part of a debt is not admitted
the two Clearing Offices will
examine into the matter jointly and will endeavour to bring the
parties to an
agreement.
9.
The Creditor Clearing Office will pay to the
individual creditor the sums
credited to it out of the funds placed at its disposal by the
Government of its
country and in accordance with the conditions fixed by the said
Government,
retaining any sums considered necessary to cover risks, expenses or
commissions.
10.
Any person having claimed payment of an enemy
debt which is not admitted in whole
or in part shall pay to the clearing office, by way of fine,
interest at 5 per
cent. on the part not admitted. Any person having unduly refused to
admit the
whole or part of a debt claimed from him shall pay, by way of fine,
interest at 5
per cent. on the amount with regard to which his refusal shall be
disallowed.
Such interest shall run from the date of
expiration of the period provided for in
paragraph 7 until the date on which the claim shall have been
disallowed or the
debt paid.
Each Clearing Office shall in so far as it is
concerned take steps to collect the
fines above provided for, and will be responsible if such fines
cannot be
collected.
The fines will be credited to the other Clearing
Office, which shall retain them
as a contribution towards the cost of carrying out the present
provisions.
11.
The balance between the Clearing Offices shall be
struck monthly and the credit
balance paid in cash by the debtor State within a week.
Nevertheless, any credit balances which may be
due by one or more of the Allied
and Associated Powers shall be retained until complete payment shall
have been
effected of the sums due to the Allied or Associated Powers or their
nationals on
account of the war.
12.
To facilitate discussion between the Clearing
Offices each of them shall have a
representative at the place where the other is established.
13.
Except for special reasons all discussions in
regard to claims will, so far as
possible, take place at the Debtor Clearing Office.
14
In conformity with Article 296, paragraph (b),
the High Contracting Parties are
responsible for the payment of the enemy debts owing by their
nationals.
The Debtor Clearing Office will therefore credit
the Creditor Clearing Office
with all debts admitted, even in case of inability to collect them
from the
individual debtor. The Governments concerned will, nevertheless,
invest their
respective Clearing Offices with all necessary powers for the
recovery of debts
which have been admitted.
As an exception, the admitted debts owing by
persons having suffered injury from
acts of war shall only be credited to the Creditor Clearing Office
when the
compensation due to the person concerned in respect of such injury
shall have
been paid.
15.
Each Government will defray the expenses of the
Clearing Office set up in its
territory, including the salaries of the staff.
16.
Where the two Clearing Offices are unable to
agree whether a debt claimed is due,
or in case of a difference between an enemy debtor and an enemy
creditor or
between the Clearing Offices, the dispute shall either be referred
to arbitration
if the parties so agree under conditions fixed by agreement between
them, or
referred to the Mixed Arbitral Tribunal provided for in Section VI
hereafter.
At the request of the Creditor Clearing Office
the dispute may, however, be
submitted to the jurisdiction of the Courts of the place of domicile
of the
debtor.
17.
Recovery of sums found by the Mixed Arbitral
Tribunal, the Court, or the
Arbitration Tribunal to be due shall be effected through the
Clearing Offices as
if these sums were debts admitted by the Debtor Clearing Office.
18.
Each of the Governments concerned shall appoint
an agent who will be responsible
for the presentation to the Mixed Arbitral Tribunal of the cases
conducted on
behalf of its Clearing Office. This agent will exercise a general
control over
the representatives or counsel employed by its nationals.
Decisions will be arrived at on documentary
evidence, but it will be open to the
Tribunal to hear the parties in person, or according to their
preference by their
representatives approved by the two Governments, or by the agent
referred to
above, who shall be competent to intervene along with the party or
to reopen and
maintain a claim abandoned by the same.
19.
The Clearing Offices concerned will lay before
the Mixed Arbitral Tribunal all
the information and documents in their possession, so as to enable
the Tribunal
to decide rapidly on the cases which are brought before it.
20.
Where one of the parties concerned appeals
against the joint decision of the two
Clearing Offices he shall make a deposit against the costs, which
deposit shall
only be refunded when the first judgment is modified in favour of
the appellant
and in proportion to the success he may attain, his opponent in case
of such a
refund being required to pay an equivalent proportion of the costs
and expenses.
Security accepted by the Tribunal may be substituted for a deposit.
A fee of 5 per cent. of the amount in dispute
shall be charged in respect of all
cases brought before the Tribunal. This fee shall, unless the
Tribunal directs
otherwise, be borne by the unsuccessful party. Such fee shall be
added to the
deposit referred to. It is also independent of the security.
The Tribunal may award to one of the parties a
sum in respect of the expenses of
the proceedings.
Any sum payable under this paragraph shall be
credited to the Clearing Office of
the successful party as a separate item.
21.
With a view to the rapid settlement of claims,
due regard shall be paid in the
appointment of all persons connected with the Clearing Offices or
with the Mixed
Arbitral Tribunal to their knowledge of the language of the other
country
concerned.
Each of the Clearing Offices will be at liberty
to correspond with the other and
to forward documents in its own language.
22.
Subject to any special agreement to the contrary
between the Governments
concerned, debts shall carry interest in accordance with the
following
provisions:
Interest shall not be payable on sums of money
due by way of dividend, interest
or other periodical payments which themselves represent interest on
capital.
The rate of interest shall be 5 per cent. per
annum except in cases where, by
contract, law or custom, the creditor is entitled to payment of
interest at a
different rate. In such cases the rate to which he is entitled shall
prevail.
Interest shall run from the date of commencement
of hostilities (or, if the sum
of money to be recovered fell due during the war, from the date at
which it fell
due) until the sum is credited to the Clearing Office of the
creditor.
Sums due by way of interest shall be treated as
debts admitted by the Clearing
Offices and shall be credited to the Creditor Clearing Office in the
same way as
such debts.
23.
Where by decision of the Clearing Offices or the
Mixed Arbitral Tribunal a claim
is held not to fall within Article 296, the creditor shall be at
liberty to
prosecute the claim before the Courts or to take such other
proceedings as may be
open to him.
The presentation of a claim to the Clearing
Office suspends the operation of any
period of prescription.
24.
The High Contracting Parties agree to regard the
decisions of the Mixed Arbitral
Tribunal as final and conclusive, and to render them binding upon
their
nationals.
25.
In any case where a Creditor Clearing Office
declines to notify a claim to the
Debtor Clearing Office, or to take any step provided for in this
Annex, intended
to make effective in whole or in part a request of which it has
received due
notice, the enemy creditor shall be entitled to receive from the
Clearing Office
a certificate setting out the amount of the claim, and shall then be
entitled to
prosecute the claim before the courts or to take such other
proceedings as may be
open to him.
SECTION IV.
PROPERTY, RIGHTS AND INTERESTS.
ARTICLE 297.
The question of private property, rights and
interests in an enemy country shall
be settled according to the principles laid down in this Section and
to the
provisions of the Annex hereto.
(a) The exceptional war measures and measures of
transfer (defined in paragraph 3
of the Annex hereto) taken by Germany with respect to the property,
rights and
interests of nationals of Allied or Associated Powers, including
companies and
associations in which they are interested, when liquidation has not
been
completed, shall be immediately discontinued or stayed and the
property, rights
and interests concerned restored to their owners, who shall enjoy
full rights
therein in accordance with the provisions of Article 298.
(b) Subject to any contrary stipulations which
may be provided for in the present
Treaty, the Allied and Associated Powers reserve the right to retain
and
liquidate all property, rights and interests belonging at the date
of the coming
into force of the present Treaty to German nationals, or companies
controlled by
them, within their territories, colonies, possessions and
protectorates including
territories ceded to them by the present Treaty.
The liquidation shall be carried out in
accordance with the laws of the Allied or
Associated State concerned, and the German manowners shall not be
able to dispose
of such property, rights or interests nor to subject them to any
charge without
the consent of that State.
German nationals who acquire ipso facto the
nationality of an Allied or
Associated Power in accordance with the provisions of the present
Treaty will not
be considered as German nationals within the meaning of this
paragraph.
(c) The price or the amount of compensation in
respect of the exercise of the
right referred to in the preceding paragraph (b) will be fixed in
accordance with
the methods of sale or valuation adopted by the laws of the country
in which the
property has been retained or liquidated.
(d) As between the Allied and Associated Powers
or their nationals on the one
hand and Germany or her nationals on the other hand, all the
exceptional war
measures, or measures of transfer, or acts done or to be done in
execution of
such measures as defined in paragraphs 1 and 3 of the Annex hereto
shall be
considered as final and binding upon all persons except as regards
the
reservations laid down in the present Treaty.
(e) The nationals of Allied and Associated Powers
shall be entitled to
compensation in respect of damage or injury inflicted upon their
property, rights
or interests, including any company or association in which they are
interested,
in German territory as it existed on August 1, 1914, by the
application either of
the exceptional war measures or measures of transfer mentioned in
paragraphs 1
and 3 of the Annex hereto. The claims made in this respect by such
nationals
shall be investigated, and the total of the compensation shall be
determined by
the Mixed Arbitral Tribunal provided for in Section VI or by an
Arbitrator
appointed by that Tribunal. This compensation shall be borne by
Germany, and may
be charged upon the property of German nationals within the
territory or under
the control of the claimant's State. This property may be
constituted as a pledge
for enemy liabilities under the conditions fixed by paragraph 4 of
the Annex
hereto. The payment of this compensation may be made by the Allied
or Associated
State, and the amount will be debited to Germany.
(f) Whenever a national of an Allied or
Associated Power is entitled to property
which has been subjected to a measure of transfer in German
territory and
expresses a desire for its restitution, his claim for compensation
in accordance
with paragraph (6) shall be satisfied by the restitution of the said
property if
it still exists in specie.
In such case Germany shall take all necessary
steps to restore the evicted owner
to the possession of his property, free from all encumbrances or
burdens with
which it may have been charged after the liquidation, and to
indemnify all third
parties injured by the restitution.
If the restitution provided for in this paragraph
cannot be effected, private
agreements arranged by the intermediation of the Powers concerned or
the Clearing
Offices provided for in the Annex to Section III may be made, in
order to secure
that the national of the Allied or Associated Power may secure
compensation for
the injury referred to in paragraph (e) by the grant of advantages
or equivalents
which he agrees to accept in place of the property, rights or
interests of which
he was deprived.
Through restitution in accordance with this
Article, the price or the amount of
compensation fixed by the application of paragraph (e) will be
reduced by the
actual value of the property restored, account being taken of
compensation in
respect of loss of use or deterioration.
(g) The rights conferred by paragraph (f) are
reserved to owners who are
nationals of Allied or Associated Powers within whose territory
legislative
measures prescribing the general liquidation of enemy property,
rights or
interests were not applied before the signature of the Armistice.
(h) Except in cases where, by application of
paragraph (f), restitutions in
specie have been made, the net proceeds of sales of enemy property,
rights or
interests wherever situated carried out either by virtue of war
legislation, or
by application of this Article, and in general all cash assets of
enemies, shall
be dealt with as follows:
(1) As regards Powers adopting Section III and
the Annex thereto, the said
proceeds and cash assets shall be credited to the Power of which the
owner is a
national, through the Clearing Office established thereunder; any
credit balance
in favour of Germany resulting therefrom shall be dealt with as
provided in
Article 243.
(2) As regards Powers not adopting Section III
and the Annex thereto, the
proceeds of the property, rights and interests, and the cash assets,
of the
nationals of Allied or Associated Powers held by Germany shall be
paid
immediately to the person entitled thereto or to his Government; the
proceeds of
the property, rights and interests, and the cash assets, of German
nationals
received by an Allied or Associated Power shall be subject to
disposal by such
Power in accordance with its laws and regulations and may be applied
in payment
of the claims and debts defined by this Article or paragraph 4 of
the Annex
hereto. Any property, rights and interests or proceeds thereof or
cash assets not
used as above provided may be retained by the said Allied or
Associated Power and
if retained the cash value thereof shall be dealt with as provided
in Article
243.
In the case of liquidations effected in new
States, which are signatories of the
present Treaty as Allied and Associated Powers, or in States which
are not
entitled to share in the reparation payments to be made by Germany,
the proceeds
of liquidations effected by such States shall, subject to the rights
of the
Reparation Commission under the present Treaty, particularly under
Articles 235
and 260, be paid direct to the owner. If on the application of that
owner, the
Mixed Arbitral Tribunal, provided for by Section VI of this Part, or
an
arbitrator appointed by that Tribunal is satisfied that the
conditions of the
sale or measures taken by the Government of the State in question
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 that
State.
(i) Germany undertakes to compensate her
nationals in respect of the sale or
retention of their property, rights or interests in Allied or
Associated States.
(j) The amount of all taxes and imposts upon
capital levied or to be levied by
Germany on the property, rights and interests of the nationals of
the Allied or
Associated Powers from November 11, 1918, until three months from
the coming into
force of the present Treaty, or, in the case of property, rights or
interests
which have been subjected to exceptional measures of war, until
restitution in
accordance with the present Treaty, shall be restored to the owners.
ARTICLE 298.
Germany undertakes, with regard to the property,
rights and interests, including
companies and associations in which they were interested, restored
to nationals
of Allied and Associated Powers in accordance with the provisions of
Article 297,
paragraph (a) or (f):
(a) to restore and maintain, except as expressly
provided in the present Treaty,
the property, rights and interests of the nationals of Allied or
Associated
Powers in the legal position obtaining in respect of the property,
rights and
interests of German nationals under the laws in force before the
war;
(b) not to subject the property, rights or
interests of the nationals of the
Allied or Associated Powers to any measures in derogation of
property rights
which are not applied equally to the property, rights and interests
of German
nationals, and to pay adequate compensation in the event of the
application of
these measures.
ANNEX.
1.
In accordance with the provisions of Article 297
paragraph (d), the validity of
vesting orders and of orders for the winding up of businesses or
companies, and
of any other orders, directions, decisions or instructions of any
court or any
department of the Government of any of the High Contracting Parties
made or
given, or purporting to be made or given, in pursuance of war
legislation with
regard to enemy property, rights and interests is confirmed. The
interests of all
persons shall be regarded as having been effectively dealt with by
any order,
direction, decision or instruction dealing with property in which
they may be
interested, whether or not such interests are specifically mentioned
in the
order, direction, decision, or instruction. No question shall be
raised as to the
regularity of a transfer of any property, rights or interests dealt
with in
pursuance of any such order, direction, decision or instruction.
Every action
taken with regard to any property, business, or company, whether as
regards its
investigation, sequestration, compulsory administration, use,
requisition,
supervision, or winding up, the sale or management of property,
rights or
interests, the collection or discharge of debts, the payment of
costs, charges or
expenses, or any other matter whatsoever, in pursuance of orders,
directions,
decisions, or instructions of any court or of any department of the
Government of
any of the High Contracting Parties, made or given, or purporting to
be made or
given, in pursuance of war legislation with regard to enemy
property, rights or
interests, is confirmed. Provided that the provisions of this
paragraph shall not
be held to prejudice the titles to property heretofore acquired in
good faith and
for value and in accordance with the laws of the country in which
the property is
situated by nationals of the Allied and Associated Powers.
The provisions of this paragraph do not apply to
such of the above-mentioned
measures as have been taken by the German authorities in invaded or
occupied
territory, nor to such of the above mentioned measures as have been
taken by
Germany or the German authorities since November 11, 1918, all of
which shall be
void.
2.
No claim or action shall be made or brought
against any Allied or Associated
Power or against any person acting on behalf of or under the
direction of any
legal authority or Department of the Government of such a Power by
Germany or by
any German national wherever resident in respect of any act or
omission with
regard to his property, rights or interests during the war or in
preparation for
the war. Similarly no claim or action shall be made or brought
against any person
in respect of any act or omission under or in accordance with the
exceptional war
measures, laws or regulations of any Allied or Associated Power.
3.
In Article 297 and this Annex the expression
"exceptional war measures" includes
measures of all kinds, legislative administrative, judicial or
others, that have
been taken or will be taken hereafter with regard to enemy property,
and which
have had or will have the effect of removing from the proprietors
the power of
disposition over their property, though without affecting the
ownership, such as
measures of supervision, of compulsory administration, and of
sequestration; or
measures which have had or will have as an object the seizure of,
the use of, or
the interference with enemy assets, for whatsoever motive, under
whatsoever form
or in whatsoever place. Acts in the-execution of these measures
include all
detentions, instructions, orders or decrees of Government
departments or courts
applying these measures to enemy property, as well as acts performed
by any
person connected with the administration or the supervision of enemy
property,
such as the payment of debts, the collecting of credits, the payment
of any
costs, charges or expenses, or the collecting of fees.
Measures of transfer are those which have
affected or will affect the ownership
of enemy property by transferring it in whole or in part to a person
other than
the enemy owner, and without his consent, such as measures directing
the sale,
liquidation, or devolution of ownership in enemy property, or the
cancelling of
titles or securities.
4.
All property, rights and interests of German
nationals within the territory of
any Allied or Associated Power and the net proceeds of their sale,
liquidation or
other dealing therewith may be charged by that Allied or Associated
Power in the
first place with payment of amounts due in respect of claims by the
nationals of
that Allied or Associated Power with regard to their property,
rights and
interests, including companies and associations in which they are
interested, in
German territory, or debts owing to them by German nationals, and
with payment of
claims growing out of acts committed by the German Government or by
any German
authorities since July 31, 1914, and before that Allied or
Associated Power
entered into the war. The amount of such claims may be assessed by
an arbitrator
appointed by Mr. Gustave Ador, if he is willing, or if no such
appointment is
made by him, by an arbitrator appointed by the Mixed Arbitral
Tribunal provided
for in Section VI. They may be charged in the second place with
payment of the
amounts due in respect of claims by the nationals of such Allied or
Associated
Power with regard to their property, rights and interests in the
territory of
other enemy Powers, in so far as those claims are otherwise
unsatisfied.
5.
Notwithstanding the provisions of Article 297,
where immediately before the
outbreak of war a company incorporated in an Allied or Associated
State had
rights in common with a company controlled by it and incorporated in
Germany to
the use of trademarks in third countries, or enjoyed the use in
common with such
company of unique means of reproduction of goods or articles for
sale in third
countries, the former company shall alone have the right to use
these trade-marks
in third countries to the exclusion of the German company, and these
unique means
of reproduction shall be handed over to the former company,
notwithstanding any
action taken under German war legislation with regard to the latter
company or
its business, industrial property or shares. Nevertheless, the
former company, if
requested, shall deliver the latter company derivative copies
permitting the
continuation of reproduction of articles for use within German
territory.
6.
Up to the time when restitution is carried out in
accordance with Article 297,
Germany is responsible for the conservation of property, rights and
interests of
the nationals of Allied or Associated Powers, including companies
and
associations in which they are interested, that have been subjected
by her to
exceptional war measures.
7
Within one year from the coming into force of the
present Treaty the Allied or
Associated Powers will specify the property, rights and interests
over which they
intend to exercise the right provided in Article 297, paragraph (f).
8.
The restitution provided in Article 297 will be
carried out by order of the
German Government or of the authorities which have been substituted
for it.
Detailed accounts of the action of administrators shall be furnished
to the
interested persons by the German authorities upon request, which may
be made at
any time after the coming into force of the present Treaty.
9.
Until completion of the liquidation provided for
by Article 297, paragraph (b),
the property, rights and interests of German nationals will continue
to be
subject to exceptional war measures that have been or will be taken
with regard
to them.
10.
Germany will, within six months from the coming
into force of the present Treaty,
deliver to each Allied or Associated Power all securities,
certificates, deeds,
or other documents of title held by its nationals and relating to
property,
rights or interests situated in the territory of that Allied or
Associated Power,
including any shares, stock, debentures, debenture stock, or other
obligations of
any company incorporated in accordance with the laws of that Power.
Germany will at any time on demand of any Allied
or Associated Power furnish such
information as may be required with regard to the property, rights
and interests
of German nationals within the territory of such Allied or
Associated Power, or
with regard to any transactions concerning such property, rights or
interests
effected since July 1, 1914.
11.
The expression "cash assets" includes all
deposits or funds established before or
after the declaration of war, as well as all assets coming from
deposits,
revenues, or profits collected by administrators, sequestrators, or
others from
funds placed on deposit or otherwise, but does not include sums
belonging to the
Allied or Associated Powers or to their component States, Provinces,
or
Municipalities.
12.
All investments wheresoever effected with the
cash assets of nationals of the
High Contracting Parties, including companies and associations in
which such
nationals were interested, by persons responsible for the
administration of enemy
properties or having control over such administration, or by order
of such
persons or of any authority whatsoever shall be annulled. These cash
assets shall
be accounted for irrespective of any such investment.
13.
Within one month from the coming into force of
the present Treaty, or on demand
at any time, Germany will deliver to the Allied and Associated
Powers all
accounts, vouchers, records, documents and information of any kind
which may be
within German territory, and which concern the property, rights and
interests of
the nationals of those Powers, including companies and associations
in which they
are interested, that have been subjected to an exceptional war
measure, or to a
measure of transfer either in German territory or in territory
occupied by
Germany or her allies.
The controllers, supervisors, managers,
administrators, sequestrators,
liquidators and receivers shall be personally responsible under
guarantee of the
German Government for the immediate delivery in full of these
accounts and
documents, and for their accuracy.
14.
The provisions of Article 297 and this Annex
relating to property, rights and
interests in an enemy country, and the proceeds of the liquidation
thereof, apply
to debts, credits and accounts, Section III regulating only the
method of
payment.
In the settlement of matters provided for in
Article 297 between Germany and the
Allied or Associated States, their colonies or protectorates, or any
one of the
British Dominions or India, in respect of any of which a declaration
shall not
have been made that they adopt Section III, and between their
respective
nationals, the provisions of Section III respecting the currency in
which payment
is to be made and the rate of exchange and of interest shall apply
unless the
Government of the Allied or Associated Power concerned shall within
six months of
the coming into force of the present Treaty notify Germany that the
said
provisions are not to be applied.
15.
The provisions of Article 297 and this Annex
apply to industrial, literary and
artistic property which has been or will be dealt with in the
liquidation of
property, rights, interests, companies or businesses under war
legislation by the
Allied or Associated Powers, or in accordance with the stipulations
of Article
297, paragraph (b).
SECTION V.
CONTRACTS, PRESCRIPTIONS, JUDGMENTS.
ARTICLE 299.
(a) Any contract concluded between enemies shall
be regarded as having been
dissolved as from the time when any two of the parties became
enemies, except in
respect of any debt or other pecuniary obligation arising out of any
act done or
money paid thereunder, and subject to the exceptions and special
rules with
regard to particular contracts or classes of contracts contained
herein or in the
Annex hereto.
(b) Any contract of which the execution shall be
required in the general
interest, within six months from the date of the coming into force
of the present
Treaty, by the Allied or Associated Governments of which one of the
parties is a
national, shall be excepted from dissolution under this Article.
When the execution of the contract thus kept
alive would owing to the alteration
of trade conditions, cause one of the parties substantial prejudice
the Mixed
Arbitral Tribunal provided for by Section VI shall be empowered to
grant to the
prejudiced party equitable compensation.
(c) Having regard to the provisions of the
constitution and law of the United
States of America, of Brazil, and of Japan, neither the present
Article, nor
Article 300, nor the Annex hereto shall apply to contracts made
between nationals
of these States and German nationals; nor shall Article 305 apply to
the United
States of America or its nationals.
(d) The present Article and the annex hereto
shall not apply to contracts the
parties to which became enemies by reason of one of them being an
inhabitant of
territory of which the sovereignty has been transferred, if such
party shall
acquire under the present Treaty the nationality of an Allied or
Associated
Power, nor shall they apply to contracts between nationals of the
Allied and
Associated Powers between whom trading has been prohibited by reason
of one of
the parties being in Allied or Associated territory in the
occupation of the
enemy.
(e) Nothing in the present Article or the annex
hereto shall be deemed to
invalidate a transaction lawfully carried out in accordance with a
contract
between enemies if it has been carried out with the authority of one
of the
belligerent Powers.
ARTICLE 300.
(a) All periods of prescription, or limitation of
right of action, whether they
began to run before or after the outbreak of war, shall be treated
in the
territory of the High Contracting Parties, so far as regards
relations between
enemies, as having been suspended for the duration of the war. They
shall begin
to run again at earliest three months after the coming into force of
the present
Treaty. This provision shall apply to the period prescribed for the
presentation
of interest or dividend coupons or for the presentation for
repayment of
securities drawn for repayment or repayable on any other ground.
(b) Where, on account of failure to perform any
act or comply with any formality
during the war, measures of execution have been taken in German
territory to the
prejudice of a national of an Allied or Associated Power, the claim
of such
national shall, if the matter does not fall within the competence of
the Courts
of an Allied or Associated Power, be heard by the Mixed Arbitral
Tribunal
provided for by Section VI.
(c) Upon the application of any interested person
who is a national of an Allied
or Associated Power the Mixed Arbitral Tribunal shall order the
restoration of
the rights which have been prejudiced by the measures of execution
referred to in
paragraph (b), wherever, having regard to the particular
circumstances of the
case, such restoration is equitable and possible.
If such restoration is inequitable or impossible
the Mixed Arbitral Tribunal may
grant compensation to the prejudiced party to be paid by the German
Government.
(d) Where a contract between enemies has been
dissolved by reason either of
failure on the part of either party to carry out its provisions or
of the
exercise of a right stipulated in the contract itself the party
prejudiced may
apply to the Mixed Arbitral Tribunal for relief. The Tribunal will
have the
powers provided for in paragraph (c.)
(e) The provisions of the preceding paragraphs of
this Article shall apply to the
nationals of Allied and Associated Powers who have been prejudiced
by reason of
measures referred to above taken by Germany in invaded or occupied
territory, if
they have not been otherwise compensated.
(f) Germany shall compensate any third party who
may be prejudiced by any
restitution or restoration ordered by the Mixed Arbitral Tribunal
under the
provisions of the preceding paragraphs of this Article.
(g) As regards negotiable instruments, the period
of three months provided under
paragraph (a) shall commence as from the date on which any
exceptional
regulations applied in the territories of the interested Power with
regard to
negotiable instruments shall have definitely ceased to have force.
ARTICLE 301.
As between enemies no negotiable instrument made
before the war shall be deemed
to have become invalid by reason only of failure within the required
time to
present the instrument for acceptance or payment or to give notice
of
non-acceptance or nonpayment to drawers or indorsers or to protest
the
instrument, nor by reason of failure to complete any formality
during the war.
Where the period within which a negotiable
instrument should have been presented
for acceptance or for payment, or within which notice of
non-acceptance or
non-payment should have been given to the drawer or indorser, or
within which the
instrument should have been protested, has elapsed during the war,
and the party
who should have presented or protested the instrument or have given
notice of
non-acceptance or non-payment has failed to do so during the war, a
period of not
less than three months from the coming into force of the present
Treaty shall be
allowed within which presentation, notice of non-acceptance or
nonpayment or
protest may be made.
ARTICLE 302.
Judgments given by the Courts of an Allied or
Associated Power in all cases
which, under the present Treaty, they are competent to decide, shall
be
recognised in Germany as final, and shall be enforced without it
being necessary
to have them declared executory.
If a judgment in respect to any dispute which may
have arisen has been given
during the war by a German Court against a national of an Allied or
Associated
State in a case in which he was not able to make his defence, the
Allied and
Associated national who has suffered prejudice thereby shall be
entitled to
recover compensation, to be fixed by the Mixed Arbitral Tribunal
provided for in
Section VI.
At the instance of the national of the Allied or
Associated Power the
compensation above-mentioned may, upon order to that effect of the
Mixed Arbitral
Tribunal, be effected where it is possible by replacing the parties
in the
situation which they occupied before the judgment was given by the
German Court.
The above compensation may likewise be obtained
before the Mixed Arbitral
Tribunal by the nationals of Allied or Associated Powers who have
suffered
prejudice by judicial measures taken in invaded or occupied
territories, if they
have not been otherwise compensated.
ARTICLE 303.
For the purpose of Sections III, IV, V and VII,
the expression "during the war"
means for each Allied or Associated Power the period between the
commencement of
the state of war between that Power and Germany and the coming into
force of the
present Treaty.
ANNEX.
I. General Provisions.
1.
Within the meaning of Articles 299, 300 and 301,
the parties to a contract shall
be regarded as enemies when trading between them shall have been
prohibited by or
otherwise became unlawful under laws, orders or regulations to which
one of those
parties was subject. They shall be deemed to have become enemies
from the date
when such trading was prohibited or otherwise became unlawful.
2.
The following classes of contracts are excepted
from dissolution by Article 299
and, without prejudice to the rights contained in Article 297 (b) of
Section IV,
remain in force subject to the application of domestic laws, orders
or
regulations made during the war by the Allied and Associated Powers
and subject
to the terms of the contracts:
(a) Contracts having for their object the
transfer of estates or of real or
personal property where the property therein had passed or the
object had been
delivered before the parties became enemies;
(b) Leases and agreements for leases of land and
houses
(c) Contracts of mortgage, pledge or lien;
(d) Concessions concerning mines, quarries or
deposits;
(e) Contracts between individuals or companies
and States provinces,
municipalities, or other similar juridical persons charged with
administrative
functions, and concessions granted by States, provinces,
municipalities, or other
similar juridical persons charged with administrative functions.
3.
If the provisions of a contract are in part
dissolved under Article 299, the
remaining provisions of that contract shall, subject to the same
application of
domestic laws as is provided for in paragraph 2, continue in force
if they are
severable, but where they are not severable the contract shall be
deemed to have
been dissolved in its entirety.
II. Provisions relating to certain classes of Contracts.
Stock Exchange and Commercial Exchange Contracts.
4.
(a) Rules made during the war by any recognised
Exchange or Commercial
Association providing for the closure of contracts entered into
before the war by
an enemy are confirmed by the High Contracting Parties, as also any
action taken
thereunder, provided:
(1) That the contract was expressed to be made
subject to the rules of the
Exchange or Association in question;
(2) That the rules applied to all persons
concerned;
(3) That the conditions attaching to the closure
were fair and reasonable.
(b) The preceding paragraph shall not apply to
rules made during the occupation
by Exchanges or Commercial Associations in the districts occupied by
the enemy.
(c) The closure of contracts relating to cotton
"futures", which were closed as
on July 31, 1914, under the decision of the Liverpool Cotton
Association, is also
confirmed.
Security.
5.
The sale of a security held for an unpaid debt
owing by an enemy shall be deemed
to have been valid irrespective of notice to the owner if the
creditor acted in
good faith and with reasonable care and prudence, and no claim by
the debtor on
the ground of such sale shall be admitted.
This stipulation shall not apply to any sale of
securities effected by an enemy
during the occupation in regions invaded or occupied by the enemy.
Negotiable Instruments.
6.
As regards Powers which adopt Section III and the
Annex thereto the pecuniary
obligations existing between enemies and resulting from the issue of
negotiable
instruments shall be adjusted in conformity with the said Annex by
the
instrumentality of the Clearing Offices, which shall assume the
rights of the
holder as regards the various remedies open to him.
7.
If a person has either before or during the war
become liable upon a negotiable
instrument in accordance with an undertaking given to him by a
person who has
subsequently become an enemy, the latter shall remain liable to
indemnify the
former in respect of his liability notwithstanding the outbreak of
war.
III. Contracts of Insurance.
8.
Contracts of insurance entered into by any person
with another person who
subsequently became an enemy will be dealt with in accordance with
the following
paragraphs.
Fire Insurance.
9.
Contracts for the insurance of property against
fire entered into by a person
interested in such property with another person who subsequently
became an enemy
shall not be deemed to have been dissolved by the outbreak of war,
or by the fact
of the person becoming an enemy, or on account of the failure during
the war and
for a period of three months thereafter to perform his obligations
under the
contract, but they shall be dissolved at the date when the annual
premium becomes
payable for the first time after the expiration of a period of three
months after
the coming into force of the present Treaty.
A settlement shall be effected of unpaid premiums
which became due during the
war, or of claims for losses which occurred during the war.
10.
Where by administrative or legislative action an
insurance against fire effected
before the war has been transferred during the war from the original
to another
insurer, the transfer will be recognised and the liability of the
original
insurer will be deemed to have ceased as from the date of the
transfer. The
original insurer will, however, be entitled to receive on demand
full information
as to the terms of the transfer, and if it should appear that these
terms were
not equitable they shall be amended so far as may be necessary to
render them
equitable.
Furthermore, the insured shall, subject to the
concurrence of the original
insurer, be entitled to retransfer the contract to the original
insurer as from
the date of the demand.
Life Insurance.
Contracts of life insurance entered into between
an insurer and a person who
subsequently became an enemy shall not be deemed to have been
dissolved by the
outbreak of war, or by the fact of the person becoming an enemy.
Any sum which during the war became due upon a
contract deemed not to have been
dissolved under the preceding provision shall be recoverable after
the war with
the addition of interest at five per cent. per annum from the date
of its
becoming due up to the day of payment.
Where the contract has lapsed during the war
owing to nonpayment of premiums, or
has become void from breach of the conditions of the contract, the
assured or his
representatives or the person entitled shall have the right at any
time within
twelve months of the coming into force of the present Treaty to
claim from the
insurer the surrender value of the policy at the date of its lapse
or avoidance.
Where the contract has lapsed during the war
owing to nonpayment of premiums the
payment of which has been prevented by the enforcement of measures
of war, the
assured or his representative or the persons entitled shall have the
right to
restore the contract on payment of the premiums with interest at
five per cent.
per annum within three months from the coming into force of the
present Treaty.
12.
Any Allied or Associated Power may within three
months of the coming into force
of the present Treaty cancel all the contracts of insurance running
between a
German insurance company and its nationals under conditions which
shall protect
its nationals from any prejudice.
To this end the German insurance company will
hand over to the Allied or
Associated Government concerned the proportion of its assets
attributable to the
policies so cancelled and will be relieved from all liability in
respect of such
policies. The assets to be handed over shall be determined by an
actuary
appointed by the Mixed Arbitral Tribunal.
13.
Where contracts of life insurance have been
entered into by a local branch of an
insurance company established in a country which subsequently became
an enemy
country, the contract shall, in the absence of any stipulation to
the contrary in
the contract itself, be governed by the local law, but the insurer
shall be
entitled to demand from the insured or his representatives the
refund of sums
paid on claims made or enforced under measures taken during the war,
if the
making or enforcement of such claims was not in accordance with the
terms of the
contract itself or was not consistent with the laws or treaties
existing at the
time when it was entered into.
14.
In any case where by the law applicable to the
contract the insurer remains bound
by the contract notwithstanding the nonpayment of premiums until
notice is given
to the insured of the termination of the contract, he shall be
entitled where the
giving of such notice was prevented by the war to recover the unpaid
premiums
with interest at five per cent. per annum from the insured.
15.
Insurance contracts shall be considered as
contracts of life assurance for the
purpose of paragraphs 11 to 14 when they depend on the probabilities
of human
life combined with the rate of interest for the calculation of the
reciprocal
engagements between the two parties.
Marine Insurance.
16.
Contracts of marine insurance including time
policies and voyage policies entered
into between an insurer and a person who subsequently became an
enemy, shall be
deemed to have been dissolved on his becoming an enemy, except in
cases where the
risk undertaken in the contract had attached before he became an
enemy.
Where the risk had not attached, money paid by
way of premium or otherwise shall
be recoverable from the insurer.
Where the risk had attached effect shall be given
to the contract notwithstanding
the party becoming an enemy, and sums due under the contract either
by way of
premiums or in respect of losses shall be recoverable after the
coming into force
of the present Treaty.
In the event of any agreement being come to for
the payment of interest on sums
due before the war to or by the nationals of States which have been
at war and
recovered after the war, such interest shall in the case of losses
recoverable
under contracts of marine insurance run from the expiration of a
period of one
year from the date of the loss.
17.
No contract of marine insurance with an insured
person who subsequently became an
enemy shall be deemed to cover losses due to belligerent action by
the Power of
which the insurer was a national or by the allies or associates of
such Power.
18.
Where it is shown that a person who had before
the war entered into a contract of
marine insurance with an insurer who subsequently became an enemy
entered after
the outbreak of war into a new contract covering the same risk with
an insurer
who was not an enemy, the new contract shall be deemed to be
substituted for the
original contract as from the date when it was entered into, and the
premiums
payable shall be adjusted on the basis of the original insurer
having remained
liable on the contract only up till the time when the new contract
was entered
into.
Other Insurances.
19.
Contracts of insurance entered into before the
war between an insurer and a
person who subsequently became an enemy, other than contracts dealt
with in
paragraphs g to 18, shall be treated in all respects on the same
footing as
contracts of fire insurance between the same persons would be dealt
with under
the said paragraphs.
Re-insurance.
20.
All treaties of re-insurance with a person who
became an enemy shall be regarded
as having been abrogated by the person becoming an enemy, but
without prejudice
in the case of life or marine risks which had attached before the
war to the
right to recover payment after the war for sums due in respect of
such risks.
Nevertheless if, owing to invasion, it has been
impossible for the re-insured to
find another re-insurer, the treaty shall remain in force until
three months
after the coming into force of the present Treaty.
Where a re-insurance treaty becomes void under
this paragraph, there shall be an
adjustment of accounts between the parties in respect both of
premiums paid and
payable and of liabilities for losses in respect of life or marine
risks which
had attached before the war. In the case of risks other than those
mentioned in
paragraphs 11 to 18 the adjustment of accounts shall be made as at
the date of
the parties becoming enemies without regard to claims for losses
which may have
occurred since that date.
21.
The provisions of the preceding paragraph will
extend equally to re-insurances
existing at the date of the parties becoming enemies of particular
risks
undertaken by the insurer in a contract of insurance against any
risks other than
life or marine risks.
22.
Re-insurance of life risks effected by particular
contracts and not under any
general treaty remain in force.
The provisions of paragraph 12 apply to treaties
of re-insurance of life
insurance contracts in which enemy companies are the reinsurers.
23.
In case of a re-insurance effected before the war
of a contract of marine
insurance, the cession of a risk which had been ceded to the
re-insurer shall, if
it had attached before the outbreak of war, remain valid and effect
be given to
the contract notwithstanding the outbreak of war; sums due under the
contract of
re-insurance in respect either of premiums or of losses shall be
recoverable
after the war.
24.
The provisions of paragraphs 17 and 18 and the
last part of paragraph 16 shall
apply to contracts for the re-insurance of marine risks.
SECTION VI.
MIXED ARBITRAL TRIBUNAL.
ARTICLE 304.
(a) Within three months from the date of the
coming into force of the present
Treaty, a Mixed Arbitral Tribunal shall be established between each
of the Allied
and Associated Powers on the one hand and Germany on the other hand.
Each such
Tribunal shall consist of three members. Each of the Governments
concerned shall
appoint one of these members. The President shall be chosen by
agreement between
the two Governments concerned.
In case of failure to reach agreement, the
President of the Tribunal and two
other persons, either of whom may in case of need take his place,
shall be chosen
by the Council of the League of Nations, or, until this is set up,
by M. Gustave
Ador if he is willing. These persons shall be nationals of Powers
that have
remained neutral during the war.
If any Government does not proceed within a
period of one month in case there is
a vacancy to appoint a member of the Tribunal, such member shall be
chosen by the
other Government from the two persons mentioned above other than the
President.
The decision of the majority of the members of
the Tribunal shall be the decision
of the Tribunal.
(b) The Mixed Arbitral Tribunals established
pursuant to paragraph (a), shall
decide all questions within their competence under Sections III, IV,
V and VII.
In addition, all questions, whatsoever their
nature, relating to contracts
concluded before the coming into force of the present Treaty between
nationals of
the Allied and Associated Powers and German nationals shall be
decided by the
Mixed Arbitral Tribunal, always excepting questions which, under the
laws of the
Allied, Associated or Neutral Powers, are within the jurisdiction of
the National
Courts of those Powers. Such questions shall be decided by the
National Courts in
question, to the exclusion of the Mixed Arbitral Tribunal. The party
who is a
national of an Allied or Associated Power may nevertheless bring the
case before
the Mixed Arbitral Tribunal if this is not prohibited by the laws of
his country.
(c) If the number of cases justifies it,
additional members shall be appointed
and each Mixed Arbitral Tribunal shall sit in divisions. Each of
these divisions
will be constituted as above.
(d) Each Mixed Arbitral Tribunal will settle its
own procedure except in so far
as it is provided in the following Annex, and is empowered to award
the sums to
be paid by the loser in respect of the costs and expenses of the
proceedings.
(e) Each Government will pay the remuneration of
the member of the Mixed Arbitral
Tribunal appointed by it and of any agent whom it may appoint to
represent it
before the Tribunal. The remuneration of the President will be
determined by
special agreement between the Governments concerned; and this
remuneration and
the joint expenses of each Tribunal will be paid by the two
Governments in equal
moieties.
(f) The High Contracting Parties agree that their
courts and authorities shall
render to the Mixed Arbitral Tribunals direct all the assistance in
their power,
particularly as regards transmitting notices and collecting
evidence.
(g) The High Contracting Parties agree to regard
the decisions of the Mixed
Arbitral Tribunal as final and conclusive, and to render them
binding upon their
nationals.
ANNEX.
1.
Should one of the members of the Tribunal either
die, retire, or be unable for
any reason whatever to discharge his function, the same procedure
will be
followed for filling the vacancy as was followed for appointing him.
2.
The Tribunal may adopt such rules of procedure as
shall be in accordance with
justice and equity and decide the order and time at which each party
must
conclude its arguments, and may arrange all formalities required for
dealing with
the evidence.
3.
The agent and counsel of the parties on each side
are authorised to present
orally and in writing to the Tribunal arguments in Support or in
defence of each
case.
4.
The Tribunal shall keep record of the questions
and cases submitted and the
proceedings thereon, with the dates of such proceedings.
5.
Each of the Powers concerned may appoint a
secretary. These secretaries shall act
together as joint secretaries of the Tribunal and shall be subject
to its
direction. The Tribunal may appoint and employ any other necessary
officer or
officers to assist in the performance of its duties.
6.
The Tribunal shall decide all questions and
matters submitted upon such evidence
and information as may be furnished by the parties concerned.
7.
Germany agrees to give the Tribunal all
facilities and information required by it
for carrying out its investigations.
8.
The language in which the proceedings shall be
conducted shall, unless otherwise
agreed, be English, French, Italian or Japanese, as may be
determined by the
Allied or Associated Power concerned.
9.
The place and time for the meetings of each
Tribunal shall be determined by the
President of the Tribunal.
ARTICLE 305.
Whenever a competent court has given or gives a
decision in a case covered by
Sections III, IV, V or VII, and such decision is inconsistent with
the provisions
of such Sections, the party who is prejudiced by the decision shall
be entitled
to obtain redress which shall be fixed by the Mixed Arbitral
Tribunal. At the
request of the national of an Allied or Associated Power, the
redress may,
whenever possible, be effected by the Mixed Arbitral Tribunal
directing the
replacement of the parties in the position occupied by them before
the judgment
was given by the German court.
SECTION VII.
INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY.
ARTICLE 306.
Subject to the stipulations of the present
Treaty, rights of industrial, literary
and artistic property, as such property is defined by the
International
Conventions of Paris and of Berne, mentioned in Article 286, shall
be
re-established or restored, as from the coming into force of the
present Treaty,
in the territories of the High Contracting Parties, in favour of the
persons
entitled to the benefit of them at the moment when the state of war
commenced or
their legal representatives. Equally, rights which, except for the
war, would
have been acquired during the war in consequence of an application
made for the
protection of industrial property, or the publication of a literary
or artistic
work, shall be recognised and established in favour of those persons
who would
have been entitled thereto, from the coming into force of the
present Treaty.
Nevertheless, all acts done by virtue of the
special measures taken during the
war under legislative, executive or administrative authority of any
Allied or
Associated Power in regard to the rights of German nationals in
industrial,
literary or artistic property shall remain in force and shall
continue to
maintain their full effect.