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 Sarre 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 régime 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 20 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 liberty, 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 favor of the maintenance of the régime established by the present treaty and this annex, Germany hereby agrees to make such renunciation of her sovereignty in favor 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 régime definitely adopted to the permanent welfare of the territory and the general interests.
(b) If for the whole or part of the territory the League of Nations decides in favor 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 favor 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 favor of the union of the whole or part of the territory of the Sarre 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 Sarre 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 régime 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 Sarre Basin arising from loans raised by the commission or from other causes.
From the coming into force of the new régime, the powers of the Governing Commission will terminate, except in the case provided for in Paragraph 35. (a)
40. 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 powers, recognizing 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 solemn protests of their representatives of the Assembly of Bordeaux, agree upon the following articles:
=ARTICLE 51.=--The territories which were ceded to Germany in accordance with the preliminaries of peace signed at Versailles on the 26th February, 1871, and the treaty of Frankfort on the 10th May, 1871, are restored to French sovereignty as from the date of the armistice of the 11th November, 1918.
The provisions of the treaties establishing the delimination 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 have 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 recognize 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 4 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 the 11th November, 1918. From those whose application is rejected, the privilege will terminate at the date of the refusal.
Such juridical persons will also have the status of Alsace-Lorrainers as have been recognized as possessing this quality, whether by the French administrative authorities or by a judicial decision.
=ARTICLE 55.=--The territories referred to in Article 51 shall return to France, free and quit of all public debts under the conditions laid down in Article 255 of Part IX. (financial clauses) of the present treaty.
=ARTICLE 56.=--In conformity with the provisions of Article 256 of Part IX. (financial clauses) of the present treaty, France shall enter into possession of all property and estate within the territories referred to in Article 51, which belong to the German Empire or German States, without any payment or credit on this account to any of the States ceding the territories.
This provision applies to all movable or immovable property of public or private domain, together with all rights whatsoever belonging to the German Empire or the 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 German monetary instruments or moneys 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 public bodies in Alsace-Lorraine on account of the empire in accordance with German law, such as payment to the families of persons mobilized, requisitions, billeting of troops, and assistance to persons who have been expelled. 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 revenue derived from Alsace-Lorraine in 1913.
=ARTICLE 59.=--The French Government will collect for its own account the imperial taxes, duties, and dues of every kind leviable in the territories referred to in Article 51 and not collected at the time of the armistice of the 11th November, 1918.
=ARTICLE 60.=--The German Government shall without delay restore to Alsace-Lorrainers, (individuals, juridical persons, and public institutions,) all property, rights, and interests belonging to them on the 11th November, 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 the date of the 11th November, 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. (reparations) of the present treaty to give compensation for damages caused to the civil populations of the Allied and Associated countries in the form of lines, 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 Strasbourg 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. He shall be of French nationality. He will reside in Strasbourg 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 organization, 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 movements of the port and the trains which serve it, including the harbor, 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 Strasbourg still requires a prolongation of this temporary régime, 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 insure their upkeep.
=ARTICLE 67.=--The French Government is substituted in all the rights of the German Empire over all the railways which were administered by the Imperial Railway Administration, and which are actually working or under construction.
The same shall apply to the rights of the empire with regard to railway and tramway concessions within the territories referred to in Article 51.
This substitution shall not entail any payment on the part of the French State.
The frontier railway stations shall be established by a subsequent agreement, it being stipulated in advance that on the Rhine frontier they shall be situated on the right bank.
=ARTICLE 68.=--In accordance with the provisions of Article 268 of Chapter 1. of Section I. of Part X. (economic clause) 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 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 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.
=ARTICLE 69.=--During a period of ten years from the coming into force of the present treaty, central electric supply works situated in German territory, and formerly furnishing electric power to the territories referred to in Article 51, or to any establishment the working of which passes permanently or temporarily from Germany to France, shall be required to continue such supply up to the amount of consumption corresponding to the undertakings and contracts current on the 11th November, 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, &c.
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 the 11th November, 1918, all rights under the law of the 25th May, 1910, regarding the trade in potash salts and generally under any stipulations for the intervention of German organizations 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 the 11th November, 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 the 11th November, 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 the 11th November, 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 Nov. 11, 1918, subject to the conditions laid down in the last paragraph of Article 53 above.
Germany will directly compensate its 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 30th November, 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 the 11th November, 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., Part X. (economic clauses) shall be applied, with the substitution for the expression "outbreak of war" of the expression "11th November, 1918," and for the expression "duration of the war" of the expression "period from the 11th November, 1918, to 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 Alsace-Lorrainers 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 Strasbourg.
The same shall apply in respect of the capital and reserves accumulated in Germany falling legitimately to other serial insurance funds, to miners' superannuation funds, to the fund of the railways of Alsace-Lorraine, to other superannuation organizations 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 employes 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, orders and prosecutions, the following rules shall be applied:
1. All civil and commercial judgments which shall have been given since Aug. 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 the 11th November, 1918, shall be regarded as final and capable of being fully executed.
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 the 3d August, 1914, against Alsace-Lorrainers for political crimes or misdemeanors shall be regarded as null and void.
3. All sentences passed since the 11th November, 1918, by the Imperial Court of 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 Imperial Court against decisions of the courts of Alsace-Lorraine shall be suspended. In the cases referred to above, 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 of Alsace-Lorraine for offenses committed during the period between the 11th November, 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.
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 the 11th November, 1918, the following persons are ipso facto reinstated in French nationality:
First--Persons who lost French nationality by the application of the Franco-German treaty of the 10th May, 1871, and who have not since that date acquired any nationality other than German;
Second--The legitimate or natural descendants of the persons referred to the immediately preceding paragraph, with the exception of those whose ascendants in the paternal line include a German who migrated into Alsace-Lorraine after the 15th July, 1870;
Third--All persons born in Alsace-Lorraine of unknown parents 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:
First--All persons not restored to French nationality under Paragraph 1, above, whose ascendants include a Frenchman or French woman who lost French nationality under the conditions referred to in the said paragraph;
Second--All foreigners not nationals of a German State who acquired the status of a citizen of Alsace-Lorraine before the 3d August, 1914;
Third--All Germans domiciled in Alsace-Lorraine, if they have been so domiciled since a date previous to 15th July, 1870, or if one of their ascendants was at that date domiciled in Alsace-Lorraine;
Fourth--All Germans born or domiciled in Alsace-Lorraine who have served in the allied or associated armies during the present war and their descendants;
Fifth--All persons born in Alsace-Lorraine before 10th May, 1871, of foreign parents, and the descendants of such persons;
Sixth--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 previsions.
The legal representatives 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 case provided 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 naturalization, on condition of having been domiciled in Alsace-Lorraine from a date previous to the 3d August, 1914, and of submitting proof of unbroken residence within the restored territory for a period of three years from the 11th November, 1918.
France will be solely responsible for their diplomatic and consular protection from the date of their application for French naturalization.
4. 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 naturalization, 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 by 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.--Czechoslovak State
=ARTICLE 81.=--Germany, in conformity with the action already taken by the Allied and Associated Powers, recognizes the complete independence of the Czechoslovak State, which will include the autonomous territory of the Ruthenians to the south of the Carpathians. Germany hereby recognizes the frontier 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 Aug. 3, 1914, between Austria-Hungary and the German Empire will constitute the frontier between Germany and the Czechoslovak State.
=ARTICLE 83.=--Germany renounces in favor of the Czechoslovak State all rights and title over the portion of Silesian territory defined as follows:
Starting from a point about 2 kilometers southeast of Katscher, on the boundary between the Circles (Kreise) of Loebschütz 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, toward the northwest and up to a point about 2 kilometers to the southeast 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 Czechoslovak 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 Czechoslovak 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 favor of the Czechoslovak State all rights and title over the part of the Kreise of Loebschütz comprised within the following boundaries in case after the determination of the frontier between Germany and Poland the said part of that circle should become isolated from Germany: from the southeastern extremity of the salient of the former Austrian frontier at about 5 kilometers to the west of Loebschütz southward and up to a point of junction with the boundary between the Kreise of Loebschütz and Ratibor: the former frontier between Germany and Austria-Hungary; then, northward, the administrative boundary between the Kreise of Loebschütz and Ratibor up to a point situated about 2 kilometers to the southeast of Katscher; thence, northwestward 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 recognized as forming part of the Czechoslovak State will obtain Czechoslovak 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 18 years of age habitually resident in any of the territories recognized as forming part of the Czechoslovak State will be entitled to opt for German nationality. Czechoslovaks who are habitually resident in Germany will have a similar right to opt for Czechoslovak 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 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 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 Czechoslovaks 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 Czechoslovak nationality and lose their German nationality by complying with the requirements laid down by the Czechoslovak State.
=ARTICLE 86.=--The Czechoslovak 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 Czechoslovak 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 Czechoslovak 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, recognizes the complete independence of Poland and renounces in her favor 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 two kilometers to the east of the Lorzendorf, then a line to the acute angle which the northern boundary of Upper Silesia makes about three kilometers northwest of Simmenau, then to where the boundary of Upper Silesia has 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, Part II. aforesaid.
The terms 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 100 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 decision 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 eight kilometers east of Neustadt, the former frontier between Germany and Austria, to its junction with the boundary between the Kreise of Loebschütz and Ratibor; thence in a northerly direction to a point about two kilometers southeast of Katscher; the boundary between the Kreise of Loebschütz and Ratibor; thence in a southeasterly 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 Karanowitz;
Thence the old boundary between Germany and Austria, thence 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 westward to the point where the administrative boundary turns in an acute angle to the southwest about three kilometers northwest of Simmenau;
The boundary between Upper and Middle Silesia; thence in a westerly direction to a point to be fixed on the ground about two kilometers east of Orzendorf: a line to be fixed on the ground passing north of Kein Hennersdorf; thence southward 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, Steamersdorf 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 Kreise of Falkenberg; thence the eastern boundary of the Kreis of Falkenberg to the point of the salient which is three kilometers east of Puschine; thence to the northern point of the salient of the old province of Austrian Silesia, situated about eight kilometers east of Neustadt: a line to be fixed on the ground, passing east of Zulls.
The régime 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 régime laid down in the annex hereto, and up to the settlement of the final status of the country Germany hereby renounces in favor of Poland all rights and title over the portion of Upper Silesia lying beyond the frontier line fixed by the principal Allied and Associated Powers as this result of the plebiscite.
ANNEX
1. Within fifteen days from the coming into force of the present treaty the German troops and such officials as may be designated by the commission set up under the provisions of Paragraph 2 shall evacuate the plebiscite area. Up to the moment of the completion of the evacuation they shall refrain from any form of requisitioning in money or in kind and from all acts likely to prejudice the material interest 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 the 1st March, 1919, shall be evacuated.
All military and semi-military unions formed in the said area by the inhabitants of the district shall be immediately disbanded. All members of such military organizations who are not domiciled in the said area shall be required to leave it.
2. The plebiscite area shall be immediately placed under the authority of an international commission of four members to be designated by the following powers: The United States of America, France, the British Empire, and Italy. It shall be occupied by troops belonging to the Allied and Associated Powers, and the German Government undertakes to give facilities for the transference of troops to Upper Silesia.
3. The commission shall enjoy all the powers exercised by the German or by 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 insure 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 populations. The decision 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 of 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 offenses shall not 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 the 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 recognized 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 favorably as the persons, goods, vessels, carriages, wagons, and mails, respectively, of Polish or of any other most-favored nationality, origin, importation starting point, or ownership, 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 Poland in accordance with the present treaty. Such export shall be subject to duties or other charges or restrictions on exportation.
Poland agrees to take such steps as may be necessary to secure that such products shall be available for sale to purchasers in Germany on terms as favorable 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 recognized 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 authorization 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 recognized 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 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 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 foreign nationality, to obtain Polish nationality and to lose their German nationality by complying with the requirements laid down by the Polish State.
In this portion of Upper Silesia submitted to a plebiscite the provisions of this article should only come into force as from the definite attribution of the territory.
=ARTICLE 92.=--The proportion and the nature of the financial liabilities of Germany and Prussia 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 colonization 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 recognized as forming definitely a 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 the Section 6 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 of 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. (frontiers 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 Kreise 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 insure 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 commune, (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 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. 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 favor 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. When 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 Kreise 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 insure 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 decision 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 Anthe 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 favor of the principal Allied and Associated Powers all rights and title over the territories included between the Baltic, the northeastern frontier of East Prussia as defined in Article 28 of Part II. (frontiers 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 favor of the principal Allied and Associated Powers all rights and title over the territory comprised within the following limits:
From the Baltic Sea southward to the point where the principal channels of navigation of the Nogat and Vistula (Weichsel) meet;
The boundary of East Prussia as described in Article 28 of Part II. (boundaries of Germany) of the peace treaty;
Thence the principal channel of navigation of the Vistula downstream to a point about 6½ kilometers north of the bridge of Dirschau;
Thence northwest to point 5, 1½ kilometers southeast of the Church of Güttland, a line to be fixed on the ground;
Thence in a general westerly direction to the salient of the Kreise of Berent, 8½ kilometers northeast of Schöneck;
A line to be fixed on the ground passing between Mühlbanz on the south and Rambeltsch on the north;
Thence the boundary of the Kreise of Berent, westward to the re-entrant which it forms 6 kilometers north-northwest of Schöneck;
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 Barenhütte and Lonken; thence the median line of the 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 northeasterly direction to a point about one kilometer south of Koliebken Church, where the Danzig-Neustadt Railway crosses a stream;
A line to be fixed on the ground passing southeast of Kamehlen, Krissau, Fidlin, Sulmin, (Richthof,) Mattern, Schaferei, and to the northwest of Neuendorf, Marschau, Czapielken, Hoch and Klein Kelpin, Pulvermühl, Renneberg, and the towns of Oliva and Zoppot;
Thence the course of this stream 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. 4.)
=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. The constitution shall be placed under the guarantee of the League of Nations.
The High Commissioner will also be intrusted 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 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 insure 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 insure 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 insure 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 them in this connection.
=ARTICLE 107.=--All property situated within the territory of the free city of Danzig belonging to the German Empire or 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. 3 annexed to the present treaty;)
Leaving the Baltic coast about thirteen kilometers east-northeast of Flensburg, running southwest so as to pass southeast of Sygum, Ringsberg, Munkbrarup, Adelby, Tastrup, Jarplund, Oversee, and northwest of Langballigholz, Langballig, Bönstrup, Rüllschau, Weseby, Kleinwolstrup, Gross-Solt; thence westward passing south of Frörup and north of Wanderup; thence in a southwesterly direction passing southeast of Oxlund, Stieglund, and Ostenau and northwest of the villages on the Wanderup-Kollund road; thence in a northwesterly direction passing southwest of Löwenstedt, Joldelund, Goldelund and northeast of Kalkerheide and Högel to the bend of the Soholmer Au, about one kilometer east of Soholm, where it meets the southern boundary of the Kreise of Tondern; thence following this boundary to the North Sea; thence 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, Oberbürgermeister) 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 the 1st March, 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 insure 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 International Commission and of the expenditure occasioned by the plebiscite shall be paid by Germany.
2. The right to vote shall be given 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 had been domiciled there since a date before the 1st January, 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. 3, which is annexed to the present treaty):
Passing south of the Island of Alsen and following the median line of Flensburg Fjord;
Thence leaving the fjord about six kilometers north of Flensburg, and following the course of the stream flowing past Kupfermühle upstream to a point north of Niehuus;
Thence passing north of Pattburg and Ellund and south of Fröslee to meet the eastern boundary of the Kreise of Tondern at its junction with the boundary between the old jurisdiction of Slogs and Kjaer, (Slogs Herred and Kjaer Herred;)
Thence the latter boundary to where it meets the Scheidebek;
Thence the course of the Scheidebek, (Alte Au), Süder Au, and Wied Au downstream successively to the point where the latter bends northward, about 1,500 meters west of Ruttebüll;
Thence in a west-northwesterly direction to meet the North Sea north of Sieltoft;
Thence passing north of the Island of Sylt.
The vote above provided for shall be taken within a period not exceeding three weeks after the evacuation of the country by the German troops and authorities.
The result will be determined by the majority of votes cast in the whole of this section. This result will be immediately communicated by the commission to the principal Allied and Associated Governments and proclaimed.
If the vote results in favor 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 thirteen kilometers 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 delimination 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 which 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 renounced definitively in favor 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 the 1st October, 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 favor 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 Oct. 30, 1864.
SECTION XIII.--Heligoland
=ARTICLE 115.=--The fortifications, military establishments, and harbors of the islands of Heligoland and Dune shall be destroyed under the supervision of the principal Allied Governments by German labor and at the expense of Germany within a period to be determined by the said Governments.
The term "harbors" shall include the Northeast 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 19 April, 1918:
(A) Lat. 54 degrees 10 minutes 49 seconds N.; long. 7 degrees 53 minutes 39 seconds E.;
(B) Lat. 54 degrees 10 minutes 35 seconds N.; long. 7 degrees 54 minutes 18 seconds E.;
(C) Lat. 54 degrees 10 minutes 14 seconds N.; long. 7 degrees 54 minutes 0 seconds E.;
(D) Lat. 54 degrees 10 minutes 17 seconds N.; long. 7 degrees 53 minutes 37 seconds E.;
(E) Lat. 54 degrees 10 minutes 44 seconds N.; long. 7 degrees 53 minutes 26 seconds E.
These fortifications, military establishments, and harbors 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 Aug. 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 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 recognize 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 recognize the frontiers of any such States as determined therein.
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 undertakes immediately to recognize 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 favor of the principal Allied and Associated Powers all her rights and titles over her overseas 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 Section I. (commercial relations) and Section IV. (property, rights, and interests) 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 overseas 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 Jan. 1, 1900, to Aug. 1, 1914.
=ARTICLE 125.=--Germany renounces all rights under the conventions and agreements with France of Nov. 4, 1911, and Sept. 28, 1912, relating to equatorial Africa. She undertakes to pay to the French Government, in accordance with the estimate to be presented by the Government and approved by the Reparation Commission, all the deposits, credits, advances, &c., effected by virtue of these instruments in favor 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 Feb. 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 overseas possessions shall be entitled to the diplomatic protection of the Governments exercising authority over those territories.
SECTION II.--China
=ARTICLE 128.=--Germany renounces in favor of China all benefits and privileges resulting from the provisions of the final protocol signed at Peking on Sept. 7, 1901, and from all annexes, notes, and documents supplementary thereto. She likewise renounces in favor 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 Aug. 29, 1902, regarding the new Chinese customs tariff.
2. The arrangement of Sept. 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 of privileges which she allowed Germany under these arrangements.
=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 Sept. 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 affecting 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 or 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 Aug. 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 favor of the Government of his Britannic Majesty, the German State property in the British concession at Shameen at Canton. She renounces, in favor 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 recognizes that all treaties, conventions, and agreements between her and Siam, and all rights, titles and privileges derived therefrom, including all rights of extra territorial 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 recognizes that all treaties and arrangements between her and Liberia terminated as from Aug. 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 Feb. 9, 1909, and Nov. 4, 1911. All treaties, agreements, arrangements, and contracts concluded by her with the Sherifian Empire are regarded as abrogated as from Aug. 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 recognized the French Protectorate in Morocco, hereby accepts all consequences of its establishment, and she renounces the régime of the capitulations therein.
This renunciation shall take effect as from Aug. 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 "associés agricoles" shall be considered as having ceased, as from Aug. 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 the purposes of this clause, the property and possessions of the German Empire and States shall be deemed to include all the property of the crown, the empire, or 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 recognized 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 insure 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 toward 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 recognizes the protectorate proclaimed over Egypt by Great Britain on Dec. 18, 1914, and that she renounces the régime of the capitulations in Egypt. This renunciation shall take effect as from Aug. 4, 1914.
=ARTICLE 148.=--All treaties, agreements, arrangements, and contracts concluded by Germany with Egypt are regarded as abrogated as from Aug. 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 Khédive on Nov. 28, 1904, 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 Oct. 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 recognize 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 favor of Japan, all her rights, titles, and privileges--particularly those concerning the territory of Kiao-Chau, railways, mines, and submarine cables--which she acquired in virtue of the treaty concluded by her with China on 6th March, 1898, and of all other arrangements relative to the Province of Shantung.
All German rights in the Tsing-tao-Tsinan-Fu 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 Tsing-tao to Shanghai and from Tsing-tao to Che Foo, with all the rights, privileges, and properties attaching thereto, are similarly acquired by Japan, free and clear of all charges and incumbrances.
=ARTICLE 157.=--The movable and immovable property owned by the German State in the territory of Kiao-Chau, 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 incumbrances.
=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 Kiao-Chau.
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.
V. Military, Naval, and Aerial 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
I. EFFECTIVES AND CADRES OF THE GERMAN ARMY
=ARTICLE 159=--The German military forces shall be demobilized 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 100,000 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 4,000.
2. Divisions and army corps headquarters staffs shall be organized in accordance with Table No. 1 annexed to this section.
The number and strength 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 staff.
The maintenance or formation of forces differently grouped or of other organizations for the command of troops or for preparation for war is forbidden.
The Great German General Staff and all similar organizations 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 the first paragraph 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 employes or officials of the German States, such as customs officers, forest guards, and coast guards shall not exceed that of the employes or officials functioning in these capacities in 1913.
The number of gendarmes and employes 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 employes 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 the 31st of March, 1920, at the latest, the total number of German effectives does not exceed the maximum number of 100,000 men laid down in Article 160. In these successive reductions the same ratio between the number of officers and of men, and between the various kinds of units shall be maintained as is laid down in that article.
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. 2, annexed to this section, with the exception of an optional increase not exceeding one-twenty-fifth 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. 3 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. 3 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; 500 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 locations 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 authorized 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 materials, 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 recognized as necessary for equipping the authorized 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 authorized by Tables 2 and 3 of the annex 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 armored 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.
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 5 per cent. of the total effectives as fixed by the second sub-paragraph of Paragraph 1 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 formation 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 5 per cent. of the total effectives of officers provided for in the third sub-paragraph of Paragraph 1 of Article 100 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 sub-paragraphs of Paragraph 1 of Article 160 of the present treaty.
Consequently, and during the period fixed above, all military academies or similar institutions in Germany, as well as the different military schools for officers, student officers (aspiranten), cadets non-commissioned officers, or student non-commissioned officers (aspiranten), other than the schools above provided for, will be abolished.
=ARTICLE 177.=--Educational establishments, the universities, societies of discharged soldiers, shooting or touring clubs, and, generally speaking, associations of every description, whatever be the age of their members, must not occupy themselves with any military matters. In particular they will be forbidden to instruct or exercise their members, or to allow them to be instructed or exercised, in the profession or use of arms.
These societies, associations, educational establishments, and universities must have no connection with the Ministries of War or any other military authority.
=ARTICLE 178.=--All measures of mobilization or appertaining to mobilization 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 missions 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, however, does not affect the right of France to recruit for the Foreign Legion in accordance with French military laws and regulations.
IV. FORTIFICATIONS
=ARTICLE 180.=--All fortified works, fortresses, and field works situated in German territory to the west of a line drawn fifty kilometers 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.
=TABLE NO. 1.=
=State and Establishment of Army Corps Headquarters Staffs and of Infantry and Cavalry Divisions.=
These tabular statements do not form a fixed establishment to be imposed on Germany, but the figures contained in them (number of units and strengths) represent maximum figures, which should not in any case be exceeded.
+----------------------+----------+----------------------------+ |Unit | Maximum| Max. Strength of Each Unit | | | No.| | | +----------+----------------------------+ | |Authorized| Officers.| N.C.O.'s| | | Division.| | Men.| +----------------------+----------+---------------+------------+ |Army corps hdq. staffs| 2| 30| 150| |Total for hdq. staffs | ..| 60| 300| +----------------------+----------+---------------+------------+
2. ESTABLISHMENT OF AN INFANTRY DIVISION.
+--------------------------+-----------------------------------------+ | |Maximum No.| | | | of Such | | | |Units in a | Max. Strength of Each Unit | | | Single +-----------+-----------------+ | Unit | Division | Officers| N.C.O.'s and Men| +--------------------------+-----------+-----------+-----------------+ |Hdqrs. of inf. div. | 1| 25| 70| | | | | | |Hdqrs. of divisional inf. | 1| 4| 30| | | | | | |Hdqrs. of divisional art. | 1| 4| 30| | | | | | |Regiment of inf. | 3| 70| 2,300| | | | | | |(Each regiment comprises 3| | | | |battalions of infantry. | | | | |Each battalion comprises 3| | | | |companies of infantry and | | | | |1 machine-gun company.) | | | | | | | | | |Trench mortar company | 3| 6| 150| | | | | | |Divisional squadron | 1| 6| 150| | | | | | |Field artillery regiment | 1| 85| 1,300| | | | | | |(Each regiment comprises 3| | | | |groups of artillery. Each | | | | |group comprises 3 | | | | |batteries.) | | | | | | | | | |Pioneer battalion | 1| 12| 400| | | | | | |(This battalion comprises | | | | |2 companies of pioneers, 1| | | | |pontoon detachment, 1 | | | | |searchlight section.) | | | | | | | | | |Signal detachment\ | 1| 12| 300| | | | | | |(This detachment comprises| | | | |1 telephone detachment, 1 | | | | |listening section, 1 | | | | |carrier pigeon section.) | | | | | | | | | |Divisional Med. Service | 1| 20| 400| | | | | | |Parks and convoys | ..| 14| 800| | | | | | |Total for infantry div. | ..| 410| 10,830| +--------------------------+-----------+-----------+-----------------+
3. ESTABLISHMENT OF A CAVALRY DIVISION.
+------------------------------------+----------+--------+---------+ | | Maximum Strength | | | of Each Unit | | +----------+------------------+ | |[31]Units.|Officers.|N.C.O.'s| | | | |and Men.| | | | | | |Headquarters of a cavalry division | 1| 15| 50| | | | | | |Cavalry regiment | 6| 40| 800| | | | | | |(Each regiment comprises four | | | | |squadrons.) | | | | | | | | | |Horse artillery group (three | 1| 20| 400| |batteries) | | | | | | | | | |Total for cavalry division | ..| 275| 5,250| +------------------------------------+----------+---------+--------+
[31] Maximum number of such units in single division.
=TABLE NO. 2.=
=Tabular statement of armament establishment for a maximum of seven infantry divisions, three cavalry divisions, and two army corps headquarters staffs.=
+--------------------------+-------+-------+-------+------+-------+ |Materials. | Inft.| For 7| Cav.| For 3| Total| | | Div.| Inft.| Div.| Cav.|Columns| | | | Divs.| | Divs.| 2 & 4| +--------------------------+-------+-------+-------+------+-------+ |Rifles | 12,000| 84,000| ...| ...| 84,000| | | | | | | | |Carbines | ...| ...| 6,000|18,000| 18,000| | | | | | | | |Heavy machine guns | 108| 756| 12| 36| 792| | | | | | | | |Light machine guns | 162| 1,134| ...| ...| 1,134| | | | | | | | |Medium trench mortars | 9| 63| ...| ...| 63| | | | | | | | |Light trench mortars | 27| 189| ...| ...| 189| | | | | | | | |7.7 cm. guns | 24| 168| 12| 36| 204| | | | | | | | |10.5 cm. howitzers | 12| 84| ...| ...| 84| +--------------------------+-------+-------+-------+------+-------+
Army corps headquarters staff establishment must be drawn from the increased armaments of the divisional infantry.
=TABLE NO. 3.=
=Maximum Stocks Authorized.=
+----------------------+-----------+---------+-----------+ |Material. | Maximum | Estab- | Maximum| | | Number of |lishment | Totals,| | | Arms |Per Unit,| Rounds.| | |Authorized.| Rounds. | | +----------------------+-----------+---------+-----------+ |Rifles | 84,000 } | 40 | 40,800,000| | | | | | |Carbines | 18,000 } | | | | | | | | |Heavy machine guns | 792 } | 8,000 | 15,408,000| | | | | | |Light machine guns | 1,134 } | | | | | | | | |Medium trench mortars | 63 | 40 | 25,200| | | | | | |Light trench mort's | 189 | 800 | 151,200| | | | | | |Field artillery-- | | | | | | | | | |7.7 cm. guns | 204 | 1,000 | 204,000| | | | | | |10.5 cm. howitzers | 84 | 800 | 67,200| +----------------------+-----------+---------+-----------+
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: Six battleships of the Deutschland or Lothringen type, six light cruisers, twelve destroyers, twelve torpedo boats, or an equal number of ships constructed to replace them as provided in Article 190.
No submarines are to be included. All other warships except where there is provision to the contrary in the present treaty must be placed in reserve or devoted to commercial purposes.
=ARTICLE 182.=--Until the completion of the minesweeping prescribed by Article 193, Germany will keep in commission such number of minesweeping vessels as may be fixed by the Governments of the principal Allied and Associated Powers.
=ARTICLE 183.=--After the expiration of a period of two months from the coming into force of the present treaty the total personnel of the German Navy, including the manning of the fleet, coast defenses, signal stations, administration, and other land services, must not exceed 15,000, including officers and men of all grades and corps. The total strength of officers and warrant officers must not exceed 1,500. Within two months from the coming into force of the present treaty the personnel in excess of the above strength shall be demobilized. No naval or military corps or reserve force in connection with the navy may be organized in Germany without being included in the above strength.
=ARTICLE 184.=--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 Nov. 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 23 of the armistice, dated Nov. 11, 1918. Nevertheless, they must have all their guns on board.
Battleships--Oldenburg, Thuringen, Ostfriesland, Heligoland, Posen, Westfalen, Rheinland, and Nassau.
Light Cruisers--Stettin, Danzig, München, Lübeck, Stralsund, Augsburg, Kolberg, and 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.
Ships interned in neutral countries: Berlin, Santa Fé, Seydlitz, Yorck.
Ships interned in Germany: Ammon, Fürst Bülow, Answald, Gertrud, Bosnia, Kigoma, Cordoba, Rugia, Cassel, Santa Elena, Dania, Schleswig, Rio Negro, Möwe, Rio Pardo, Sierra Ventana, Santa Cruz, Chemnitz, Schwaben, Emil Georg von Strauss, Solingen, Habsburg, Steigerwald, Meteor, Franken, Waltraute, Gundomar, Scharnhorst.
=ARTICLE 188.=--On the expiration of one month from the coming into force of the present treaty all German submarines, 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 said Governments to be fit to proceed under their own power or to be towed shall be taken by the German Government into such allied ports as have been indicated. The remainder, and also those in course of construction, shall be broken up entirely by the German Government under the supervision of the said Governments. The breaking up must be completed within three months at the most after the coming into force of the present treaty.
=ARTICLE 189.=--Articles, machinery, and material arising from the breaking up of German warships of all kinds, whether surface vessels or submarines, may not be used except for purely industrial or commercial purposes. They may not be sold or disposed of to foreign countries.
=ARTICLE 190.=--Germany is forbidden to construct or acquire any warships other than those intended to replace the units in commission provided for in Article 181 of the present treaty. The warships intended for replacement purposes as above shall not exceed the following displacement: Armored 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 only have on board or in reserve 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 degrees 00 minutes east of Greenwich: (1) Between parallels of latitude 53 degrees 00 minutes N. and 59 degrees 00 minutes N.; (2) to the northward of latitude 60 degrees 30 minutes 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, and 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 5 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 German Navy and not demobilized must engage to serve till the age of 45 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 insure free passage into the Baltic to all nations, Germany shall not erect any fortifications in the area comprised between latitudes 55.27 north and 54.00 north and longitudes 9.00 east and 16.00 east 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 supervision 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 hydrographical 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 Article 195 and in Part III. (political clauses for Europe), Section XIII. (Heligoland), now established within fifty kilometers of the German coast or on German islands off that coast, shall be considered of a defensive nature and may remain in their existing condition. No new fortifications shall be constructed within these limits. The armament of these defenses 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 wave length 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 Oct. 1, 1919, maintain a maximum number of 100 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 the air forces on the rolls of the German land and sea forces shall be demobilized. Up to the 1st October, 1919, however, Germany may keep and maintain a total number of 1,000 men, including officers, for the whole of the cadres and personnel, flying and nonflying, 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 airplanes 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 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, bomb-dropping apparatus, torpedo-dropping apparatus, synchronization 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.--Interallied 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 interallied commissions specially appointed for this purpose by the principal Allied and Associated Powers.
=ARTICLE 204.=--The Interallied 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 Interallied Commissions of Control may establish their organizations 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 sub-commissions, or to authorize 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 Interallied Commissions of Control and to their members. It shall attach a qualified representative to each Interallied 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 labor and material required to effect the deliveries and the work 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 Interallied 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 and 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 Interallied Commission of Control all such information and documents as the latter may deem necessary to insure the complete execution of the military clauses, and in particular all legislative and administrative documents and regulations.
=ARTICLE 209.=--The Naval Interallied 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 dock, and to supervise the destruction and breaking up provided for. The German Government must furnish to the Naval Interallied Commission of Control all such information and documents as the commission may deem necessary to insure 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 Interallied 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 airplane, 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 authorize, where necessary, a removal of material, and to take delivery of such material. The German Government must furnish to the Aeronautical Interallied Commission of Control all such information and legislative, administrative or other documents which the commission may consider necessary to insure 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 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 Nov. 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 No. 2 and the protocol, dated April 4, 1919, supplementing the armistice of Nov. 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.
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 powers 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 among 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 sentences for offenses 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 offenses 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 offenses 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 the commissions to inquire 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 inquiries.
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 recognize 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 countries.
=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.
VII. Penalties
=ARTICLE 227.=--The Allied and Associated Powers publicly arraign William II. of Hohenzollern, formerly German Emperor, for a supreme offense 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 defense. It will be composed of five judges, one appointed by each of the following powers: 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 recognizes 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 insure the full knowledge of the incriminating acts, the discovery of offenders, and the just appreciation of responsibility.
VIII. Reparation
SECTION I.--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 recognize 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 I. 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 chapter 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 Allies and Associated Governments up to Nov. 11, 1918, together with interest at the rate of 5 per cent. 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 interallied commission, to be called the Reparation Commission, and constituted in the form and with the power 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 the 1st May, 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 the 1st May, 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 the 1st May, 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 the 11th November, 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 toward 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, and 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 herein prescribed, shall be credited to her toward 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., 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 11th November, 1918, and its renewals and the protocols thereto.
=ARTICLE 239.=--Germany 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.=--Germany recognizes 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 authorized 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 favor 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 favor of Germany under Sections III. and IV. of Part X. (economic clauses) and Section V. (Alsace-Lorraine) of Part III. (political clauses for Europe).
(b) Amounts due to Germany in respect of transfers under Part IX. (financial clauses), Part XII. (ports, waterways, and railways), and Section IV. (Sarre Basin) of Part III. (political clauses for Europe).
(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.
=ARTICLE 244.=--The transfer of the German submarine cables which do not form the subject of particular provisions of the present treaty as regulated by Annex VII. hereto.
ANNEX I.
Compensation may be claimed from Germany under Article 232 above in respect of the total damage under the following categories:
1. Damage to injured persons and to surviving dependents by personal injury to or death of civilians caused by acts of war, including bombardments or other attacks on land, on sea, or from the air, and all the direct consequences thereof, and of all operations of war by the two groups of belligerents wherever arising.
2. Damage caused by Germany or her allies to civilian victims of acts of cruelty, violence, or maltreatment, (including injuries to life or health as a consequence of imprisonment, deportation, internment, or evacuation, of exposure at sea, or of being forced to labor by Germany or her allies,) 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 honor, 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 compensations in the nature of pensions to naval and military victims of war, (including members of the air forces,) 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 capitalized costs of such pensions and compensations 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 Governments 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 mobilized 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 labor 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 have 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 the 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 delegates 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 260 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 authorized 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 commission 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 or 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:
First. To be issued forthwith, 20,000,000,000 marks gold bearer bonds, payable not later than May 1, 1921, without interest. There shall be specially applied toward the amortization of these bonds the payments which Germany is pledged to make in conformity with Article 235, after deduction of the sums used for the reimbursement of expenses of the armies of occupation and for payment of foodstuffs and raw materials. Such bonds as have not been redeemed by May 1, 1921, shall then be exchanged for new bonds of the same type as those provided for below, (Paragraph 12, c. second.)
Second. To be issued forthwith, further 40,000,000,000 marks gold bearer bonds, bearing interest at 2½ per cent. per annum between 1921 and 1926, and thereafter at 5 per cent. per annum, with an additional 1 per cent for amortization beginning in 1926 on the whole amount of the issue.
Third. 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 amortization 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 favor 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, &c., so disposed of outright, and the obligation of Germany in respect for 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 the 1st May, 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 the 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:
First. 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;
Second. 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 indorsement.
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 1st May, 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 this rate.
The commission, in fixing on 1st May, 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 11th November, 1918, up to 1st May, 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 gold 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 recognizes 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 recognized 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 upward; 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) which 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 incumbrances, charges, and liens of all kinds, as the commission may require:
(b) Take all measures that may be indicated by the Reparation Commission for insuring 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 shipyards in each of the two years next succeeding the three months mentioned above:
(b) Within twenty-four 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 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 the 1st August, 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 the 11th November, 1918.
The condition of this session 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 régime 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 been during the war 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, except when being made of payments due in respect of the employment of ships in conformity with the armistice agreement of the 13th January, 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 this part of the present treaty, 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 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 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, &c.,) 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 Dec. 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, and 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 disorganized 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 in excess of 30 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 utilized 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 insure 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:
First. 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.
Second. 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 3 of the renewal of the armistice of 16th January, 1919.
ANNEX V.
1. Germany accords the following options for the delivery of coal and derivatives of coal to the under-mentioned signatories of the present treaty.
2. Germany undertakes to deliver to France 7,000,000 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 20,000,000 tons in any one year of the first five years, and 8,000,000 tons in any one year of the succeeding five years.
It is understood due diligence will be exercised in the restoration of the destroyed mines in the Nord and Pas de Calais.
3. Germany undertakes to deliver to Belgium 8,000,000 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, 4,500,000 tons. July, 1920, to June, 1921, 6,000,000 tons. July, 1921, to June, 1922, 7,500,000 tons. July, 1922, to June, 1923, 8,000,000 tons. July, 1923, to June, 1924, 8,500,000 tons.
and each of the following five years, 8,500,000 tons.
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 the pithead price does not exceed the pithead price of British coal for export. In 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. the 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 three tons of coke to four 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, anthracine, naphthaline, or pitch.
9. The price paid for coke and for the articles referred to in the preceding paragraphs 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 1st January, 1920, and at least thirty days' notice of deliveries to be made between the coming into force of this treaty and the 1st January, 1920. Until Germany has received the demands referred to in this paragraph the provisions of the protocol of the 25th December, 1918, (execution of Article 6 of the armistice of the 11th November, 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 authorized 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 Jan. 1, 1920, and during each period of six months thereafter until Jan. 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 pre-war 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.
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 favor 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 latitude 2 degrees 30 minutes north, and longitude 7 degrees 40 minutes west of Greenwich, to about latitude 2 degrees 20 minutes north, and longitude 5 degrees 30 minutes west of Greenwich, and from about latitude 3 degrees 48 minutes north, and longitude 0 degrees 0 minutes 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 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--71 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--71, and all the political papers taken by the German authorities on Oct. 10, 1870, at the Château of Cercay, near Brunoy, (Seine-et-Oise,) belonging at the time to M. Rouher, formerly Minister of State.
=ARTICLE 246.=--Within six months of 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 her two great artistic works:
(a) 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.
(b) 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.
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 the 11th November, 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, river, or 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 agreement of the 11th November, 1918, and subsequent armistice agreements, and recognizes 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 7 of the armistice agreement of the 11th November, 1918, Article 3 of the armistice agreement of the 16th January, 1919, as well as of any other material handed over in accordance with the armistice agreement of the 11th November, 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 favor of the Allied and Associated Powers or their nationals respectively, before the date at which a state of war existed between Germany and the Allied and Associated Powers 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 the 1st August, 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 payments.
2. A portion of the debt as it stood on the 1st August, 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 colonization 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 territory 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 purpose 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 organizations 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 recognizes 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 deposit gold constituted in the Reichsbank or elsewhere, representing the residue of the advance in gold agreed to on the 5th of May, 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 convention of the 11th November, 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 Rumania 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 whatever 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 these 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 the 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 mandatary 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 favor 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, Turkey, and, in particular any claims which may arise, now or hereafter, from the fulfillment 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 the 1st January, 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 the Bleichröder 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 reimbursements shall be effected at the rate of exchange of the day of the deposit.
X. Economic Clauses
SECTION I.--Commercial Relations
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 German 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 régime 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 favor, 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 Article 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 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 of Alsace or Lorraine, to be subjected there to any finishing process, such as bleaching, dyeing, printing, mercerization, 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 régime 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 favorable duties which were applied to imports into Germany on the 31st July, 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 the 25th December, 1902, enjoyed at the above-mentioned date (31st July, 1914,) rates conventionalized 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 the 31st July, 1914.
=ARTICLE 270.=--The Allied and Associated Powers reserve the right to apply to German territory occupied by their troops a special customs régime 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.
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-favored 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 recognized as valid by Germany before the war, or which may hereafter be recognized as valid by the principal maritime States, shall be recognized 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 seacoast or not, provided that such certificates and documents shall be issued in conformity with the general practice observed in the principal maritime States.
The high contracting parties agree to recognize 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.
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 descriptions 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.
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-favored nation;
(c) not to subject the nationals of the Allied and Associated Powers, their property, rights, or interests, including companies and associations in which they are interested, to any charge, tax, or impost, direct or indirect, other or higher than those which are or may be imposed on her own nationals or their property, rights, or interests;
(d) not to subject the nationals of any one of the Allied and Associated Powers to any restriction which was not applicable on July 1, 1914, to the nationals of such powers unless such restriction is likewise imposed on her own nationals.
=ARTICLE 277.=--The nationals of the Allied and Associated Powers shall enjoy in German territory a constant protection for their persons and for their property, rights, and interests, and shall have free access to the courts of law.
=ARTICLE 278.=--Germany undertakes to recognize 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 naturalization 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.