Peace Treaty of Versailles (Articles 231 - 247: Reparations) (28 June 1919)
PART VIII.
REPARATION.
SECTION l.
GENERAL PROVISIONS.
ARTICLE 231.
The Allied and Associated Governments affirm and Germany accepts
the responsibility of Germany and her allies for causing all the
loss and damage to which the Allied and Associated Governments and
their nationals have been subjected as a consequence of the war
imposed upon them by the aggression of Germany and her allies.
ARTICLE: 232.
The Allied and Associated Governments recognise that the resources
of Germany are not adequate, after taking into account permanent
diminutions of such resources which will result from other
provisions of the present Treaty, to make complete reparation for
all such loss and damage.
The Allied and Associated Governments, however, require, and
Germany undertakes, that she will make compensation for all damage
done to the civilian population of the Allied and Associated Powers
and to their property during the period of the belligerency of each
as an Allied or Associated Power against Germany by such aggression
by land, by sea and from the air, and in general all damage as
defined in Annex l hereto.
In accordance with Germany's pledges, already given, as to complete
restoration for Belgium, Germany undertakes, in addition to the
compensation for damage elsewhere in this Part provided for, as a
consequence of the violation of the Treaty of 1839, to make
reimbursement of all sums which Belgium has borrowed from the
Allied and Associated Governments up to November 11, 1918, together
with interest at the rate of five per cent (5%) per annum on
such sums. This amount shall be determined by the Reparation
Commission, and the German Government undertakes thereupon
forthwith to make a special issue of bearer bonds to an equivalent
amount payable in marks gold, on May 1, 1926, or, at the option of
the German Government, on the 1st of May in any year up to 1926.
Subject to the foregoing, the form of such bonds shall be
determined by the Reparation Commission. Such bonds shall be handed
over to the Reparation Commission, which has authority to take and
acknowledge receipt thereof on behalf of Belgium.
ARTICLE 233.
The amount of the above damage for which compensation is to be made
by Germany shall be determined by an Inter-Allied Commission, to be
called the Reparation Commission and constituted in the form and
with the powers set forth hereunder and in Annexes II to VII
inclusive hereto.
This Commission shall consider the claims and give to the German
Government a just opportunity to be heard.
The findings of the Commission as to the amount of damage defined
as above shall be concluded and notified to the German Government
on or before May 1, 1921, as representing the extent of that
Government's obligations. ,
The Commission shall concurrently draw up a schedule of payments
prescribing the time and manner for securing and discharging the
entire obligation within a period of thirty years from May 1, 1921.
If, however, within the period mentioned, Germany fails to
discharge her obligations, any balance remaining unpaid may, within
the discretion of the Commission, be postponed for settlement in
subsequent years, or may be handled otherwise in such manner as the
Allied and Associated Governments, acting in accordance with the
procedure laid down in this Part of the present Treaty, shall
determine.
ARTICLE 234.
The Reparation Commission shall after May 1 , 1921, from time to
time, consider the resources and capacity of Germany, and, after
giving her representatives a just opportunity to be heard, shall
have discretion to extend the date, and to modify the form of
payments, such as are to be provided for in accordance with Article
233; but not to cancel any part, except with the specific authority
of the several Governments represented upon the Commission.
ARTICLE 235.
In order to enable the Allied and Associated Powers to proceed at
once to the restoration of their industrial and economic life,
pending the full determination of their claims, Germany shall pay
in such installments and in such manner (whether in gold,
commodities, ships, securities or otherwise) as the Reparation
Commission may fix, during 1919, 1920 and the first four months Of
1921 , the equivalent of 20,000,000,000 gold marks. Out of this sum
the expenses of the armies of occupation subsequent to the
Armistice of November 11, 1918, shall first be met, and such
supplies of food and raw materials as may be judged by the
Governments of the Principal Allied and Associated Powers to be
essential to enable Germany to meet her obligations for reparation
may also, with the approval of the said Governments, be paid for
out of the above sum. The balance shall be reckoned towards
liquidation of the amounts due for reparation. Germany shall
further deposit bonds as prescribed in paragraph 12 (c) Of Annex II
hereto.
ARTICLE 236.
Germany further agrees to the direct application of her economic
resources to reparation as specified in Annexes, III, IV, V, and
VI, relating respectively to merchant shipping, to physical
restoration, to coal and derivatives of coal, and to dyestuffs and
other chemical products; provided always that the value of the
property transferred and any services rendered by her under these
Annexes, assessed in the manner therein prescribed shall be
credited to her towards liquidation of her obligations under the
above Articles.
ARTICLE 237.
The successive installments, including the above sum, paid over by
Germany in satisfaction of the above claims will be divided by the
Allied and Associated Governments in proportions which have been
determined upon by them in advance on a basis of general equity and
of the rights of each.
For the purposes of this division the value of property transferred
and services rendered under Article 243, and under Annexes III, IV,
V, VI, and VII, shall be reckoned in the same manner as cash
payments effected in that year.
ARTICLE 238.
In addition to the payments mentioned above Germany shall effect,
in accordance with the procedure laid down by the Reparation
Commission, restitution in cash of cash taken away, seized or
sequestrated, and also restitution of animals, objects of every
nature and securities taken away, seized or sequestrated, in the
cases in which it proves possible to identify them in territory
belonging to Germany or her allies.
Until this procedure is laid down, restitution will continue in
accordance with the provisions of the Armistice of November 11,
1918, and its renewals and the Protocols thereto.
ARTICLE 239.
The German Government undertakes to make forthwith the restitution
contemplated by Article 238 and to make the payments and deliveries
contemplated by Articles 233, 234, 235 and 236.
ARTICLE 240.
The German Government recognises the Commission provided for by
Article 233 as the same may be constituted by the Allied and
Associated Governments in accordance with Annex II, and agrees
irrevocably to the possession and exercise by such Commission of
the power and authority given to it under the present Treaty.
The German Government will supply to the Commission all the
information which the Commission may require relative to the
financial situation and operations and to the property, productive
capacity, and stocks and current production of raw materials and
manufactured articles of Germany and her nationals, and further any
information relative to military operations which in the judgment
of the Commission may be necessary for the assessment of Germany's
liability for reparation as defined in Annex I.
The German Government will accord to the members of the Commission
and its authorised agents the same rights and immunities as are
enjoyed in Germany by duly accredited diplomatic agents of friendly
Powers.
Germany further agrees to provide for the salaries and expenses of
the Commission and of such staff as it may employ.
ARTICLE 241.
Germany undertakes to pass, issue and maintain in force any
legislation, orders and decrees that may be necessary to give
complete effect to these provisions.
ARTICLE 242.
The provisions of this Part of the present Treaty do not apply to
the property, rights and interests referred to in Sections III and
IV of Part X (Economic Clauses) of the present Treaty, nor to the
product of their liquidation, except so far as concerns any final
balance in favour of Germany under Article 243 (a).
ARTICLE 243
The following shall be reckoned as credits to Germany in respect of
her reparation obligations:
(a) Any final balance in favour of Germany under Section V (Alsace-
Lorraine) of Part III (Political Clauses for Europe) and Sections
III and IV of Part X (Economic Clauses) of the present Treaty;
(b) Amounts due to Germany in respect of transfers under Section IV
(Saar Basin) of Part III (Political Clauses for Europe), Part IX
Financial Clauses), and Part XII (Ports, Waterways and Railways);
(c) Amounts which in the judgment of the Reparation Commission
should be credited to Germany on account of any other transfers
under the present Treaty of property, rights, concessions or other
interests.
In no case, however, shall credit be given for property restored in
accordance with Article 238 of the present Part.
ARTICLE 244
The transfer of the German submarine cables which do not form the
subject of particular provisions of the present Treaty is regulated
by Annex VII hereto.
ANNEX I.
Compensation may be claimed from Germany under Article 232 above in
respect of the total damage under the following categories:
(l) Damage to injured persons and to surviving dependents by
personal injury to or death of civilians caused by acts of war,
including bombardments or other attacks on land, on sea, or from
the air, and all the direct consequences thereof, and of all
operations of war by the two groups of belligerents wherever
arising.
(2) Damage caused by Germany or her allies to civilian victims of
acts of cruelty, violence or maltreatment (including injuries to
life or health as a consequence of imprisonment, deportation,
internment or evacuation, of exposure at sea or of being forced to
labour), wherever arising, and to the surviving dependents of such
victims.
(3) Damage caused by Germany or her allies in their own territory
or in occupied or invaded territory to civilian victims of all acts
injurious to health or capacity to work, or to honour, as well as
to the surviving dependents of such victims.
(4) Damage caused by any kind of maltreatment of prisoners of war.
(5) As damage caused to the peoples of the Allied and Associated
Powers, all pensions and compensation in the nature of pensions to
naval and military victims of war (including members of the air
force), whether mutilated, wounded, sick or invalided, and to the
dependents of such victims, the amount due to the Allied and
Associated Governments being calculated for each of them as being
the capitalised cost of such pensions and compensation at the date
of the coming into force of the present Treaty on the basis of the
scales in force in France at such date.
(6) The cost of assistance by the Government of the Allied and
Associated Powers to prisoners of war and to their families and
dependents.
(7) Allowances by the Governments of the Allied and Associated
Powers to the families and dependents of mobilised persons or
persons serving with the forces, the amount due to them for each
calendar year in which hostilities occurred being calculated for
each Government on the basis of the average scale for such payments
in force in France during that year.
(8) Damage caused to civilians by being forced by Germany or her
allies to labour without just remuneration.
(9) Damage in respect of all property wherever situated belonging
to any of the Allied or Associated States or their nationals, with
the exception of naval and military works or materials, which has
been carried off, seized, injured or destroyed by the acts of
Germany or her allies on land, on sea or from the air, or damage
directly in consequence of hostilities or of any operations of war.
(10) Damage in the form of levies, fines and other similar
exactions imposed by Germany or her allies upon the civilian
population.
ANNEX II.
1.
The Commission referred to in Article 233 shall be called "The
Reparation Commission" and is hereinafter referred to as "the
Commission".
2.
Delegates to this Commission shall be nominated by the United
States of America, Great Britain, France, Italy, Japan, Belgium and
the Serb-Croat-Slovene State. Each of these Powers will appoint one
Delegate and also one Assistant Delegate, who will take his place
in case of illness or necessary absence, but at other times will
only have the right to be present at proceedings without taking any
part therein.
On no occasion shall the Delegates of more than five of the above
Powers have the right to take part in the proceedings of the
Commission and to record their votes. The Delegates of the United
States, Great Britain, France and Italy shall have this right on
all occasions. The Delegate of Belgium shall have this right on all
occasions other than those referred to below. The Delegate of Japan
shall have this right on occasions when questions relating to
damage at sea, and questions arising under Article 200 of Part IX
(Financial Clauses) in which Japanese interests are concerned, are
under consideration. The Delegate of the Serb-Croat-Slovene State
shall have this right when questions relating to Austria, Hungary
or Bulgaria are under consideration.
Each Government represented on the Commission shall have the right
to withdraw therefrom upon twelve months, notice filed with the
Commission and confirmed in the course of the sixth month after the
date of the original notice.
3.
Such of the other Allied and Associated Powers as may be interested
shall have the right to appoint a Delegate to be present and act as
Assessor only while their respective claims and interests are under
examination or discussion, but without the right to vote.
4.
In case of the death, resignation or recall of any Delegate,
Assistant Delegate or Assessor, a successor to him shall be
nominated as soon as possible.
5.
The Commission will have its principal permanent Bureau in Paris
and will hold its first meeting in Paris as soon as practicable
after the coming into force of the present Treaty, and thereafter
will meet in such place or places and at such time as it may deem
convenient and as may be necessary for the most expeditious
discharge of its duties.
6.
At its first meeting the Commission shall elect, from among the
Delegates referred to above, a Chairman and a Vice-Chairman, who
shall hold office for one year and shall be eligible for re-
election. If a vacancy in the Chairmanship or Vice-Chairmanship
should occur during the annual period, the Commission shall proceed
to a new election for the remainder of the said period.
7.
The Commission is authorised to appoint all necessary officers,
agents and employees who may be required for the execution of its
functions, and to fix their remuneration; to constitute committees,
whose members need not necessarily be members of the Commission,
and to take all executive steps necessary for the purpose of
discharging its duties; and to delegate authority and discretion to
officers, agents and committees.
8.
All proceedings of the Commission shall be private, unless, on
particular occasions, the Con mission shall otherwise determine for
special reasons.
9
The Commission shall be required, if the German Government so
desire, to hear, within a period which it will fix from time to
time, evidence and arguments on the part of Germany on any question
connected with her capacity to pay.
10.
The Commission shall consider the claims and give to the German
Government a just opportunity to be heard, but not to take any part
whatever in the decisions of the Commission The Commission shall
afford a similar opportunity to the allies of Germany, when it
shall consider that their interests are in question
11.
The Commission shall not be bound by any particular code or rules
of law or by any particular rule of evidence or of procedure, but
shall be guided by justice, equity and good faith. Its decisions
must follow the same principles and rules in all cases where they
are applicable. It will establish rules relating to methods of
proof of claims. It may act on any trustworthy modes of
computation.
12.
The Commission shall have all the powers conferred upon it, and
shall exercise all the functions assigned to it, by the present
Treaty.
The Commission shall in general have wide latitude as to its
control and handling of the whole reparation problem as dealt with
in this Part of the present Treaty and shall have authority to
interpret its provisions. Subject to the provisions of the present
Treaty, the Commission is constituted by the several Allied and
Associated Governments referred to in paragraphs 2 and 3 above as
the exclusive agency of the said Governments respectively for
receiving, selling, holding, and distributing the reparation
payments to be made by Germany under this Part of the present
Treaty. The Commission must comply with the following conditions
and provisions:
(a) Whatever part of the full amount of the proved claims is not
paid in gold, or in ships, securities and commodities or otherwise,
Germany shall be required, under such conditions as the Commission
may determine, to cover by way of guarantee by an equivalent issue
of bonds, obligations or otherwise, in order to constitute an
acknowledgment of the said part of the debt.
(b) In periodically estimating Germany's capacity to pay, the
Commission shall examine the German system of taxation, first, to
the end that the sums for reparation which Germany is required to
pay shall become a charge upon all her revenues prior to that for
the service or discharge of any domestic loan, and secondly, so as
to satisfy itself that, in general, the German scheme of taxation
is fully as heavy proportionately as that of any of the Powers
represented on the Commission.
(c) In order to facilitate and continue the immediate restoration
of the economic life of the Allied and Associated countries, the
Commission will as provided in Article 235 take from Germany by way
of security for and acknowledgment of her debt a first installment
of gold bearer bonds free of all taxes and charges of every
description established or to be established by the Government of
the German Empire or of the German States, or by any authority
subject to them; these bonds will be delivered on account and in
three portions, the marks gold being payable in conformity with
Article 262 of Part IX (Financial Clauses) of the present Treaty as
follows:
(1) To be issued forthwith, 20,000,000,000 Marks gold bearer bonds,
payable not later than May l, 1921, without interest. There shall
be specially applied towards the amortisation of these bonds the
payments which Germany is pledged to make in conformity with
Article 235, after deduction of the sums used for the reimbursement
of expenses of the armies of occupation and for payment of
foodstuffs and raw materials. Such bonds as have not been redeemed
by May l, 1921, shall then be exchanged for new bonds of the same
type as those provided for below (paragraph l2, C, (2).
(2) To be issued forthwith, further 40,000,000,000 Marks gold
bearer bonds, bearing interest at 2-1/2 per cent. per annum between
1921 and l926, and thereafter at 5 per cent. per annum with an
additional l per cent. for amortisation beginning in 1926 on the
whole amount of the issue.
(3) To be delivered forthwith a covering undertaking in writing to
issue when, but not until, the Commission is satisfied that Germany
can meet such interest and sinking fund obligations, a further
installment of 40,000,000,000 Marks gold 5 per cent. bearer bonds,
the time and mode of payment of principal and interest to be
determined by the Commission.
The dates for payment of interest, the manner of applying the
amortisation fund, and all other questions relating to the issue,
management and regulation of the bond issue shall be determined by
the Commission from time to time.
Further issues by way of acknowledgment and security may be
required as the Commission subsequently determines from time to
time.
(d) In the event of bonds, obligations or other evidence of
indebtedness issued by Germany by way of security for or
acknowledgment of her reparation debt being disposed of outright,
not by way of pledge, to persons other than the several Governments
in whose favour Germany's original reparation indebtedness was
created, an amount of such reparation indebtedness shall be deemed
to be extinguished corresponding to the nominal value of the bonds,
etc., so disposed of outright, and the obligation of Germany in
respect of such bonds shall be confined to her liabilities to the
holders of the bonds, as expressed upon their face.
(e) The damage for repairing, reconstructing and rebuilding
property in the invaded and devastated districts, including
reinstallation of furniture, machinery and other equipment, will be
calculated according to the cost at the dates when the work is
done.
(f) Decisions of the Commission relating to the total or partial
cancellation of the capital or interest of any verified debt of
Germany must be accompanied by a statement of its reasons.
13.
As to voting, the Commission will observe the following rules:
When a decision of the Commission is taken, the votes of all the
Delegates entitled to vote, or in the absence of any of them, of
their Assistant Delegates, shall be recorded. Abstention from
voting is to be treated as a vote against the proposal under
discussion. Assessors have no vote.
On the following questions unanimity is necessary:
(a) Questions involving the sovereignty of any of the Allied and
Associated Powers, or the cancellation of the whole or any part of
the debt or obligations of Germany;
(b) Questions of determining the amount and conditions of bonds or
other obligations to be issued by the German Government and of
fixing the time and manner for selling, negotiating or distributing
such bonds;
(c) Any postponement, total or partial, beyond the end of 1930, of
the payment of installments falling due between May 1, 1921, and
the end of 1926 inclusive;
(d) Any postponement, total or partial, of any installment falling
due after 1926 for a period exceeding three years;
(e) Questions of applying in any particular case a method of
measuring damages different from that which has been previously
applied in a similar case;
(f) Questions of the interpretation of the provisions of this Part
of the present Treaty.
All other questions shall be decided by the vote of a majority.
In case of any difference of opinion among the Delegates, which
cannot be solved by reference to their Governments, upon the
question whether a given case is one which requires a unanimous
vote for its decision or not, such difference shall be referred to
the immediate arbitration of some impartial person to be agreed
upon by their Governments, whose award the Allied and Associated
Governments agree to accept.
14.
Decisions of the Commission, in accordance with the powers
conferred upon it, shall forthwith become binding and may be put
into immediate execution without further Proceedings.
15.
The Commission will issue to each of the interested Powers, in such
form as the Commission shall fix:
(l) A certificate stating that it holds for the account of the said
Power bonds of the issues mentioned above, the said certificate, on
the demand of the Power concerned, being divisible in a number of
parts not exceeding five;
(2) From time to time certificates stating the goods delivered by
Germany on account of her reparation debt which it holds for the
account of the said Power.
The said certificates shall be registered, and upon notice to the
Commission, may be transferred by endorsement.
When bonds are issued for sale or negotiation, and when goods are
delivered by the Commission, certificates to an equivalent value
must be withdrawn.
16.
Interest shall be debited to Germany as from May 1, 1921, in
respect of her debt as determined by the Commission, after allowing
for sums already covered by cash payments or their equivalent, or
by bonds issued to the Commission, or under Article 243. The rate
of interest shall be 5 per cent. unless the Commission shall
determine at some future time that circumstances justify a
variation of the rate.
The Commission, in fixing on May 1, 1921, the total amount of the
debt of Germany, may take account of interest due on sums arising
out of the reparation of material damage as from November 11, 1918,
up to May 1, 1921.
17.
In case of default by Germany in the performance of any obligation
under this Part of the present Treaty, the Commission will
forthwith give notice of such default to each of the interested
Powers and may make such recommendations as to the action to be
taken in consequence of such default as it may think necessary.
18.
The measures which the Allied and Associated Powers shall have the
right to take, in case of voluntary default by Germany, and which
Germany agrees not to regard as acts of war may include economic
and financial prohibitions and reprisals and in general such other
measures as the respective Governments may determine to be
necessary in the circumstances.
19.
Payments required to be made in gold or its equivalent on account
of the proved claims of the Allied and Associated Powers may at any
time be accepted by the Commission in the form of chattels,
properties, commodities, businesses, rights, concessions within or
without German territory, ships, bonds, shares or securities of any
kind, or currencies of Germany or other States, the value of such
substitutes for good being fixed at a fair and just amount by the
Commission itself.
20.
The Commission, in fixing or accepting payment in specified
properties or rights, shall have due regard for any legal or
equitable interests of the Allied and Associated Powers or of
neutral Powers or of their nationals therein.
21.
No member of the Commission shall be responsible, except to the
Government appointing him, for any action or omission as such
member. No one of the Allied or Associated Governments assumes any
responsibility in respect of any other Government.
22.
Subject to the provisions of the present Treaty this Annex may be
amended by the unanimous decision of the Governments represented
from time to time upon the Commission.
23
When all the amounts due from Germany and her allies under the
present Treaty or the decisions of the Commission have been
discharged and all sums received, or their equivalents, shall have
been distributed to the Powers interested, the Commission shall be
dissolved.
ANNEX III.
1.
Germany recognises the right of the Allied and Associated Powers to
the replacement, ton for ton (gross tonnage) and class for class,
of all merchant ships and fishing boats lost or damaged owing to
the war.
Nevertheless, and in spite of the fact that the tonnage of German
shipping at present in existence is much less than that lost by the
Allied and Associated Powers in consequence of the German
aggression, the right thus recognised will be enforced on German
ships and boats under the following conditions:
The German Government, on behalf of themselves and so as to bind
all other persons interested, cede to the Allied and Associated
Governments the property in all the German merchant ships which are
of 1,600 tons gross and upwards; in one-half, reckoned in tonnage,
of the ships which are between 1,000 tons and 1,600 tons gross; in
one-quarter, reckoned in tonnage, of the steam trawlers; and in
one-quarter, reckoned in tonnage, of the other fishing boats.
2.
The German Government will, within two months of the coming into
force of the present Treaty, deliver to the Reparation Commission
all the ships and boats mentioned in paragraph 1.
3.
The ships and boats mentioned in paragraph 1 include all ships and
boats which (a) fly, or may be entitled to fly, the German merchant
flag; or (b) are owned by any German national, company or
corporation or by any company or corporation belonging to a country
other than an Allied or Associated country and under the control or
direction of German nationals; or (c) are now under construction
(1) in Germany, (2) in other than Allied or Associated countries
for the account of any German national, company or corporation.
4.
For the purpose of providing documents of title for the ships and
boats to be handed over as above mentioned, the German Government
will:
(a) Deliver to the Reparation Commission in respect of each vessel
a bill of sale or other document of title evidencing the transfer
to the Commission of the entire property in the vessel free from
all encumbrances, charges and liens of all kinds, as the Commission
may require;
(b) Take all measures that may be indicated by the Reparation
Commission for ensuring that the ships themselves shall be placed
at its disposal.
5.
As an additional part of reparation, Germany agrees to cause
merchant ships to be built in German yards for the account of the
Allied and Associated Governments as follows:
(a) Within three months of the coming into force of the present
Treaty, the Reparation Commission will notify to the German
Government the amount of tonnage to be laid down in German ship-
yards in each of the two years next succeeding the three months
mentioned above.
(b) Within two years of the coming into force of the present
Treaty, the Reparation Commission will notify to the German
Government the amount of tonnage to be laid down in each of the
three years following the two years mentioned above.
(c) The amount of tonnage to be laid down in each year shall not
exceed 200,000 tons, gross tonnage.
(d) The specifications of the ships to be built, the conditions
under which they are to be built and delivered, the price per ton
at which they are to be accounted for by the Reparation Commission,
and all other questions relating to the accounting ordering,
building and delivery of the ships, shall be determined by the
Commission.
6.
Germany undertakes to restore in kind and in normal condition of
upkeep to the Allied and Associated Powers, within two months of
the coming into force of the present Treaty, in accordance with
procedure to be laid down by the Reparation Commission, any boats
and other movable appliances belonging to inland navigation which
since August 1, 1914, have by any means whatever come into her
possession or into the possession of her nationals, and which can
be identified
With a view to make good the loss in inland navigation tonnage from
whatever cause arising, which has been incurred during the war by
the Allied and Associated Powers, and which cannot be made good by
means of the restitution prescribed above, Germany agrees to cede
to the Reparation Commission a portion of the German river fleet up
to the amount of the loss mentioned above, provided that such
cession shall not exceed 20 per cent. of the river fleet as it
existed on November 11, 1918.
The conditions of this cession shall be settled by the arbitrators
referred to in Article 339 of Part XII (Ports, Waterways and
Railways) of the present Treaty, who are charged with the
settlement of difficulties relating to the apportionment of river
tonnage resulting from the new international regime applicable to
certain river systems or from the territorial changes affecting
those systems.
7.
Germany agrees to take any measures that may be indicated to her by
the Reparation Commission for obtaining the full title to the
property in all ships which have during the war been transferred,
or are in process of transfer, to neutral flags, without the
consent of the Allied and Associated Governments.
8.
Germany waives all claims of any description against the Allied and
Associated Governments and their nationals in respect of the
detention, employment, loss or damage of any German ships or boats,
exception being made of payments due in respect of the employment
of ships in conformity with the Armistice Agreement of January 13,
1919, and subsequent Agreements.
The handing over of the ships of the German mercantile marine must
be continued without interruption in accordance with the said
Agreement.
9.
Germany waives all claims to vessels or cargoes sunk by or in
consequence of naval action and subsequently salved, in which any
of the Allied or Associated Governments or their nationals may have
any interest either as owners, charterers, insurers or otherwise,
notwithstanding any decree of condemnation which may have been made
by a Prize Court of Germany or of her allies.
ANNEX IV.
1.
The Allied and Associated Powers require, and Germany undertakes,
that in part satisfaction of her obligations expressed in the
present Part she will, as hereinafter provided, devote her economic
resources directly to the physical restoration of the invaded areas
of the Allied and Associated Powers, to the extent that these
Powers may determine.
2.
The Allied and Associated Governments may file with the Reparation
Commission lists showing:
(a) Animals, machinery, equipment, tools and like articles of a
commercial character, which have been seized, consumed or destroyed
by Germany or destroyed in direct consequence of military
operations, and which such Governments, for the purpose of meeting
immediate and urgent needs, desire to have replaced by animals and
articles of the same nature which are in being in German territory
at the date of the coming into force of the present Treaty;
(b) Reconstruction materials (stones, bricks, refractory bricks,
tiles, wood, window-glass, steel, lime, cement, etc.), machinery,
heating apparatus, furniture and like articles of a commercial
character which the said Governments desire to have produced and
manufactured in Germany and delivered to them to permit of the
restoration of the invaded areas.
3.
The lists relating to the articles mentioned in 2 (a) above shall
be filed within sixty days after the date of the coming into force
of the present Treaty.
The lists relating to the articles in 2 (b) above shall be filed on
or before December 31, 1919.
The lists shall contain all such details as are customary in
commercial contracts dealing with the subject matter, including
specifications, dates of delivery (but not extending over more than
four years), and places of delivery, but not price or value, which
shall be fixed as hereinafter provided by the Commission.
4.
Immediately upon the filing of such lists with the Commission, the
Commission shall consider the amount and number of the materials
and animals mentioned in the lists provided for above which are to
be required of Germany. In reaching a decision on this matter the
Commission shall take into account such domestic requirements of
Germany as it deems essential for the maintenance of Germany's
social and economic life, the prices and dates at which similar
articles can be obtained in the Allied and Associated countries as
compared with those to be fixed for German articles, and the
general interest of the Allied and Associated Governments that the
industrial life of Germany be not so disorganised as to affect
adversely the ability of Germany to perform the other acts of
reparation stipulated for.
Machinery, equipment, tools and like articles of a commercial
character in actual industrial use are not, however, to be demanded
of Germany unless there is no free stock of such articles
respectively which is not in use and is available, and then not m
excess of thirty per cent. of the quantity of such articles in use
in any one establishment or undertaking.
The Commission shall give representatives of the German Government
an opportunity and a time to be heard as to their capacity to
furnish the said materials, articles and animals.
The decision of the Commission shall thereupon and at the earliest
possible moment be communicated to the German Government and to the
several interested Allied and Associated Governments.
The German Government undertakes to deliver the materials, articles
and animals as specified in the said communication, and the
interested Allied and Associated Governments severally agree to
accept the same, provided they conform to the specification given,
or are not, in the judgment of the Commission, unfit to be utilised
in the work of reparation.
5.
The Commission shall determine the value to be attributed to the
materials, articles and animals to be delivered in accordance with
the foregoing, and the Allied or Associated Power receiving the
same agrees to be charged with such value, and the amount thereof
shall be treated as a payment by Germany to be divided in
accordance with Article 237 of this Part of the present Treaty.
In cases where the right to require physical restoration as above
provided is exercised, the Commission shall ensure that the amount
to be credited against the reparation obligation of Germany shall
be the fair value of work done or materials supplied by Germany,
and that the claim made by the interested Power in respect of the
damage so repaired by physical restoration shall be discharged to
the extent of the proportion which the damage thus repaired bears
to the whole of the damage thus claimed for.
6.
As an immediate advance on account of the animals referred to in
paragraph 2 (a) above, Germany undertakes to deliver in equal
monthly installments in the three months following the coming into
force of the present Treaty the following quantities of live stock:
(1) To the French Government.
500 stallions (3 to 7 years);
30,000 fillies and mares (18 months to 7 years), type: Ardennais,
Boulonnais or Belgian;
2,000 bulls (18 months to 3 years);
90,000 milch cows (2 to 6 years);
1,000 rams;
100,000 sheep;
10,000 goats.
(2) To the Belgian Government.
200 stallions (3 to 7 years), large Belgian type;
5,000 mares (3 to 7 years), large Belgian type;
5,000 fillies (18 months to 3 years), large Belgian type;
2,000 bulls (18 months to 3 years);
50,000 milch cows (2 to 6 years);
40,000 heifers;
200 rams;
20,000 Sheep;
15,000 sows.
The animals delivered shall be of average health and condition.
To the extent that animals so delivered cannot be identified as
animals taken away or seized, the value of such animals shall be
credited against the reparation obligations of Germany in
accordance with paragraph 5 of this Annex.
7.
Without waiting for the decisions of the Commission referred to in
paragraph 4 of this Annex to be taken, Germany must continue the
delivery to France of the agricultural material referred to in
Article III of the renewal dated January 16, 1919, of the
Armistice.
ANNEX V.
1.
Germany accords the following options for the delivery of coal and
derivatives of coal to the undermentioned signatories of the
present Treaty.
2.
Germany undertakes to deliver to France seven million tons of coal
per year for ten years. In addition, Germany undertakes to deliver
to France annually for a period not exceeding ten years an amount
of coal equal to the difference between the annual production
before the war of the coal mines of the Nord and Pas de Calais,
destroyed as a result of the war, and the production of the mines
of the same area during the years in question: such delivery not to
exceed twenty million tons in any one year of the first five years,
and eight million tons in any one year of the succeeding five
years.
It is understood that due diligence will be exercised in the
restoration of the destroyed mines in the Nord and the Pas de
Calais.
3.
Germany undertakes to deliver to Belgium eight million tons of coal
annually for ten years.
4.
Germany undertakes to deliver to Italy up to the following .
quantities of coal:
July 1919 to June 1920 4-1/2 million tons, 1920
1921 6
1921 1922 7-1/2 1922
1923 8 1923 1924 and each of the
following five years 8-1/2
At least two-thirds of the actual deliveries to be land-borne.
5.
Germany further undertakes to deliver annually to Luxemburg, if
directed by the Reparation Commission, a quantity of coal equal to
the pre-war annual consumption of German coal in Luxemburg.
6.
The prices to be paid for coal delivered under these options shall
be as follows:
(a) For overland delivery, including delivery by barge, the German
pithead price to German nationals, plus the freight to French,
Belgian, Italian or Luxemburg frontiers, provided that the pithead
price does not exceed the pithead price of British coal for export.
In the case of Belgian bunker coal, the price shall not exceed the
Dutch bunker price.
Railroad and barge tariffs shall not be higher than the lowest
similar rates paid in Germany.
(b) For sea delivery, the German export price f. o. b. German
ports, or the British export price f. o. b. British ports,
whichever may be lower.
7.
The Allied and Associated Governments interested may demand the
delivery, in place of coal, of metallurgical coke in the proportion
of 3 tons of coke to 4 tons of coal.
8.
Germany undertakes to deliver to France, and to transport to the
French frontier by rail or by water, the following products, during
each of the three years following the coming into force of this
Treaty:
Benzol 35,000 tons.
Coal tar 50,000 tons
Sulphate of ammonia 30,000 tons.
All or part of the coal tar may, at the option of the French
Government, be replaced by corresponding quantities of products of
distillation, such as light oils, heavy oils, anthracene,
napthalene or pitch
9.
The price paid for coke and for the articles referred to in the
preceding paragraph shall be the same as the price paid by German
nationals under the same conditions of shipment to the French
frontier or to the German ports, and shall be subject to any
advantages which may be accorded similar products furnished to
German nationals.
10.
The foregoing options shall be exercised through the intervention
of the Reparation Commission, which, subject to the specific
provisions hereof, shall have power to determine all questions
relative to procedure and the qualities and quantities of products,
the quantity of coke which may be substituted for coal, and the
times and modes of delivery and payment. In giving notice to the
German Government of the foregoing options the Commission shall
give at least 120 days, notice of deliveries to be made after
January 1, 1920, and at least 30 days, notice of deliveries to be
made between the coming into force of this Treaty and January 1,
1920. Until Germany has received the demands referred to in this
paragraph, the provisions of the Protocol of December 25, 1918,
(Execution of Article VI of the Armistice of November 11, 1918)
remain in force. The notice to be given to the German Government of
the exercise of the right of substitution accorded by paragraphs 7
and 8 shall be such as the Reparation Commission may consider
sufficient. If the Commission shall determine that the full
exercise of the foregoing options would interfere unduly with the
industrial requirements of Germany, the Commission is authorised to
postpone or to cancel deliveries, and in so doing to settle all
questions of priority; but the coal to replace coal from destroyed
mines shall receive priority over other deliveries.
ANNEX VI.
1.
Germany accords to the Reparation Commission an option to require
as part of reparation the delivery by Germany of such quantities
and kinds of dyestuffs and chemical drugs as the Commission may
designate, not exceeding 50 per cent. of the total stock of each
and every kind of dyestuff and chemical drug in Germany or under
German control at the date of the coming into force of the present
Treaty.
This option shall be exercised within sixty days of the receipt by
the Commission of such particulars as to stocks as may be
considered necessary by the Commission.
2.
Germany further accords to the Reparation Commission an option to
require delivery during the period from the date of the coming into
force of the present Treaty until January 1, 1920, and during each
period of six months thereafter until January 1 , 1925, of any
specified kind of dyestuff and chemical drug up to an amount not
exceeding 25 per cent. of the German production of such dyestuffs
and chemical drugs during the previous six months period. If in any
case the production during such previous six months was, in the
opinion of the Commission, less than normal, the amount required
may be 25 per cent. of the normal production.
Such option shall be exercised within four weeks after the receipt
of such particulars as to production and in such form as may be
considered necessary by the Commission; these particulars shall be
furnished by the German Government immediately after the expiration
of each six months period.
3.
For dyestuffs and chemical drugs delivered under paragraph 1 , the
price shall be fixed by the Commission having regard to prewar net
export prices and to subsequent increases of cost.
For dyestuffs and chemical drugs delivered under paragraph 2, the
price shall be fixed by the Commission having regard to pre-war net
export prices and subsequent variations of cost, or the lowest net
selling price of similar dyestuffs and chemical drugs to any other
purchaser.
4.
All details, including mode and times of exercising the options,
and making delivery, and all other questions arising under this
arrangement shall be determined by the Reparation Commission; the
German Government will furnish to the Commission all necessary
information and other assistance which it may require.
5.
The above expression ,,dyestuffs and chemical drugs,, includes all
synthetic dyes and drugs and intermediate or other products used in
connection with dyeing, so far as they are manufactured for sale.
The present arrangement shall also apply to cinchona bark and salts
of quinine.
ANNEX VII.
Germany renounces on her own behalf and on behalf of her nationals
in favour of the Principal Allied and Associated Powers all rights,
titles or privileges of whatever nature in the submarine cables set
out below, or in any portions thereof:
Emden-vigo: from the Straits of Dover to off vigo; Emden-Brest:
from off Cherbourg to Brest; Emden-Teneriffe: from off Dunkirk to
off Teneriffe; Emden-Azores (1): from the Straits of Dover to
Fayal; Emden-Azores (2): from the Straits of Dover to Fayal;
Azores-New York (1): from Fayal to New York; Azores-New York (2):
from Fayal to the longitude of Halifax, Teneriffe-Monrovia: from
off Teneriffe to off Monrovia; Monrovia-Lome:
from about lat. :2° 30' N.; long.:7° 40' W. of
Greenwich: to about lat. :2° 20' N.; long.:5° 30, W. of
Greenwich; and from about lat. :3° 48' N.; long.:0°
00', to Lome;
Lome-Duala: from Lome to Duala; Monrovia-Pernambuco: from off
Monrovia to off Pernambuco; Constantinople-Constanza: from
Constantinople to Constanza; Yap-Shanghai, Yap-Guam, and Yap-Menado
(Celebes): from Yap Island to Shanghai, from Yap Island to Guam
Island, and from Yap Island to Menado.
The value of the above mentioned cables or portions thereof in so
far as they are privately owned, calculated on the basis of the
original cost less a suitable allowance for depreciation, shall be
credited to Germany in the reparation account.
SECTION II.
SPECIAL PROVISIONS.
ARTICLE 245.
Within six months after the coming into force of the present Treaty
the German Government must restore to the French Government the
trophies, archives, historical souvenirs or works of art carried
away from France by the German authorities in the course of the war
of 1870-1871 and during this last war, in accordance with a list
which will be communicated to it by the French Government;
particularly the French flags taken in the course of the war of
1870-1871 and all the political papers taken by the German
authorities on October 1o, 1870, at the chateau of Cercay, near
Brunoy (Seine-et-Oise) belonging at the time to Mr. Rouher,
formerly Minister of State.
ARTICLE 246.
Within six months from the coming into force of the present Treaty,
Germany will restore to His Majesty the King of the Hedjaz the
original Koran of the Caliph Othman, which was removed from Medina
by the Turkish authorities and is stated to have been presented to
the ex-Emperor William II.
Within the same period Germany will hand over to His Britannic
Majesty's Government the skull of the Sultan Mkwawa which was
removed from the Protectorate of German East Africa and taken to
Germany.
The delivery of the articles above referred to will be effected in
such place and in such conditions as may be laid down by the
Governments to which they are to be restored.
ARTICLE 247.
Germany undertakes to furnish to the University of Louvain, within
three months after a request made by it and transmitted through the
intervention of the Reparation Commission, manuscripts, incunabula,
printed books, maps and objects of collection corresponding in
number and value to those destroyed in the burning by Germany of
the Library of Louvain. All details regarding such replacement will
be determined by the Reparation Commission.
Germany undertakes to deliver to Belgium, through the Reparation
Commission, within six months of the coming into force of the
present Treaty, in order to enable Belgium to reconstitute two
great artistic works:
(1) The leaves of the triptych of the Mystic Lamb painted by the
Van Eyck brothers, formerly in the Church of St. Bavon at Ghent,
now in the Berlin Museum;
(2) The leaves of the triptych of the Last Supper, painted by
Dierick Bouts, formerly in the Church of St. Peter at Louvain, two
of which are now in the Berlin Museum and two in the Old Pinakothek
at Munich.
