Notes to Part V, Articles 159 to 213-Continued The result of these exchanges and the negotiations at Spa was two protocols, one of July 9 and the other of July 16, 1920. The first of these was duly concluded by the representatives of the British Empire, France, Italy, Japan, Belgium, and Germany and in form was a statement of five conditions which Germany was to perform, in return for which the Allies agreed to seven concessions. The German Government undertook "faithfully to observe its provisions"; if before January 1, 1921 the terms were not faithfully executed, occupation of a further portion of German territory, "the region of the Ruhr or any other", would take place until the executive and legislative measures were taken and the specified reductions of forces were carried out (ibid., No. 190; file 763.72119/10282). Nonexecution of these conditions was acted upon in the inter-Allied decision of March 4, 1921 in connection with reparation defaults (see p. 430). In this protocol the German Government undertook— to withdraw immediately the arms of the Einwohnerwehren and the Sicherheitspolizei; to demand the immediate surrender of all arms in the hands of the civilian population, with effective penalties in case of failure to comply with the proclamation to be provided by adequate legislation enacted by September 1; to enact immediately a measure for the abolition of conscription and for setting up a long-service army as provided in the treaty; to surrender for destruction all arms and military equipment in excess of what is allowed by the treaty; to enforce the naval and air clauses contained in the treaty and in the protocol of January 10, 1920, which were still unexecuted; particularly: (a) completion of the delivery of surface warships under article 185 of the treaty, and the delivery of material under the protocol; (b) handing over forthwith all plans and documents required by the Naval Inter-Allied Commission of Control under article 209; (c) execution by German authorities in the future of articles 205 and 206 of the treaty; (d) the delivery and the destruction of all war material to be surrendered under article 169 of the treaty; (e) completion by August 5, 1920 of the delivery and destruction of all aircraft material, except hangars and hydrogen plants, and of the payments provided for in the said protocol; (f) by February 15, 1921, completion of the delivery or destruction of such Notes to Part V, Articles 159 to 213-Continued buildings, hangars, and hydrogen plants as may be specified by the Aeronautical Inter-Allied Commission of Control. On the Allied side it was agreed- 1. To extend the period for the reduction to 150,000 men of the Reichswehr to October 1, 1920, and to a further extension to January 1, 1921 for the reduction to 100,000 men, composed and organized as provided by the treaty; 2. To allow the German Government to retain up to October 1, 1920, in the neutral zone effectives of a number fixed by the Military Inter-Allied Commission of Control for assisting in the collection of arms; 3. To prevent the smuggling of arms from the occupied areas into the other parts of Germany; 4. That 300 medical and 200 veterinary officers might be retained in addition to the 4000 officers permitted by the treaty ; 5. That the number of administrative officials in the Reichswehr "Ministerium" should be raised to 735 and be given entire control of the army; 6. That a reserve of 50,000 rifles and 20,000,000 cartridges might be retained as a reserve in case of losses in internal fighting; 7. That the Military Inter-Allied Commission of Control might allow all formations to possess machine guns for self-defense. The protocol of July 16, though "unanimously . . decided" by the conference, which included representatives of Germany, was not signed by Germany. It related to the taking of measures, particularly legislation, to prohibit export of war material in accordance with the terms of articles 170, 201, 202, and 211 of the treaty. It contained no provision for sanctions (file 763.72119/10310). The Conference of Ambassadors took timely measures to determine whether Germany had sufficiently fulfilled its obligations under part V to justify evacuation of the first occupied (Cologne) zone on January 10, 1925 as conditionally stipulated in article 429 (1). The Allied Military Committee of Versailles was asked on December 17, 1924 to furnish the relevant information. On January 5, 1925 a collective note of the British, French, Italian, and Japanese Governments to the German Government stated that the conditions of part V had not been faithfully carried out. They pointed out specific violations of article 160 as to the general staff organization and Notes to Part V, Articles 159 to 213-Continued of article 174 with respect to short-term voluntary enlistment. Conditions contradictory of other provisions were specifically cited: Article 162, the reorganization of the police of the states was not yet begun; Articles 164-169, there were determined surpluses of military equipment of every kind and significantly illegal stocks of war material had been uncovered; Article 168, the transformation of factories for war material was far from being carried out; Article 211, the German Government had not anywhere near met the legislative and administrative requirements. After further correspondence, in the course of which a German allegation was refuted that the Allied attitude was a "reprisal", a collective note was handed in at Berlin on June 4, 1925 (Allied Powers, Note Presented to the German Government . . . .. June 4, 1925, No. 2 (1925), Cmd. 2429), in which it was stated that the numerous defaults, "if not promptly rectified, would in the aggregate enable the German Government eventually to reconstitute an army modeled on the principle of a nation in arms". It was this circumstance that rendered "the totality of these defaults so serious a menace to peace". Nevertheless, assuming good-will on the part of the German Government and having an assurance from the Reparation Commission that Germany was at the moment faithfully fulfilling its reparation obligations, they expected Germany to meet the requirements and so obtain the evacuation of the Cologne occupied zone. To that end, detailed statements were added: (1) of the status of execution of the military clauses (23 points); (2) of the points on which satisfaction remained to be given (13 conditions); (3) of the measures yet to be taken (65 points in 12 categories); and (4) the concessions previously granted (18 items). The German Ambassador in Paris on October 23 sent the Conference of Ambassadors a conciliatory note, a week after the initialing of the instruments of the Locarno settlement (United Kingdom, Misc. No. 12 (1925), Cmd. 2527). This note reported the status of German compliance and suggested setting November 15 as the date for evacuation of the Cologne zone. It reported 14 demands that had been fulfilled, 20 which would be fulfilled by November 15, 23 of which the execution would be assured by November 15, and 5 of which the execution "involves special difficulties". The items of this fourth list were: Notes to Part V, Articles 159 to 213-Continued 1. Police, titles of the higher officials; rules for personnel; barracks: 2. High command; 3. Prohibition of training with certain weapons; 4. Artillery arming of the fortress of Königsberg; 5. Associations. An interim reply of November 14 discussed the measures contemplated by the Conference of Ambassadors for relaxing the controls of the Inter-Allied Rhineland High Commission in the demilitarized zone. A further note of November 16 informed the German Government that evacuation of the Cologne zone would take place in January 1926, to be completed by February 20. This decision followed the reaching of "complete agreement" between the experts respecting disputed points on armament. "It only remains", said the note, "to verify the execution of the undertakings already given respecting lists I-III annexed to the German note of the 23rd October, as well as of the above-mentioned agreement regarding List IV; reservation is nevertheless made in respect of points Nos. 20 and 21 of List III." The reservation related to "import and export of war material" and "possession of, trading in, and illicit manufacture of, war material". After the dissolution of the Inter-Allied Military Control Commission and the filing of its report with the League of Nations on July 31, 1927 (Official Journal, 1927, p. 1058), the Conference of Ambassadors continued to maintain its Allied Military Committee of Versailles (C.M.A.V.) in being until March 16, 1931. That committee kept in touch with the status of armament affairs in Germany through military experts attached to the diplomatic missions of the Belgian, British, French, Italian, and Japanese Governments at Berlin until January 21, 1930. In transmitting the report of the experts to the Council of the League of Nations, the President of the Conference of Ambassadors on March 16, 1931 gave a final summary of the status of German compliance with the terms of part V of the treaty (League of Nations, Official Journal, 1931, p. 783). This letter and four documents transmitted with it were approved after discussion at the 327th meeting of the Conference of Ambassadors on January 12, 1931 (file 763.72119/12460). The procès-verbal of January 10, 1930 (document No. 2) was concluded between the governments represented at the Conference Notes to Part V, Articles 159 to 213—Continued of Ambassadors and the German Government. In addition to providing for the withdrawal of the military experts and to laying down the conditions for the complete execution of part V of the treaty, it provided that henceforth matters dealing with German armament should be handled between the German Ambassador in Paris and the Conference of Ambassadors. The report of the experts (document No. 1) was supplemented by document No. 3, which showed the results from January 31, 1930 to February 28, 1931, and the amendments to be made in consequence in the corresponding sections of the experts' report. It also showed the deficiencies still existing at the latter date, and the questions in respect of which time-limits had been laid down, some of which continued until July 1, 1933. The report of the Inter-Allied Military Commission of Control of July 31, 1927, the experts' report of January 31, 1930, and this document No. 3 were to be regarded as containing the whole of the provisions to which Germany had undertaken to conform in order to insure the execution of the military clauses of part V of the Treaty of Versailles. The status of German compliance with the treaty in March 1931 was summarized in the document No. 4 referred to. From this it appeared: Article 160. Failures with respect to short-term enlistment, anticipated leave, periods of instruction and the preparation of reserve cadres, all of which had been prohibited by a decree of the President of the Reich dated December 31, 1926 gave rise to grave doubts. The correctness of the published tables of effectives was dubious, and illegal organizations (Grenzschutze) had always existed. Article 162. The Conference of Ambassadors was unable to determine that Germany was living up to the agreement of January 10, 1930 especially with regard to the police lodged in barracks, the type of their instruction, and the distribution of the number authorized. Application of the general statute concerning officials to the Schutzpolizei of the various states was postponed by the states' laws for years, in one case until October 1, 1936. Article 177. On the eve of withdrawing the Inter-Allied Military Commission of Control the German Government, under pressure from the Conference of Ambassadors, issued on January 17, 1927 a circular to the German states (Länder) prescribing the immediate dissolution of associations which concerned themselves with military questions, as a fulfilment of laws and decrees in force. The most 695852 0-47-21 |