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.

Note to VIII, 231

Owing to the German policy of interpreting this article as the "war-guilt article" and the immense literature produced around that thesis, the evolution of the language in the final text is given.

The Commission on Reparation of Damage of the preliminary peace conference submitted to the representatives of the United States, France, Great Britain, and Italy a paragraph reading as follows:

"The Allied and Associated Powers require that the Enemy States at whatever cost to themselves make compensation for all damages done to the civilian population of the Allied and Associated Powers, and to their property by the aggression of the Enemy States by land, by sea, and from the air, and also for all damages resulting from permanent injury to the health of any of their nationals and for all damages resulting from the acts of the enemy in violation of formal engagements and of the law of nations."

This proposal had been evolved from memoranda submitted to the commission in February 1919, on behalf of the United States, Great Britain, France, Italy, Poland, and Serbia, none of which envisaged reparation for intangible damages. At the Council of Four meeting on April 5, 1919 (Foreign Relations, The Paris Peace Conference, 1919, v, 22) the paragraph was adopted after discussion with two changes. The sentence now began: "The Allied and Associated Powers require and the Enemy States accept that", etc. The last clause, "and for all damages" etc., was omitted as being inconsistent with the thesis of dealing only with material damages.

The reparation clauses adopted on the 5th were revised by Thomas W. Lamont, John Maynard Keynes, and Louis Loucheur for consideration by the Council of Four on April 7. At that meeting the language of what became articles 231 and 232 was discussed together and clause 1 was approved in this form:

Note to VIII, 231—Continued

"The Allied and Associated Governments affirm and the Enemy States accept the responsibility of the Enemy States 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 the Enemy States" (ibid., p. 44).

This language closely corresponds with that of the pre-armistice note of November 5, 1918. It was perfectly clear from the discussion that this form was chosen simply to establish the potential extent of responsibility in clause 1 (art. 231) and to define its limitations in clause 2 (art. 232), which was put in "to justify to the French and British peoples their acceptance of less than the whole cost of the war". On April 23 the Council of Four went over the reparation decisions with special reference to their incorporation in the treaty of peace with Germany. A last change eliminating the phrase "Enemy States" and substituting "Germany" or "Germany and her Allies" was then made (ibid., p. 165). This final text was carried over literally into the treaties of peace with Austria and Hungary.

The German position in the peace negotiations was that the Allied and Associated Powers had undertaken to grant them a peace on the basis of the 14 points of President Wilson of January 8, 1918 and the subsequent elucidations of February 11, July 4, and September 27. In the last note to the Germans before the granting of the armistice, that of November 5, 1918 (Foreign Relations, 1918, Supp. 1, 1, 469), Germany was told that the Allied Governments understood "that compensation will be made by Germany for all damage done to the civilian population of the Allies and their property by the aggression of Germany by land, by sea and from the air.”

Article 231 was regarded by the victors as establishing that basis for the assessment of reparation. The question of responsibility for the war, as distinguished from the damage resulting from it, was considered elsewhere in the peace conference and the conclusions were exhibited in part VII, Penalties, of the treaty. Those provisions were narrowed down to the responsibility of individuals and afforded slight ground for argument on the broad question. Article 231 was a general statement, modified by article 232.

Notwithstanding its origin in the note of November 5, 1918 the German Observations on the Conditions of Peace found in the article an interpretation for what came to be known by the Germans as the "Schuldartikel", the article on guilt. How this came about is trace

Note to VIII, 231—Continued

able. The Conditions of Peace were handed to the Germans on May 7, 1919 in French and English official texts. The German delegation produced a German version of article 231 for the intimate study of their specialists and for extensive distribution at home, though the peace conference did not release that draft text for publication among their own people. That German version was in general highly accurate. The German text of article 231, however, read as follows:

"Die alliierten und assoziierten Regierungen erklären, und Deutschland erkennt an, dass Deutschland und seine Verbündeten als Urheber [italics added] für alle Verluste und Schäden verantwortlich sind, die die alliierten und assoziierten Regierungen und ihre Staatsangehörigen infolge des ihnen durch den Angriff Deutschlands und seiner Verbündeten aufgezwungenen Krieges erlitten haben." (Reichsgesetzblatt, 1919, 687, at 985.)

This version reflects the German view in the phrase "als Urheber für alle Verluste und Schäden verantwortlich" (as author responsible for all losses and damages), which in the official English reads "responsibility for causing all the loss and damage" and in the official French: "responsables, pour les avoir causés, de toutes les pertes et tous les dommages".

The true significance of the language used is, however, not to be found exclusively in a particular phrase. The meaning is in the whole sentence, read as a unit, and that meaning, as indicated by the intention of its originators, is confirmed by the use of the identical wording, mutatis mutandis, in the Austrian and Hungarian treaties of peace. The official German version of article 177 of the Austrian treaty (Staatsgesetzblatt, 1920, 1080) follows that of Germany as quoted. The Hungarian version (Márkus Dezsö, Magyar Törvénytár Alaptotta, 239) of article 161 of the Hungarian treaty varies slightly; Hungary acknowledges "Hungary and its allies as the causers of the losses and damages". Neither the Austrian nor Hungarian Governments nor peoples found "guilt" instead of "responsibility" in the obligation assumed. The "guilt" interpretation was peculiar to Germany and the Germans.

The German version reflected a preoccupation with "war guilt” and a disposition to combat the conclusions of the Commission on the Responsibility of the Authors of the War and on Enforcement of Penalties, whose report had been published in Germany. Article 231 was clearly intended by the Allied and Associated Powers to state

Note to VIII, 231—Continued

the legal responsibility for reparation, the actual extent of which was indicated by article 232.

On May 13 the German delegation protested against article 231 on the ground that the obligation to pay reparation depended on the German acceptance of the "Lansing Note" of November 5, 1918, "independently of the question of responsibility for the war" (Foreign Relations, The Paris Peace Conference, 1919, v, 727). To this the Allies replied on May 20 that in the Lansing note the obligation to make reparation was based on "Germany's aggression by land, sea and air" and that Germany had not at the time objected to this statement, which it thereby recognized as "well founded” (ibid., p. 742).

In the "Observations" of May 29 the German Delegation accepted the obligation to pay for damages sustained by the civilian population in occupied parts of Belgium and France on the ground that Germany had brought the terrors of war on these areas by the violation of Belgian neutrality, but denied any obligation as regards Italy, Montenegro, Serbia, Roumania, and Poland, for there was “no question of an attack by Germany contrary to International Law" (ibid., vi, 849). Germany also accepted responsibility for Belgian loans from the Allies, but asserted that the Allied claims went beyond the categories set forth in the Lansing note, especially the losses to civilians outside the occupied territories, to the states themselves, to military persons, and the damage done by Germany's allies. If the Allies insisted on these terms, Germany would present counter-claims and an impartial International Court of Arbitration would become necessary.

The Allied and Associated Powers did not repudiate the German interpretation of article 231, because they did not regard it as important, significant, or politically wise to deny an implication which they believed to be true, even though not intended.

The German Government, having identified for itself a clause which imputed "war guilt" to them, confirmed the identification by its note of June 22, 1919 accepting the treaty with certain exceptions. The note transmitted a declaration, to become an "integral part of the treaty", which stated that Germany would sign the treaty "without, however, recognizing thereby that the German people was the author of the war, and without undertaking any responsibility for delivering persons in accordance with Articles 227 to 230." This formal draft of declaration did not mention article 231 but the full note contained this paragraph:

Note to VIII, 231—Continued

"Germany further lays the greatest emphasis on the declaration that she cannot accept Article 231 of the Treaty of Peace, which requires Germany to admit herself to be the sole and only author of the war, and she does not cover this article by her signature. It consequently follows without further argument that Germany must also decline to recognize that the burden should be placed upon her on the score of the responsibility for the war which has unjustly been laid at her door."

However the proposed declaration was phrased, the Germans were taking articles 227 to 231 very seriously as "points of honor". The cabinet on June 18 had voted 8 to 6 for accepting them and resigned on the 19th in consequence of adverse opinion in the parties. On June 20 the parties of the National Assembly expressed their opinions. The German National Assembly heard the new premier on June 22 and voted approval of signing the treaty with the reservation by 237 to 138 (Verhandlungen der verfassunggebenden deutschen Nationalversammlung, 327, 1115C, 1135A), after which the cabinet received a vote of confidence, 235 to 89.

The Allied and Associated Powers promptly informed the German representative that they "must require of the German representatives an unequivocal decision as to their purpose to sign and accept as a whole, or not to sign and accept, the Treaty as finally formulated."

The National Assembly met at 2:56 p.m., June 23, to hear that note read. Herr Bauer, the premier, was applauded when he told the deputies that Germany was defenseless but not without honor (wehrlos ist aber nicht ehrlos), and then he added that they must sign. He had attributed to the Allied and Associated Powers the intention of exacting from Germany a verbal recognition of guilt (Die Entente . . . will uns das Schuldbekenntnis auf die Zunge zwingen). On the understanding that the decision would not affect the vote of the 22d, the National Assembly by a "great majority" found that the Government "after as before" the present debate remained empowered to sign (ibid., 1141 B). The National Assembly recessed from 3:15 to 4:15 p.m., in which interval the government sent to Paris the following note:

"It is apparent to the Government of the German Republic, in consternation at the last communication of the Allied and Associated Governments, that these Governments have decided to wrest from Germany by force acceptance of the peace conditions, even those