[Union of Ionian Islands to Greece.]

No. 355.-TREATY between Great Britain, Austria, France, Prussia, and Russia, for the Annexation of the Ionian Islands to Greece. Signed at London, 14th November, 1863.*

1. Renunciation of Great Britain over Ionian Islands. Annexation of Ionian Islands to Greece.

2. Perpetual Neutrality of the lonian Islands.

3. Demolition of Fortifications in Island of Corfu.

4. Treaties and Conventions of Commerce and Navigation between Great Britain and Foreign Powers to remain in force.

5. Freedom of Worship and Religious Toleration. Free exercise of Roman Catholic Religion. Civil and Political equality between subjects of different Creeds.

6. Treaty to be concluded between Guaranteeing Powers and Greece. Withdrawal of British Military Forces.

7. Treaty with Hellenic Government to be communicated to Austria and Prussia.

8. Treaty of 5th November, 1815, annulled. Renunciation by Contracting Parties of all right or pretension over Ionian Islands.

9. Ratifications.

(Translation as laid before Parliament.†)

In the Name of the Most Holy and Indivisible Trinity.

HER Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland having made known to their Majesties the Emperor of Austria, the Emperor of the French, the King of Prussia, and the Emperor of All the Russias, that the Legislative Assembly of the United States of the Ionian Islands, having been duly informed of the intention of Her Majesty to consent to the Union of those Islands to the Kingdom of Greece has unanimously pronounced in favour of that Union (No. 354); and the condition prescribed by the last clause of the Protocol signed by the Plenipotentiaries of the 5 Powers on the 1st August last (No. 350), being thus fulfilled, their said Majesties, that is to say, the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Emperor of Austria, the Emperor of the French, the King of Prussia, and the Emperor of All the Russias, have resolved to record in a solemn Treaty the assent which they have given

* See also Treaties of 29th March, 1864, and Protocol of 28th May, 1864. † For French version, see "State Papers," vol. liii, p. 19.

[Union of Ionian Islands to Greece.]

to that Union, stipulating at the same time the conditions under which it shall be effected.

For this purpose their said Majesties have named as their Plenipotentiaries, that is to say:

Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Right Honourable John Earl Russell, Viscount Amberley of Amberley and Ardsalla, a Peer of the United Kingdom, Her Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, &c.;

His Majesty the Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary and Bohemia, the Count Felix de Wimpffen, his actual Chamberlain, and Chargé d'Affaires to the Government of Her Britannic Majesty ;

His Majesty the Emperor of the French, the Sieur Camille de Nompère de Champagny, Marquis de Cadore, his Chamberlain, and Chargé d'Affaires to the Government of Her Britannic Majesty;

His Majesty the King of Prussia, the Sieur Albert Count de Bernstorff-Stintenburg, his Minister of State and Chamberlain, his Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Her Britannic Majesty, &c.;

His Majesty the Emperor of All the Russias, the Sieur Philip Baron de Brunnow, his actual Privy Councillor, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Her Britannic Majesty, &c.;

Who, after having exchanged their Full Powers, found in good and due form, have concluded and signed the following Articles:

Renunciation of Great Britain over Ionian Islands.

ART. I. Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland renounces, on the conditions hereinafter specified, the Protectorate over the Islands of Corfu, Cephalonia, Zante, Santa Maura, Ithaca, Cerigo, and Paxo, with their dependencies, which, by the Treaty signed at Paris on the 5th November, 1815 (No. 39), by the Plenipotentiaries of Great Britain, Austria, Prussia, and Russia, were constituted a single Free and Independent State, under the denomination of the United States of the Ionian Islands, placed under the immediate and exclusive Protection of His Majesty the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, his heirs and successors.

Annexation of Ionian Islands to Greece.

Their Majesties the Emperor of Austria, the Emperor of the

[Union of Ionian Islands to Greece.]

French, the King of Prussia, and the Emperor of All the Russias, accept, on the conditions hereinafter specified, the renunciation by Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland of the Protectorate of the Ionian Islands; and in conjunction with Her Majesty, recognise the Union of the said States with the Hellenic Kingdom.

Perpetual Neutrality of the Ionian Islands.

ART. II. The Ionian Islands, after their Union to the Kingdom of Greece, shall enjoy the advantages of a perpetual Neutrality;" consequently no armed force, either naval or military, shall at any time be assembled or stationed upon the territory or in the waters of those Islands, beyond the number that may be strictly necessary for the maintenance of public order, and to secure the collection of the public revenue.

The High Contracting Parties engage to respect the principle of Neutrality stipulated by the present Article.

Demolition of Fortifications in Island of Corfu.

ART. III. As a necessary consequence of the Neutrality to be thus enjoyed by the United States of the Ionian Islands, the Fortifications constructed in the Island of Corfu and its immediate dependencies, having no longer any object, shall be demolished, and the demolition thereof shall be effected previously to the withdrawal of the troops employed by Great Britain for the occupation of those Islands in her character as Protecting Power.t/ This demolition shall take place in such manner as Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain shall deem sufficient to fulfil the intentions of the High Contracting Parties. Treaties and Conventions of Commerce and Navigation between Great Britain and Foreign Powers to remain in force.

ART. IV. The Union of the Ionian Islands to the Hellenic Kingdom shall not involve any change as to the advantages conceded to foreign Commerce and Navigation in virtue of Treaties and Conventions concluded by Foreign Powers with the Government of Her Britannic Majesty, in her character of Protector of the United States of the Ionian Islands.‡

Altered by Protocol of 25th January, 1864, and by Treaty of 29th March, 1864, Art. II.

+ The Ionian Islands were evacuated by the British Forces on the 2nd June, 1864.

See also Treaty of 29th March, 1864, Art. III.

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[Union of Ionian Islands to Greece.]

All the engagements which result from the said transactions, as well as from the regulations actually in force, shall be maintained and strictly observed as hitherto.

In consequence, it is expressly understood that Foreign Vessels and Commerce in Ionian Ports, and, reciprocally, Ionian Vessels and Commerce in Foreign Ports, as well as the Navigation between Ionian Ports and the Ports of Greece, shall continue to be subject to the same treatment, and placed under the same conditions as before the Union of the Ionian Islands to Greece.

Freedom of Worship and Religious Toleration.

ART. V. The Union of the United States of the Ionian Islands to the Kingdom of Greece shall in no wise invalidate the principles established by the existing legislation of those Islands with regard to Freedom of Worship and Religious Toleration; accordingly the rights and immunities established in matters of Religion by Chapters 1 and 5 of the Constitutional Charter of the United States of the Ionian Islands, and specifically the recognition of the Orthodox Greek Church as the dominant Religion in those Islands; the entire Liberty of Worship granted to the Established Church of the Protecting Power; and the perfect Toleration promised to other Christian Communions, shall, after the Union, be maintained in their full force and effect.

Free exercise of Roman Catholic Religion.

The special Protection Guaranteed to the Roman Catholic Church, as well as the advantages of which that Church is actually in possession, shall be equally maintained; and the subjects belonging to that communion shall enjoy in the Ionian Islands the same Freedom of Worship which is recognised in their favour by the Protocol of the 3rd February, 1830 (No. 149).

Civil and Political Equality between Subjects of different Creeds.

The principle of entire Civil and Political Equality between subjects belonging to different creeds, established in Greece by the same Protocol, shall be likewise in force in the Ionian Islands.

Treaty to be concluded between Guaranteeing Powers and Greece. ART. VI. The Courts of France, Great Britain, and Russia, in