From The Versailles Treaty
Peace Treaty of Versailles (1919)
THE HIGH CONTRACTING PARTIES, In order to promote international co-operation and to achieve international peace and security by the acceptance of obligations not to resort to
war by the prescription of open, just and honourable relations between nations by the firm establishment of the understandings of international law as the actual rule of conduct among
Governments, and by the maintenance of justice and a scrupulous respect for all treaty obligations in the dealings of organised peoples with one another Agree to this Covenant of the
League of Nations.
ARTICLE 8.
The Members of the League recognise that the maintenance of peace requires the reduction of national armaments to the lowest point consistent with
national safety and the enforcement by common action of international obligations. The Council, taking account of the geographical situation and
circumstances of each State, shall formulate plans for such reduction for the consideration and action of the several Governments. Such plans shall be
subject to reconsideration and revision at least every ten years. After these plans shall have been adopted by the several Governments, the limits of
armaments therein fixed shall not be exceeded without the concurrence of the Council. The Members of the League agree that the manufacture by private
enterprise of munitions and implements of war is open to grave objections. The Council shall advise how the evil effects attendant upon such manufacture
can be prevented, due regard being had to the necessities of those Members of the League which are not able to manufacture the munitions and implements
of war necessary for their safety. The Members of the League undertake to interchange full and frank information as to the scale of their armaments, their
military, naval, and air programmes and the condition of such of their industries as are adaptable to war-like purposes
ARTICLE 10.
The Members of the League undertake to respect and preserve as against external aggression the territorial integrity and existing political independence of
all Members of the League. In case of any such aggression or in case of any threat or danger of such aggression the Council shall advise upon the means by
which this obligation shall be fulfilled.
ARTICLE 11.
Any war or threat of war, whether immediately affecting any of the Members of the League or not, is hereby declared a matter of concern to the whole
League, and the League shall take any action tnat may be deemed wise and effectual to safeguard the peace of nations. In case any such emergency should
arise the Secretary General shall on the request of any Member of the League forthwith summon a meeting of the Council. It is also declared to be the
friendly right of each Member of the League to bring to the attention of the Assembly or of the Council any circumstance whatever affecting international
relations which threatens to disturb international peace or the good understanding between nations upon which peace depends.
ARTICLE 12.
The Members of the League agree that if there should arise between them any dispute likely to lead to a rupture, they will submit the matter either to
arbitration or to inquiry by the Council, and they agree in no case to resort to war until three months after the award by the arbitrators or the report by the
Council. In any case under this Article the award of the arbitrators shall be made within a reasonable time, and the report of the Council shall be made
within six months after the submission of the dispute.
ARTICLE 16.
Should any Member of the League resort to war in disregard of its covenants under Articles 12, 13, or 15, it shall ipso facto be deemed to have committed
an act of war against all other Members of the League, which hereby undertake immediately to subject it to the severance of all trade or financial relations,
the prohibition of all intercourse between their nations and the nationals of the covenant-breaking State, and the prevention of all financial, commercial, or
personal intercourse between the nationals of the covenant-breaking State and the nationals of any other State, whether a Member of the League or not. It
shall be the duty of the Council in such case to recommend to the several Governments concerned what effective military, naval, or air force the Members
of the League shall severally contribute to the armed forces to be used to protect the covenants of the League. The Members of the League agree, further,
that they will mutually support one another in the financial and economic measures which are taken under this Article, in order to minimise the loss and
inconvenience resulting from the above measures, and that they will mutually support one another in resisting any special measures aimed at one of their
number by the covenantbreaking State, and that they will take the necessary steps to afford passage through their territory to the forces of any of the
Members of the League which are co-operating to protect the covenants of the League. Any Member of the League which has violated any covenant of
the League may be declared to be no longer a Member of the League by a vote of the Council concurred in by the Representatives of all the other
Members of the League represented thereon.
ARTICLE 18.
Every treaty or international engagement entered into hereafter by any Member of the League shall be forthwith registered with the Secretariat and shall as
soon as possible be published by it. No such treaty or international engagement shall be binding until so registered.
ARTICLE 22.
To those colonies and territories which as a consequence of the late war have ceased to be under the sovereignty of the States which formerly governed
them and which are inhabited by peoples not yet able to stand by themselves under the strenuous conditions of the modern world, there should be applied
the principle that the well-being and development of such peoples form a sacred trust of civilisation and that securities for the performance of this trust
should be embodied in this Covenant. The best method of giving practical effect to this principle is that the tutelage of such peoples should be entrusted to
advanced nations who by reason of their resources, their experience or their geographical position can best undertake this responsibility, and who are
willing to accept it, and that this tutelage should be exercised by them as Mandatories on behalf of the League. The character of the mandate must differ
according to the stage of the development of the people, the geographical situation of the territory, its economic conditions, and other similar circumstances.
Certain communities formerly belonging to the Turkish Empire have reached a stage of development where their existence as independent nations can be
provisionally recognised subject to the rendering of administrative advice and assistance by a Mandatory until such time as they are able to stand alone. The
wishes of these communities must be a principal consideration in the selection of the Mandatory. Other peoples, especially those of Central Africa, are at
such a stage that the Mandatory must be responsible for the administration of the territory under conditions which will guarantee freedom of conscience and
religion, subject only to the maintenance of public order and morals, the prohibition of abuses such as the slave trade, the arms traffic, and the liquor traffic,
and the prevention of the establishment of fortifications or military and naval bases and of military training of the natives for other than police purposes and
the defence of territory, and will also secure equal opportunities for the trade and commerce of other Members of the League. There are territories, such as
South-West Africa and certain of the South Pacific Islands, which, owing to the sparseness of their population, or their small size, or their remoteness from
the centres of civilisation, or their geographical contiguity to the territory of the Mandatory, and other circumstances, can be best administered under the
laws of the Mandatory as integral portions of its territory, subject to the safeguards above mentioned in the interests of the indigenous population. In every
case of mandate, the Mandatory shall render to the Council an annual report in reference to the territory committed to its charge. The degree of authority,
control, or administration to be exercised by the Mandatory shall, if not previously agreed upon by the Members of the League, be explicitly defined in
each case by the Council. A permanent Commission shall be constituted to receive and examine the annual reports of the Mandatories and to advise the
Council on all matters relating to the observance of the mandates.
ARTICLE 23.
Subject to and in accordance with the provisions of international conventions existing or hereafter to be agreed upon, the Members of the League: (a) will
endeavour to secure and maintain fair and humane conditions of labour for men, women, and children, both in their own countries and in all countries to
which their commercial and industrial relations extend, and for that purpose will establish and maintain the necessary international organisations; (b)
undertake to secure just treatment of the native inhabitants of territories under their control; (c) will entrust the League with the general supervision over the
execution of agreements with regard to the traffic in women and children, and the traffic in opium and other dangerous drugs; (d) will entrust the League
with the general supervision of the trade in arms and ammunition with the countries in which the control of this traffic is necessary in the common interest; (e)
will make provision to secure and maintain freedom of communications and of transit and equitable treatment for the commerce of all Members of the
League. In this connection, the special necessities of the regions devastated during the war of 1914-1918 shall be borne in mind; (f) will endeavour to take
steps in matters of international concern for the prevention and control of disease.
ARTICLE 25.
The Members of the League agree to encourage and promote the establishment and co-operation of duly authorised voluntary national Red Cross
organisations having as purposes the improvement of health, the prevention of disease, and the mitigation of suffering throughout the world.
SECTION III
LEFT BANK OF THE RHINE.
ARTICLE 42.
Germany is forbidden to maintain or construct any fortifications either on the
left bank of the Rhine or on the right bank to the west of a line drawn 50
kilometres to the East of the Rhine.
ARTICLE 43
In the area defined above the maintenance and the assembly of armed forces,
either permanently or temporarily, and military maneuvers of any kind, as well as
the upkeep of all permanent works for mobilization, are in the same way
forbidden.
ARTICLE 44
In case Germany violates in any manner whatever the provisions of Articles 42 and
43, she shall be regarded as committing a hostile act against the Powers
signatory of the present Treaty and as calculated to disturb the peace of the
world.
SECTION IV.
SAAR BASIN.
ARTICLE 45
As compensation for the destruction of the coal-mines in the north of France and
as part payment towards the total reparation due from Germany for the damage
resulting from the war, Germany cedes to France in full and absolute possession,
with exclusive rights of exploitation, unencumbered and free from all debts and
charges of any kind, the coal-mines situated in the Saar Basin
ARTICLE 49.
Germany renounces in favour of the League of Nations, in the capacity of trustee,
the government of the territory defined above.
At the end of fifteen years from the coming into force of the present Treaty the
inhabitants of the said territory shall be called upon to indicate the
sovereignty under which they desire to be placed.
ARTICLE 5l.
The territories which were ceded to Germany in accordance with the Preliminaries
of Peace signed at Versailles on February 26, 187l, and the Treaty of Frankfort
of May lo, 1871, are restored to French sovereignty as from the date of the
Armistice of November 11, 1918.
The provisions of the Treaties establishing the delimitation of the frontiers
before 1871 shall be restored.
ARTICLE 80.
Germany acknowledges and will respect strictly the independence of Austria,
within the frontiers which may be fixed in 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.
ARTICLE 84.
German nationals habitually resident in any of the territories recognised as
forming part of the Czecho-Slovak State will obtain Czecho-Slovak nationality
ipso facto and lose their German nationality.
ARTICLE 87.
Germany, in conformity with the action already taken by the Allied and Associated
Powers, recognises the complete independence of Poland, and renounces in her
favour 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 2 kilometres to the
east of Lorzendorf, then a line to the acute angle which the northern boundary of
Upper Silesia makes about 3 kilometres north-west of Simmenau, then the boundary
of Upper Silesia to 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
of Part II aforesaid.
The provisions 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 10o 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 decisions
of the Commission will be taken by a majority of votes and shall be binding upon
the parties concerned.
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 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 August 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 other 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 119.
Germany renounces in favour of the Principal Allied and Associated Powers all her
rights and titles over her oversea possessions.
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 one hundred thousand 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 four thousand.
(2) Divisions and Army Corps headquarters staffs shall be organised in accordance
with Table No. 1 annexed to this Section.
The number and strengths 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
staffs.
The maintenance or formation of forces differently grouped or of other
organisations for the command of troops or for preparation for war is forbidden.
The Great German General Staff and all similar organisations 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 paragraph (1) of this
Article.
ARTICLE 168.
The manufacture of arms, munitions, or any war material, shall only be carried
out in factories or works the location 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 authorised stocks of munitions.
Within the same period the personnel of these arsenals will be dismissed.
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 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 subparagraphs of paragraph (I) 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 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:
6 battleships of the Deutschland or Lothringen type, 6 light cruisers, 12
destroyers, 12 torpedo boats,
or an equal number of ships constructed to replace them as provided in Article
l90.
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 198.
The armed forces of Germany must not include any military or naval air forces.
Germany may, during a period not extending beyond October 1, 1919, maintain a
maximum number of one hundred 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 227.
The Allied and Associated Powers publicly arraign William II of Hohenzollern,
formerly German Emperor, for a supreme offence 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 defence. It will be composed of five
judges, one appointed by each of the following Powers: namely, 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 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.
PART XIII.
LABOUR.
SECTION I.
ORGANISATION OF LABOUR.
Whereas the League of Nations has for its object the establishment of universal
peace, and such a peace can be established only if it is based upon social
justice;
And whereas conditions of labour exist involving such injustice, hardship, and
privation to large numbers of people as to produce unrest so great that the peace
and harmony of the world are imperilled; and an improvement of those conditions
is urgently required: as, for example, by the regulation of the hours of work,
including the establishment of a maximum working day and week, the regulation of
the labour supply, the prevention of unemployment, the provision of an adequate
living wage, the protection of the worker against sickness, disease and injury
arising out of his employment, the protection of children, young persons and
women, provision for old age and injury, protection of the interests of workers
when employed in countries other than their own recognition of the principle of
freedom of association, the organisation of vocational and technical education
and other measures;
Whereas also the failure of any nation to adopt humane conditions of labour is an
obstacle in the way of other nations which desire to improve the conditions in
their own countries;
The HIGH CONTRACTING PARTIES, moved by sentiments of justice and humanity as well
as by the desire to secure the permanent peace of the world, agree to the
following:
ORGANISATION.
ARTICLE 387.
A permanent organisation is hereby established for the promotion of the objects
set forth in the Preamble.
The original Members of the League of Nations shall be the original Members of
this organisation, and hereafter membership of the League of Nations shall carry
with it membership of the said organisation.
GENERAL PRINCIPLES.
ARTICLE 427.
The High Contracting Parties, recognising that the well-being, physical, moral
and intellectual, of industrial wage-earners is of supreme international
importance, have framed, in order to further this great end, the permanent
machinery provided for in Section l and associated with that of the League of
Nations.
They recognise that differences of climate, habits, and customs, of economic
opportunity and industrial tradition, make strict uniformity in the conditions of
labour difficult of immediate attainment. But, holding as they do, that labour
should not be regarded merely as an article of commerce, they think that there
are methods and principles for regulating labour conditions which all industrial
communities should endeavour to apply, so far as their special circumstances will
permit.
Among these methods and principles, the following seem to the High Contracting
Parties to be of special and urgent importance:
First.The guiding principle above enunciated that labour should not be regarded
merely as a commodity or article of commerce.
Second.The right of association for all lawful purposes by the employed as well
as by the employers.
Third.The payment to the employed of a wage adequate to maintain a reasonable
standard of life as this is understood in their time and country.
Fourth.The adoption of an eight hours day or a forty-eight hours week as the
standard to be aimed at where it has not already been attained.
Fifth.The adoption of a weekly rest of at least twenty-four hours, which should
include Sunday wherever practicable.
Sixth.The abolition of child labour and the imposition of such limitations on
the labour of young persons as shall permit the continuation of their education
and assure their proper physical development.
Seventh.The principle that men and women should receive equal remuneration for
work of equal value.
Eighth.The standard set by law in each country with respect to the conditions of
labour should have due regard to the equitable economic treatment of all workers
lawfully resident therein.
Ninth.Each State should make provision for a system of inspection in which women
should take part, in order to ensure the enforcement of the laws and regulations
for the protection of the employed.
Without claiming that these methods and principles are either complete or final,
the High Contracting Parties are of opinion that they are well fitted to guide
the policy of the League of Nations; and that, if adopted by the industrial
communities who are members of the League, and safeguarded in practice by an
adequate system of such inspection, they will confer lasting benefits upon the
wage-earners of the world.
ARTICLE 428.
As a guarantee for the execution of the present Treaty by . Germany, the German
territory situated to the west of the Rhine, together with the bridgeheads, will
be occupied by Allied and Associated troops for a period of fifteen years from
the coming into force of the present Treaty.
ARTICLE 430.
In case either during the occupation or after the expiration of the fifteen years
referred to above the Reparation Commission finds that Germany refuses to observe
the whole or part of her obligations under the present Treaty with regard to
reparation, the whole or part of the areas specified in Article 429 will be
reoccupied immediately by the Allied and Associated forces.
MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS.
ARTICLE 434.
Germany undertakes to recognise the full force of the Treaties of Peace and
Additional Conventions which may be concluded by the Allied and Associated Powers
with the Powers who fought on the side of Germany and to recognise whatever
dispositions nay be made concerning the territories of the former
Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, of the Kingdom of Bulgaria and of the Ottoman Empire,
and to recognise the new States within their frontiers as there laid down.