World's War Events Volume III Part 37

[Sidenote: Means of transportation to be surrendered in good order.]

Seven--Roads and means of communication of every kind, railroads, waterways, main roads, bridges, telegraphs, telephones, shall be in no manner impaired. All civil and military personnel at present employed on them shall remain. Five thousand locomotives and 150,000 wagons in good working order, with all necessary spare parts and fittings, shall be delivered to the a.s.sociated powers within the period fixed in annexure No. 2, and total of which shall not exceed thirty-one days. There shall likewise be delivered 5,000 motor lorries (camion automobiles) in good order, within the period of thirty-six days. The railways of Alsace-Lorraine shall be handed over within the period of thirty-one days, together with pre-war personnel and material. Further, the material necessary for the working of railways in the countries on the left bank of the Rhine shall be left in situ. All stores of coal and material for the upkeep of permanent ways, signals, and repair shops shall be left in situ. These stores shall be maintained by Germany in so far as concerns the working of the railroads in the countries on the left bank of the Rhine. All barges taken from the Allies shall be restored to them. The note, annexure No. 2, regulates the details of these measures.

[Sidenote: Mine positions to be revealed.]

Eight--The German command shall be responsible for revealing within the period of forty-eight hours after the signing of the armistice all mines or delayed action fuses on territory evacuated by the German troops and shall a.s.sist in their discovery and destruction. It also shall reveal all destructive measures that may have been taken (such as poisoning or polluting of springs and wells, &c.). All under penalty of reprisals.

[Sidenote: Allies to have right of requisition.]

Nine--The right of requisition shall be exercised by the allied and United States armies in all occupied territories, subject to regulation of accounts with those whom it may concern. The upkeep of the troops of occupation in the Rhineland (excluding Alsace-Lorraine) shall be charged to the German Government.

[Sidenote: Allied and American prisoners of war to be repatriated.]

Ten--The immediate repatriation without reciprocity, according to detailed conditions which shall be fixed, of all allied and United States prisoners of war, including persons under trial or convicted. The allied powers and the United States shall be able to dispose of them as they wish. This condition annuls the previous conventions on the subject of the exchange of prisoners of war, including the one of July, 1918, in course of ratification. However, the repatriation of German prisoners of war interned in Holland and in Switzerland shall continue as before. The repatriation of German prisoners of war shall be regulated at the conclusion of the preliminaries of peace.

[Sidenote: Sick and wounded to be cared for.]

Eleven--Sick and wounded who cannot be removed from evacuated territory will be cared for by German personnel, who will be left on the spot with the medical material required.

[Sidenote: Germans to withdraw from Austria-Hungary, Rumania, Turkey and Russia.]

Twelve--All German troops at present in the territories which before belonged to Austria-Hungary, Rumania, Turkey, shall withdraw immediately within the frontiers of Germany as they existed on August First, Nineteen Fourteen. All German troops at present in the territories which before the war belonged to Russia shall likewise withdraw within the frontiers of Germany, defined as above, as soon as the Allies, taking into account the internal situation of these territories, shall decide that the time for this has come.

[Sidenote: Evacuation to begin immediately.]

[Sidenote: German requisitions to cease.]

Thirteen--Evacuation by German troops to begin at once, and all German instructors, prisoners, and civilians as well as military agents now on the territory of Russia (as defined before 1914) to be recalled.

Fourteen--German troops to cease at once all requisitions and seizures and any other undertaking with a view to obtaining supplies intended for Germany in Rumania and Russia (as defined on August 1, 1914).

[Sidenote: Bucharest and Brest-Litovsk treaties to be renounced.]

Fifteen--Renunciation of the treaties of Bucharest and Brest-Litovsk and of the supplementary treaties.

Sixteen--The Allies shall have free access to the territories evacuated by the Germans on their eastern frontier, either through Danzig, or by the Vistula, in order to convey supplies to the populations of those territories and for the purpose of maintaining order.

[Sidenote: East Africa to be evacuated.]

Seventeen--Evacuation by all German forces operating in East Africa within a period to be fixed by the Allies.

[Sidenote: Repatriation without reciprocation.]

Eighteen--Repatriation, without reciprocity, within a maximum period of one month in accordance with detailed conditions hereafter to be fixed of all interned civilians, including hostages (persons?) under trial or convicted, belonging to the allied or a.s.sociated powers other than those enumerated in Article Three.

[Sidenote: Financial rest.i.tution.]

Nineteen--The following financial conditions are required: Reparation for damage done. While such armistice lasts no public securities shall be removed by the enemy which can serve as a pledge to the Allies for the recovery or reparation for war losses. Immediate rest.i.tution of the cash deposit in the national bank of Belgium, and in general immediate return of all doc.u.ments, specie, stocks, shares, paper money, together with plant for the issue thereof, touching public or private interests in the invaded countries. Rest.i.tution of the Russian and Rumanian gold yielded to Germany or taken by that power. This gold to be delivered in trust to the Allies until the signature of peace.

[Sidenote: Cessation of hostilities at sea.]

Twenty--Immediate cessation of all hostilities at sea and definite information to be given as to the location and movements of all German ships. Notification to be given to neutrals that freedom of navigation in all territorial waters is given to the naval and mercantile marines of the allied and a.s.sociated powers, all questions of neutrality being waived.

[Sidenote: Germany to return naval prisoners.]

Twenty-one--All naval and mercantile marine prisoners of the allied and a.s.sociated powers in German hands to be returned without reciprocity.

[Sidenote: Submarines and mine layers to be surrendered.]

Twenty-two--Surrender to the Allies and United States of all submarines (including submarine cruisers and all mine-laying submarines) now existing, with their complete armament and equipment, in ports which shall be specified by the Allies and United States. Those which cannot take the sea shall be disarmed of the personnel and material and shall remain under the supervision of the Allies and the United States. The submarines which are ready for the sea shall be prepared to leave the German ports as soon as orders shall be received by wireless for their voyage to the port designated for their delivery, and the remainder at the earliest possible moment. The conditions of this article shall be carried into effect within the period of fourteen days after the signing of the armistice.

[Sidenote: German warships to be disarmed and interned.]

Twenty-three--German surface warships which shall be designated by the Allies and the United States shall be immediately disarmed and thereafter interned in neutral ports or in default of them in allied ports to be designated by the Allies and the United States. They will there remain under the supervision of the Allies and of the United States, only caretakers being left on board. The following warships are designated by the Allies: Six battle cruisers, ten battleships, eight light cruisers (including two mine layers), fifty destroyers of the most modern types. All other surface warships (including river craft) are to be concentrated in German naval bases to be designated by the Allies and the United States and are to be completely disarmed and cla.s.sed under the supervision of the Allies and the United States. The military armament of all ships of the auxiliary fleet shall be put on sh.o.r.e. All vessels designated to be interned shall be ready to leave the German ports seven days after the signing of the armistice. Directions for the voyage will be given by wireless.

[Sidenote: Allies to sweep mine fields.]

Twenty-four--The Allies and the United States of America shall have the right to sweep up all mine fields and obstructions laid by Germany outside German territorial waters, and the positions of these are to be indicated.

[Sidenote: Free accession to the Baltic for the Allies.]

Twenty-five--Freedom of access to and from the Baltic to be given to the naval and mercantile marines of the allied and a.s.sociated powers. To secure this the Allies and the United States of America shall be empowered to occupy all German forts, fortifications, batteries, and defense works of all kinds in all the entrances from the Cattegat into the Baltic, and to sweep up all mines and obstructions within and without German territorial waters, without any question of neutrality being raised, and the positions of all such mines and obstructions are to be indicated.

[Sidenote: Blockade conditions to remain unchanged.]

Twenty-six--The existing blockade conditions set up by the allied and a.s.sociated powers are to remain unchanged, and all German merchant ships found at sea are to remain liable to capture. The Allies and the United States should give consideration to the provisioning of Germany during the armistice to the extent recognized as necessary.

[Sidenote: Naval aircraft to be immobilized.]

Twenty-seven--All naval aircraft are to be concentrated and immobilized in German bases to be specified by the Allies and the United States of America.

[Sidenote: Navigation material to be abandoned.]

Twenty-eight--In evacuating the Belgian coast and ports Germany shall abandon in situ and in fact all port and river navigation material, all merchant ships, tugs, lighters, all naval aeronautic apparatus, material and supplies, and all arms, apparatus, and supplies of every kind.

[Sidenote: Black Sea ports to be evacuated.]

Twenty-nine--All Black Sea ports are to be evacuated by Germany; all Russian war vessels of all descriptions seized by Germany in the Black Sea are to be handed over to the Allies and the United States of America; all neutral merchant vessels seized are to be released; all warlike and other materials of all kinds seized in those ports are to be returned and German materials as specified in Clause Twenty-eight are to be abandoned.

[Sidenote: Merchant vessels to be restored.]

Thirty--All merchant vessels in German hands belonging to the allied and a.s.sociated powers are to be restored in ports to be specified by the Allies and the United States of America without reciprocity.

[Sidenote: No destruction permitted.]

Thirty-one--No destruction of ships or of materials to be permitted before evacuation, surrender, or restoration.

[Sidenote: German restrictions on trading vessels to be canceled.]