Papers Relating to Foreign Affairs, Accompanying the Annual Message of the President to the Second Session of the Thirty-ninth Congress
Mr. Wright to Mr. Seward.
Sir: Enclosed will be found the late treaty between Prussia and Austria. As Prussia is making many new treaties, I hope soon to obtain a copy of them bound together for the use of our government.
The Prussian Chambers is expected to adjourn in two weeks. It is supposed the common Parliament of the new north German confederacy will convene in Berlin the last of November.
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I have the honor to be, most respectfully, your obedient servant,
Hon. William H. Seward, Secretary of State, Washington, D. C.
Prussia and Austria.—The treaty of peace.
The following is a translation of this important document:
“In the name of the holy and indivisible Trinity, his Majesty the King of Prussia and his Majesty the Emperor of Austria, animated by a desire of restoring the blessings of peace to their dominions, have resolved to convert the preliminaries signed at Nikolsburg on the 26th of July, 1866, into a definitive treaty of peace. To this end their majesties have appointed their plenipotentiaries as follows:
“His Majesty the King of Prussia—his kammerherr, effective privy councillor, and plenipotentiary, Charles, Baron von Werther, grand cross of the royal Prussian order of the Red Eagle, with oak leaves, and of the imperial Austrian order of Leopold; and his Majesty the Emperor of Austria—his effective privy councillor and kammerherr, ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary, Adolph Marie, Baron von Brenner-Tilsach, of the imperial Austrian order of Leopold, and knight of the royal Prussian order of the Red Eagle, first class, &c.; who have met in conference at Prague, and, having exchanged their powers, drawn up in good and proper form, have agreed to the following articles:
“Article I.
“For the future there shall be lasting peace and friendship between his Majesty the King of Prussia and his Majesty the Emperor of Austria, as well as between their heirs and descendants, their states and subjects.
“Article II.
“That the sixth article of the preliminaries of peace signed at Nikolsburg on the 26th of July of this year may be carried out, and inasmuch as his Majesty the Emperor of the French, by his authorized emissary to his Majesty the King of Prussia, officially declared at Nikolsburg on the 29th of the same month of July, qu’en ce qui concerne le gouvernement de l’ Empereur la Venise est acquise à l’ Italie pour lui être remise à la paix, his Majesty the Emperor of Austria, on his part, conforms to this declaration, and gives his consent to the union of the Lombardo-Venetian kingdom with the kingdom of Italy, without imposing any other condition than the liquidation of those debts which have been acknowledged charges on the territories now resigned, in conformity with the treaty of Zurich.
“Article III.
“The prisoners of war shall be at once released on both sides.
“Article IV.
“His Majesty the Emperor of Austria recognizes the dissolution of the late German Bund, and gives his consent to a new formation of Germany, in which the imperial state of Austria shall take no part. Moreover, his Majesty promises to recognize the closer federal relations which his Majesty the King of Prussia is about to establish north of the line of the Main; and also agrees that the German states to the south of this line shall form an union, the national connection of which with the northern confederacy is reserved for a more defined agreement between both parties, and which is to maintain an international independent existence.
[Page 44]“Article V.
“His Majesty the Emperor of Austria transfers to his Majesty the King of Prussia all the rights he acquired under the peace of Vienna, on the 30th of October, 1864, to the duchies of Holstein and Schleswig, with the understanding that the people of the northern district of Schleswig, if, by free vote, they express a wish to be united to Denmark, shall be ceded to Denmark accordingly.
“Article VI.
“At the desire of his Majesty the Emperor of Austria, his Majesty the King of Prussia declares himself willing, on the approaching changes in Germany, to allow the territory of the kingdom of Saxony to remain within its present limits, reserving to himself the right of settling in a separate treaty of peace with the King of Saxony the share to be contributed by Saxony towards the expenses of the war and the position henceforth to be held by the kingdom of Saxony within the North German Confederation. On the other hand, his Majesty the Emperor of Austria promises to recognize the changes about to be made in north Germany by his Majesty the King of Prussia, territorial changes included.
“Article VII.
“In order to settle the property of the late Bund, a commission shall meet at Frankfort-on-the-Main within, at most, six weeks after the ratification of the present treaty, at which all formal claims and demands upon the German Bund are to be made, and to be liquidated within six months. Prussia and Austria will be represented in this commission, and all the states belonging to the late Bund are allowed the same privilege.
“Article VIII.
“Austria is at liberty to take from the forts of the late Bund all that belongs to the empire, and from the movable property of the Bund the proportionate share of Austria, or otherwise to dispose thereof. This provision extends to all the movable property of the Bund.
“Article IX.
“The civil officers, servants, and pensioners of the Bund will receive the pensions already accorded in due proportion; but the royal Prussian government undertakes to manage the pensions and allowances hitherto paid from the treasury of the Bund to the officers of the late Schleswig-Holstein army and their families.
“Article X.
“The allowance of the pensions granted by the imperial Austrian government in Holstein is agreed upon.
“The sum of 449,500 dollars Danish, in four per cent. Danish bonds, now lodged in the hands of the imperial Austrian government, and belonging to the Holstein treasury, will be repaid immediately after the ratification of this treaty.
“No adherent of the duchies of Holstein and Schleswig, and no subject of their Majesties the King of Prussia and the Emperor of Austria is to prosecuted, troubled, or in any way molested in his person or his property on account of his political position during recent events and the recent war.
“Article XI
“In order to defray a portion of the expenses incurred by Prussia on account of the war, his Majesty the Emperor of Austria promises to pay to his Majesty the King of Prussia the sum of 40,000,000 Prussian dollars. From this sum, however, the amount of the costs of war which, by virtue of the twelfth article of the before-mentioned treaty of Vienna of the 30th of October, 1864, his Majesty the Emperor claims from the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein, and which are valued at 15,000,000 Prussian dollars, together with 5,000,000 Prussian dollars as an equivalent for the free maintenance of the Prussian army in the Austrian states, which it occupied till the conclusion of the peace, is to be deducted, so that only 20,000,000 Prussian dollars remain to be paid. Of this sum half is to be paid on the exchange of the ratifications of this treaty; the other half three weeks afterwards.
“Article XII.
“The evacuation of the Austrian territories now occupied by the royal Prussian troops will be completed within three weeks after the exchange of the ratifications of the treaty. From the day of such exchange the Prussian general governments will confine their operations to purely military matters. The details with respect to the manner in which this evacuation is to be effected are settled in a separate protocol, which forms an appendix to this treaty.
[Page 45]“Article XIII.
“All treaties and agreements made by the high contracting parties before the war are hereby revived in full force, so far as they are not invalidated by the dissolution of the German Bund. More especially the general convention between the states of the German confederation on the 10th of February, 1831, together with more recent resolutions thereto appertaining, will remain in full force as between Prussia and Austria. The imperial Austrian government declares, however, that the coinage treaty of the 24th of February, 1857, is deprived of its chief value for Austria by the dissolution of the German Bund, and the royal Prussian-government declares itself ready to join with Austria and the other interested parties in the negotiations that may arise on the abolition of this treaty. The high contracting parties likewise agree that as soon as possible they will enter into negotiations for a revision of the commercial treaty of the 11th of April, 1865, with a view to a further alleviation of burdens on both sides. In the meanwhile, the said treaty is restored to its full force, with this provision, that both the high contracting parties reserve to themselves the right to cancel it after six months’ notice.
“Article XIV.
“The ratifications of the present treaty shall be exchanged at Prague within a week, or, if possible, within a shorter period.
“In witness whereof, &c.