File No. 763.72/1585
The Minister in Sweden (Morris) to the Secretary of State
No. 114]
Stockholm,
February 18, 1915.
[Received March 15.]
Sir: With reference to the Legation’s
telegrams No. 21 of February 161 and No. 22 of this date,2 I have the honor to
enclose herewith copies and translations of the notes delivered by
Sweden to the British and German Governments, protesting against the
condition of neutral shipping at sea.3
The Foreign Office states that these notes are confidential as yet,
as the contents of same have not been made generally known.
I have [etc.]
[Enclosure 1—Translation]
The Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the
British Legation
In the course of the present war, the Royal Government has found
it necessary, more than once, to protest against the measures
taken by the belligerents without the regard due to the rights
and interests of neutrals. As far as the relations between the
belligerents themselves are concerned, it is not necessary to
examine whether these measures are just fled by the necessities
of the war or according to the principles of lawful retaliation.
In any case, such considerations could not be appealed to to the
detriment of neutral powers who are in no way responsible,
either for the war or for the means employed by one or other of
the belligerents in order to harm the enemy.
Nevertheless, the neutral powers have seen their losses and
difficulties multiply, and the state of affairs is becoming
gradually worse, on account of the intention of the belligerents
to retaliate by measures of the same character to attacks which
they consider to be unlawful.
In this respect, a new outlook of the most threatening nature has
just been opened up.
The German Government, citing the intention manifested in Great
Britain to try to protect British commercial navigation by the
use of neutral flags, comes to the conclusion that ships flying
neutral flags are open to suspicion and that, for this reason,
even vessels which are really neutral will be exposed to the
most serious dangers. The Royal Government has not delayed in
addressing a protest to the German Government claiming for
neutral navigation, and more especially for Swedish navigat on,
all the security which is assured to it by the application of
the rules of the law of nations. It must, at the same time,
protest against any misuse of its flag, a misuse which, under
the present circumstances, might lead to the most disastrous
consequences. The tolerance which may have been accorded to
isolated incidents in the past is no longer possible under the
present conditions of the war, especially since it has become a
question of systematic and premeditated misuse. The Royal
Government hopes, therefore, that the Royal British Government
will employ all the means in its power to prevent such misuse,
and reserves all its rights with regard to the damage’s and
losses which might result, should this hope not be realized.
Stockholm
,
February 15,
1915.
[Enclosure 2—Translation]
The Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the
German Legation
The Royal Government has just received, through the intermediary
of the Swedish Legation at Berlin, the notification signed on
the 4th of February [Page 140] by
the Chief of the General Staff of the German Navy, as well as
the memorandum of the Imperial Government annexed thereto.
The Royal Government does not consider it necessary to discuss
the means which the Imperial Government intends to put into
force with a view to making war on its enemies, that is to say
with questions which directly interest the belligerents, in so
far as these documents relate only to them. But, on the other
hand, these measures are of such a nature as also deeply to
concern the interests of the neutral powers. Likewise, the
Imperial Government has believed it to be its duty to cite
circumstances intended to prove that the neutral powers had lost
the right to complain of what might happen to them as a
consequence of the operations of war which the Imperial
Government is preparing in the waters surrounding the British
Isles.
The Royal Government cannot recognize the forfeiture of this
right. It has openly protested against all applicat on of the
doctrine, according to which the necessities of war would
justify violations of the law of nations. In this respect, it
calls to mind, firstly, the note of November 12 addressed to the
representatives of Germany, of France, of Great Britain, and of
Russia. Moreover, at the time of the British proclamation
regarding the North Sea, the Royal Government did not fail to
declare immediately and in the most definite terms that it could
not recognize the right of a belligerent to limit, as far as
neutral nations are concerned, the use of the open sea and of
other routes common to all. If it is the intention of the
Imperial Government to put us in the wrong because we thought it
sufficient to enter a protest, purely and simply, it must be
called to mind that inasmuch as the belligerents have within the
limits of the law of nations, the choice of means, neutral
powers likewise enjoy the same liberty, provided they observe
the neutrality which they have proclaimed.
It has been stated above that Sweden protested when Great
Britain, upon declaring a certain portion of the North Sea to be
a military zone, claimed the right to limit the routes of
neutral navigation. These protests have been repeated in the
above-mentioned note of November 12. The Royal Government still
maintains the same point of view. It, therefore, makes all due
reservations concerning the declaration which has just been
published by the Imperial Government.
While presuming that the German authorities will do all in their
power to remove the dangers which threaten Swedish navigation,
the Royal Government cannot conceal the fact that it is aware of
the risks to which this navigation will nevertheless be exposed.
It has made a formal protest to the British Government for the
purpose of providing against any misuse of the national
flag.
The Royal Government has the right to expect that the Swedish
flag shall be respected by all parties and under all
circumstances. It, therefore, hopes that Swedish vessels will
not be exposed to the measures announced by the German
authorities and makes all due reservations as regards any
damages and losses which might result from the carrying out of
such measures.
Stockholm
,
February 5,
1915.
