File No. 763.72119/3168
It is presumed that the Legation at Stockholm communicated the
substance of the foregoing to the Department.
I now have the honor to forward a translation of the treaty of March
1/February 16, 1918, between the socialist republics of Russia and
Finland. This translation has been prepared from a pamphlet, also
enclosed, found in the files of the Embassy. There is nothing to
indicate its authority.
[Enclosure—Translation]
TREATY BETWEEN THE SOCIALIST REPUBLICS OF RUSSIA AND
FINLAND1
The Council of People’s Commissars of the Russian Federative
Soviet Republic and the Council of People’s Delegates of the
Finnish Socialist Workers’ Republic, in order to strengthen the
friendship and fraternity between the above-mentioned free
republics, have concluded the following treaty.
Article 1
The Russian Federative Soviet Republic transfers to the
independent Finnish Socialist Workers’ Republic all real estate
belonging to the Russian Republic or to Russian state
establishments, whether by right of ownership or by right of
use, that is: lands, stretches of water, urban districts,
buildings, mills, factories, telegraph establishments,
railroads, fortresses, lighthouses, beacons and buoys, situated
within the limits of the territory of the former Grand Duchy of
Finland.
Article 2
The Finnish Socialist Workers’ Republic, on its part, transfers
to the Russian Federative Soviet Republic all real estate
belonging to the Finnish treasury or the state establishments of
Finland whether by right of ownership or of use, that is: lands,
stretches of water, urban districts, buildings, mills,
factories, telegraph establishments, railroads, fortresses,
lighthouses, beacons and buoys, situated within the limits of
the territory of the Russian Federative Soviet Republic.
[Page 774]
Article 3
The Finnish Socialist Workers’ Republic agrees also to the
acquisition of the other property not mentioned in Article 1 of
the present treaty, belonging to the Russian Federative Soviet
Republic and situated within the limits of the former Grand
Duchy of Finland, and has a preferential right in acquiring such
property, in so far as it does not infringe upon the interests
of the Russian Federative Soviet Republic.
Article 4
From the above-mentioned properties subject to transfer to the
Finnish Socialist Workers’ Republic are excluded those which, by
decision of the Russian-Finnish Conciliation Commission, are
transferred directly to workers’ organizations.
Article 5
In the interest of cooperation in the nationalization of the
Finnish merchant marine the Russian Federative Soviet Republic
transfers to the Finnish Socialist Workers’ Republic in their
present condition all the ships belonging to the Finnish
treasury, companies or private persons, requisitioned by the
Russian Government before or during the war. All other
requisitioned property will be turned over in a like degree in
so far as it lies within the territorial limits of the Grand
Duchy of Finland at the moment of the conclusion of this
treaty.
Article 6
The effect of the preceding paragraphs does not extend to real
properties which are necessary for the Russian Federative Soviet
Republic on the territory of the Finnish Socialist Workers’
Republic, and conversely those which are necessary for the
Finnish Socialist Workers’ Republic on the territory of the
Russian Federative Soviet Republic, for establishments and
persons of the diplomatic, consular, or commercial services, as
well as for educational and medical institutions.
Article 7
The scale of compensation for the properties transferred in
accordance with Articles 1, 2, 3 and 4 of the present treaty is
to be fixed by the special Russian-Finnish Conciliation
Commission. A special account is to be carried for the payments
imputed to these transfers, to be effected upon demand of the
Russian Liquidation Commission for Finnish Affairs, and to be
concluded at the time of the final accounting.
Article 8
The amounts owed by the Finnish state establishments and the
Finnish treasury to the Russian state establishments and the
Russian treasury and vice versa, as likewise the short-term
obligations of Russia concluded through the medium of the
Finnish Bank, are acknowledged as being in force by the
governments of both socialist republics, and the means of their
amortization, independently of the payments effected in
accordance with Article 7, will be worked out by a special mixed
financial subcommission, under the control of the
Russian-Finnish Conciliation Commission.
Article 9
The contracting parties mutually guarantee at all times to all
commercial vessels of the Russian and Finnish socialist
republics free, unobstructed access to all sea, river, and lake
ports, anchorages, and canals, giving the right to all [Page 775] above-mentioned
vessels freely to load or unload their freight, and to make use
of pilot service. The technical conditions of enjoyment of the
above-mentioned rights will be defined by special
arrangements.
Article 10
A direct, constant, and through train service between the
railroads of Russia and Finland shall be established.
Article 11
The conditions of use by the Russian Federative Soviet Republic
of the telegraphs and roads on the territory of the Finnish
Socialist Workers’ Republic and, correspondingly, by the Finnish
Socialist Workers’ Republic on the territory of the Russian
Federal Republic, will be settled by special arrangements; among
these, by exception from the general application of Article 1,
applicable to existing international understandings and
agreements, three cables (Nos. 13, 60 and 42) running through
the territory of the Finnish Socialist Workers’ Republic and
connecting Petrograd with Stockholm, Newcastle, and
Frideritsiya, and one direct cable connecting uninterruptedly
Petrograd–Vartniemi–Alexandrovsk (Murmanski), running through
Viborg, Kuopio, Kemi, and Royaniemi, will remain the property of
the Russian Federative Soviet Republic for fifty years with the
right of extraterritoriality; and also the Russian Federative
Soviet Republic maintains all the rights obtained by the
agreement with the Danish company in three direct cables from
Nystad to Sweden via the Åland Islands.
Article 12
Both contracting parties will immediately appoint a subcommission
of the Russian-Finnish Conciliation Commission for the drafting
of a commercial treaty between the two republics.
Article 13
Russian citizens of Finnish descent in Russia, as likewise
Finnish citizens of Russian descent in Finland, shall be
accorded the same rights as other citizens of these respective
countries.
Finnish, citizens in Russia, as likewise Russian citizens in
Finland, shall enjoy in the same measure as the citizens of
these respective countries, all private rights, civil liberties,
and general rights.
The Russian Federative Soviet Republic allows to Finnish citizens
in Russia all the political rights, of Russian citizens
belonging to the working class or to peasants who do not exploit
the labor of others, if they reside on Russian territory for the
purpose of laboring occupations.
For its part the Finnish Socialist Workers’ Republic pledges
itself to allow-to citizens of the Russian Federative Soviet
Republic in Finland the easiest possible conditions for the
enjoyment of all political rights, especially taking into
consideration the interests of the laboring population not
always having a constant residence.
Article 14
The Finnish Socialist Workers’ Republic pledges itself not to
hinder and promises to cooperate in the continuation and the
most rapid completion of the evacuation, already begun, from the
territory of the Finnish Socialist Republic of all the land and
naval forces and the establishments of military and naval
departments of the Russian Federative Soviet Republic.
[Page 776]
Article 15
The Russian Federative Soviet Republic cedes in full ownership to
the Finnish Socialist Workers’ Republic the territory delimited
below, provided the consent of the local population is obtained
by free consultation.
Henceforth the Russian-Finnish state frontier will be the line
which runs from Korve Tunturi (on the present Russian-Finnish
frontier) by a straight line to the sources of the River
Pechenga (Petsamo), from there by the eastern watershed of the
River Pechenga (Petsamo) it curves round the Motovski Gulf
(Muotko Fjord) and Rybachi Peninsula and by a straight line it
comes out on the coast of the Arctic Ocean near Zubov
(Supuski).
The commission provided for in Article 17 is charged to draw up
special provisions guaranteeing:
- (1)
- The rights of the Russian population engaged in the
fishing and other industries on the alienated
territory;
- (2)
- The rights of the Russian Federative Soviet Republic
to an unhindered commercial transit to and from Norway;
and
- (3)
- The rights resulting from treaties concluded and in
effect between Russia and Norway.
The payments resulting from the cession of the above-mentioned
territory shall be effected according to the principles set
forth in Article 7 of the present treaty.
Article 16
The contracting parties shall establish a subcommission of the
Russian-Finnish Conciliation Commission, for the purpose of
defining exactly the changes in the Russian-Finnish frontier.
Nevertheless the Finnish Socialist Workers’ Republic immediately
cedes in full ownership to the Russian Federal Republic the
territory of Fort Ino, situated on the coast of the Gulf of
Finland, and guarantees the necessary transit to this fort.
Article 17
In the development of the articles of this fundamental treaty,
drafts of detailed agreements will be worked out by the
Conciliation Commission, established by the governments of both
contracting parties, which drafts will be subject to
ratification by the governments of the Russian Federative Soviet
Republic and the Finnish Socialist Workers’ Republic.
Article 18
Disagreements arising during the preparation of the
above-mentioned detailed agreements and during the discussion of
the present treaty and of the detailed arrangements included in
its development, as likewise any cases of infraction of the
provisions of the treaty and the agreements, shall be submitted
to the judgment of an arbitration court, the president of which
is appointed by the administration of the Swedish Left Social
Democratic Party, unless later determined otherwise.
Article 19
The present treaty goes into legal effect from the moment of its
signature by the plenipotentiaries of the governments of both
socialist republics.
Article 20
The plenipotentiaries of the governments of the Russian
Federative Soviet Republic and of the Finnish Socialist Workers’
Republic have signed and affixed their seals to two copies of
the treaty in the Russian and Finnish languages.
Signed in
Petrograd
March
1/February 16, 1918.
