File No. 763.72119/9125
The Special Representative ( House ) to the Secretary of State
[Received November 12, 1.30 a.m.]
96. Armistice terms as finally signed are substantially the same as cabled you1 with exception of changes in following articles which now read as follows:
Article 3. Repatriation beginning at once, to be completed within 15 days, of all the inhabitants of the countries above enumerated (including hostages, persons under trial or convicted).
[Page 495]Article 4. Surrender in good condition by the German armies of the following war material:
- 5,000 guns (2,500 heavy and 2,500 field)
- 25,000 machine guns
- 3,000 minenwerfer
- 1,700 aeroplanes (fighters, bombers—firstly, all of the D–7’s—and all the night bombing machines)
The above to be delivered in situ to the Allied and United States troops in accordance with the detailed conditions laid down in the note (annexure No. 1) drawn up at the moment of the signing of the armistice.
Article 5. Evacuation by the German armies of the countries on the left bank of the Rhine. The countries on the left bank of the Rhine shall be administered by the local troops of occupation. The occupation of these territories will be carried out by Allied and United States garrisons holding the principal crossings of the Rhine (Mayence, Coblenz, Cologne) together with the bridgeheads at these points of a 30-kilometer radius on the right bank and by garrisons similarly holding the strategic points of the regions.
A neutral zone shall be reserved on the right bank of the Rhine between the stream and a line drawn parallel to the bridgeheads and to the stream at a distance of ten kilometers, from the frontier of Holland up to the frontier of Switzerland.
The evacuation by the enemy of the Rhinelands (left and right bank) shall be so ordered as to be completed within a further period of 16 days, in all 31 days after the signing of the armistice. All the movements of evacuation or occupation are regulated by the note (annexure No. 1) drawn up at the moment of the signing of the armistice.
Article 6. In all the territories evacuated by the enemy there shall be no evacuation of inhabitants; no damage or harm shall be done to the persons or property of the inhabitants. No person shall be prosecuted for offenses of participation in war measures prior to the signing of the armistice. No destruction of any kind shall be committed. Military establishments of all kinds shall be delivered intact as well as military stores of food, munitions, and equipment not removed during the period fixed for evacuation. Stores of food of all kinds for the civil population, cattle, etc., shall be left in situ. Industrial establishments shall not be impaired in any way and their personnel shall not be removed.
Article 7. 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 Associated Powers within the period fixed in annexure No. 2 and total of which shall not exceed 31 days. There shall likewise be delivered 5,000 motor lorries (camions automobiles) in good order within the period of 36 days. The railways of Alsace-Lorraine shall be handed over within the [Page 496] period of 31 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 way, signals and repair shops shall be left in situ. These stores shall be maintained by Germany insofar 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.
Article 8. The German Command shall be responsible for revealing within the period of 48 hours after the signing of the armistice all mines or delayed action fuses on territory evacuated by the German troops and shall assist 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, etc.). All under penalty of reprisals.
Article 9. 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.
Article 10. 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.
Article 12. All German troops at present in the territories which before the war belonged to Austria-Hungary, Roumania, Turkey, shall withdraw immediately within the frontiers of Germany as they existed on August 1, 1914. 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.
Article 15. Renunciation of the treaties of Bucharest and Brest-Litovsk and of the supplementary treaties.
Article 16. 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.
Article 17. Evacuation by all German forces operating in East Africa within a period to be fixed by the Allies.
Article 18. 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 Associated Powers other than those enumerated in article 3.
[Page 497]Article 22. Surrender to the Allies and the 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 designed 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 14 days after the signing of the armistice.
Article 23. 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:
- 6 battle cruisers
- 10 battleships
- 8 light cruisers (including 2 mine layers)
- 50 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 classed under the supervision of the Allies and the United States. The military armament of all ships of the auxiliary fleet shall be put on shore. 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.
Article 26. The existing blockade conditions set up by the Allied and Associated 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.
Article 28. 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.
Article 34. The duration of the armistice is to be 30 days with option to extend. During this period if its clauses are not carried into execution the armistice may be denounced by one of the contracting parties which must give warning 48 hours in advance. It is understood that the execution of articles 3 and 18 shall not warrant the denunciation of the armistice on the ground of insufficient execution within a period fixed, except in the case of bad faith in carrying them into execution. In order to assure the execution of this convention under the best conditions the principle of a permanent [Page 498] international armistice commission is admitted. This commission will act under the authority of the Allied military and naval commanders in chief.
This armistice has been signed the 11th of November, 1918, at 5 o’clock French time.
- F. Foch
- E. E. Wemyss
- Erzberger
- A. Oberndorff
- Winterfeldt
- Vanselow
The above changes were just received.