Paris Peace Conf. 180.03401/128
IC–177C
Notes of a Meeting Held at President Wilson’s Residence in the Place
des Etats-Unis, Paris, on Tuesday, April 29, 1919, at 4 p.m.
Paris, April 29, 1919, 4 p.m.
- Present
- United States of America
- British Empire
- The Rt. Hon. D. Lloyd George, M. P., Prime
Minister and First Lord of the Treasury.
- France
| Sir Maurice Hankey, K. C. B., |
Secretary. |
| Professor P. J. Mantoux |
Interpreter. |
1. M. M. G. Cahen was present for this discussion.
Prisoners of War The Supreme Council had before
them a Note by Sir Maurice Prisoners of Hankey setting forth the
questions referred by the War Council of Foreign Ministers.1 (Appendix
I.)
2. Article 1
M. Cahen said that what the French members of
the Commission had had in mind was that, in case the Germans were asked,
as part of the Clauses on Reparation, to supply labour for the purpose
of restoring the devastated regions, a combined system of railway trains
should be worked out. The same trains that brought the workmen might
return with prisoners. The French representatives had felt it necessary
to postpone the decision, in order that the two questions might be
considered together.
M. Clemenceau said that the prisoners of war
ought to be returned immediately after the conclusion of Peace. Why
should we mix up the question of trains with the question of
prisoners?
M. Cahen said that the only reason was that the
two questions were intimately connected.
M. Clemenceau said that to keep the prisoners
would amount to slavery. The question of the supply of labour was
another question that might be arranged at Versailles.
M. Cahen asked if it was not proposed to
enforce the supply of labour on the Germans.
M. Clemenceau replied that it was not. It would
be arranged.
President Wilson said he entirely agreed with
M. Clemenceau.
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Forced labour
would be unprecedented, unless one went back thousands of years.
Mr. Lloyd George also agreed with M.
Clemenceau.
(It was agreed:—
That the new Article referred to in Article 1 on the subject of Prisoners
of War, should provide for the repatriation of Prisoners of War as soon
as possible after the signature of the Treaty of Peace, and should be
carried out with the utmost rapidity.)
3. Article 6
President Wilson said that the proposal in
Article 6 was practically to take hostages for the surrender of persons
believed to have been guilty of breaches of the laws of war. It would be
necessary to go back some hundreds of years to find a precedent for this
also.
Mr. Lloyd George said it was not as though we
were dealing with the former German Government. He doubted whether it
would be any use to take hostages in dealing with the present
Government.
President Wilson asked what it was proposed to
do with the hostages. In the end you would have to return them, and they
would constitute no effective threat.
M. Clemenceau said that all these should be
kept against whom there was a presumption of personal guilt.
President Wilson said that this was provided
for. (Article 5.)
M. Cahen said that this had been a British
proposal. The argument in favour of it was that we had evidence of
crimes against the laws of war by persons in Germany. If our sanctions
proved insufficient, there would be great popular discontent. We had
many officer prisoners of the military caste, which was collectively
guilty. We proposed that some of these officers should be kept if the
accused persons were not delivered to justice. Mr. Lansing said that
there must be no hostages. This was not in our minds. It was merely
proposed to give Germany an inducement to hand over the accused persons.
If this proposal was rejected offenders against discipline who otherwise
would be released as an act of grace, might be kept.
Mr. Lloyd George said that he did not agree in
this.
M. Clemenceau and President Wilson were of the same view.
(It was agreed:—
That Article 6 should be entirely suppressed.
Sir Maurice Hankey was instructed to communicate this decision to the
Secretary-General for the information of the Drafting Committee.)
4. The Recognition of the Jugo-Slavs
M. Clemenceau said that the question of the
recognition of the Jugo-Slavs had been cleared up. It had been
ascertained that the mere acknowledgment of their credentials was
equivalent to recognition, and would give occasion to no special
declaration by the Allied and Associated Governments.
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5. Luxemburg The attached Articles, prepared by
Dr. Mezes, Sir Eyre Crowe, Baron de Gaiffier and M. Tardieu, in regard
to Luxemburg, were approved, subject to the agreement of Belgium.
(Appendix II.)
(Note. M. Hymans, who was present few minutes
later at the meeting on reparation, was shown the Articles by Sir
Maurice Hankey, and expressed his concurrence.)
Sir Maurice Hankey was instructed to forward the Articles to the
Secretary-General, for communication to the Drafting Committee of the
Preliminary Peace Conference.
6. Helgoland
Sir Maurice Hankey, at the conclusion of the
meeting, consulted President Wilson as to his recollection of the
decision taken in regard to Heligoland on April 15th, (I C.–171.
A.),1a when no Secretary had been present. The Drafting
Committee, he pointed out, had received conflicting accounts.
President Wilson supported Mr. Balfour’s
recollection of the decision, namely that the naval harbour, as well as
the fortifications, was to be destroyed, and that the island was not to
be re-fortified.
Sir Maurice Hankey undertook to report this to the Drafting
Committee.
(The meeting then adjourned upstairs to the meeting with the Belgian
representatives on Reparation.)
Villa Majestic, Paris, April 29, 1919.
Appendix I to IC–177C
Prisoners of War
Note for the Council of Four (Prepared by Sir Maurice
Hankey)
The attached articles prepared by the Special Committee appointed by
the Council of Four on the subject of Prisoners of War were agreed
to on Saturday, April 25th [26th], by the
Council of Foreign Ministers, with the exception of Article 1 and
Article 6, which were reserved for decision by the Council of
Four.
1. In regard to Article 1, the outstanding point is the nature of the
Article referred to in the third line. This Article has not yet been
drafted. The American, British and Japanese delegations were of
opinion that the Article should provide for the repatriation of
Prisoners of War as soon as possible after the signature of the
Peace Treaty and be carried out with the utmost rapidity. The French
Delegation could not agree to draft on these lines, for fear of
forestalling a possible decision on the question of demanding from
Germany a supply of labour for the purpose of restoring the
devastated regions.
[Page 340]
What is required, therefore, is a decision from the Council of Four
as to the basis on which the new article is to be drafted.
2. The other Article, namely, No. 6, was reserved on the question of
whether the Allied and Associated Governments ought to reserve to
themselves the right to Retain in custody such Prisoners of War of
the rank of officer as they may select, to ensure the surrender of
persons alleged to be guilty of offences against the laws and
customs of war or the laws of humanity.
M. P. A. Hankey
Villa Majestic,
Paris
, 27
April, 1919.
[Annex]
It was agreed to adopt the following Articles, with the proviso that
Article 1, relating to the repatriation of German prisoners, and
Article 6, relating to the detention of hostages, should be referred
to the Council of Four for decision:—
(1) The repatriation of German prisoners of war and interned
civilians shall, in the conditions fixed by Article — of the present
Treaty, be carried out by a Commission composed of representatives
of the Allied and Associated Governments on the one part and of the
German Government on the other part.
On the part of each of the Allied and Associated Powers a
Sub-Commission, composed exclusively of representatives of the
respective Power and of delegates of the German Government, shall
regulate details of execution for the return of prisoners.
(2) From the time of their delivery into the hands of the German
Authorities, the prisoners of war and interned civilians are to be
returned without delay to their house by the said Authorities.
Those amongst them whose pre-war domicile was in territory occupied
by the troops of the Allied and Associated Powers are likewise to be
sent to their homes, subject to the consent and control of the
Military authorities of the Armies of Occupation of the Allied and
Associated Governments.
(3) The whole cost of repatriation from the outset shall be borne by
the German Government who shall also provide such land or sea
transport, including working personnel, as may be considered
necessary by the Commission referred to in paragraph (1).
(4) Prisoners of war and interned civilians awaiting disposal or
undergoing sentence for offences against discipline shall be
repatriated without regard to the completion of their sentence or of
the proceedings pending against them.
The foregoing paragraph shall not apply to prisoners of war and
interned civilians punished for offences committed subsequent to May
1st, 1919.
[Page 341]
During the period pending their repatriation all prisoners of war and
interned civilians shall remain subject to the existing regulations,
more especially as regards work and discipline.
(5) Prisoners of war and interned civilians who are awaiting disposal
or undergoing sentence for offences other than those against
discipline may be detained.
(6) Until the German Government has taken all the measures required
by Clause . . . . of the present Treaty (providing for the surrender
of prisoners alleged to be guilty of offences against the laws and
customs of war or the laws of humanity), the Allied and Associated
Governments reserve to themselves the right to detain in custody
such prisoners of war of the rank of officer as they may in their
discretion select.
(7) a. The German Government undertakes to
receive on its territory all individuals liable to repatriation
without discrimination.
b. Prisoners of war, or other German
nationals, who do not desire to be repatriated, may be excluded from
repatriation, but the Allied and Associated Governments reserve to
themselves the right either to repatriate them, or to send them to a
neutral country, or to allow them to reside in their
territories.
The German Government undertakes to take no special proceedings
against such individuals or their families, and to exercise no
repressive or vexatious measures of any kind whatsoever on this
account.
(8) The Allied and Associated Governments reserve the right to make
the repatriation of German subjects or adherents in their hands
conditional on the immediate notification and release by the German
Government of any prisoners of war, subjects or adherents of the
Allied and Associated Governments, who may still be in Germany.
(9) The German Government undertakes:
- (i)
- to give every facility to Commissions of Enquiry into the
cases of the missing: to furnish them with all necessary
means of transport: to allow them access to all such places
as camps, prisons, hospitals, etc., and to place at their
disposal all documents, whether public or private, which
would facilitate their enquiries.
- (ii)
- to impose penalties upon any German officials or private
persons who shall have concealed the presence of any Allied
… or Associated subjects or adherents, or neglected to
reveal the presence of any such after it had come to their
knowledge.
(10) The German Government undertakes to restore without delay, from
the time that the present Treaty comes into force all articles,
cash, securities and documents which have belonged to Allied or
Associated subjects and adherents and which have been taken
possession of by the German authorities.
[Page 342]
(11) The graves of prisoners and interned civilians, subjects or
adherents of the respective belligerents, who have died in captivity
shall be properly maintained as provided for by Clause . . . . of
the present Treaty.
The Allied and Associated Governments on the one hand and the German
Government on the other hand, mutually undertake furthermore:
- (i)
- to furnish a complete list of the dead, together with all
information useful for identification.
- (ii)
- to furnish all information as to the number and location
of graves of all those who have been buried without
identification.
Appendix II to IC–177C
[Letter From M. Tardieu to M.
Clemenceau]
Paris, April 29, 1919.
Mr. President: I have the honor to transmit
to you the text concerning the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, which the
meeting held this morning by Messrs. Mezes (United States), Sir Eyre
Crowe (British Empire), Baron de Gaiffier (Belgium) and myself
unanimously decided to recommend for the decision of the Chiefs of
Governments.
Accept [etc.]
With regard to the Grand Duchy of Luxemburg, Germany renounces the
benefit of all the provisions inserted in her favour in the Treaties
of February 8, 1842,4 April 2,
1847,5 October
20–25, 1865,6 August 18, 1866,7 February 21
and May 11, 1867,8 May 10, 1871,9 June 11,
1872,10 and November 11, 1902,11 and in all
Conventions consequent upon such Treaties.
Germany recognizes that the Grand Duchy of Luxemburg ceased to form
part of the German Zollverein as from January 1, 1919, renounces
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all rights to the
exploitation of the railways, adheres to the termination of the
régime of neutrality of the Grand Duchy, and accepts in advance all
international arrangements which may be concluded by the Allied and
Associated Powers relating to the Grand Duchy.
