Paris Peace Conf. 180.03401/24½
2. The Share of the New States
President Wilson Called attention to the
proposal, in the draft Reparation clauses for insertion into the Treaty
with Austria, that the new states arising out of the former
Austro-Hungarian Empire should bear a share in the Reparation debt. He
considered that this would place an overwhelming burden on these States.
He said that he was advised that if these countries took over the
pre-war debt attaching to their territory and a Reparation liability
also this would constitute a “per capita [”] liability exceeding that of
France and Great Britain.
3. The Question of a Separate Reparation
commission
President Wilson said that he understood that
this question had been thoroughly discussed before settlement. He
thought that the main directing Commission should be the same in both
cases though they would, of course, have experts to assist them on
special places and questions.
4. Belligerency an Essential to Reparation
Claims
M. Crespi called attention to the last
paragraph of Article II of the proposed Reparation Clauses and the note
attached thereto, as follows:—
He pointed out that some States though not actually at war with Germany
had suffered damage at German hands: similarly with Austria. He thought
that in such cases a claim for damage should be established.
5. Shipping
M. Klotz then called attention to Annex III of
the proposed Reparation Clauses for Austria, dealing with merchant
shipping. He pointed out that as Austria becomes a land-locked country
it was proposed that she should surrender her entire merchant fleet. He
called attention to the Italian objection to this proposal and to the
recommendation made by the French and American representatives on the
Reparation Commission that an arrangement should be made to leave a
larger percentage of shipping in the Adriatic than would normally be the
case under the pool.
It was agreed that the text of the Annex should stand and that a special
arrangement for the Adriatic should be considered by representatives of
France, Italy, Greece and Great Britain.
This clause was adopted.
This was agreed.
The meeting terminated at 6.45 p.m.
[Appendix I to CF–24/1]
Treaty With Austria—Draft Reparation
Clauses
Woodrow Wilson Papers
Section I.—General Provisions
Article I
The Allied and Associated Governments affirm and Austria accepts the
responsibility of Austria and her Allies for causing all the loss
and damage to which the Allied and Associated Governments and their
nationals have been subjected as a consequence of the war imposed
upon them by the aggression of Austria and her Allies.
Article II
The Allied and Associated Governments recognise that the resources of
Austria are not adequate, after taking into account the permanent
diminutions of such resources as will result from other provisions
of the present Treaty, to make complete reparation for all such loss
and damage.
The Allied and Associated Governments further require and Austria
undertakes that she will make compensation for all damage done to
the civilian population of the Allied and Associated Powers and to
their property by the said aggression by land, by sea and from the
air, and in general all damage as defined in Annex I hereto.
Damage done to persons or the property of persons who, at the moment
when the damage took place, did not belong to the population of a
State which, at the period in question, was recognised by
[Page 837]
the majority at least of
the principal Allied and Associated Powers is not included
herein.*
Article III
The amount of such damage for which compensation is to be made by
Austria shall be determined by an Inter-Allied Commission to be
called “The Reparation Commission” and constituted in the form and
with the powers set forth hereunder in Annexes II–V inclusive
hereto. The said Commission is the same as that provided for by
Article 233 of the Treaty with Germany.
The Commission of Reparation shall consider the claims and give to
the Austrian Government a just opportunity to be heard. The
Reparation Commission shall determine the total amount of damage
under Annex I hereto, and after taking into consideration the past
and present situation of the former Austro-Hungarian Empire and such
other facts as the Commission may think relevant, the Commission
will allocate against the territory of the former Austro-Hungarian
Empire, including portions thereof which may form part either of new
States or of Allied and Associated States, so much of the total
amount of damage as the Commission may determine. After having made
this determination, the Commission shall divide the total amount
allocated to the territory of the former Austro-Hungarian Empire
among the different States to which such territory will belong in
pursuance of the present Treaty. In making such allocation the
Commission shall take into consideration the resources of the
respective portions of the territory referred to above and, in
particular, such resources as are affected by damage suffered, as
well as by the diminutions resulting from other clauses of the
[Page 838]
present Treaty. The
Commission may also take into consideration such other facts as it
may deem relevant. The interested Powers shall be notified not later
than the 1st May, 1921, of the compensation which may be required
under the categories of damage set out in Annex I conformably to the
procedure indicated above. The Commission shall notify Austria of
the amount arrived at as the total of the claims and the allocation
thereof fixed as above provided, at the same date as notification is
made to the other States, but the portion of liability assigned to
Austria will not be finally fixed but shall remain provisional until
the Commission shall unanimously be of the opinion that Germany has
the resources and the intent to pay the total amount of claims
presented against Germany and her allies and approved by the
Commission after deducting from such total amount the portion
allocated to territory of the former Austro-Hungarian Empire.
The Commission shall concurrently fix a schedule of payments
prescribing the time and manner for the discharge by Austria of her
entire obligations, as they shall have been provisionally determined
in accordance with the preceding paragraph, within a period of
thirty years from the 1st of May, 1921. If, however, within the
period mentioned, Austria fails to discharge her obligations, any
balance remaining unpaid may, within the discretion of the
Commission, be postponed for settlement in subsequent years or may
be handled otherwise in such manner as the Allied and Associated
Governments, acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in
this part of the present Treaty, shall determine.
Article IV
The Reparation Commission shall, after the 1st of May, 1921, from
time to time consider the resources and capacity of Austria, and
after giving her representatives a just opportunity to be heard,
shall have discretion to extend the date and to modify the form of
payments such as are to be provided for in accordance with Article
III, but not to cancel any part except with the specific authority
of the several Governments represented on the Commission.
Article V
In order to enable the Allied and Associated Governments to proceed
at once to the restoration of their industrial and economic life
pending the full determination of their claims, Austria shall pay in
the course of the years 1919, 1920 and the first four months of
1921, in such instalments and in such manner (whether in gold,
[Page 839]
commodities, ships,
securities or otherwise) as the Reparation Commission may lay down,
a reasonable sum which shall be determined by the Commission.
Out of this sum the expenses of the armies of occupation subsequent
to the Armistice of the 3rd November, 1918, shall first be met, and
such supplies of food and raw materials as may be judged by the
Governments of the principal Allied and Associated Powers essential
to enable Austria to meet her obligations for reparation may also,
with the approval of the said Governments, be paid for out of the
above sum. The balance shall be reckoned towards the liquidation of
the amount due for reparation.
Austria shall further deposit bonds as prescribed in paragraph 12
(c.) of Annex II hereto.
Article VI
Austria further agrees to the direct application of her economic
resources to reparation as specified in Annexes III, IV and V
relating respectively to merchant shipping, to physical restoration
and to raw material: provided always that the value of the property
transferred and any services rendered by her under these Annexes,
assessed in the manner therein prescribed, shall be credited to her
towards the liquidation of her obligations under the above
Articles.
Article VII
The successive instalments including the above sum paid over by
Austria in satisfaction of the above claims will be divided by the
Allied and Associated Governments in proportions which have been
determined upon by them in advance on a basis of general equity and
the rights of each.
For the purposes of this division the value of the credits referred
to in Article XIII and in Annexes III, IV and V shall be reckoned in
the same manner as cash payments made in the same year.
Article VIII
In addition to the payments mentioned above, Austria shall effect, in
accordance with the procedure laid down by the Reparation
Commission, restitution in cash of cash taken away, seized or
sequestrated, and also restitution of animals, objects of every
nature and securities taken away, seized or sequestrated in the
cases in which it proves possible to identify them on territory
belonging to, or during the execution of the present Treaty in the
possession of, Austria or her allies.
[Page 840]
Article IX
The Austrian Government undertakes to make forthwith the restitution
contemplated in Article VIII above and to make the payments and
deliveries contemplated in Articles III, IV, V and VI above.
Article X
The Austrian Government recognises the Commission provided for by
Article III as the same may be constituted by the Allied and
Associated Governments in accordance with Annex II, and agrees
irrevocably to the possession and exercise by such Commission of the
power and authority given to it under the present Treaty.
The Austrian Government will supply to the Commission all the
information which the Commission may require relative to the
financial situation and operations and to the property, productive
capacity and stocks, and current production of raw materials and
manufactured articles of Austria and her nationals, and further any
information relative to military operations which, in the judgment
of the Commission, may be necessary.
The Austrian Government shall accord to the members of the Commission
and its authorised agents the same rights and immunities as are
enjoyed in Austria by duly accredited diplomatic agents of friendly
Powers. Austria further agrees to provide for the salaries and the
expenses of the Commission and of such staff as it may employ.
Article XI
Austria undertakes to pass, issue and maintain in force any
legislation, orders and decrees that may be necessary to give
complete effect to these provisions.
Article XII
The provisions in this part of the present Treaty shall not affect in
any respect the provisions of Sections III and IV of Part X
(Economic Clauses) of the present Treaty.
Article XIII†
The following shall be reckoned as credits to Austria in respect of
her reparation obligations:—
- (a.)
- Any final balance in favour of Austria under Sections III
and IV of Part X (Economic Clauses) of the present
Treaty.
- (b.)
- Amounts due to Austria in respects of transfers provided
for . . . .
- (c.)
- All amounts which, in the judgment of the Reparation
Commission, should be credited to Austria on account of any
other transfers under the present Treaty, of property,
rights, concessions or other interests. In no case, however,
shall credit be given for property restored in accordance
with Article VIII.
Article XIV
The Powers other than Austria, referred to in the fourth paragraph of
Article III in the present part of this Treaty, and to which a
portion of the reparation charges shall have been allocated in
conformity with the said Article, shall be debited with the amount
of this portion.
This portion shall form the subject of a schedule of payments
established under the conditions indicated in the last paragraph of
Article III, and each of the sums charged to each of the Powers
interested in carrying out this system of payments may, subject to
the consent of the Reparation Commission, be compensated for up to
the amount in question when it falls due, by such sums which the
said Power may be entitled to receive as reparation, at the same
time or subsequently, both in virtue of the present Treaty and of
Treaties concluded with Powers allied to Austria. The surplus, if
there be any, shall be paid to the Commission under conditions to be
determined by it. If the compensation is not carried out, the
payments shall be made in entirety to the Reparation Commission.
The Commission shall always have the power to postpone or to remit in
part or in whole the payments referred to above. Decisions relating
to a final remission of payment must be unanimous.
Article XV
The transfer of the Austrian submarine cables which do not form the
subject of particular provisions of the present Treaty is regulated
by Annex VI hereto.
annex i
Compensation may be claimed from Austria in accordance with Article
II above in respect of the total damage under the following
categories:—
- 1.
- Damage to injured persons and to surviving dependants by
personal injury to or death of civilians caused by acts of
war, including bombardment or other attacks on land, on sea
or from the air, and of the direct consequences thereof and
of all operations of war by the two groups of belligerents
wherever arising;
- 2.
- Damage caused by Austria or her allies to civilian victims
of acts of cruelty, violence or maltreatment (including
injuries to life or health as a consequence of imprisonment,
deportation, internment or evacuation, of exposure at sea,
or of being forced to labour by Austria or by her allies)
wherever arising and to the surviving dependants of such
victims;
- 3.
- Damage caused by Austria or her allies in their own
territory or in occupied or invaded territory to civilian
victims of all acts injurious to health or capacity to work
or to honour as well as to the surviving dependants of such
victims;
- 4.
- Damage caused by any kind of maltreatment of prisoners of
war;
- 5.
- Damage caused to the peoples of the Allied and Associated
Powers by pensions or compensations in the way of pensions
to Naval and Military victims of war, including members of
the Air Force, whether mutilated, wounded, sick or
invalided, and to the dependants of such victims, the amount
due to the Allied and Associated Governments being
calculated for each individual as being capitalised cost of
such pensions and compensations at the date of the coming
into force of the present Treaty on the basis of the scales
in force in France on the 1st May, 1919.
- 6.
- The cost of assistance by the Governments of the Allied
and Associated Powers to prisoners of war, to their families
and dependants.
- 7.
- Allowances by the Governments of the Allied and Associated
Powers to the families and dependants of mobilised persons
or persons serving with the forces, the amount due to them
for each calendar year in which hostilities occurred being
calculated for each Government on the basis of the average
scale for such payments in force in France during that
year.
- 8.
- Damage caused to civilians by being forced by Austria or
her allies to labour without just remuneration.
- 9.
- Damage in respect of all property, wherever situated,
belonging to any of the Allied or Associated States or their
nationals, with the exception of naval or military works or
materials, which has been carried off, seized, injured, or
destroyed by the acts of Austria or her allies on land, on
sea, or from the air, or damage directly in consequence of
hostilities or of any operations of war.
- 10.
- Damage in the form of levies, fines and other similar
exactions imposed by Austria or her allies upon the civilian
population.
annex ii
1. The Commission referred to in Article III shall be called the
“Reparation Commission” and is hereafter referred to as the
“Commission.” Delegates to this Commission shall be nominated by the
[Page 843]
United States of
America, Great Britain, France, Italy, Japan, Belgium and Serbia,
and each of these Powers will appoint one Delegate and also one
assistant Delegate who will take his place in the case of illness or
necessary absence but at other times will only have the right to be
present at proceedings without taking any part therein. On no
occasion shall Delegates of more than five of the above Powers have
the right to take part in the proceedings of the Commission and to
record their votes.
2. The Delegates of the United States of America, Great Britain,
France and Italy shall have this right on all occasions. The
Delegate of Japan shall have this right on occasions when questions
relating to damage by sea and questions arising under Article XIV of
the Financial Clauses, in which Japanese interests are concerned,
are under consideration. The Delegate of Serbia shall have this
right when questions relating to Austria, Hungary or Bulgaria are
under consideration.
3. Such of the Allied and Associated Powers as may be interested
shall have the right to appoint a Delegate to be present and act as
assessor only when their respective claims and interests are under
examination or discussion: this Delegate shall not have the right to
vote. When the Commission, in application of paragraph 7 following,
appoints Committees to consider questions arising under the present
Treaty, a reasonable representation of such Allied and Associated
Powers as may be interested shall, if they so desire it, be provided
for.
4. In the case of death, resignation or recall of any Delegate,
assistant Delegate or assessor, a successor to him shall be
nominated as soon as possible.
5. The Commission shall have its principal permanent bureau in Paris
and shall hold its first meeting in Paris as soon as practicable
after the coming into force of this present Treaty, and thereafter
will meet in such place or places and at such time as may be deemed
convenient and as may be necessary for the most expeditious
discharge of its duties.
6. At its first meeting the Commission shall elect from among the
Delegates referred to above, a Chairman and a Vice-Chairman, who
shall hold office for a year and shall be eligible for re-election.
If a vacancy in the chairmanship or vice-chairmanship should occur
during the annual period, the Commission shall proceed to a new
election for the remainder of the said period.
7. The Commission is authorised to appoint all necessary officers,
agents and employés who may be required for the execution of its
functions and to fix their remuneration; to constitute committees,
whose members need not necessarily be members of the Commission,
[Page 844]
and to take all executive
steps necessary for the purpose of discharging its duties; and to
delegate authority and discretion to officers, agents and
committees.
8. All the proceedings of the Commission shall be private unless on
particular occasions the Commission shall otherwise determine for
special reasons.
9. The Commission shall be required, if the Austrian Government so
desire, to hear within a period which it will fix from time to time,
evidence and arguments on the part of Austria on any questions
connected with her capacity to pay.
10. The Commission shall consider the claims and give to the Austrian
Government a just opportunity to be heard but not to take any part
whatever in the decisions of the Commission. The Commission shall
afford a similar opportunity to the allies of Austria when it shall
consider that their interests are in question.
11. The Commission shall not be bound by any particular code or rules
of law or by any particular rule of evidence or of procedure, but
shall be guided by justice, equity and good faith. Its decisions
must follow the same principles and rules in all cases where they
are applicable. It will establish rules relating to methods of proof
of claims. It may act on any trustworthy modes of computation.
12. The Commission shall have all the powers conferred upon it and
shall exercise all the functions assigned to it by the present
Treaty. It shall, in general, have wide latitude as to its control
and handling of the whole reparation problem as dealt with in this
part of the present Treaty, and shall have authority to interpret
its provisions. Subject to the provisions of the present Treaty, the
Commission is constituted by the several Allied and Associated
Governments referred to in paragraphs 2 and 3 above as the exclusive
agency of the said Governments respectively for receiving, selling,
holding, and distributing the reparation payments to be made by
Austria and by the States referred to in Article III under this part
of the present Treaty.
The Commission must comply with the following conditions and
provisions:—
- (a.)
- Whatever part of the full amount of the proved claims is
not paid in gold or in ships, securities, commodities or
otherwise, Austria shall be required, under such conditions
as the Commission may determine, to cover by way of
guarantee, by an equivalent issue of bonds, obligations or
otherwise, in order to constitute an acknowledgement of the
said part of the debt.
- (b.)
- In periodically estimating Austria’s capacity to pay the
Commission shall examine the Austrian system of taxation.
First, to the end that the sums for reparation which Austria
is required to pay shall become a charge upon all
[Page 845]
her revenues prior
to that for the service or discharge of any domestic loan
and, secondly, so as to satisfy itself that in general the
Austrian scheme of taxation is fully as heavy
proportionately as that of any of the Powers represented on
the Commission.
- (c.)
- In order to facilitate and continue the immediate
restoration of the economic life of the Allied and
Associated countries the Commission shall, as provided in
Article V, take from Austria by way of security for and
acknowledgment of her debt a first instalment of gold bearer
bonds free of all taxes or charges of every description
established, or to be established, by the Austrian
Government or by any authority subject to them. These bonds
will be delivered on account and in three portions (the
crowns gold being payable in conformity with Article XVII of
the Financial Clauses of the present Treaty), as follows:—
- (1.)
- To be issued forthwith 2 milliards crowns gold
bearer bonds, payable not later than the 1st May,
1921, without interest. There shall be specially
applied towards the amortisation of these bonds the
payments which Austria is pledged to make in
conformity with Article V of the present part of
this Treaty, after deduction of the sums used for
the reimbursement of the expenses of the armies of
occupation and for payments of foodstuffs and raw
materials. Such bonds as may not have been redeemed
by the 1st May, 1921, shall then be exchanged for
new bonds of the same type as those provided for
below (paragraph 12(c), 2).
If the sum fixed for the Reparation Commission in
application of Article V for the payments to be made
in 1919, 1920 and 1921 is less than the figure of 2
milliards mentioned above, the Commission shall
cancel the amount of the bonds issued in excess of
this sum.
- (2.)
- To be issued forthwith 4 milliard crowns gold
bearer bonds bearing interest at 2½ per cent. per
annum between 1921 and 1926, and thereafter at 5 per
cent, per annum with an additional 1 per cent, for
amortisation beginning in 1926 on the whole amount
of the issue.
- (3.)
- To be delivered forthwith a covering undertaking
in writing to issue when, but not until, the
Commission is satisfied that Austria can meet such
interest and sinking fund obligations, a further
instalment of four milliard crowns bearer bonds
bearing interest at five per cent., the time and
mode of payment of principal and interest to be
determined by the Commission.
- The dates for the payment of interest, the manner
of employing the amortisation vote and of other
questions relating to the issue, management and
regulation of the bond issue shall be determined by
the Commission from time to time.
- Further issues by way of acknowledgment and
security may be required as the Commission
subsequently determines from time to time.
- In case the Reparation Commission should proceed
to
[Page 846]
fix
definitely and no longer provisionally the sum of
the common charges to be borne by Austria as a
result of the claims of the Allied and Associated
Powers, the Commission shall immediately annul all
bonds which may have been issued in excess of this
sum.
- (d.)
- In the event of bonds, obligations or other evidence of
indebtedness issued by Austria by way of security for or
acknowledgment of her reparation debt being disposed of
outright, not by way of pledge, to persons other than the
several Governments in whose favour Austria’s original
indebtedness was credited, an amount of such reparation
indebtedness shall be deemed to be extinguished
corresponding to the nominal value of the bonds, &c., so
disposed of outright and the obligation of Austria in
respect of such bonds shall be confined to her liabilities
to the holders of the bonds, as expressed upon their
face.
- (e.)
- The damage for repairing, reconstructing and re-building
property situated in the invaded and devastated districts,
including re-instalment of furniture, machinery and other
equipment, shall be calculated according to the cost at the
date when the work is done.
- (f.)
- Decisions of the Commission relating to the total or
partial cancellation of the capital or interest of any of
the verified debt of Austria must be accompanied by a
statement of its reasons.
13. As to voting the Commission will observe the following
rules:—
When a decision of the Commission is taken, the votes of all the
Delegates entitled to vote, or in the absence of any individual, of
their assistant Delegates, shall be recorded. Abstention from voting
is to be treated as a vote against the proposal under discussion.
Assessors shall have no vote.
On the following questions unanimity is necessary:—
- (a.)
- Questions involving sovereignty of any of the Allied and
Associated Powers or the cancellation of the whole or any
part of the debt or obligations of Austria;
- (b.)
- Questions of determining the amount and conditions of
bonds or other obligations to be issued by the Austrian
Government and of fixing the time and manner for selling,
negotiating or distributing such bonds;
- (c.)
- Any postponement, total or partial, beyond the end of
1930, of the payment of instalments falling due between the
1st May, 1921, and the end of 1926 inclusive.
- (d.)
- Any postponement, total or partial, of any instalments
falling due after 1926 for a period exceeding three
years.
- (e.)
- Questions of applying in any particular case a method of
measuring damages different from that which has been
previously applied in a similar case.
- (f.)
- Questions of the interpretation of the provisions in this
part of the present Treaty.
All other questions shall be decided by the vote of the majority.
[Page 847]
In the case of any difference of opinion among the Delegates, which
cannot be solved by reference to their Governments, upon the
question whether a given case is one which requires unanimous vote
for its decision or not, such difference shall be referred to the
immediate arbitration of some impartial person to be agreed upon by
their Governments whose award the Allied and Associated Governments
agreed to accept.
14. Decisions of the Commission, in accordance with the powers
conferred upon it, shall forthwith become binding and may be put
into immediate execution without further proceedings.
15. The Commission shall issue to each of the interested Powers in
such form as the Commission shall fix:
- (1.)
- A certificate stating that it holds for the account of the
said Power bonds of the issues mentioned above, the said
certificate on the demand of the Power concerned being
divisible intc a number of parts not exceeding five;
- (2.)
- From time to time certificates stating goods delivered by
Austria on account of her reparation debt which it holds for
the account of the said Power.
Such certificates shall be registered and, upon notice to the
Commission, may be transferred by endorsement.
When bonds are issued for sale or negotiation, and when goods are
delivered by the Commission, certificates to an equivalent value
must be withdrawn.
16. Interest shall be debited to Austria as from the 1st May, 1921,
in respect of her debt as determined by the Commission after
allowing for sums already covered by cash payments or their
equivalent by bonds issued to the Commission or under Article XIII.
The rate of interest shall be 5 per cent, unless the Commission
shall determine at some future time that circumstances justify a
variation of this rate.
The Commission, in fixing on the 1st May, 1921 the total amount of
the debt of Austria, may take account of interest due on sums
arising out of reparation and of material damage as from 11th
November, 1918 up to 1st May, 1921.
17. In case of default by Austria in the performance of any
obligation under this part of the present Treaty the Commission will
forthwith give notice of such default to each of the interested
Powers and may make such recommendations as to the action to be
taken in consequence of such default as it may think necessary.
18. The measures which the Allied and Associated Powers shall have
the right to take, in the case of voluntary default by Austria, and
which Austria agrees not to record as acts of war, may include
[Page 848]
economic and financial
prohibitions and in general such other measures as the respective
Governments may determine to be necessary in the circumstances.
19. Payments required to be made in gold or its equivalent on account
of the proved claims of the Allied and Associated Powers may at any
time be accepted by the Commission in the form of chattels,
properties, commodities, businesses, rights, concessions within or
without Austrian territory, ships, bonds, shares or securities of
any kind or currencies of Austria or other States, the value of such
substitutes for gold being fixed at a fair and just amount by the
Commission itself.
20. The Commission in fixing or accepting payment in specified
properties or rights shall have due regard for any legal or
equitable interests of the Allied and Associated Powers or of
neutral Powers or of their nationals therein.
21. No member of the Commission shall be responsible, except to the
Government appointing him, for any action or omission as such
member. No one of the Allied and Associated Governments assumes any
responsibility in respect of any other Government.
22. Subject to the provisions of the present Treaty this Annex may be
amended by the unanimous decision of the Governments represented
from time to time upon the Commission.
23. When all the amounts due from Austria and her Allies under the
present Treaty or the decisions of the Commission have been
discharged, and sums received, or their equivalents, have been
distributed to the Powers interested, the Commission shall be
dissolved.
annex iii
1
Austria recognises the right of the Allied and Associated Powers to
the replacement ton for ton (gross tonnage) and class for class of
all merchant ships and fishing boats lost or damaged owing to the
war.
Nevertheless and in spite of the fact that the tonnage of Austrian
shipping at present in existence is much less than that lost by the
Allied and Associated Powers in consequence of the aggression of
Austria and her Allies, the right thus recognised will be enforced
on the Austrian ships and boats under the following conditions:—
The Austrian Government on behalf of themselves, and so as to bind
all other persons interested, cede to the Allied and Associated
[Page 849]
Governments the property
in all merchant ships and fishing boats belonging to Austrian
nationals.‡
2
The Austrian Government will, within two months of the coming into
force of the present Treaty, deliver to the Reparation Commission
all the ships and boats mentioned in paragraph 1.
3
The ships and boats in paragraph 1 include all ships and boats which
(a) fly or may be entitled to fly the
Austrian merchant flag, or (b) are owned by
any Austrian national, company or corporation or by any company or
corporation belonging to a country other than an Allied or
Associated country and under the control or direction of Austrian
nationals: or (c) which are now under
construction (1) in Austria§ (2) in other
than Allied or Associated countries for the account of any Austrian
national, company or corporation.
4
For the purpose of providing documents of title for the ships and
boats to be handed over as above mentioned, the Austrian Government
will
- (a.)
- Deliver to the Reparation Commission in respect of each
vessel a bill of sale or other document of title evidencing
the transfer to the Commission of the entire property in the
vessel, free from all encumbrances, charges and liens of all
kinds as the Commission may require;
- (b.)
- Take all measures that may be indicated by the Reparation
Commission for ensuring that the ships themselves shall be
placed at its disposal.
5
Austria undertakes to restore in kind and in normal condition of
upkeep to the Allied and Associated Powers within two months of the
coming into force of the present Treaty in accordance with procedure
to be laid down by the Reparation Commission any boats and
[Page 850]
other movable appliances
belonging to inland navigation which, since the 1st August, 1914,
have by any means whatever come into her possession or into the
possession of her nationals and which can be identified.
With a view to make good the loss in inland navigation tonnage from
whatever cause arising which has been incurred during the war by the
Allied and Associated Powers, and which cannot be made good by means
of the restitution prescribed above, Austria agrees to cede to the
Reparation Commission a portion of the Austrian river fleet up to
the amount of the loss mentioned above, provided such cession shall
not exceed 20 per cent, of the river fleet as it existed on the 3rd
November, 1918. The conditions of this cession shall be settled by
the arbitrators referred to in Article (339) of Part (XII)—(Ports,
Waterways and Railways) of the present Treaty, who are charged with
the settlement of difficulties relating to the apportionment of
river tonnage resulting from the new international regime applicable
to certain river systems or from the territorial changes affecting
those systems.
6
Austria agrees to take any measures that may be indicated to her by
the Reparation Commission for obtaining a full title to the property
in all ships which have, during the war, been transferred or are in
process of transfer to neutral flags without the consent of the
Allied and Associated Governments.
7
Austria waives all claims of any description against the Allied and
Associated Governments and their nationals in respect of the
detention, employment, loss or damage of any Austrian ships or
boats.
8
Austria renounces all claims to vessels or cargoes sunk by or in
consequence of naval action and subsequently salved in which any of
the Allied or Associated Governments or their nationals may have any
interest either as owners, charterers, insurers, or otherwise,
notwithstanding any decree of condemnation which may have been made
at a Prize Court of Austria or of her nationals.
annex iv
1
The Allied and Associated Powers require and Austria undertakes that
in part satisfaction of her obligations expressed in this part of
[Page 851]
the present Treaty,
she will, as hereinafter provided, devote her economic resources
directly to the physical restoration of the invaded areas of the
Allied and Associated Powers to the extent that these Powers may
determine.
2
The Allied and Associated Governments may file with the Reparation
Commission lists showing:—
- (a.)
- Animals, machinery, equipment, tools and like articles of
a commercial character which have been seized, consumed or
destroyed by Austria, or destroyed in direct consequence of
military operations, and which such Governments, for the
purpose of meeting immediate and urgent needs, desire to
have replaced by animals and articles of the same nature
which are in being in Austrian territory at the date of the
coming into force of the present Treaty.
- (b.)
- Reconstruction materials (stones, bricks, refractory
bricks, tiles, wood, window glass, steel, lime, cement,
&c., machinery, heating apparatus, furniture and like
articles of a commercial character, which the said
Governments desire to have produced and manufactured in
Austria and delivered to them to permit of the restoration
of the invaded areas.
3
The lists relating to the articles mentioned in 2 (a) above shall be filed within sixty days after the date
of the coming into force of the present Treaty. The lists relating
to the articles in 2 (b) shall be filed on or
before the 31st December, 1919. The lists shall contain all such
details as are customary in commercial contracts dealing with the
subject-matter, including specifications, dates of delivery (but not
extending over more than four years) and places of delivery but not
prices or value, which shall be fixed as hereinafter provided by the
Commission.
4
Immediately upon the filing of such lists with the Commission, the
Commission shall consider the amount and number of the materials and
animals mentioned in the lists provided for above which are to be
required of Austria. In reaching a decision on this matter the
Commission shall take into account such domestic requirements of
Austria as it deems essential for the maintenance of Austrian social
and economic life, the prices and dates at which similar articles
can be obtained in the Allied and Associated countries as compared
with those to be fixed for Austrian articles, and the general
interest of the Allied and Associated Governments, that the
industrial life be not so disorganised as to affect adversely the
ability of the Austrians to perform the other acts of reparation
stipulated for. Machinery,
[Page 852]
equipment, tools and like articles of a commercial character in
actual industrial use are not, however, to be demanded of Austria
unless there is no free stock of such articles respectively which is
not in use and is available, and then not in excess of 30 per cent,
of the quantity of such articles in use in any one establishment or
undertaking.
The Commission shall give representatives of the Austrian Government
an opportunity and a time to be heard as to their capacity to
furnish the said materials, articles and animals.
The decision of the Commission shall thereupon and at the earliest
possible moment be communicated to the Austrian Government and to
the several interested Allied and Associated Governments. The
Austrian Government undertakes to deliver the materials, articles
and animals as specified in the said communication, and the
interested Allied and Associated Governments severally agree to
accept the same, providing they conform to the specification given
or are not, in the judgment of the Commission, unfit to be utilised
in the work of reparation.
5
The Commission shall determine the value to be attached to the
materials, articles and animals to be delivered in accordance with
the foregoing, and the Allied or Associated Power receiving the same
agrees to be charged with such value, and the amount thereof shall
be treated as a payment by Austria to be divided in accordance with
Article VII of this part of the present Treaty.
In cases where the right to require physical restoration as above
provided is exercised, the Commission shall ensure that the amount
to be credited against the reparation obligation of Austria shall be
fair value for work done or material supplied by Austria, and that
the claim made by the interested Power in respect of the damage so
repaired by physical restoration shall be discharged to the extent
of the proportion which the damage thus repaired bears to the whole
of the damage thus claimed for.
6
As an immediate advance on account of the animals referred to in
paragraph 2 above, Austria undertakes to deliver in equal monthly
instalments in the three months following the coming into force of
the present Treaty the following quantities of live stock:—
- Italy:
- 4,000 milch cows of from 3 to 5 years;
- 1,000 heifers;
- 50 bulls from 18 months to 3 years;
- 1,000 calves;
- 1,000 working bullocks;
- 2,000 sows.
- Serbia:
- 1,000 milch cows of from 3 to 5 years;
- 500 heifers;
- 25 bulls from 18 months to 3 years;
- 1,000 calves;
- 500 working bullocks;
- 1,000 draught horses;
- 1,000 sheep.
- Roumania:
- 1,000 milch cows of from 3 to 5 years;
- 500 heifers;
- 25 bulls from 18 months to 3 years;
- 1,000 calves;
- 500 working bullocks;
- 1,000 draught horses;
- 1,000 sheep.
The animals delivered shall be of average health and condition. If
the animals so delivered cannot be identified as animals taken away
or seized, the value of such animals shall be credited against the
reparation obligations of Austria in accordance with paragraph 5 of
this Annex.
7
As an immediate advance on account of the articles referred to in
paragraph 2 above, Austria undertakes to deliver during the six
months following the coming into force of the present Treaty in
equal monthly instalments such supplies of furniture in hard and
soft wood intended for sale in Austria as the Allied and Associated
Powers shall ask for month by month through the Reparation
Commission and which the Commission shall consider justified on the
one hand by the seizures and destruction carried out in the course
of the war on the territory of the said Powers and on the other hand
proportionate to the supplies at the disposal of Austria. The price
of the articles so supplied shall be carried to the credit of
Austria under the conditions provided for in paragraph 5 of this
Annex.
annex V
1
Austria shall give, as partial reparation, to the Allied and
Associated Governments severally an option during the five years
following the coming into force of the present Treaty for the annual
delivery of the raw materials hereinafter enumerated: the amounts
delivered to bear the same relation to their annual importations of
these materials before the war from Austria-Hungary as the resources
of Austria as now delimited by the present Treaty bear to the
resources before the war to [of] the former
Austro-Hungarian Empire.
[Page 854]
- Timber and timber manufactures;
- Iron and iron alloys;
- Magnesite.
2
The price paid for the products referred to in the preceding
paragraph shall be the same as the price paid by the Austrian
nationals under the same conditions of shipment to the Austrian
frontier and shall be subject to any advantages which may be
accorded similar products furnished to Austrian nationals.
3
The foregoing options shall be exercised through the intervention of
the Reparation Commission, which subject to the specific provisions
hereof shall have power to determine all questions relative to
procedure and qualities and quantities of products and the times and
modes of delivery and payment. In giving notice to the Austrian
Government of the foregoing options, the Commission shall give at
least 120 days’ notice of deliveries to be made after the 1st
January, 1920, and at least 30 days’ notice of deliveries to be made
between the coming into force of the present Treaty and the 1st
January, 1920.
If the Commission shall determine that the full exercise of the
foregoing options would interfere unduly with the industrial
requirements of Austria, the Commission is authorised to postpone or
to cancel deliveries and in so doing to settle all questions of
priority.
annex vi
Austria renounces on her own behalf and on behalf of her nationals in
favour of Italy all rights, titles or privileges of whatever nature
in any submarine cables or portions of cables connecting the
territories which are assigned to the Kingdom of Italy under the
present Treaty.
Austria also renounces on her own behalf and on behalf of her
nationals in favour of the principal Allied and Associated Powers
all rights, titles and privileges of whatever nature in the
submarine cables, or portions thereof, connecting the territories
ceded by Austria under the terms of the present Treaty to the
various Allied and Associated Powers.
The States concerned shall provide for the upkeep of the
installations and the proper working of the said cables. As regards
the cable from Trieste to Corfu, the Italian Government shall enjoy
in its relations with the company owning this cable the same
position as that held by the Austro-Hungarian Government, reserving
at the
[Page 855]
same time the right
to conclude a new agreement with the above-mentioned company. The
value of the cables or portions of cables referred to in the two
first paragraphs of the present Annex, calculated on the basis of
the original cost, less a suitable allowance for depreciation, shall
be credited to Austria in the Reparation Account.
Section II—Special Provisions
Article XVI
In carrying out the provisions of Article VIII Austria undertakes to
surrender to each of the Allied and Associated Powers respectively
all records, documents, objects of antiquity and of art, and all
scientific and bibliographical material taken away from the invaded
territories whether they belong to the State or to provincial,
communal, charitable or ecclesiastical administrations or other
public or private institutions.
Article XVII
Austria shall in the same manner restore objects of the same nature
as those referred to in the preceding article which may have been
taken away since the 1st June, 1914, from the ceded territories,
with the exception of objects bought from private owners. The
Reparation Commission will apply to these objects the provisions of
Article XI of the Financial Clauses, if these are appropriate.
Article XVIII
The Austrian Government will hand over without delay to the Allied
and Associated Governments concerned, archives, registers, plans,
title deeds and documents of every kind concerning the civil,
military, financial, judicial or other forms of administration in
the ceded territories. If any one of these documents, archives,
registers, title deeds or plans is missing it shall be restored by
the Austrian Government upon the demand of the Allied and Associated
Governments concerned.
Austria will give up to each of the Allied States respectively all
the records, documents and historical material possessed by public
institutions which may have a direct bearing on the history of the
ceded territories and which have been removed during the last ten
years. This last-mentioned period, as far as concerns Italy, shall
be extended to the date of the proclamation of the Kingdom
(1861).
The new States arising out of the late Austro-Hungarian Empire and
the States which receive part of the territory of this Empire
undertake on their part to give up to the Austrian Government the
records, documents and material dating from a period not exceeding
twenty years, which have a direct bearing on the history or
administration of the new Austrian territory and which may be found
in the territories ceded to the Allied and Associated Powers.
[Page 856]
Article XIX
Austria acknowledges that she remains bound, as regards Italy, to
execute in full the obligations referred to in Article 15 of the
Treaty of Zurich of the 10th of November, 1859, in Article 18 of the
Treaty of Vienna of the 3rd of October, 1866 and by the Convention
of Florence of the 14th of July, 1868, concluded between Italy and
the Emperor of Austria-Hungary.
Article XX
Within a period of twelve months after the coming into force of the
present Treaty a Committee of three jurists appointed by the
Reparation Commission shall examine the conditions under which the
objects or manuscripts in possession of Austria, included in the
attached list presented by the Italian Government, were carried off
by the House of Hapsburg and by the other Houses which have reigned
in Italy. If it is found that the said objects or manuscripts were
carried off in violation of the rights of the Italian provinces the
Reparation Commission, on the report of the Committee referred to,
shall order their restitution. Italy and Austria agree to accept the
decisions of the Commission.
Belgium may also submit claims for restitution, to be examined by the
same Committee of three jurists, relating to the objects and
documents enumerated in Annex II hereto. Belgium and Austria
undertake to accept the decisions taken by the Reparation Commission
as the result of the report of the said Committee.
annex i
Tuscany
The Crown jewels (such part as remains after their dispersion); the
private jewels of the Princess Electress of Medici; the medals which
form part of the Medici heirlooms and other precious objects—all
being domanial property according to contractual agreements and
testamentary dispositions—removed to Vienna during the eighteenth
century.
Furniture and silver plate belonging to the House of Medici and the
jewel of Aspasios in payment of debts owed by the House of Austria
to the Crown of Tuscany.
The ancient instruments of astronomy and physics belonging to the
Academy of Cimento (being a person in law) removed by the House of
Lorraine and sent as a present to the cousins of the Imperial House
of Vienna.
[Page 857]
Modena
A “Virgin” by Andrea del Sarto and four drawings by Correggio
belonging to the Pinacothek of Modena and removed in 1859 by the
Archduke Francis V.
The three following MSS. belonging to the library of Modena:—
- Biblia vulgata (Cod. Lat. 422/23),
- Brevarium Romanum (Cod. Lat. 424) and
- Officium Beatae Virginis (Cod. Lat. 262),
carried off by the Archduke Francis V in 1859.
The bronzes carried off under the same circumstances in 1859.
Certain objects (among others two pictures by Salvator Rosa and a
portrait by Dosso Dossi) claimed by the Duke of Modena in 1868 as a
condition of the execution of the Convention of the 20th June, 1868,
and other objects given up in 1872 in the same circumstances.
Palermo
Objects made in Palermo in the twelfth century for the Norman kings
and employed in the coronation of the Emperors, which were carried
off from Palermo and are now in Vienna.
Naples
Ninety-eight MSS. carried off from the Library of S. Giovanni a
Carbonara and other Libraries at Naples in 1718 under the orders of
Austria and sent to Vienna.
Various documents carried off at different times from the State
Archives of Milan, Mantua, Vienna, Modena and Florence.
annex ii
Objects and documents removed for safety from Belgium to Austria in
1794:—
- (a.)
- Arms, armour and other objects from the old Arsenal of
Brussels.
- (b.)
- The treasure of the “Toison d’or” preserved in previous
times in the “Chapelle de la Cour” in Brussels.
- (c.)
- Coinage, stamps, medals, and counters by Theodore van
Berckel which were an essential feature in the archives of
the “Chambre des Comptes” at Brussels.
- (d.)
- The documents relating to the map “carte chorographique”
of the Austrian Low Countries drawn up by Lieut.-General
Comte Jas de Ferraris.
