Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, The Paris Peace Conference, 1919, Volume VI

Paris Peace Conf. 180.03401764

CF–64

Notes of a Meeting Held at President Wilson’s House in the Place des Etats-Unis, Paris, on Friday, June 13, 1919, at 12 Noon

Paris, June 13, 1919, noon

• Present
  • United States of America
    • President Wilson.
  • British Empire
    • The Rt. Hon. D. Lloyd George, M. P.
  • France
    • M. Clemenceau.
  • Italy
    • M. Sonnino.
  • Japan
    • Baron Makino.

Sir Maurice Hankey, K. C. B.	}	Secretaries.
M. di Martina
Prof. P. J. Mantoux.—Interpreter.

The following experts on the subject of the Rhine Provinces were also present:—

• M. Loucheur for France.
• Mr. Wise and Mr. Waterlow for Great Britain.

1. The Council had before them the report (see Appendix I) dated June 9th, of the Commission appointed by them on May 29th¹ to rewrite the draft convention relating to the occupation of the Rhine Provinces, on the skeleton plan suggested in the letter from Mr. Noyes, the American delegate on the inter-allied Rhineland Commission, to President Wilson, dated May 27th, 1919.² Convention Regarding the Territories of the Rhine

This report and its first two annexes, viz, the draft convention and the memorandum, were considered.

President Wilson read out the English texts of these documents, which, after discussion, were adopted with the amendments set out below. The two texts as thus amended are attached as appendices II and III, respectively, to the present procès-verbal.

The omission of the words “and the execution of the Treaty” from Article III (a) of the draft convention was, on the proposal of President Wilson, decided on the ground that to supervise the execution of the Treaty of Peace was outside the scope which it was desirable to give to the functions of the Rhineland High Commission.

In regard to Article IV of the draft convention, Monsieur Clemenceau explained that Marshal Foch had put forward certain objections to the principle on which it was proposed to base the administration of the occupied territory (see Appendix I, Annex 3), but it was pointed out that the question of principle would arise in connection with the memorandum (see Appendix I, Annex 2). When Article V of the memorandum was reached, Monsieur Loucheur (French Minister of Industrial Reconstitution), who was in attendance, explained that what Marshal Foch chiefly had in mind was the danger of setting up two separate authorities, viz., the Allied High Command and the Inter-allied Rhineland High Commission, to deal with the German authorities. The Marshal feared that any attempt to work such a system would lead to confusion, and he considered that the proper course was to vest all necessary powers for dealing with the German authorities in one single inter-allied authority, who might be assisted by an advisory council in respect of economic and civil matters. While taking note of this point of view, the Council decided to maintain the principle of making an inter-allied civil authority the supreme representative of the associated Governments concerned in the administration of the occupied territory.

The following are the amendments adopted in the draft convention:—

• Article I., paragraph 2. For the words “admitted into” substitute the words “maintained in”.
• Article III (a). Omit the words “and the execution of the Treaty”.
• Article IV. After the words “military officer” insert the words “of the occupying armies”.
• Article V. After the words “German authorities” insert the following words: “and the civil administration of these areas shall continue under German law and under the authority of the Central German Government, except in so far as it may be necessary for the Commission, by ordinances under Article III., to accommodate that administration to the needs and circumstances of military occupation”.
• Article VI., Paragraph 2. Between the word “composed” and the word “both” insert the words “in equal representations of”. In what follows omit the word “of” before “German” and “Allied”.
• Article VII. Add the words “subject to the provisions of Article VIII. (b) below”.
• Article VIII. (b). In paragraph 1 omit the words “in principle”. And insert the word “exceptional” before the word “emergency”.
• Article IX., Paragraph 1. Insert the word “direct” between the word “German” and the word “taxes”.
• Article X., Paragraph 1. Substitute the word “purposes” for the word “reasons”.
• Article XI., Paragraph 1. Substitute the word “may” for the word “shall”.
• Paragraph 2. Between the word “may” and the word “enter” insert the words “subject to the approval of the High Commission”
• Paragraph 5. Add at the end the words “by the allied Military Authorities”.
• Article XII., Paragraph 3. After the words “armies of occupation” insert the words “or of the Commission”.
• Article XIII., Paragraph 1. For the words “German law of 4th June, 1851” substitute the words “German Imperial law of May 30, 1892”.
• Paragraph 2. Between the word “such” and the word “measures” insert the word “temporary”.

The following are the amendments adopted in the memorandum:—

• Article I. For the words “but economic questions will be referred” substitute the words “economic questions being first referred by the High Commission”.
• Article V. The first sentence from the beginning to the words “occupied territory” should read as follows: “All civil commissions or officers already appointed, or to be appointed, by any one or more of the allied Governments to deal with matters affecting the civil administration of the economic life of the civilian population in the occupied territory”.
• Article VI. A new clause to be inserted at the beginning of this article as follows: “(a) The appointment of each High Commissioner shall be subject to the approval of all the allied and associated Governments represented”.

The clauses (a), (b), (c) and (d) in the draft to be re-lettered (b), (c), (d) and (e) respectively.

In clause (d) substitute the words “a single” for the words “an equal”.

A new article to be added at the end of the memorandum as follows:—“VII. In issuing decrees and proclamations or otherwise interfering with civil administration under a state of siege, the Commander-in-Chief shall continue to act in consultation with, and only with the approval of, the High Commission. This shall, of course, not apply to action of a purely military nature.”

Villa Majestic, Paris , June 13, 1919.

Appendix I to CF–64

WCP–978

Report Presented to the Council of the Principal Allied and Associated Powers by the Inter-Allied Commission on the Left Bank of the Rhine

The Commission appointed by the Council of Four, with instructions to draft a convention as to the occupation of the Rhine Provinces on the lines of the plan suggested in the letter of May 27th, 1919, addressed by Mr. Noyes, the American representative on the Inter-Allied Rhineland Commission, to President Wilson, has held several meetings on the basis of the creation of an Inter-Allied High Commission.

As a result, the Commission has drawn up the annexed draft convention (Annex 1) to be negotiated with the German Government as regards the military occupation of the Rhine territories. The basis of this draft convention is the abolition of a state of siege at the earliest possible moment.

The Commission has also drawn up a draft memorandum (Annex 2) defining the relations between the Allied military authorities and the Inter-Allied High Commission of the Rhine.

Marshal Foch has put forward certain objections as to the principle on which the High Commission is constituted.

The members of the Commission pointed out that they were not concerned to discuss questions of principle, as they had merely received instructions to draft a convention.

Marshal Foch, at the request of the Commission, has handed in a note which set out his objections against the principle of the organisation and functions of the Rhineland Commission.

As regards the memorandum, (Article 5) Marshal Foch has requested that all commissions in the occupied territories dealing with matters of civil administration, which are to be subordinated to the High Commission, should be specified by name, since the military authorities may be obliged to preserve or to create certain conditions.

After Marshal Foch’s note had been communicated, the Italian Delegation pointed out that, if the High Commission was to be vested with economic and financial powers, Italy would require to be represented on the High Commission, either by a permanent member or by a liaison officer.

Mr. Davis, in the name of the American Delegation, and M. Loucheur declared that, in their opinion, there could be no question of giving such powers to the Rhineland High Commission, and that the powers given to the Commission appeared to them to be clearly defined and limited in the text as presented.

Lord Robert Cecil, while agreeing that the powers of the High Commission are strictly limited to such powers as may be necessary to secure the safety and maintenance of the armies of occupation, pointed out that in his opinion, these powers would involve, on the part of the Commission, a considerable amount of legislative intervention in civil matters, particularly if the occupation were to be prolonged for fifteen years.

In this connection the Commission wishes to point out, with special emphasis, that, under the terms contemplated, both in the letter transmitted by the Council of Four (which has been taken as the basis of the present draft) and in the text which has been drawn up, the fact of imposing upon the High Commission the duty of promulgating ordinances “to secure the execution of the Treaty” may give rise to an important extension of the High Commission’s action. Consequently, the Commission asks the Council of Four whether this was, in fact, their intention.

As regards the strength of the troops required for the occupation the military members of the Commission have reported that the present forty-two divisions may be reduced on the signature of peace to thirty divisions, which, in their turn, may be reduced to ten divisions of infantry and two of cavalry, or about 150,000 men, when the Germans have carried out the disarmament clauses of the Peace Treaty. The military members think that a further reduction, of which the extent and the date cannot be determined, may still be carried out.

The military members, in laying down the above figures, have especially taken into consideration, among other things, the maintenance of order, the execution of the treaty, and the necessity of assuring the defences of the territory in the event of a German attack.

M. Loucheur (civil member representing France) and M. le Baron de Gaffier (civil member representing Belgium) feel obliged in this connection to declare that, in their opinion, the number of the troops could be considerably diminished from the moment when the reduction of the German effectives and the disarming of Germany have been carried out and a satisfactory situation has been brought about. It appears to them that the strength of the army of occupation could, when this happens, be reduced to between 80,000 and 100,000 men:

The British delegation expressed the desire that the cost of the army of occupation should be definitely stated. The French Delegation considered that to do this did not come within the instructions of the Commission.

Moreover, M. Loucheur pointed out that, as regards the cost of the occupation, the method of making the necessary calculations was at the present moment undergoing revision, and that satisfactory regulations would very probably be shortly presented to the Council of Four.

The British, American and Italian Delegates have given their adhesion to the following text, which is rejected by the French and Belgian delegations:

“Inasmuch as the success of any plan as that outlined in the present draft convention can only be determined by experiment, the Committee unanimously suggests that it might be desirable to limit the duration of the convention to two or three years, subject to a new convention being negotiated at the end of that period, and subject also to an appeal to the League of Nations, in case of disagreement.”

Annex I

Draft Convention Regarding the Military Occupation of the Territories of the Rhine

(Note.—The use of the terms “Allies” and “Allied” throughout this document must be interpreted to mean “the Allied and Associated Powers”.)

I. As provided by Section XIV, (Articles 428 et seq.) of the Treaty dated . . . . . . . . . . , armed forces of the Allies will continue in occupation of German territory (as defined by Article 5 of the Armistice Convention of 11th November, 1918.⁵ as extended by Article 7 of the Convention of 16th January 1919⁶), as a guarantee of the execution by Germany of the Treaty.

No German troops, except prisoners of war in process of repatriation, shall be admitted to the occupied territories, even in transit; but police forces of a strength to be determined by the Allied Powers may be admitted into these territories for the purpose of maintaining order.

II. There shall be constituted a civilian body styled the Inter-Allied Rhineland High Commission, and hereinafter called “the Commission”, which, except in so far as the Treaty may otherwise provide, shall be the supreme representative of the Allies within the occupied territory. It shall consist of four members representing Belgium, France, Great Britain and the United States.

III. (a). So far as may be necessary for securing the maintenance, safety and requirements of the Allied forces, and the execution of the Treaty, the Commission shall have the power to issue ordinances for that purpose. Such ordinances shall be published under the authority of the Commission, and copies thereof shall be sent to each of the Allied and Associated Governments and also to the German Government. When so published they shall have the force of law and shall be recognised as such by all the Allied military authorities and by the German civil authorities.

(b) The members of the Commission shall enjoy diplomatic privileges and immunities.

(c) The German courts shall continue to exercise civil and criminal jurisdiction subject to the exceptions contained in paragraphs (d) and (e) below.

(d) The armed forces of the Allies and the persons accompanying them, to whom the General Officers Commanding the Armies of Occupation shall have issued a pass revokable at their pleasure, and any persons employed by, or in the service of such troops, shall be exclusively subject to the military law and jurisdiction of such forces.

(e) Any person who commits any offence against the persons or property of the armed forces of the Allies, may be made amenable to the military jurisdiction of the said forces.

IV. The German authorities, both in the occupied and in the unoccupied territories, shall, on the demand of any duly authorised military officer, arrest and hand over to the nearest commander of Allied troops any person charged with an offence who is amenable under Clause (d) or Clause (e) of Article III above to the military jurisdiction of the Allied Forces.

V. The civil administration of the provinces (Provinzen), Government departments (Regierungsbezirke), Urban Circles (Stadtkreise), Rural Circles (Landkreise), and Communes (Gemeinde), shall remain in the hands of the German authorities. It is understood that the German authorities shall be obliged, under penalty of removal, to conform to the ordinances issued in virtue of Article III above.

VI. Subject to the conditions laid down in the Hague Convention, 1907,⁷ the right to requisition in kind and to demand services shall be exercised by the Allied Armies of Occupation.

The charges for the requisitions effected in the zone of each allied army, and the estimate of damage caused by the troops of occupation, shall be determined by local Commissions composed both of German civilians appointed by the German civil authorities, and of Allied military officers and presided over by some person appointed by the Commission.

The German Government shall also continue to be responsible for the cost of maintenance of the troops of occupation under the conditions fixed by the Treaty.

The German Government shall also be responsible for the costs and expenses of the Commission, and for its housing. Suitable premises for the housing of the Commission shall be selected in consultation with the German Government.

VII. The Allied troops shall continue undisturbed in possession of any premises at present occupied by them.

VIII (a). The German Government shall undertake, moreover, to place at the disposal of the Allied troops and to maintain in good state of repair, all the military establishments required for the said troops, with the necessary furniture, heating and lighting, in accordance with the regulations concerning these matters in force in the various armies concerned. These shall include accommodation for officers and men, guard-rooms, offices, administrative, regimental and staff headquarters, workshops, store-rooms, hospitals, laundries, regimental schools, riding schools, stables, training grounds and rifle and artillery ranges, aviation grounds, grazing grounds, warehouses for supplies and grounds for military manoeuvres, also theatre and cinema premises, and reasonable facilities for sport and for recreation grounds for the troops.

(b) In principle, private soldiers and non-commissioned officers shall be accommodated in barracks, and shall not be billeted on the inhabitants, except in cases of emergency.

In the event of the existing military establishments being insufficient or not being considered suitable, the Allied troops may take possession of any other public or private establishment with its personnel, suitable for these purposes, or, if there are no such suitable premises, they may require the construction of new barracks.

Civilian and military officers and their families may be billeted on the inhabitants in accordance with the billeting regulations in force in each army.

IX. No German taxes or duties will be payable by the Commission, the Allied armies or their personnel.

Food supplies, arms, clothing, equipment and provisions of all kinds for the use of the Allied armies, or addressed to the military authorities, or to the Commission, or to canteens and officers’ messes, shall be transported free of charge and free of all import duties of any kind.

X. The personnel employed on all means of communication (railways, railroads and tramways of all kinds, waterways (including the Rhine), roads and rivers), shall obey any orders given by, or on behalf of, the Commander-in-Chief of the Allied armies for military reasons.

All the material and all the civil personnel necessary for the maintenance and working of all means of communication must be kept in its entirety on all such means of communication in the occupied territory.

The transport on the railways of Allied troops or individual soldiers or officers, on duty or furbished with a warrant, will be effected without payment.

XI. The Armies of Occupation shall continue to use for military purposes all existing telegraphic and telephonic installations.

The Armies of Occupation shall also have the right to continue to instal and use military telegraph and telephone lines, wireless stations and all other similar means of communication which may appear to them expedient; for this purpose they may enter upon and occupy any land, whether public or private.

The personnel of the public telegraph and telephone services shall continue to obey the orders of the Commander-in-Chief of the Allied Armies given for military purposes.

Allied telegrams and messages of an official nature shall be entitled to priority over all other communications and shall be despatched free of charge. The Allied military authorities shall have the right to supervise the order in which such communications are transmitted.

No wireless telegraphy installations shall be allowed to be erected by the authorities or by the inhabitants of the occupied territory without previous authorisation.

XII. The personnel of the postal service shall obey any orders given by or on behalf of the Commander-in-Chief of the Allied Armies for military purposes. The public postal service shall continue to be carried out by the German authorities, but this shall not in any way affect the retention of the military postal services organised by the Armies of Occupation, who shall have the right to use all existing postal routes for military requirements.

The said armies shall have the right to run postal wagons with all necessary personnel on all existing postal routes.

The German Government shall transmit free of charge and without examination letters and parcels which may be entrusted to its post-offices by, or on behalf of, the Armies of Occupation, and shall be responsible for the value of any letters or parcels lost.

XIII. The Commission shall have the power, whenever they think it necessary, to declare a state of siege in any part of the territory or in the whole of it. Upon such declaration the military authorities shall have the powers provided in the German Law of . . . . .

In case of emergency, where public order is disturbed or threatened in any district, the local military authorities shall have the power to take such measures as may be necessary for restoring order. In such case the military authorities shall report the facts to the Commission.

Annex 2

Memorandum Defining the Relations Between the Allied Military Authorities and the Inter-Allied Rhineland High Commission

1. Each High Commissioner is directly responsible to his Government, but economic questions will be referred to the Supreme Economic Council as long as that body exists.

2. The ordinances of the High Commission are to be communicated to the Commanders of armies by, or on behalf of, the Allied High Command.

3. Whenever the High Commission has occasion to publish ordinances affecting the interests of the occupying armies, in respect of which the initiative does not come from the military authorities, the High Commission shall consult the military authorities beforehand.

4. Communications between the High Commission and the various military authorities will always take place through the channel of the Allied High Command.

5. All commissions or officials actually existing or who may be appointed, who deal with matters affecting the civil administration or the economic life of the occupied territory shall, if they are retained, be placed under the authority of the High Commission.

6 (a). The French member of the High Commission shall be president thereof.

(b) The decisions of the High Commission shall be reached by a majority of votes.

(c) Each High Commissioner shall have an equal vote. But in case of an equality of votes the President shall have the right to give a casting vote.

(d) In either of these two cases the dissenting High Commissioner, or High Commissioners, may appeal to their Governments. But such an appeal shall not, in cases of urgency, delay the putting into execution of the decisions taken, which shall then be carried out under the responsibility of the members voting for the decisions.

Annex III⁸

[Translation]

June 5, 1919.

Remarks of Marshal Foch

The proposed High Commission will, it is thought, relax the severity of the military regime, that is, the maintenance of a state of siege, in the occupied regions.

This new institution calls for several observations.

I

Under the military regime, in a state of siege, the military authority maintains the laws and regulations of the occupied country and insures their enforcement, in collaboration with the civil authorities of the country, with the exception that some of these authorities are temporarily dispossessed of some of their powers, enumerated in the law promulgating the state of siege.

The military authority is not empowered to enact new laws and regulations of a general character. Therefore, the country continues to live under its own legislation, applied by its own administration.

The military authority is responsible for public order and the maintenance of the police. The use of troops is therefore regulated in a permanent way for all circumstances that may supervene. Thus the military authority, which has at the same time the means of information and execution and the power of decision, insures the maintenance of order, knowing the situation, by its contact and understanding with the local civil authorities.

II

The institution of the High Commission tends to avoid the state of siege. This High Commission has the power of issuing decrees which have the force of laws, to meet the military necessities and even to insure the execution of the Treaty. These decrees must be recognized by the German civil authorities, as well as by the Allied military authorities. In this respect they really constitute a legislation above that of the occupied country. They are the manifestation of a Government superior to that of the country. This right is not conferred on the military authority by the state of siege, this authority having only the negative right of suspending certain existing laws of the country, but not that of promulgating any new ones.

The High Commission, which on account of its legislative power has become a Government superior to that of the country, can exercise this power in any direction, without thus being in a position to manage the various domains, economic, financial, industrial, etc., of the occupied country, according to the activities of the members composing it. The nature of the occupation may therefore be very deeply modified by this fact.

On the other hand, so long as the state of siege is not proclaimed the German civil authority alone remains responsible for public order and security. If it becomes necessary to use force, it can only appeal to the Allied troops. These troops would therefore enter into action upon the request of the Prussian authorities, which is inadmissible.

But should the troops decide to act regardless, in what unknown and therefore perilous situation will they find themselves, since they do not command the police, which alone could enlighten them? Especially in case of strikes more or less complicated by political factors, what difficulties will they meet, being thus uncertain of the interests involved. A minute legislation is not always sufficient to solve difficulties in our own country, where there is complete accord between the military and civil authorities. What then must be feared in a German country, between a Prussian civil authority and a French, British, American or Belgian military authority, with an improvised legislation, therefore incomplete, and new to every one?

Therefore the High Commission in practice seems to be able to maintain public order only by the maintenance of the state of siege.

Even vested with an indisputable power from the Government, it is disarmed in case of trouble, because it has to command at the same time the Allied armies of various nations and the German civil authorities, enemies of yesterday. Once more the multiplicity of the directing organs, because of their intricacy, runs the risk of leading to impotence and anarchy.

At a time when we are talking of reducing the cost of the occupation, shall we not achieve the opposite result by giving to this occupation a new head, whose civil list has not yet been drawn up and which may run very high, at the expense of an occupied population that does not ask for its creation?

III

In my opinion the High Commission does not seem to meet the expectations formed concerning it.

I propose to return to the principles of the German occupation of 1871.

Note of Marshal Foch

June 9, 1919.

Part II

In the first part of the Marshal’s note an attempt has been made to show that the High Commission created by the Draft of Convention would form, owing to the lawmaking power it possessed, a super-government, which may not have entered the intentions of the Supreme Council; that this government, notwithstanding its very wide powers, would find it difficult to regulate the relations between the German civil authorities and the Allied military authorities without maintaining the state of siege; and that especially the maintenance of public order and security would be insecure.

In the second part below it is shown that the application of the proposed memorandum would allow this commission to assume unlimited executive powers, which might paralyze the command of the Allied troops, even in the exercise of this command over these troops.

It says, in fact (Article V):

“The commissions or officials at present existing or about to be created, and in charge of matters concerning civil administration or economic life, will, if they are maintained, be placed under the authority of the High Commission.”

Now, whatever be the administrative regime of a country, the troops have their own needs to satisfy, and deal therefore through certain services with the civil administration or the civilian elements of the country. Thus the Interallied Commission on Military Railways insures the execution, through the administration of German Railways, of the transport of troops and their supply, according to instructions received from the Command. It is thus that the officers of the Quartermaster Corps buy forage and food and other necessities from the civilian elements of the country, and according to instructions received from the Command, etc. This Commission and its officials are the Command’s executive organs.

On the day that the above Article goes into force, they will be placed under the jurisdiction of the civil High Command, which will take over the executive organs of the Command.

The result is that the Command, by the application of the memorandum, finds itself deprived of the means of exercising its functions.

Hence Article V of the memorandum should be omitted. If it is kept, it is at least necessary to limit its scope by the enumeration of the Commissions and officials that will be placed under the orders of the High Commission.

If, in spite of the considerations of a general and particular nature developed in the first and second parts of this note, the projected organization of the High Commission is realized, the result will be a Command deprived of its power of decision and its executive means, whose existence will be difficult to justify.

Appendix II to CF–64

WCP–993

Convention Regarding the Military Occupation of the Territories of the Rhine

Approved by the Council of the Principal Allied and Associated Powers on June 13th, 1919

(Note:—The use of the terms “Allies” and “Allied” throughout this document must be interpreted to mean “the Allied and Associated Powers”.)

I. As provided by Section XIV, (Articles 428 et seq.) of the Treaty dated . . . . . . . . . . , armed forces of the Allies will continue in occupation of German territory (as defined by Article 5 of the Armistice Convention of 11th November, 1918,⁹ as extended by Article 7 of the Convention of 16th January 1919¹⁰), as a guarantee of the execution by Germany of the Treaty.

No German troops, except prisoners of war in process of repatriation, shall be admitted to the occupied territories, even in transit; but police forces of a strength to be determined by the Allied Powers may be maintained in these territories for the purpose of maintaining order.

II. There shall be constituted a civilian body styled the Inter-Allied Rhineland High Commission, and hereinafter called “the High Commission” which, except in so far as the Treaty may otherwise provide, shall be the supreme representative of the Allies within the occupied territory. It shall consist of four members representing Belgium, France, Great Britain and the United States.

III (a). So far as may be necessary for securing the maintenance, safety and requirements of the Allied forces, the High Commission shall have the power to issue ordinances for that purpose. Such ordinances shall be published under the authority of the High Commission, and copies thereof shall be sent to each of the Allied and Associated Governments and also to the German Government. When so published they shall have the force of law and shall be recognised as such by all the Allied military authorities and by the German civil authorities.

(b) The members of the High Commission shall enjoy diplomatic privileges and immunities.

(c) The German courts shall continue to exercise civil and criminal jurisdiction subject to the exceptions contained in paragraphs (d) and (e) below.

(d) The armed forces of the Allies and the persons accompanying them, to whom the General Officers commanding the Armies of Occupation shall have issued a pass revokable at their pleasure, and any persons employed by, or in the service of such troops, shall be exclusively subject to the military law and jurisdiction of such forces.

(e) Any person who commits any offence against the persons or property of the armed forces of the Allies, may be made amenable to the military jurisdiction of the said forces.

IV. The German authorities, both in the occupied and in the unoccupied territories, shall, on the demand of any duly authorised military officer of the occupying forces, arrest and hand over to the nearest commander of Allied troops any person charged with an offence who is amenable under Clause (d) or Clause (e) of Article III above to the military jurisdiction of the Allied Forces.

V. The civil administration of the provinces (Provinzen), Government departments (Regierungsbezirke), Urban Circles (Stadtkreise), Rural Circles (Landkreise), and Communes (Gemeinde), shall remain in the hands of the German authorities, and the civil administration of these areas shall continue under German Law and under the authority of the Central German Government except in so far as it may be necessary for the High Commission by Ordinance under Article III to accommodate that administration to the needs and circumstances of military occupation. It is understood that the German authorities shall be obliged, under penalty of removal, to conform to the ordinances issued in virtue of Article III above.

VI. Subject to the conditions laid down in the Hague Convention, 1907, the right to requisition in kind and to demand services shall be exercised by the Allied Armies of Occupation.

The charges for the requisitions effected in the zone of each allied army, and the estimate of damage caused by the troops of occupations, shall be determined by local Commissions composed in equal representation of both German civilians appointed by the German civil authorities and Allied military officers and presided over by some person appointed by the High Commission.

The German Government shall also continue to be responsible for the cost of maintenance of the troops of occupation under the conditions fixed by the Treaty.

The German Government shall also be responsible for the costs and expenses of the High Commission, and for its housing. Suitable premises for the housing of the High Commission shall be selected in consultation with the German Government.

VII. The Allied troops shall continue undisturbed in possession of any premises at present occupied by them, subject to the provision of Art. VIII (b) below.

VIII (a). The German Government shall undertake, moreover, to place at the disposal of the Allied troops and to maintain in good state of repair, all the military establishments required for the said troops, with the necessary furniture, heating and lighting, in accordance with the regulations concerning these matters in force in the various armies concerned. These shall include accommodation for officers and men, guard-rooms, offices, administrative, regimental and staff headquarters, workshops, store-rooms, hospitals, laundries, regimental schools, riding schools, stables, training grounds and rifle and artillery ranges, aviation grounds, grazing grounds, warehouses for supplies and grounds for military manoeuvres, also theatre and cinema premises, and reasonable facilities for sport and for recreation grounds for the troops.

(b) Private soldiers and non-commissioned officers shall be accommodated in barracks, and shall not be billeted on the inhabitants, except in cases of exceptional emergency.

In the event of the existing military establishments being insufficient or not being considered suitable, the Allied troops may take possession of any other public or private establishment with its personnel, suitable for these purposes, or, if there are no such suitable premises, they may require the construction of new barracks.

Civilian and military officers and their families may be billeted on the inhabitants in accordance with the billeting regulations in force in each army.

IX. No German direct taxes or duties will be payable by the High Commission, the Allied armies or their personnel.

Food supplies, arms, clothing, equipment and provisions of all kinds for the use of the Allied armies, or addressed to the military authorities, or to the High Commission, or to canteens and officers’ messes, shall be transported free of charge and free of all import duties of any kind.

X. The personnel employed on all means of communication (railways, railroads and tramways of all kinds, waterways (including the Rhine), roads and rivers, shall obey any orders given by, or on behalf of, the Commander-in-Chief of the Allied armies for military purposes.

All the material and all the civil personnel necessary for the maintenance and working of all means of communication must be kept in its entirety on all such means of communication in the occupied territory.

The transport on the railways of Allied troops or individual soldiers or officers, on duty or furnished with a warrant, will be effected without payment.

XI. The Armies of Occupation may continue to use for military purposes all existing telegraphic and telephonic installations.

The Armies of Occupation shall also have the right to continue to instal and use military telegraph and telephone lines, wireless stations and all other similar means of communication which may appear to them expedient; for this purpose, subject to the approval of the High Commission, they may enter upon and occupy any land, whether public or private.

The personnel of the public telegraph and telephone services shall continue to obey the orders of the Commander-in-Chief of the Allied Armies given for military purposes.

Allied telegrams and messages of an official nature shall be entitled to priority over all other communications and shall be despatched free of charge. The Allied military authorities shall have the right to supervise the order in which such communications are transmitted.

No wireless telegraphy installations shall be allowed to be erected by the authorities or by the inhabitants of the occupied territory without previous authorisation by the Allied military authorities.

XII. The personnel of the postal service shall obey any orders given by or on behalf of the Commander-in-Chief of the Allied Armies for military purposes. The public postal service shall continue to be carried out by the German authorities, but this shall not in any way affect the retention of the military postal services organised by the Armies of Occupation, who shall have the right to use all existing postal routes for military requirements.

The said armies shall have the right to run postal wagons with all necessary personnel on all existing postal routes.

The German Government shall transmit free of charge and without examination letters and parcels which may be entrusted to its post-offices by, or on behalf of the Armies of Occupation or of the High Commission; and shall be responsible for the value of any letters or parcels lost.

XIII. The High Commission shall have the power, whenever they think it necessary, to declare a state of siege in any part of the territory or in the whole of it. Upon such declaration the military authorities shall have the powers provided in the German Imperial Law of May 30th, 1892. In case of emergency, where public order is disturbed or threatened in any district, the local military authorities shall have the power to take such temporary measures as may be necessary for restoring order. In such case the military authorities shall report the facts to the High Commission.

Appendix III to CF–64

Memorandum Defining the Relations Between the Allied Military Authorities and the Inter-Allied Rhineland High Commission

(Approved by the Council of the Principal Allied and Associated Powers on 13th June, 1919)

1. Each High Commissioner is directly responsible to his Government, economic questions being first referred by the High Commissioner to the Supreme Economic Council as long as that body exists.

2. The ordinances of the High Commission are to be communicated to the Commanders of Armies by, or on behalf of, the Allied High Command.

3. Whenever the High Commission has occasion to publish ordinances affecting the interests of the occupying armies, in respect of which the initiative does not come from the military authorities, the High Commission shall consult the military authorities beforehand.

4. Communications between the High Commission and the various military authorities will always take place through the channel of the Allied High Command.

5. All civil commissions or officials already appointed or to be appointed by any one or more of the Allied and Associated Powers who deal with matters affecting the civil administration or the economic life of the civilian population in the occupied territory shall, if they are retained, be placed under the authority of the High Commission.

6. (a) The appointment of each High Commissioner shall be subject to the approval of all the Allied and Associated Governments represented.

(b) The French member of the High Commission shall be president thereof.

(c) The decisions of the High Commission shall be reached by a majority of votes.

(d) Each High Commissioner shall have one vote. But in case of an equality of votes the President shall have the right to give a casting vote.

(e) In either of these two cases the dissenting High Commissioner, or High Commissioners, may appeal to their governments. But such an appeal shall not, in cases of urgency, delay the putting into execution of the decisions taken, which shall then be carried out under the responsibility of the members voting for the decisions.

7. In issuing decrees and proclamations or otherwise interfering with Civil Administration under a state of siege, the Commander-in-Chief shall continue to act in consultation with, and only after approval by the High Commission. This shall of course not apply to action of a purely military nature.

1. See CF–41, p. 110.
2. Appendix IV to CF–41, p. 113.
5. Vol. ii, p. 1.
6. Ibid., p. 11.
7. Convention respecting the laws and customs of war on land, October 18, 1907; Foreign Relations, 1907, pt. 2, p. 1204.
8. The text of annex III does not accompany the minutes. This text has been supplied from the report of the Inter-Allied Commission on the Left Bank of the Rhine (Paris Peace Conf. 181.22402/1). The translation from the French has been supplied by the editors.
9. Vol. ii, p. 1.
10. Ibid., p. 11.