CFM Files
Report of the Military Commission on the Military Clauses of the Draft Peace Treaty With Hungary
I. Introductory
The Commission considered at three Meetings the military clauses in the Draft Peace Treaty with Hungary. It submits to the Plenary Conference recommendations concerning Articles 10 to 19 and Annexes 2 and 3 of the Treaty. It considered proposals for amendments put forward by the Delegation of Belgium, Czechoslovakia and Poland. These proposals are designated by the following letters and numbers: C.P.(Gen) Doc. 1.C.4, C.P.(Gen) Doc. 1.Q.7 & 1.Q.8, C.P.(Gen) Doc. 1.0.9.
The Commission heard the representatives of Hungary and considered their observations.
All the Articles of the Draft Peace Treaty which the Commission examined had been approved by the Council of Foreign Ministers. The United States Delegation had made a reservation with respect to an Article covering War Graves; but it withdraw the reservation.
II. Decisions on Articles
a. Articles adopted without change
Articles 10, 11, 12, 15, 16, 17, 18 and 19, Annexes 2 and 3 were adopted without change.
b. drafting amendment adopted
The French version of Article 14 was redrafted in order to bring the last sentence into line with the English and Russian texts. The revised Article in French reads as follows: [Page 567]
“La Hongrie ne devra pas conserver, fabriquer ou acquérir par d’autres moyens, de matériel de guerre en excédent de ce qui est nécessaire au maintien des forces armées autorisées par l’Article 10 du présent Traité; elle ne conservera pas d’installations en excédent de celles nécessaires à l’armement des forces armées autorisées par l’Article 10 du présent Traité.”
c. amendment of substance adopted: Article 13
A Belgian amendment to add “any atomic weapon” to those prohibited to Hungary was adopted. Article 13 was redrafted and runs as follows:
“Hungary shall not possess, construct or experiment with any atomic weapon, any self-propelled or guided missiles or apparatus connected with their discharge (other than torpedoes and torpedo launching gear inherent to naval vessels permitted by this Treaty), sea-mines or torpedoes of non-contact types actuated by influence mechanisms, torpedoes capable of being manned, submarines or other submersible craft or specialised types of assault craft.”
The following resolution was adopted unanimously:
“The Commission agrees that the Articles on prohibitions in the Balkan and Finnish Treaties (Article 12 of the Bulgarian Treaty, Article 14 of the Roumanian Treaty, Article 13 of the Hungarian Treaty and Article 16 of the Finnish Treaty should be in identical language, i.e. that decided upon for Article 12 of the Bulgarian Treaty.”
The representatives of Byelorussia, Czechoslovakia, Poland, the Ukraine, Yugoslavia and the U.S.S.R. state that in their opinion the Commission has not reached unanimous agreement on the inclusion of M.T.B.’s in the Peace Treaties with Bulgaria, Roumania, Hungary and Finland and that the unanimous decision reached on the 28th September, 1946, regarding the similarity of Article 12 and the corresponding Articles in the Peace Treaties with the Balkan States and Finland, refers to the decision already taken by the Military Commission (see amended text of Article 12 in the Commission’s Record of Decisions of the 27 September, 1946), and not to future decisions. The French and Russian texts of this resolution confirm this declaration.
III. Articles in Respect of Which a Declaration Was Recorded
Article 10.
The Czechoslovak Delegation had proposed an amendment to Article 10 to reduce the numbers of the Hungarian Army and its equipment, and an additional Article prohibiting the maintenance and construction of fortifications within a distance of 20 kilometers from any point of the frontier. The Delegation withdrew the two amendments, but recorded a declaration:
“Czechoslovakia—desiring to resume friendly, neighbourly and mutual collaboration with Hungary, and to give proofs of its sentiments [Page 568] of reconciliation with democratic Hungary—withdraws its amendments to the Military Clauses of the Treaty with Hungary.”
Article 15.
The Polish Delegation withdrew an amendment about its claims to restitution of war material.
A declaration was made by the U.S. Delegate on behalf of the Three Powers who prepared the Draft Peace Treaty with Hungary, that the excess war material of Hungarian and German origin surrendered by Hungary would be placed in its entirety at the disposal of the U.S.S.R., U.S.A. and U.K.; but in the disposition to be made of this material by joint decision of the Three Powers, the latter would take into consideration any request made by the other Allied and Associated Powers, in particular by the Powers from which material had been taken by Hungary.
Conclusion
The Commission at its 31st Meeting unanimously adopted all the Military Clauses of the Draft Peace Treaty with Hungary, as indicated above.
The Commission has the honour to recommend to the Plenary Conference that it should:
Decide on the next text of the Military Clauses as set out above (viz. Article 13, and Article 14 (French text)).