Franco-German Agreement, Signed at Berne, Provides
for Release of More Than 300,000 Captives
The exchange of certain classes of French, Belgian, and German
prisoners, totaling about 330,000, began on May 15, 1918, in accordance
with an agreement arranged at Berne, Switzerland, by a conference of
French and German delegates held there from April 2 to April 26, and
later ratified by both Governments. It was announced at the same time
that Italy had completed a similar arrangement.
The news of the Franco-German agreement came as a complete surprise
to Great Britain and the other allies, and aroused an instant demand
for negotiations looking to a release of British prisoners on similar
terms. There was a tendency in some quarters to criticise the French
Government for its separate action in the matter. After a lively debate
on the subject in the House of Commons on May 28, Lord Newton, head of
the Prisoners of War Department, stated that the British Government
had "already entered into negotiations with the German Government with
a view to arranging a wide scheme of exchange, following, broadly
speaking, the agreement recently concluded between France and Germany."
On the same day a dispatch from Holland announced that both the British
and German Governments had informed the Netherlands Government that
they wished to send delegates to The Hague shortly to discuss matters
relating to the exchange of prisoners.