1. House owners, inhabitants and heads of establishments.
2. Persons, associations, and corporations of a private or public
nature whose buildings or rooms contain articles enumerated in
Section 2.
To this group, furthermore, belong also State, Church, and community
business and industrial establishments, including business,
industrial, and office buildings in the ownership, possession, or
guardianship of military and civil authorities. For buildings
abandoned or not occupied by their owners or inhabitants, the
communal authorities are responsible for the execution of this
decree. The district commanders are authorized to furnish further
instructions to the communities in this case. If dwelling houses are
occupied as quarters by German military or civil authorities the
execution of this order rests upon the military authorities
concerned.
SECTION VIII. _Confiscation._ [Failure to comply with the provisions
of the decree entails confiscation.]
SECTION IX. _Co-operation of Communities._ [Local authorities
ordered to co-operate in execution of this order.]
SECTION X. _Certificates of Exemption._ [Verwaltungschef empowered
to issue certificates of exemption.]
SECTION XI. _Punishment for Violations._ Any one who intentionally
or through gross negligence violates the present decree or
supplementary regulations will be punished with imprisonment not to
exceed two years or a fine not to exceed 20,000 marks, or both. Any
one who urges or incites others to violate the present decree or its
supplementary regulations will be punished in like manner, unless he
has incurred graver punishment under the general law. The attempt is
punishable. Military courts and military authorities are empowered
to try cases. (_From "German Legislation," &c., Vol. IX., pp.
398-394._)
Some industries which were not directly useful to the Germans were at
first allowed to resume work in whole or in part, for the Government
did not wish to cut off all sources of the enormous indemnities which it
was levying upon towns and individuals. But the rival manufacturers in
Germany objected angrily against this policy. Thus Dr. Goetze, head of
the German Glassmakers' Union, wrote in the Wirtschaftzeitung der
Zentralmächte, Nov. 10, 1916:
It has become vital to the German manufacturers of glass wares that
the Belgian manufacturers should be stopped from going to neutral
markets, and it must be admitted that the German Civil
Administration has fully recognized the necessity of arranging this
matter according to the demands of the German industry, and that it
has taken suitable action. [In spite of this some Belgian shops were
able to do some exporting and had affected the market price.]
Measures must be taken to stop this. For this reason the factories
of Central and Eastern Germany, which are most directly concerned,
have secured the promulgation of an order stopping importation,
transit, and exportation. * * * We must demand that the German Civil
Administration of Belgium should first of all look out for the
protection of the interests of the German industry.
In addition to securing the aid of the German Government in ruining
Belgian industries which competed with them, German manufacturers have
also been aided by the German Government in obtaining Belgian trade
secrets. For example, Dr. Bronnert secured a permit from the War
Ministry to visit the factory at Obourg for making artificial silk. He
took full notes of all that he could learn when he visited it, on Dec.
9, 1916, and carried away designs and parts of the machinery. Dr.
Bronnert is a director of a German factory for making artificial silk
which competes with the Belgian factory. (_From the "Informations
Belges," No. 307._)
HAGUE REGULATIONS FLOUTED
When Belgium attempted to protest against the illegal requisitions,
citing The Hague regulations, they received answers such as the
following, which was read to the Municipal Council and notables of the
town of Halluin, June 30, 1915:
Gentlemen: What is happening is known to all these gentlemen. It is
the conception and interpretation of Article 52 of The Hague
Convention which has created difficulties between you and the
German military authority. On which side is the right? It is not for
us to discuss that, for we are not competent, and we shall never
arrive at an understanding on this point. It will be the business of
the diplomatists and the representatives of the various States after
the war.
Today it is exclusively the interpretation of German military
authority which is valid, and for that reason we intend that all
that we shall need for the maintenance of our troops shall be made
by the workers of the territory occupied. I can assure you that the
German authority will not under any circumstances desist from
demanding its rights, even if a town of 15,000 inhabitants should
have to perish. The measures introduced up to the present are only a
beginning, and every day severe measures will be taken until our
object is obtained.
This is the last word, and it is good advice I give you tonight.
Return to reason and arrange for the workers to resume work without
delay; otherwise you will expose your town, your families, and your
persons to the greatest misfortunes.
Today, and perhaps for a long time yet, there is for Halluin neither
a prefecture nor a French Government. There is only one will, and
that is the will of German authority.
_The Commandant of the Town_,
SCHRANCK.
(_From Massart's "Belgians Under the German Eagle," New York, 1916,
pp. 192-3._)
GERMANY'S PROFITS
The German profits from the Rathenau plan were summarized thus frankly
by Herr Ganghofer in an article published in the Münchener Neueste
Nachrichten Feb. 26, 1915:
For three months about four-fifths of the army's needs were supplied
by the conquered country. Even now, although the exhausted sources
in the land occupied by us are beginning to yield less abundantly,
the conquered territory is still supplying two-thirds of the needs
of the German Army in the west. Because of this, for the last four
months the German Empire has saved an average of 3,500,000 to
4,000,000 marks a day. This profit which the Germans have secured by
their victory is very greatly increased by another means. That is
the economic war which, in accordance with the rules of
international law, is being carried on against the conquered land by
the exhaustion of the goods which belong to the State, which are
being carried to Germany from Belgium and Northern France. These are
in enormous quantities and consist of war booty, fortress supplies,
grain, wool, metal, expensive hardwood, and other things, not
including all private property which cannot be requisitioned. In
case of necessity this private property will, of course, be secured
to increase the German supply, but it will also be paid for at its
full value. What Germany saves and gains by this economic war,
carried on in a businesslike way, can be reckoned at a further
6,000,000 to 7,000,000 marks a day. Thus the entire profit which the
German Empire has made behind its western front since the beginning
of the war can be estimated at about 2,000,000,000 marks. For
Germany this is a tremendous victory through the sparing and
increase in her economic power; for the enemy it is a crushing
defeat through the exhaustion of all of the auxiliary financial
sources in those portions of his territory which have been lost to
us.
Of the branches and management of this economic war I shall have
more to say. Then people will learn to banish to the lumber room of
the past the catch phrase about "the unpractical German." A German
officer of high rank at St. Quentin characterized this happy change
which has taken place in our favor in these half-serious,
half-humorous words: "It is extraordinary how much a man learns!
Although in reality I am an officer of the Potsdam Guard, now I am
in the wool and lumber business. And successful, too!"
Governor General von Bissing's testimony on this subject, as recorded in
his "Testament," will be found in full in CURRENT HISTORY MAGAZINE for
February, 1918, pp. 330-38. Among the passages from it quoted in the
pamphlet here under review is this:
The advantages which we have been able during the present war to
obtain from Belgian industry, by the removal of machinery and so on,
are as important as the disadvantages which our enemies have
suffered through the lack of their fighting strength.
LANGHORNE'S DISPATCH
That the systematic exploitation and destruction in Flanders and
Northern France were still going on in the Fall of 1917 is shown by the
following dispatch from the American Chargé d'Affaires in Holland:
The Hague, Sept. 29, 1917.
SECRETARY OF STATE, WASHINGTON: A person who has recently arrived
here from Ghent gives the following information as to conditions in
East and West Flanders and Northern France:
The looms and machinery are being taken away from the textile mills
in Roubaix and Tourcoing and sent to Germany. Such machines as
cannot be removed and transported have in some instances been
dynamited, and in others are being destroyed with hammers. In the
neighborhood of Courtrai in Flanders all the mills have been ordered
to furnish a list of their machinery. The measures which have been
applied to the north of France will be carried out in Flanders. All
textile fabrics have been requisitioned by the military authorities,
even in small retail stores, and woolen blankets have been taken
from private houses. There is also extensive requisitioning of wine.
In the larger cities in the course of the past few weeks large
numbers of children of from 10 to 15 years have been brought in for
office work. There is a rapid increase in the number of women
brought in for this purpose. A marked animation was observed in the
Etappen inspection at Ghent last week. It is believed that at the
meeting of the inspection something unusual was being discussed.
LANGHORNE, _Charge d' Affaires._
DESTRUCTION STILL GOING ON
That the Rathenau plan is still wringing the remnants of industrial
supplies from Belgium in 1918 is shown by documents still later than
those printed in the brochure just reviewed. In January linen and
mattresses were being taken from hotels, boarding houses, and convents
all over Belgium. The inhabitants were forbidden by law to have any wool
in their possession, but were offered a substitute made of seaweed. The
large electrical plant at Antwerp known as l'Escaut was stripped of its
machinery, which was transferred to a German plant. Belgian kitchens did
not escape. The huge copper pans and kettles, the glory of Belgian
housewives, had to go to Germany with the bright jars and jugs of the
milkmaids. Nearly every conceivable brass, copper, and bronze object had
been requisitioned by that time.
The Belgian Government sent out a statement on Feb. 17, 1918, containing
these passages:
The German authorities then aggravated the evils of industrial
stoppage by forbidding public works and commandeering the factories
and metals and leather for military purposes. After this they
instituted the barbarous system of deporting workmen to perform
forced labor in Germany, a system which they had to interrupt
officially, after some months, because it proved revolting to the
conscience of mankind, but only to substitute for it immediately the
forced labor of the civilian population, in work of military value,
by the order of the military authorities. This system is still being
cruelly maintained in the zones lying back of the fighting line in
the provinces of East and West Flanders, Hainault, Namur, and
Luxemburg.
Meanwhile, the commandeering has become general, and affects both
natural and manufactured products and also tools, motors, and means
of transportation, whether mechanical or animal. Finally, fiscal and
administrative measures have been taken to close the last remaining
outlets for Belgian products into neutral countries.
These facts are incontestable. They are proved by many rules and
regulations officially published by the German authorities.
At present the raid upon the last economic resources of occupied
Belgium has been carried on to such an extent that they are
methodically taking away all the machinery from the factories, which
they themselves have made idle, in some cases to set it up again in
Germany, in other cases, to break it up and use it for grapeshot.
The purpose of this entire system of destruction is double: First,
to supply deficiencies in German industry; secondly, to put an end
to Belgian competition and later to subject Belgian industry to that
of Germany when the time comes for refitting the factories with
machinery after the war.
The proofs collected by the Belgian Government in support of this
statement are conclusive. It is significant that in general the task
of systematically stripping Belgian factories was intrusted to
German manufacturers who were the direct competitors of the Belgian
owners. Some of them have taken advantage of their official
positions to steal secrets of manufacturing processes, for example,
at the artificial silk shops of Obourg, and personal methods of
production and sale.
And as to the fact that Germany is destroying the factories for a
military reason without any regard for the economic needs of Belgium
or for the rights of nations, it is sufficient to cite the following
passages from a semi-official note that appeared in the Norddeutsche
Allgemeine Zeitung, No. 392, of Dec. 18, 1917, in which Germany
distinctly pleads guilty:
"All measures taken in Belgium are inspired by military necessity.
"The exploitation, under military control, of Belgian factories in
order to repair locomotives and automobiles, and also to obtain
material of war for the front, is carried out for the purpose of
relieving the strain on German industry and economizing
transportation. It has become necessary to strip the Belgian
factories of their machinery and other fittings, because all German
industry is busy filling orders for material of war. * * * By
relieving the home market from the necessity of enlarging our own
factories we are accelerating the production of munitions and other
products. * * * In consequence of the intense activity of all German
industry our machinery and other equipment is tremendously
overworked, and must from time to time be partly replaced by new
machines, while, furthermore, we must be able to furnish spare parts
rapidly unless we wish to see our output of munitions diminish. The
machinery and equipment required for these purposes are evidently
brought from Belgian factories. The destruction of whole factories
for the production of grapeshot is effected in order to maintain at
its present level the supply of iron and steel in Germany, or, if
possible, to raise it. * * * It is not only possible, but even
evident, that, in view of all the steps taken by the military
authorities, the question of keeping up work in some of the
factories of the occupied country must be subordinated to
considerations tending to spare the lives of German soldiers and
thus protect our national power."
[Illustration: Trafalgar Square, London, as it appears after three and a
half years of war
(© Western Newspaper Union)]
[Illustration: A typical scene in Flanders today, with all signs of
civilization completely obliterated
(_International Film Service_)]
This record of the deliberate crippling of Belgian industries was
brought up to March 6, 1918, by an official dispatch to the United
States Government, quoting the statement of Belgian refugees to the
effect that dynamite was being used to destroy machines and equipment in
factories in the Mons district. Rails of tramways were being taken up,
and in some cities they were entirely destroyed. Meanwhile, deportation
of men, and even of children 13 years old, was proceeding, several
hundred boys between the ages of 13 and 15 being taken from Mons alone.
Spoliation of Belgian Churches
Cardinal Mercier's Protest
Cardinal Mercier, Archbishop of Malines, issued the following letter to
the clergy and people of his diocese on March 2, 1918:
_My Very Dear Brethren:_
The painful tidings, announced semi-officially on Feb. 8, by the
occupying power, have been confirmed. The bulletin of laws and
edicts, dated Feb. 21, requires an inventory of the bells and organs
of our churches. Informed by experience, we need not delude
ourselves; the inventory of today is the signal for the requisition
of tomorrow.
The repeated protests of the Sovereign Pontiff, our appeal to the
Chancellor of the Empire, appear thus to have been in vain.
Your Christian hearts will bleed. At a time when we are in such need
of comfort, a veil of mourning will descend upon our land, covering
like a shroud our every day. It is to be for Catholic Belgium an
interminable Way of the Cross.
It is true, is it not, dear brethren, that we should have borne this
sorrow, added to so many others, if it had concerned ourselves
alone, but this time the rights of God, of our Saviour, Jesus, the
freedom of the Church and of her heritage are to be sacrificed to
what is called necessity, that is, to the military need of our
enemies.
"This term, liberty of the Church, rings harshly on the ears of
politicians," writes the great Dom Gueranger. They immediately
discern therein the signs of a conspiracy. Now there is no thought
in our minds either of conspiracy or of revolt, but of the
indefeasible affirmation of the rights granted to His Immaculate
Spouse by our Saviour, Jesus.
The freedom of the Church lies in her complete independence with
regard to all secular powers, not alone in her teachings of the
Word, in the administering of the sacraments, in the untrammeled
relations between all ranks of her Divine hierarchy, but also in the
publishing and applying of her disciplinary decrees--in the
conservation and administration of her temporal heritage.
"Nothing in the world is dearer to God than this liberty of His
Church," says St. Anselm.
The Apostolic See, through the medium of Pope Pius VIII., wrote on
June 30, 1830, to the Bishops of the Rhine Province: "It is in
virtue of a Divine order that the Church, spotless spouse of the
Immaculate Lamb, Jesus Christ, is free and subject to no earthly
dominion."
"This freedom of the Church," continues Dom Gueranger, "is the
bulwark of the very sanctuary, hence, the shepherd, sentinel of
Israel, should not wait until the enemy has entered into the fold
to sound the cry of alarm. The duty of protecting his flock begins
for him at the moment of the enemy's siege of his outposts, upon
whose safety depends the police of the entire city."
In the execution of this duty of our pastoral office we protest,
dear brethren, against the injury which the forcible seizure of
church property will cause to the liberty of our mother, the Holy
Church.
We add that the removal of the bells without the consent of the
religious authorities and despite their protests will be a
sacrilege.
The bell is, in fact, a sacred object its function is sacred. It is
a consecrated object; that is to say, it is devoted irrevocably to
Divine service. It has been not only blessed but anointed by the
Bishop with the holy oil and the holy chrism, just as you were
anointed and consecrated at holy baptism; just as anointed and
consecrated as the priest's hands which are to touch the consecrated
wafer.
The function of the bell is holy. The bell is sanctified by the Holy
Ghost, says the liturgy, sanctificetur a Spiritu Sancto, to the end
that, in its voice, the faithful shall recognize the voice of the
Church calling her children to hasten to her breast.
It announced your initiation into Christian life, your confirmation,
your first communion. It announced, dear parents, your Christian
marriage; it weeps for the dead; thrice daily it marks the mystery
of the Incarnation; it recalls the immolation of the Lamb of God on
the altar of sacrifice; it sings the joys of Sabbath rest, the cheer
of our festivals of Christmas, of Easter, of Pentecost. Her prayers
are associated with all the events and all the great memories, happy
or unhappy, of the fatherland.
Yes, the seizure of our bells will be a profanation; whosoever
assists in it will lend the hand to a sacrilege.
The Catholic Bishops of Germany and Austria will not deny these
principles. If their patriotism has wrung from them concessions
which must have cost their religious spirit dear, patriotism with us
confirms on the contrary the law of resistance. We would be
betraying the Church and the fatherland were we so cowardly as to
permit without a public act of reprobation the taking away of metal
to be converted by the enemy into engines of destruction, destined
to carry death into the ranks of the heroes who are sacrificing
themselves for us.
The authorities, strangers to our beliefs, will not be greatly
moved, I fear, by the protest, however worthy of respect, of our
religious consciences, but at least they should remember their given
word and not tear up a juridical code which their believers have
elaborated with us and promulgated. Morality has force of law for
Governments as for individuals.
On Oct. 18, 1907, the representatives of forty-four Governments
gathered together at The Hague, drew up a convention concerning laws
and customs of war on land.
They were assembled, they proclaimed unanimously, for a double
purpose--in the first place to safeguard peace and prevent armed
conflicts between nations; and, in the second place, in the extreme
hypothesis of an appeal to arms, to serve, nevertheless, the
interests of humanity and the progressive demands of civilization by
restraining, as much as possible, the rigors of war.
To this convention there was annexed a set of regulations which, the
general tenor of its clauses having been examined a first and a
second time, respectively, during the peace conferences held in 1874
at Brussels and in 1899 at The Hague, was submitted a third time, in
1907, to careful study at the second conference at The Hague and
signed by the plenipotentiaries of all the great powers.
The first signer of this code of international law in wartime was
Baron Marschall von Bieberstein, delegated by his Majesty, the
German Emperor, King of Prussia.
Articles 52 and 46 of the regulations annexed to the convention are
formulated as follows:
"Article 52. Neither requisitions in kind nor service can be
demanded from communes or inhabitants, except for the necessities of
the army of occupation."
"Article 46. Family honor and rights, individual life and private
property, as well as religious convictions and worship, must be
respected."
Evidently bells and organs are not necessary to supply the needs of
the army of occupation, they lie in the domain of private property,
are destined for the exercise of Catholic worship.
The transformation of these articles of the Church into war
munitions will be, therefore, a flagrant violation of international
law, an act of force perpetrated on the weaker by the stronger
because he is the stronger.
We Belgians, who have never wished nor acted other than well toward
Germany, we are the weak ones. I call you all to witness, brethren,
is it not true that prior to 1914 a current of sympathy, of esteem,
of generous hospitality was turning our trusting hearts toward those
who are today so harshly oppressing us? You will remember that on
the very day of the invasion the first lines that flowed from my pen
spoke to you of those "whom we have the sorrow to call our enemies."
For four years Germany has been rewarding us. Nevertheless, we will
not rebel. You will not seek in desperate recourse to material
force the sudden triumph of our rights.
Courage does not reside in passionate impulse but in self-mastery.
We will offer to God in reparation for the sacrilege which is about
to be committed against Him, and for the final success of our cause,
our supreme sacrifice.
Let us pray, one for the other, that the arm of the All-Powerful may
lend us support; "Lord," says the Holy Spirit, in the Book of
Esther, "Lord, Sovereign Master, all is subject to Thy authority.
Nothing, nobody, is capable of resisting Thee if Thou shalt decide
to save Israel. * * * Grant our prayer, Lord! Transform our grief
into joy, so that, living, we may glorify Thy name. * * * Thou art
just, Lord. Now they are no longer satisfied to weigh us down under
the most grievous servitude, they intend to silence the voices that
praise Thee and to tarnish the glory of the temple. Remember us, O
Lord. Reveal Thyself to us in this hour of our tribulation. * * * O
God, Thou art exalted above all, hearken to the voice of those who
place their hopes in Thee. Deliver us from the blows of injustice
and grant that our courage may control our fears."
In the name of the freedom of the Church, in the name of the
sanctity of the Catholic religion, in the name of international law,
we condemn and reprove the seizure of the bells and organs of our
churches; we forbid the clergy and faithful of our diocese to
co-operate toward their removal; we refuse to accept the price of
the sacred objects taken from us by violence.
Strong in invincible hope, we await the hour of our God.
D. J. CARDINAL MERCIER, Archbishop of Malines.
Belgium's Appeal to the Bolsheviki
_The Belgian Government, shortly after the Bolshevist Government of
Russia deserted the Allies and disbanded its armies, sent this eloquent
appeal to Petrograd:_
By the treaty of April 19, 1839, Russia placed her guarantee upon the
independence and neutrality of Belgium. On Aug. 4, 1914, when Germany
had violated this neutrality--which the German Government also had
guaranteed--Belgium appealed to Russia for aid. To this appeal Russia
replied on Aug. 5 by promising the assistance of her arms. Thus Belgium
entered into the struggle for independence and neutrality, trusting in
the unswerving loyalty of the Russian people.
On Feb. 14, 1916, Russia undertook to renew by a solemn act the pledges
she had made regarding Belgium, "heroically faithful to her
international obligations." Russia declared before a listening world
that she would not cease hostilities until Belgium should be
re-established in her independence and liberally indemnified for the
losses she had endured. Furthermore, Russia promised her aid in assuring
the commercial and financial rehabilitation of Belgium.
The authorities placed in power by the Russian revolution have just
signed--on Feb. 9 and March 3, 1918--treaties under which they lay down
their arms before the German and Austro-Hungarian Empires.
Yet Belgium is still the prey of the imperial armies, which oppress her,
decimating her population by privations and pitiless repressions, and
overwhelming her with the worst kind of moral tortures. To these
violences the Belgian Nation continues to oppose forces of resistance
drawn from a consciousness of right, from the beauty of her cause, from
her love of liberty.
Respect for treaties is the basis of the moral and juridical relations
of States and the condition of an honest and regular international
order. Carried into the war by a will to compel respect for a treaty
which Russia had guaranteed, Belgium is pursuing the struggle without
wavering, and at the price of the most cruel sacrifices. She considers
that the promise of Russia, in which she trusted, is still binding. She
refuses to believe that the Russian people, master of its destinies,
will irrevocably abandon the promises made in its name. Confident in the
honor and loyalty of the Russian people, Belgium reserves to herself the
right to implore the execution of obligations whose permanent character
places them outside any internal changes of régime in the State.
Serbia's Hopes and Russia's Defection
By Nikola Pashitch
_Premier and Foreign Minister of Serbia_
[Speech delivered March 31, 1918, before the Skupshtina at Corfu and
especially translated for CURRENT HISTORY MAGAZINE]
Since the last meeting of this Assembly a great number of events have
come to pass which have measurably modified the general military and
political situation. One of our greatest allies, Russia, has retired
from the battlefield, but another ally, quite as powerful as Russia, but
doubtless not yet bringing to bear all the force of which she is
capable, has rushed to our aid.
These two principal events, with others of less importance, have
perceptibly changed the situation which existed more than a year ago,
when Germany proposed to us the conclusion of a peace "honorable" for
both the belligerent groups. Already at that time had Germany perceived
the impossibility of fighting her adversaries by military force alone,
and was obliged to resort to other means, which she had already
employed, although in a more restrained fashion. So Germany decided to
make more energetic use of her hidden channels with the idea of
disorganizing in the quickest possible time the unity of her
adversaries. She contrived intrigues, employing different methods
according to the country where they were to be used and where she
believed they would succeed.
You still remember the case of Miassoyedov, which was perpetrated with
the aim of annihilating an entire Russian army. You also remember the
attempt of the enemy to have Ireland revolt, an experiment which
dismally failed owing to the prompt and energetic measures taken by the
British Government. Surely you have a vivid memory of the criminal
exploitation which the enemy Governments made in Italy of the Papal note
in favor of peace. Also, you remember the numerous cases of arson of
munition plants by the action of their agents, and the enemy propaganda
of a premature peace for the benefit of Germany, employed to the limit
by pacifists and certain imperialist and international adventurers
through lectures and "defeatist" newspapers in neutral countries.
RUSSIA ALONE DECEIVED
All these intrigues were clothed in fine phrases and put forward with
high humanitarian ideals, by which the enemy propagated monarchistic
ideas in republics and republican ideas in monarchies, eulogizing a
military régime in democratic countries and in autocracies democratic,
republican, and even anarchistic ideals.
They all had one sole end--to provoke internal disorders and discord
among the Allies in order to divert the attention of Germany's
adversaries from the principal aim. In every allied country these secret
machinations of our enemies were unmasked and repelled. Repelled--except
in Russia. All these intrigues and secret machinations could not succeed
anywhere except in Russia, where there are many Germans, and where our
enemies managed to concentrate the entire attention of a people in the
midst of war upon their internal organization. In this way the
possibility was placed in the hands of enemies--most dangerous to the
liberty of the people and to their right to dispose freely of their
destiny--to guide more easily the struggle with free and democratic
nations reared against Prussianism in order to defend the rights of the
weak and prevent the enslaving of other countries and other peoples.
RUSSIAN LIBERTY DESTROYED
The first revolutionary movement in Russia was directed against an
autocratic and irresponsible Government. On the side of the revolution
they pretended that the Government had initiated pourparlers for a
separate peace with Germany unknown to the Russian people and the
Allies. After this first movement, a second took place in Russia
demanding a democratic peace "without annexations and indemnities" on
the basis of the right of peoples to determine their destiny freely and
for themselves.
This second revolutionary provisional Government not having the desire
to cut the bonds which attached Russia to the democratic and allied
countries, a third movement followed, which did not hesitate to cut the
bonds uniting Russia to the Allies, to demobilize the Russian armies--an
act contrary to all reason, even revolutionary--and to initiate
pourparlers with the enemy at Brest-Litovsk for a separate peace.
The result of these pourparlers was the capitulation of the Maximalists
to Prussian militarism, the disguised annexation by Germany of the great
Baltic provinces of Russia, and the conclusion of peace between the
Central Powers and the Ukraine, by which the latter separated from her
enfeebled sister in order consciously to aid the enemies of the Slav
race. The recognition of the independence of Finland, Caucasia, and
Poland by the Central Powers followed, and, upon its heels,
disintegration and general discord in Russia finally giving place to the
present civil and fratricidal war.
We would not wish to deny that the Russian revolution counted for
something in the ranks of its sincere combatants in the way of high
social ideals, for democratic reforms, and for liberty. But, judging
from its results, it is impossible to deny that the Russian revolution
sustained a German influence, and that this influence so far has been
useful only to Germany, who still makes war on Russia in order to
prevent the latter from unifying her enfeebled peoples and
re-establishing her position in the world.
A SHAMEFUL CATASTROPHE
The Russian revolutionists fell before the blow of Prussian militarism
and surrendered to it the peoples who had hoped to obtain the right of
self-determination. It is possible, even probable, that the situation in
Russia may improve. But at present what the Germans aimed at in Russia
has been attained. They have taken away Russian provinces, incited civil
war in the Russian fatherland, and removed the danger of the Russian
armies which threatened them. These armies having been prematurely
demobilized for incomprehensible reasons, the enemy is able to direct
all his forces against his other adversaries. He has also obtained in
this way a considerable amount of war material and food.
This catastrophe, which has covered the Russian people with shame, has
been a lesson to all other nations, for it has definitely confirmed the
conviction that it was certainly Germany who provoked this terrible war
with the aim of conquest and hegemony.
But the great and free America did not wait for this moment before
deciding to declare war on Germany, who had placed above the principles
of right and justice that of brute force. On account of the Germans'
conduct in the war, which surpassed all known horror and barbarism, not
sparing even neutral nations, the United States became convinced that it
was its duty to restrain this bestial force if the world were not to
fall under the yoke of Prussian militarism. America entered the war to
defend civilization and the right of people to dispose of themselves.
AMERICANS TO THE BREACH
The appearance of North America on the war stage filled the place made
vacant by the surrender of Russia. Our allies having come to the
conviction that they could count no longer on Russia, and that it would
even be dangerous to regard her as a military asset, have employed all
their forces in conformity with the new situation in order to fortify
the solidarity which unites them and to augment their military and
material force in proportion to what they had lost by the withdrawal of
Russia, all with the idea of assuring the world a just and durable peace
based on the liberty of the people to be self-determining. The strength
of the army of our allies is greater by far than that of the enemy, not
only in man power but also in material. Organization is improving,
and on all questions there is complete accord. Quite recently German war
atrocities decided Japan to participate still more actively in the
struggle.
The Serbian people, who have made the greatest sacrifice and given the
finest proofs of their loyalty and fidelity toward the Allies, may
therefore be certain that their sacrifices have not been in vain, and
that their ideals will be realized if they continue to give in the
future the evidence of their military and civil virtues, and if, as in
the past, they abhor all intrigues having for their aim the destruction
of our concord and union in defense of the interests of our people, who
bear three names, but who form but one nation. We have observed that
Austria-Hungary, particularly in these latter days, has intensified her
intrigues and her calumnies against the Serbian people. She began by
spreading in Western Europe the false rumor that Serbia had tried, in an
indirect way, to initiate pourparlers for a separate peace, because in
our country and on the front of the Serbian Army she had suggested that
she would be disposed to end the war against Serbia were it not for the
fact that King Peter and the Serbian Government were opposed to the
project. All such intrigues and calumnies have only one end--to destroy
the faith which our allies have in the Serbian people, to rupture the
national concord, and by our discord and quarrels to assure the conquest
of the Serbian Nation.
SERBIA STILL FAITHFUL
But our people know Austria-Hungary too well to be taken in by these
infamous intrigues and to believe her lying words. The nation remains
faithful to her noble allies, who are pouring out their blood for little
and weak nations, and will not deviate one hair's breadth from her stand
until the end. The Serbian people have given all that they have, and
now, although few in numbers, they still stand faithfully by the side of
the Allies. They should never lose sight of the fact that it was
Austria-Hungary who provoked the war with the idea of annihilating
Serbia.
Our allies will not fail to acquire the conviction that the various
peoples of Austria-Hungary cannot be free, and that a durable peace
cannot be guaranteed so long as these peoples shall live in the State of
the Hapsburgs, who from peoples once free have made Germano-Magyar
slaves and have prevented their development by subjecting them to
Germano-Magyar exploitation.
Germanism in its drive toward the Orient hurled itself upon Serbia, and
only as a single united nation of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, closely
bound to Italy, can we obstruct the German push toward the Orient and
Adriatic, and aid in the establishment of a durable peace.
We ask only justice. We demand that slavery of peoples be abolished,
just as slavery of individuals was suppressed. We demand equality among
all nations, whether great or small, the fraternity and equality of all
nationalities, and the foundation of a free State of all the reunited
Jugoslavs. The return of Alsace-Lorraine to France and the complete
re-establishment of independent Belgium; the re-establishment of the
kingdom of all the Czechs, also that of all the Poles, the union of
Italians with Italy, of Rumanians with Rumania, of Greeks with Greece,
all of which would constitute the greatest and most solid guarantee for
a just and lasting international peace. Hence we proclaim what should be
realized soon or later--if not after this war then after a new shedding
of blood--because this realization is identified with the progress of
civilization and of humanity.
These great ends, humane and just, which are incarnated with the life
and growth of civilization, we repeat, should be realized. They embrace
those great ideals which spring from the soul and sentiments of
individuals and races, and which will vanquish the brute force of
certain anachronistic States, just as, in the last century, they
vanquished the brute force of the individual.
Let us pledge our honor and eternal gratitude to all the peoples who are
fighting for the right of all nations to shape their own destiny and for
an international peace both just and lasting.
Rumania's Peace Treaty
Why the Onerous Terms of the Central Powers Had to be Accepted
The peace treaty between Rumania and the Central Powers was signed at
Bucharest May 6, 1918, and is called "the peace of Bucharest." Dr. von
Kühlmann, the German Foreign Secretary, was Chairman of the
plenipotentiaries representing the Central Powers. A comprehensive
synopsis of the terms of the treaty appears elsewhere in this issue of
CURRENT HISTORY MAGAZINE.
A writer in The London Times explains why Rumania was compelled to
accept the enemy's exacting terms. He quotes General Averescu, the
Rumanian Prime Minister, in these words:
If Rumania accepts the humiliating German peace terms and is ready
to yield to her enemies the dearest part of her territory, she does
not do it only to spare the lives of the remnants of her army, but
for the sake of her allies, too. If Rumania refuses the German
conditions today she may be able to resist another month, but the
results will be fatal. A month later she might have to lose even the
shadow of independence which is left to her now; and then, no doubt,
the Germans would deal with her in the same way as they dealt with
occupied France and with Belgium. The whole Rumanian army would be
made prisoners, and would be sent to work on the western front
against the Allies, while the civilian population would be compelled
to work in ammunition and other factories for the Kaiser's army. I
fought in the ranks in 1877 to help my country to win the Dobrudja.
You may imagine how I feel now, having to sign the treaty which
gives it to our worst enemies. But we are compelled to amputate an
important part of our body in order to save the rest of it. However
painful it may be, we are bound to do it.
DESERTED BY RUSSIA
To understand Rumania's situation, as The London Times correspondent
goes on to say, we have to consider her position since Kerensky's fall.
At the end of November, 1917, the front from the Bukowina to the Black
Sea was held by a Russo-Rumanian force. Its flanks from Dorna-Watra to
Tergu-Ocna and from Ivesti to the Black Sea were held by three Russian
armies, numbering about 450,000 men, and by two Rumanian armies of about
180,000 men. The Russian armies were, of course, weakened by many
desertions and by lack of discipline, so that their actual was much less
than their nominal strength. Nevertheless, about 350,000 Russians were
still holding the front at that time. When the Russian armistice was
signed, Rumania was compelled, by the joint threats of Germany and the
Soviets of the Rumanian front, to adhere to it. From that day the
Russian troops began to leave the trenches, not in hundreds, as they did
before, but in masses of thousands at a time. Thus, at the end of
January, 1918, hardly 50,000 Russians remained on the whole Rumanian
front, and they had no desire to fight the enemy, but, being from
Siberia or some other remote part of Russia, found it more convenient to
spend their time in Rumania than to go back to their own country. They
could easily raise money by selling to the highest bidder (Austrian or
Rumanian) their guns, rifles, motor cars, &c.
For a certain time many--especially the French--believed strongly in the
Ukraine and in the promises of the Rada. Much money had been spent in
recruiting an army of the Ukraine which was supposed to fill the gaps
left by the Russian Army on the southwestern front. All that I saw of
this army was a group of about 150 boys, none of them over the age of
16, armed with rifles with fixed bayonets, a pistol, a sword, and a
dagger. All wore spurs, though none of them had a horse. They paraded in
the main streets of Jassy daily between 11 and 12. I calculated that
every one of these boys cost the Entente well over £10,000. But in time
the most incorrigible dreamers realized that the Ukraine had played a
trick on Rumania. Then the handsome Ukrainian toy soldiers were
withdrawn from circulation, and no army ever replaced the Russians.
In the meantime, the Rumanian Government decided, for political and
military reasons, to occupy Bessarabia. This operation required no less
than seven divisions. Thus at the beginning of February the same front
which was held in November by over 500,000 men was occupied by barely
120,000. Army supplies were getting shorter every day; and Rumania,
being in a state of war with the Bolshevist Government, was completely
cut off from the rest of her allies. In these circumstances Germany had
an easy prey, and dealt with it in true German fashion.
AN IMPERIOUS SUMMONS
When the treaty with the Ukraine was signed Rumanian Headquarters
received a note from General Morgen, the German Commander in Chief,
saying that, as peace with Russia had been concluded, the Rumanian
armistice had come to an end, and that delegates should be sent without
delay to Focsani to examine the new situation. The Rumanian delegates
arrived at Focsani next day. They were received with such insolence by
the German delegates that the Chief of the Rumanian General Staff,
General Lupesco, threatened to leave immediately. The discussions,
however, did not last very long, and the mission came back with the
announcement that Rumania had to decide within four days whether she was
ready to discuss peace terms or not. A Crown Council was held
immediately; and the majority of the Generals declared that the army
could resist for a month at the most. M. Bratiano and M. Take Jonescu,
who could not consent to make peace with the enemy, resigned, and the
King asked General Averescu, the most popular man in Rumania, to form a
new Cabinet.
Meanwhile, King Ferdinand received a telegram from Berlin, by which he
was warned that the Austro-German Government would not discuss peace
terms with a Cabinet which included M. Bratiano or any member of his
former Cabinet. The feelings of the King of Rumania--when he saw that
even before peace discussions had begun the enemy had begun to interfere
in Rumania's internal politics--can be appreciated. But King Ferdinand
carried his head high, as he had done all through the tragic misfortunes
of his country, and was indifferent to German arrogance. He replied to
Herr von Kühlmann that Rumania was an independent country, and had a
right to any Government she pleased. But none of the members of the
former Cabinet came into the new one. General Averescu formed a
Government which had the tragic task of concluding peace, and thus of
annihilating, temporarily at least, all the tremendous efforts that
Rumania had made during the preceding fifty years to become,
economically as well as politically, the leading power in the Balkans.
THREE HUNGRY ENEMIES
The peace negotiations were supposed to last for a fortnight at most. In
fact, they were nothing more than a farce, for the Germans allowed no
discussion at all. They simply laid their preliminary conditions before
the Rumanian delegates, and, taking advantage of the military
helplessness of Rumania, told them: "You can take it or can leave it."
The Rumanian delegates made a few attempts to discuss the German terms,
but they soon found that it was useless and that the only thing to do
was to yield.
The fact was that Rumania had to satisfy three hungry enemies. Each had
his own object, but in each case the result was the same from the point
of view of Rumania--subjection to the German yoke. The Bulgarians were
eager to accomplish their ideal of "a great Bulgaria" by the annexation
of the Dobrudja. Therefore, Rumania had to give up the Dobrudja. The
Austrians, under Magyar pressure, demanded the surrender of the
Carpathian passes--a condition which was pressed by Count Czernin, who
remembered with bitterness the rebuff that he had suffered from the
Rumanian King and Government at the time when Rumania came into the war.
The Germans were determined to seize the immensely rich oilfields of
Rumania and to secure for an unlimited period Rumanian wheat for
Germany at a price to be fixed by German authorities. For years Germany
had tried to get control of the Rumanian oilfields. Where bribes and the
offer of a heavy price had failed, the chance of war now insured
success. The oilfields were seized nominally by way of a monopoly for
ninety-nine years.
GERMANY'S SHARE OF BOOTY
As usual, Germany's allies had to yield up some of the prey to her. Thus
the Germans succeeded in setting up a condominium over the most
important part of the Dobrudja, between Constanza and the mouths of the
Danube. From Campina, the centre of the oilfields district, a pipe line
runs direct to Constanza, where the oil can be stored in enormous tanks,
which were left practically untouched when Constanza was abandoned in
November, 1916. It is essential for Germany that she should control the
pipe line, and this she will certainly do under the form of the
condominium.
As for the grain supply, the Germans, who had had to pay a heavy price
for Rumanian grain before Rumania went to war, owing especially to
British competition, were particularly careful to insure now against the
repetition of anything so unpleasant. The form of the agreement which
was dictated to Rumania on this point is that the surplus is to go to
Germany after the needs of Rumania have been satisfied. What the needs
of Rumania may be will be decided by a Rumanian commission; but this is
to be under German control, and there is not much doubt that the ration
allowed to the Rumanian population will be proportioned pretty
accurately to the needs of Germany.
These territorial and economic advantages secured, Germany went on to
add humiliation for Rumania to the heavy toll of material loss. They
insisted that the eight Rumanian divisions which were holding the
Rumanian front should be demobilized at once under the control of German
staff officers. Finally, the Germans asked that the Rumanian Government
should give all possible facilities to a German force to pass through
Rumania to Odessa. In point of fact, on March 10, long before the peace
conditions were settled, the first German battalions passed through
Galatz on their way to the Ukraine.
All these humiliating conditions had to be accepted. The motive of the
Germans in piling up their enactions so frequently was evidently to
compel the Averescu Cabinet, which they suspected of being pro-ally, to
resign. They hoped to force the King to form a Cabinet of their
Bucharest friends. In this they succeeded. The present Government of
Rumania may be pro-German; but the Rumanian Nation--from the last
peasant soldier, who brought the Germans to a stand last Summer at
Maraseshti and Oitoz, to the King--bitterly hates everything German.
Isolated as Rumania is now, she waits breathlessly for the victory of
the Allies, hoping to be helped to free herself from German dominion.
The Peace of Bucharest
Synopsis of Rumania's Peace Treaty
Following is a comprehensive summary of the treaty finally signed by the
Rumanian Government at Bucharest, May 6, 1918:
Clause 1.--_Re-establishment of Peace and Friendship._
Article I. Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and Turkey, on the
one hand, and Rumania on the other, declare the state of war ended
and that the contracting parties are determined henceforth to live
together in peace and friendship.
Article II. Diplomatic and Consular relations between the
contracting parties will be resumed immediately after the
ratification of the peace treaty. The admission of Consuls will be
reserved for a future agreement.
Clause 2.--_Demobilization of the Rumanian Forces._
Article III. The demobilization of the Rumanian Army, which is now
proceeding, will immediately after peace is signed be carried out
according to the prescriptions contained in Articles IV. and VII.
Article IV. The regular military bureau, the supreme military
authorities and all the military institutions will remain in
existence as provided by the last peace budget. The demobilization
of divisions eleven to fifteen will be continued as stipulated in
the treaty of Focsani signed on March 8 last. Of the Rumanian
divisions one to ten, the two infantry divisions now employed in
Bessarabia, including the Jäger battalions which are the remnants of
dissolved Jäger divisions, and including two cavalry divisions of
the Rumanian Army, will remain on a war footing until the danger
arising from the military operations now being carried on in the
Ukraine by the Central Powers ceases to exist.
The remaining eight divisions, including the staff, shall be
maintained in Moldavia at the reduced peace strength. Each division
will be composed of four infantry regiments, two cavalry regiments,
two field artillery regiments, and one battalion of pioneers,
together with the necessary technical and transport troops. The
total number of the infantry of the eight divisions shall not exceed
20,000 men; the total number of cavalry shall not exceed 3,200; the
entire artillery of the Rumanian Army, apart from the mobile
divisions, shall not exceed 9,000 men. The divisions remaining
mobilized in Bessarabia must, in case of demobilization, be reduced
to the same peace standard as the eight divisions mentioned in
Article 4.
All other Rumanian troops which did not exist in peace time will at
the end of their term of active military service remain as in peace
time. Reservists shall not be called up for training until a general
peace has been concluded.
Article V. Guns, machine guns, small arms, horses, and cars and
ammunition, which are available owing to the reduction or the
dissolution of the Rumanian units, shall be given into the custody
of the Supreme Command of the allied (Teutonic) forces in Rumania
until the conclusion of a general peace. They shall be guarded and
superintended by Rumanian troops under supervision of the allied
command. The amount of ammunition to be left to the Rumanian Army in
Moldavia is 250 rounds for each rifle, 2,500 for each machine gun,
and 150 for each gun. The Rumanian Army is entitled to exchange
unserviceable material at the depots of the occupied region, in
agreement with the allied Supreme Command, and to demand from the
depots the equivalent of the ammunition spent. The divisions in
Rumania which remain mobilized will receive their ammunition
requirements on a war basis.
Article VI. The demobilized Rumanian troops to remain in Moldavia
until the evacuation of the occupied Rumanian regions. Excepted from
this provision are military bureaus and men mentioned in Article 5,
who are required for the supervision of the arms and material laid
down in these regions. The men and reserve officers who have been
demobilized can return to the occupied regions. Active and formerly
active officers require, in order to return to these regions,
permission of the chief army command of the allied forces.
Article VII. A General Staff officer of the allied powers, with
staff, will be attached to the Rumanian Commander in Chief in
Moldavia, and a Rumanian General Staff officer, with staff, will be
attached as liaison officer to the chief command of the allied
forces in the occupied Rumanian districts.
Article VIII. The Rumanian naval forces will be left to their full
complement and equipment, in so far as their views, in accordance
with Article IX., are not to be limited until affairs in Bessarabia
are cleared, whereupon these forces are to be brought to the usual
peace standard. Excepted herefrom are river forces required for the
purposes of river police and naval forces on the Black Sea, employed
for the protection of maritime traffic and the restoration of
mine-free fairways. Immediately after the signing of the peace
treaty these river forces will, on a basis of special arrangement,
be placed at the disposal of the authorities intrusted with river
policing. The Nautical Black Sea Commission will receive the right
of disposing of the naval forces on the Black Sea, and a naval
officer is to be attached to this commission in order to restore
connection therewith.
Article IX. All men serving in the army and navy, who in peace time
were employed in connection with harbors or shipping, shall, on
demobilization, be the first to be dismissed in order that they may
find employment in their former occupations.
Clause 3.--_Cessions of territory outlined in Articles X., XI., and
XII._
Article X. With regard to Dobrudja, which, according to Paragraph 1
of the peace preliminaries, is to be added by Rumania, the following
stipulations are laid down: (A) Rumania cedes again to Bulgaria,
with frontier rectifications, Bulgarian territory that fell to her
by virtue of the peace treaty concluded at Bucharest in 1913.
(Attached is a map showing the exact extent of the frontier
rectification, with a note to the effect that it forms an essential
part of the peace treaty.) A commission composed of representatives
of the allied powers shall shortly after the signature of the treaty
lay down and demarkate on the spot the new frontier line in
Dobrudja. The Danube frontier between the regions ceded to Bulgaria
and Rumania follows the river valley. Directly after the signature
of the treaty further particulars shall be decided upon regarding
the definition of the valley. Thus the demarkation shall take place
in Autumn, 1918, at low water level.
[Illustration: RUMANIA AND ITS LOST TERRITORY: THE BLACK AREA SHOWS THE
SOUTHERN PART OF DOBRUDJA, WON FROM THE BULGARS IN THE LAST BALKAN WAR,
WHICH RUMANIA IS FORCED TO RETURN TO BULGARIA. THE SHADED AREA--NORTHERN
DOBRUDJA--WHICH INCLUDES THE MOUTHS OF THE DANUBE AND RUMANIA'S ONLY
ACCESS TO THE BLACK SEA, IS CEDED TO THE CENTRAL POWERS, WHO WILL
ADMINISTER IT THROUGH A MIXED COMMISSION. THE SHADING ALONG RUMANIA'S
WESTERN BORDER INDICATES THE AUSTRO-GERMAN "RECTIFICATION," WHICH GIVES
AUSTRIA ALL THE MOUNTAIN PASSES AND IMPORTANT MINERAL LANDS.]
(B) Rumania cedes to the allied powers that portion of Dobrudja up
to the Danube north of the new frontier line described under Section
A; that is to say, between the confluence of the stream and the
Black Sea, to the St. George branch of the river. The Danube
frontier between the territory ceded to the allied powers and
Rumania will be formed by the river valley. The allied powers and
Rumania will undertake to see that Rumania shall receive an assured
trade route to the Black Sea, by way of Tchernavoda and Constanza,
(Kustendje.)
Article XI. says that Rumania agrees that her frontier shall undergo
rectification in favor of Austria-Hungary as indicated on the map,
and continues:
"Two mixed commissions, to be composed of equal numbers of
representatives of the powers concerned, are immediately after the
ratification of the peace treaty to fix a new frontier line on the
spot."
Article XII. Property in the ceded regions of Rumania passes without
indemnification to the States which acquire these regions. Those
States to which the ceded territories fall shall make agreements
with Rumania on the following points: First, with regard to the
allegiance of the Rumanian inhabitants of these regions and the
manner in which they are to be accorded the right of option;
secondly, with regard to the property of communes split by the new
frontier; thirdly and fourthly, with regard to administrative and
juridical matters; fifthly, with regard to the effect of the changes
of territory on dioceses.
Clause 4 deals with war indemnities, of which Article XIII. declares
that the contracting parties mutually renounce indemnification of
their war costs, and special arrangements are to be made for the
settlement of damages caused by the war.
The fifth clause relates to the evacuation of occupied territories,
embodied in Articles XIV. to XXIV., summed up as follows:
"The occupied Rumanian territories shall be evacuated at times to be
later agreed upon. The strength of the army of occupation shall,
apart from the formation employed in economic functions, not surpass
six divisions. Until the ratification of the treaty the present
occupation administration continues, but immediately after the
signature of the treaty the Rumanian Government has the power to
supplement the corps of officials by such appointments or dismissals
as may seem good to it."
Up to the time of evacuation, a civil official of the occupation
administration shall always be attached to the Rumanian Ministry in
order to facilitate so far as possible the transfer of the civil
administration to the Rumanian authorities. The Rumanian authorities
must follow the directions which the commanders of the army of
occupation consider requisite in the interest of the security of the
occupied territory, as well as the security, maintenance, and
distribution of their troops.
For the present, railways, posts, and telegraphs will remain under
military administration, and will, in accordance with proper
agreements, be at the disposal of the authorities and population. As
a general rule, the Rumanian courts will resume jurisdiction in the
occupied territories to their full extent. The allied powers will
retain jurisdiction, as well as the power of police supervision,
over those belonging to the army of occupation. Punishable acts
against the army of occupation will be judged by its military
tribunals, and also offenses against the orders of the occupation
administration. Persons can only return to the occupied territories
in proportion as the Rumanian Government provides for their security
and maintenance.
The army of occupation's right to requisition is restricted to
wheat, peas, beans, fodder, wool, cattle, and meat from the products
of 1918, and, further, to timber, oil and oil products, always
observing proper regard for an orderly plan of procuring these
commodities, as well as satisfying the home needs of Rumania.
From the ratification of the treaty onward the army of occupation
shall be maintained at the expense of Rumania. A separate agreement
will be made with regard to the details of the transfer of the civil
administration, as well as with regard to the withdrawal of the
regulations of the occupation administration. Money spent by the
allied powers in the occupied territories on public works, including
industrial undertakings, shall be made good on their transfer. Until
the evacuation these undertakings shall remain under the military
administration.
Clause 6.--_Regulations regarding navigation on the Danube._
Article XXIV. Rumania shall conclude a new Danube Navigation act
with Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and Turkey, regulating the
legal position on the Danube from the point where it becomes
navigable, with due regard for the prescriptions subsequently set
forth under Sections A to D, and on conditions that the
prescriptions under Section B shall apply equally for all parties to
the Danube act. Negotiations regarding the new Danube Navigation act
shall begin at Munich as soon as possible after the ratification of
the treaty.
The sections follow: (A) Under the name Danube Mouth Commission, the
European Danube Commission shall, under conditions subsequently set
forth, be maintained as a permanent institution, empowered with the
privileges and obligations hitherto appertaining to it for the river
from Braila downward, inclusive of this port. The conditions
referred to provide, among other things, that the commission shall
henceforth only comprise representatives of States situated on the
Danube or the European coasts of the Black Sea. The commission's
authority extends from Braila downward to the whole of the arms and
mouth of the Danube and adjoining parts of the Black Sea.
(B.) Rumania guarantees to the ships of the other contracting
parties free navigation on the Rumanian Danube, including the
harbors. Rumania shall levy no toll on ships or rafts of the
contracting parties and their cargoes merely for the navigation of
the river. Neither shall Rumania, in the future, levy on the river
any tolls, save those permitted by the new Danube Navigation act.
Section C provides for the abolition after the ratification of the
treaty of the Rumanian ad valorem duty of 1-1/2 per cent. on imports
and exports.
Articles XXV. and XXVI. deal with Danube questions and provide that
Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, Turkey, and Rumania are entitled
to maintain warships on the Danube, which may navigate down stream
to the sea and up stream as far as the upper frontier of Austria's
territory, but are forbidden intercourse with the shore of another
State or to put in there except under force majeure or with the
consent of the State.
The powers represented on the Danube Mouth Commission are entitled
to maintain two light warships each as guard ships at the mouth of
the Danube.
Article XXVII. provides equal rights for all religious
denominations, including Jews and Moslems, in Rumania, including the
right to establish private schools.
Article XXVIII. provides that diversity of religion does not affect
legal, political, or civil rights of the inhabitants, and, pending
ratification of the treaty, a decree will be proclaimed giving the
full rights of Rumanian subjects to all those, such as Jews, having
no nationality.
The remaining three articles provide that economic relations shall
be regulated by separate treaties, coming into operation at the same
time as the peace treaty. The same applies to the exchange of
prisoners.
THE KAISER EXULTS
Emperor William replied to Chancellor von Hertling's congratulations on
the conclusion of peace between Germany and Rumania with this message:
The termination of the state of war in the east fills me also with
proud joy and gratitude. Thanks to God's gracious help, the German
people, with never-failing patriotism, under brilliant military
leadership and with the assistance of strong diplomacy, are fighting
step by step for a happy future.
I can but convey my thanks on this occasion to you and also to
your collaborators. God will help us to pass through the struggle
which the hostile attitude of the powers, still under arms against
us, has forced us to continue and to conclude it victoriously for
the good of Germany and her allies.
Emperor William in a telegram to Dr. Richard von Kühlmann, the German
Secretary for Foreign Affairs, said:
The conclusion of peace with Rumania gives me an opportunity of
expressing my joyful satisfaction that peace has now been given to
the entire eastern front.
May rich blessings descend on the peoples concerned from the
resumption of peaceful labor to which they can now devote
themselves.
I thank you and your collaborators for the work done in loyal
co-operation with our allies, and I confer on you as a sign of my
appreciation the Order of the Royal Crown of the First Class.
Bessarabia Voluntarily United to Rumania
Count Czernin, the Austro-Hungarian Foreign Minister, during the
negotiations with Rumania explained in a public speech that Rumania
would be compensated for the loss of territory on the Transylvanian
border by taking the southern part of Bessarabia, the Russian province
bordering Rumania on the east. The southern part of Bessarabia, however,
has few Rumanians, while the northern part is largely populated by them.
Subsequent events have apparently changed the Austro-German plans, for
the whole of Bessarabia has voted almost unanimously for union with
Rumania. The event was officially announced at Washington on April 22
through the Rumanian Charge d'Affaires, N. H. Lahovary, as follows:
On April 9 the National Assembly of Bessarabia voted by 86 against
3 for union of Bessarabia to Rumania. The Rumanian Premier was then
at Kishinev (capital of Bessarabia) and took cognizance of the vote
amid enthusiastic acclamation and declared this union to be
definitive and indissoluble.
Bessarabian delegates went to Jassy on April 12 to present the
homage of the people of Bessarabia to their Majesties the King and
Queen of Rumania. A Te Deum was sung at the cathedral in the
presence of the royal family, the Government, and the Bessarabian
delegates. The Archbishop of Bessarabia was also there, having
taken the place next to the Metropolitan of Moldavia, who
celebrated the service.
After the ceremony was over a parade of the troops took place,
followed by a luncheon given at the royal palace in honor of the
Ministers of Bessarabia. His Majesty the King drank to the health
of the united Rumanian and Bessarabian people, after witnessing the
great historic event accomplished by the will of the people of
Bessarabia and proclaiming indissoluble the union of the ancient
province of the Moldavian crown to the mother country.
Bessarabia, according to Mr. Lahovary, has about 3,000,000 inhabitants,
and more than three-fourths of these are Rumanians. "Bessarabia," he
continued, "is one of the richest farm lands of what was formerly
Russia. The Bolsheviki ravaged it frightfully during the Winter months,
and the country was only saved by the Rumanian troops, who were called
in by the Bessarabians. Because of this help the Bolsheviki declared war
on Rumania, and there were violent clashes between the Bolshevist
brigands and Rumanian troops. Finally the latter ousted the Bolsheviki
and succeeded in restoring tranquillity, but only after the Bolsheviki
had committed most frightful outrages and pillaged the country. If
Rumania was obliged to make peace, it was due directly to the attitude
of the Bolsheviki toward Rumania."
The War and the Bagdad Railway
A Study by Dr. Morris Jastrow
_Professor of Semitic Languages in the University of Pennsylvania_
[From his book, "The War and the Bagdad Railway"]
_Germany's project of a railway from Berlin to Bagdad, now rivaled by a
new one from Berlin to Bombay via Russia, was one of the chief causes of
the war. It dates from 1888, when a syndicate of German and British
capital organized the Anatolian Railway, to be built from Haidar Pacha,
opposite Constantinople, to Angora--about 360 miles. The German members
later bought out the British interests. Further concessions were
obtained, but in 1898 a much more ambitious plan was brought forward by
the visit of the German Emperor to Sultan Abdul Hamid, and in 1899 the
general policy of a line across Asia Minor was announced. This line,
however, as a glance at the map will show, did not get beyond Angora;
Russia killed that phase of the project. The Bagdad Railway was then
organized in 1903, and obtained from Turkey an unprecedented concession
running southeastward to the Persian Gulf. Both England and France were
offered a minor share in the enterprise, but refused. The Germans thus
remained in full control, at the same time obtaining all the French
capital they needed through Swiss banks._
The Bagdad Railway has been a nightmare resting heavily on all Europe
for eighteen years--ever since the announcement in 1899 of the
concession granted to the Anatolian Railway Company. No step ever taken
by any European power anywhere has caused so much trouble, given rise to
so many complications, and has been such a constant menace to the peace
of the world. No European statesman to whom the destinies of his country
have been committed has rested easily in the presence of this spectre of
the twentieth century. In the last analysis the Bagdad Railway will be
found to be the largest single contributing factor in bringing on the
war, because through it more than through any other cause the mutual
distrust among European powers has been nurtured until the entire
atmosphere of international diplomacy became vitiated. The explanation
of this remarkable phenomenon, transforming what appeared on the surface
to be a magnificent commercial enterprise, with untold possibilities for
usefulness, into a veritable curse, an excrescence on the body politic
of Europe, is to be sought in the history of the highway through which
the railway passes. The control of this highway is the key to the
East--the Near and the Farther East as well. Such has been its rôle in
the past--such is its significance today. * * *
The most recent events are merely the repetition on a large scale of
such as took place thousands of years ago and at frequent intervals
since. The weapons have changed, new contestants have arisen to take the
place of civilizations that after serving their day faded out of sight,
but the issue has ever remained the same. We are confronted by that
issue today--the control of the highway that leads to the East. * * *
The decisive battlefields for the triumph of democracy are in the West,
but the decision for supremacy among European nations lies in the East.
The Bagdad Railway is the most recent act in a drama the beginnings of
which lie in the remote past. * * *
The course of events in the Near East since the entering wedge,
represented by Napoleon's expedition to Egypt, is to be interpreted as
the irresistible onslaught of the West to break down the barrier created
in 1453. As we survey the successive steps in this onslaught, the
struggle between France and England, culminating in the Convention of
1904, which gave France a dominant position in Morocco in return for
allowing England a free hand in Egypt, the attempts of France and Russia
to hedge in England in India, followed by England and Russia in dividing
up their "spheres of influence" in Persia, the commercial and railway
concessions secured by England, France, and Russia from Turkey, sinking
ever deeper into a slough of desperate weakness, we see how these
struggles, conventions, and partnerships all lead up to the dramatic
climax--the struggle for the historic highway which is the key to the
Near East. Its possession will mean in the future--as it always has in
the past--dominion over Syria, Mesopotamia, Egypt, and probably Arabia;
and the Near East points its finger directly toward the Farther East.
Under the modern symbol of railway control, Asia Minor, true to the
genius of its history, once more looms up as a momentous factor in the
world history. * * * The murder at Serajevo was merely the match applied
to the pile all ready to be kindled. * * *
[Illustration: MAP SHOWING THE COMPLETED AND PROJECTED SECTIONS OF THE
BAGDAD RAILWAY, THE GERMAN ENTERPRISE THAT FIGURED AMONG THE PRIMARY
CAUSES OF THE WAR]
Full credit should be given to the German brains in which this project
was hatched, and there is no reason to suspect that at the outset the
German capitalists who fathered the enterprise were actuated by any
other motive than the perfectly legitimate one to create a great avenue
of commerce. When, however, the German Government entered the field as
the backer and promoter of the scheme the political aspect of the
railroad was moved into the foreground, and that aspect has since
overshadowed the commercial one.