DEMILITARIZED ZONES.
Emphasis is laid by the Protocol on the creation and maintenance of
demilitarized zones along frontiers. Article 9 of the Protocol treats
of such zones, and their violation is, by Article 10 made the
equivalent of a resort to war.
Any question of the real value, in the strict military sense, of
agreements for demilitarized zones, may be left at one side.
Undoubtedly, expert opinions differ in this matter. At least it may be
said that such agreements have a value in the realm of feeling, which
is as much a reality in international affairs as is a fleet of
battleships.
If countries feel more secure because of the creation of such zones,
certainly agreements regarding them are worth while on each side of a
frontier.
As mentioned above, the question of demilitarized zones will certainly
be one of the items of the agenda of the Conference on Disarmament.
There are quite a number of precedents for the creation of such zones
in recent international agreements. For example, the Treaty of
Versailles[1] creates a demilitarized zone for fifty kilometres east of
the Rhine. The Aaland Islands were demilitarized by the Treaty[2]
which attributed them to Finland; and the Treaty of Lausanne[3] creates
certain demilitarized zones, not only on each side of the Straits, but
also in Western Thrace.
It is such agreements as these that are referred to in Article 9 of the
Protocol as those "already existing under the terms of certain
treaties." It is these zones, and others which may be established by
consent of the neighboring States, which, according to Article 9, may
be placed under a system of supervision by the League, either temporary
or permanent. Obviously, any such supervision would come about by
means of the voluntary agreement of the States concerned; and, in view
of the fact that the Protocol makes a violation of a demilitarized zone
the {102} equivalent of a resort to war (Article 10), supervision by
the League of the carrying out of these essential agreements would seem
to be highly desirable.
Indeed, it may be said here that it will almost certainly be found that
a system of international inspection will inevitably be a part of
agreements for the reduction and limitation of armaments. A system of
general international inspection was suggested as one of the parts of
the so-called American Plan,[4] and the proposal for a system of
supervision of demilitarized zones under the League of Nations is a
part of that general idea.
I do not think it should be lost sight of that the thought of certain
places where violence is forbidden has roots which go far back in human
history. The idea of "sanctuary" is as old as any records that we
have; and, if it be thought that I am going very far afield in speaking
of sanctuary, I mention that the legal development of this general
notion is a very early development. At least as long ago as
Anglo-Saxon law in England, it was a peculiarly heinous offence to
commit a crime on the King's Highway. It was a much more serious
matter to break the peace there than elsewhere, because it was a breach
of the King's peace; and this notion of the King's peace is said by
high authority to be as old as the Salic Law.
We have heard much in the past of strategic frontiers. A great deal of
ability and learning have been devoted toward the problem of making
frontiers available for attack or for defence. It is perhaps true, as
some critics appear to think, that the development of war in the air
and of chemical warfare has made questions of strategic frontiers in
general less important than heretofore. Perhaps that is so. I
suggest, however, that even if it is so, that same ability and learning
may be able to find in a combination of the ideas of demilitarized
zones and international supervision a real solution of the problems
arising from these new methods and discoveries; and, as I have pointed
out, there is a very ancient human feeling behind this whole idea of
peaceful places, on which popular support for such a programme may be
based.
[1] Articles 42 to 44.
[2] A. J. I. L. Supplement 1923, Vol. XVII, p. 1.
[3] A. J. I. L., Vol. XVIII, January, 1924, pp. 58, 63.
[4] Annex F, p. 263.
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