21,136,265 tons out of a total of 28,607,903 tons. The loss of iron-ore in respect of Upper Silesia is insignificant. The exclusion of the iron and steel of Luxembourg from the German Customs Union is, however, important, especially when this loss is added to that of Alsace-Lorraine. It may be added in passing that Upper Silesia includes 75 percent of the zinc production of Germany. ↩
In April, 1919, the British Ministry of Munitions despatched an expert Commission to examine the conditions of the iron and steel works in Lorraine and the occupied areas of Germany. The Report states that the iron and steel works in Lorraine, and to a lesser extent in the Saar Valley, are dependent on supplies of coal and coke from Westphalia. It is necessary to mix Westphalian coal with Saar coal to obtain a good furnace coke. The entire dependence of all the Lorraine iron and steel works upon Germany for fuel supplies “places them,” says the Report, “in a very unenviable position.” ↩
Arts. 264, 265, 266, and 267. These provisions can only be extended beyond five years by the Council of the League of Nations. ↩
Art. 268 (a). ↩
Art. 268 (b) and (c). ↩
The Grand Duchy is also deneutralized and Germany binds herself to “accept in advance all international arrangements which may be concluded by the Allied and Associated Powers relating to the Grand Duchy” (Art. 40). At the end of September, 1919, a plebiscite was held to determine whether Luxembourg should join the French or the Belgian Customs Union, which decided by a substantial majority in favour of the former. The third alternative of the maintenance of the union with Germany was not left open to the electorate. ↩
Art. 269. ↩
Art. 270. ↩
The occupation provisions may be conveniently summarized at this point. German territory situated west of the Rhine, together with the bridgeheads, is subject to occupation for a period of fifteen years (Art. 428). If, however, “the conditions of the present Treaty are faithfully carried out by Germany,” the Cologne district will be evacuated after five years, and the Coblenz district after ten years (Art. 429). It is, however, further provided that if at the expiration of fifteen years “the guarantees against unprovoked aggression by Germany are not considered sufficient by the Allied and Associated Governments, the evacuation of the occupying troops may be delayed to the extent regarded as necessary for the purpose of obtaining the required guarantees” (Art. 429); and also that “in case either during the occupation or after the expiration of the fifteen years, the Reparation Commission finds that Germany refuses to observe the whole or part of her obligations under the present Treaty with regard to Reparation, the whole or part of the areas specified in Article 429 will be reoccupied immediately by the Allied and Associated Powers” (Art. 430). Since it will be impossible for Germany to fulfil the whole of her Reparation obligations, the effect of the above provisions will be in practice that the Allies will occupy the left bank of the Rhine just so long as they choose. They will also govern it in such manner as they may determine (e.g. not only as regards customs, but such matters as the respective authority of the local German representatives and the Allied Governing Commission), since “all matters relating to the occupation and not provided for by the present Treaty shall be regulated by subsequent agreements, which Germany hereby undertakes to observe” (Art. 432). The actual Agreement under which the occupied areas are to be administered for the present has been published as a White Paper [Cd. 222]. The supreme authority is to be in the hands of an Inter-Allied Rhineland Commission, consisting of a Belgian, a French, a British, and an American member. The articles of this Agreement are very fairly and reasonably drawn. ↩
Art. 365. After five years this Article is subject to revision by the Council of the League of Nations. ↩
The German Government withdrew, as from September 1, 1919, all preferential railway tariffs for the export of iron and steel goods, on the ground that these privileges would have been more than counterbalanced by the corresponding privileges which, under this Article of the Treaty, they would have been forced to give to Allied traders. ↩
Art. 367. ↩
Questions of interpretation and application are to be referred to the League of Nations (Art. 376). ↩
Art. 250. ↩
Art. 371. This provision is even applied “to the lines of former Russian Poland converted by Germany to the German gage, such lines being regarded as detached from the Prussian State System.” ↩
Arts. 332–337. Exception may be taken, however, to the second paragraph of Art. 332, which allows the vessels of other nations to trade between German towns but forbids German vessels to trade between non-German towns except with special permission; and Art. 333, which prohibits Germany from making use of her river system as a source of revenue, may be injudicious. ↩
The Niemen and the Moselle are to be similarly treated at a later date if required. ↩
Art. 338. ↩
Art. 344. This is with particular reference to the Elbe and the Oder; the Danube and the Rhine are dealt with in relation to the existing Commissions. ↩
Art. 339. ↩
Art. 357. ↩
Art. 358. Germany is, however, to be
