711.0012Anti-War/21: Telegram
The Secretary of State to the Ambassador in France (Herrick)81
179. Department’s 178, June 20, 5 p.m.82 Repeat below quoted note and draft treaty immediately to London as Department’s 156, Brussels as Department’s 30, Prague as Department’s 26, Berlin as Department’s 68, Dublin as Department’s 10, Rome as Department’s 70, Warsaw as Department’s 40.
Note begins:
“Excellency: It will be recalled that, pursuant to the understanding reached between the Government of France and the Government of the United States, the American Ambassadors at London, Berlin, Rome and Tokyo transmitted on April 13, 1928, to the Governments to which they were respectively accredited the text of M. Briand’s original proposal of June 20, 1927, together with copies of the notes subsequently exchanged by France and the [Page 91] United States on the subject of a multilateral treaty for the renunciation of war. At the same time the Government of the United States also submitted for consideration a preliminary draft of a treaty representing in a general way the form of treaty which it was prepared to sign, and inquired whether the Governments thus addressed were in a position to give favorable consideration thereto. The text of the identic notes of April 13, 1928, and a copy of the draft treaty transmitted therewith, were also brought to the attention of the Government of France by the American Ambassador at Paris.83
It will likewise be recalled that on April 20, 1928, the Government of the French Republic circulated among the other interested Governments, including the Government of the United States, an alternative draft treaty, and that in an address which he delivered on April 28, 1928, before the American Society of International Law, the Secretary of State of the United States explained fully the construction placed by my Government upon the treaty proposed by it, referring as follows to the six major considerations emphasized by France in its alternative draft treaty and prior diplomatic correspondence with my Government:
[For the text of the paragraphs here omitted, see the six points as contained in the Department’s telegram No. 118, April 23, 5 p.m., to the Ambassador in France, printed on page 34.]
The British, German, Italian and Japanese Governments have now replied to my Government’s notes of April 13, 1928, and the Governments of the British Dominions and of India have likewise replied to the invitations addressed to them on May 22, 1928, by my Government pursuant to the suggestion conveyed in the note of May 19, 1928, from His Majesty’s Government in Great Britain. None of these Governments has expressed any dissent from the above-quoted construction, and none has voiced the least disapproval of the principle underlying the proposal of the United States for the promotion of world peace. Neither has any of the replies received by the Government of the United States suggested any specific modification of the text of the draft treaty proposed by it on April 13, 1928, and my Government, for its part, remains convinced that no modification of the text of its proposal for a multilateral treaty for the renunciation of war is necessary to safeguard the legitimate interests of any nation. It believes that the right of self-defense is inherent in every sovereign state and implicit in every treaty. No specific reference to that inalienable attribute of sovereignty is therefore necessary or desirable. It is no less evident that resort to war in violation of the proposed treaty by one of the parties thereto would release the other parties from their obligations under the treaty towards the belligerent state. This principle is well recognized. So far as the Locarno treaties are concerned, my Government has felt from the very first that participation in the anti-war treaty by the powers which signed the Locarno agreements, either through signature in the first instance or thereafter, would meet every practical requirement of the situation, since in such event no state could resort to war in violation of the Locarno treaties without simultaneously violating the anti-war treaty, thus leaving the other parties thereto free, so [Page 92] far as the treaty-breaking state is concerned. As Your Excellency knows, the Government of the United States has welcomed the idea that all parties to the Treaties of Locarno should be among the original signatories of the proposed treaty for the renunciation of war and provision therefor has been made in the draft treaty which I have the honor to transmit herewith. The same procedure would cover the treaties guaranteeing neutrality to which the Government of France has referred. Adherence to the proposed treaty by all parties to these other treaties would completely safeguard their rights since subsequent resort to war by any of them or by any party to the anti-war treaty would violate the latter treaty as well as the neutrality treaty, and thus leave the other parties to the anti-war treaty free, so far as the treaty-breaking state is concerned. My Government would be entirely willing, however, to agree that the parties to such neutrality treaties should be original signatories of the multilateral anti-war treaty, and it has no reason to believe that such an arrangement would meet with any objection on the part of the other Governments now concerned in the present negotiations.
While my Government is satisfied that the draft treaty proposed by it on April 13, 1928, could be properly accepted by the Powers of the world without change except for including among the original signatories the British Dominions, India, all parties to the treaties of Locarno and, it may be, all parties to the neutrality treaties mentioned by the Government of France, it has no desire to delay or complicate the present negotiations by rigidly adhering to the precise phraseology of that draft particularly since it appears that by modifying the draft in form though not in substance, the points raised by other Governments can be satisfactorily met and general agreement upon the text of the treaty to be signed be promptly reached. The Government of the United States has therefore decided to submit to the fourteen other Governments now concerned in these negotiations a revised draft of a multilateral treaty for the renunciation of war. The text of this revised draft is identical with that of the draft proposed by the United States on April 13, 1928, except that the Preamble now provides that the British Dominions, India and all parties to the Treaties of Locarno are to be included among the Powers called upon to sign the treaty in the first instance, and except that the first three paragraphs of the Preamble have been changed to read as follows:
‘Deeply sensible of their solemn duty to promote the welfare of mankind;
Persuaded that the time has come when a frank renunciation of war as an instrument of national policy should be made to the end that the peaceful and friendly relations now existing between their peoples may be perpetuated;
Convinced that all changes in their relations with one another should be sought only by pacific means and be the result of a peaceful and orderly process, and that any signatory Power which shall hereafter seek to promote its national interests by resort to war should be denied the benefits furnished by this treaty;’
The revised Preamble thus gives express recognition to the principle that if a state resorts to war in violation of the treaty, the other contracting parties are released from their obligations under the treaty to that state; it also provides for participation in the treaty by all parties to the treaties of Locarno, thus making it certain that resort to war in violation of the Locarno treaties would also violate the present treaty and release not only the other signatories of the Locarno [Page 93] treaties but also the other signatories to the anti-war treaty from their obligations to the treaty-breaking state. Moreover, as stated above, my Government would be willing to have included among the original signatories the parties to the neutrality treaties referred to by the Government of the French Republic, although it believes that the interests of those states would be adequately safeguarded if, instead of signing in the first instance, they should choose to adhere to the treaty.
In these circumstances I have the honor to transmit herewith for the consideration of Your Excellency’s Government a draft of a multilateral treaty for the renunciation of war containing the changes outlined above. I have been instructed to state in this connection that the Government of the United States is ready to sign at once a treaty in the form herein proposed, and to express the fervent hope that the Government of (insert name of Government addressed) will be able promptly to indicate its readiness to accept, without qualification or reservation, the form of treaty now suggested by the United States. If the Governments of Australia, Belgium, Canada, Czechoslovakia, France, Germany, Great Britain, India, the Irish Free State, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Poland, South Africa and the United States can now agree to conclude this anti-war treaty among themselves, my Government is confident that the other nations of the world will, as soon as the treaty comes into force, gladly adhere thereto, and that this simple procedure will bring mankind’s agelong aspirations for universal peace nearer to practical fulfillment than ever before in the history of the world.
I have the honor to state in conclusion that the Government of the United States would be pleased to be informed at as early a date as may be convenient whether Your Excellency’s Government is willing to join with the United States and other similarly disposed Governments in signing a definitive treaty for the renunciation of war in the form transmitted herewith.
Accept, Excellency, etc.” Note ends.
Text of draft treaty to be transmitted with above note. Treaty begins:
“The President of the United States of America
The President of the French Republic
His Majesty the King of the Belgians
The President of the Czechoslovak Republic
His Majesty the King of Great Britain, Ireland and the British Dominions beyond the Seas, Emperor of India,
The President of the German Reich
His Majesty the King of Italy
His Majesty the Emperor of Japan
The President of the Republic of Poland
Deeply sensible of their solemn duty to promote the welfare of mankind;
Persuaded that the time has come when a frank renunciation of war as an instrument of national policy should be made to the end that the peaceful and friendly relations now existing between their peoples may be perpetuated.
[Page 94]Convinced that all changes in their relations with one another should be sought only by pacific means and be the result of a peaceful and orderly process, and that any signatory Power which shall hereafter seek to promote its national interests by resort to war should be denied the benefits furnished by this treaty;
Hopeful that, encouraged by their example, all the other nations of the world will join in this humane endeavor and by adhering to the present treaty as soon as it comes into force bring their peoples within the scope of its beneficient provisions, thus uniting the civilized nations of the world in a common renunciation of war as an instrument of their national policy;
Have decided to conclude a treaty and for that purpose have appointed as their respective Plenipotentiaries:
- The President of the United States of
America
. . . . . . . - The President of the French Republic
. . . . . . . - His Majesty the King of the Belgians
. . . . . . . - The President of the Czechoslovak Republic
. . . . . . . - His Majesty the King of Great Britain, Ireland and
the British Dominions beyond the Seas, Emperor of
India
- For Great Britain and Northern Ireland and
all parts of the British Empire which are not
separate members of the League of Nations
. . . . . . . - For the Dominion of Canada
. . . . . . . - For the Commonwealth of Australia
. . . . . . . - For the Dominion of New Zealand
. . . . . . . - For the Union of South Africa
. . . . . . . - For the Irish Free State
. . . . . . . - For India
. . . . . . .
- For Great Britain and Northern Ireland and
all parts of the British Empire which are not
separate members of the League of Nations
- The President of the German Reich
. . . . . . . - His Majesty the King of Italy
. . . . . . . - His Majesty the Emperor of Japan
. . . . . . . - The President of the Republic of Poland
. . . . . . .
who, having communicated to one another their full powers found in good and due form have agreed upon the following articles:
Article I
The High Contracting Parties solemnly declare in the names of their respective peoples that they condemn recourse to war for the [Page 95] solution of international controversies, and renounce it as an instrument of national policy in their relations with one another.
Article II
The High Contracting Parties agree that the settlement or solution of all disputes or conflicts of whatever nature or of whatever origin they may be, which may arise among them, shall never be sought except by pacific means.
Article III
The present treaty shall be ratified by the High Contracting Parties named in the Preamble in accordance with their respective constitutional requirements, and shall take effect as between them as soon as all their several instruments of ratification shall have been deposited at . . . . . . .
This treaty shall, when it has come into effect as prescribed in the preceding paragraph, remain open as long as may be necessary for adherence by all the other Powers of the world. Every instrument evidencing the adherence of a Power shall be deposited at . . . . . . . and the treaty shall immediately upon such deposit become effective as between the Power thus adhering and the other Powers parties hereto.
It shall be the duty of the Government of . . . . . . . to furnish each Government named in the Preamble and every Government subsequently adhering to this treaty with a certified copy of the treaty and of every instrument of ratification or adherence. It shall also be the duty of the Government of . . . . . . . telegraphically to notify such Governments immediately upon the deposit with it of each instrument of ratification or adherence.
In faith whereof the respective Plenipotentiaries have signed this treaty in the French and English languages both texts having equal force, and hereunto affix their seals.
Done at . . . . . . . the . . . . . . . day of . . . . . . . in the year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred and twenty . . . . . . .”. Treaty ends.
See first paragraph for instructions to repeat to Great Britain (No. 156), Belgium (No. 30), Czechoslovakia (No. 26), Germany (No. 68), Irish Free State (No. 10), Italy (No. 70), and Poland (No. 40); text of note and draft treaty also telegraphed to Japan (No. 68).
In accordance with instruction of June 22, 6 p.m. (711.5112France/344), the note contained in this telegram was dated June 23, and was delivered with the text of the draft treaty to the respective Foreign Offices on that day.
↩- Not printed.↩
- See telegram No. 101, Apr. 9, 5 p.m., to the Ambassador in France, p. 21.↩