UC-NRLF ri^a:;'^.j'j"A:;^^>fe^-t^-Vj'x'. THE TRUTH ABOUT THE "SECRET TREATIES" By C. A. MCCURDY, M.P. PRICE THREEPENCE W. H. Smith & Son 186, Strand, London, W.C. THE TRUTH ABOUT THE "SECRET TREATIES" By C. A. MCCURDY, 1VI.P. W. H. SniitI, & Scm 186, Strand, Lonrlon, W.CL liar BY THE SAME AUTHOR: \ TO RESTORE THE TEN COMMANDMENTS. WAR AIMS OF BRITISH PEOPLE A CLEAN PEACE. GUILTY! PRINCE LICHNOWSKY'S DISCLOSURES. The Truth about the " Secret Treaties." TNTRODUCTTON. rN Novembor, 1917, a Russian newspaper, the Tzvestiyay published, by the authority of M. Trotzky, certain documents said to have been found by the Bolshevik Government among the archives of the Russian Foreign Office. Whether they are accurate or authentic we do not know. They are certainly interesting. In publishing them M. Trotzky said : Bourgeois pohticians and journalists of Ciemiany and Austria- Hungary may endeavour to profit by these documents in order to represent in a favourable light the diplomacy of the Central Empires. But every effort in this direction would be doomed to failure for two reasons. In the first place, we intend shortlj^ to put before the public secret documents which wiU show up clearly the diplomacy of the Central Empires. In the second place — and this is the chief point — the methods of secret diplomacy are just as international as Imperialist rapacity. When the (ierman proletariat by revolutionary mearts gets access to the secrets of its government chancelleries it will produce from them documents of just the same nature as those which we are now publishing. It is to be hoi:)ed that this will happen as soon as possible. It is a matter for regret that M. Trotzky has not yet fulfilled his friendly ]Dromise to show up the diplomacy of the Central Powers. Possibly the Peace of Brest-Litovsk has convinced him that the perfidy and brutality of German diplomacy need no further expoaui'e. A 2 . , Mtyu^055 4 tNtRODUCTlON. The Bolshevik leader at the same time made some severe comments on the " secret diplomacy " of " capitalist govern- ments," and declared that : To abolish secret diplomacy is the first condition of an honour- able, popular, and really democratic foreign policy. The Soviet Government makes the introduction of such a policy its object. On this point we find ourselves in agreement with M. Trotzky. Prince Lichnowsky has given a testimonial to British practice in this matter. " It is contrary," he says, '' to the established principles of British diplomacy to conceal binding agreements," and the German Ambassador's memoirs show how firmly the British Government adhered to those principles in their negotiations with Germany in 1913. But we must not overlook the fact that the Allies cannot abolish secret diplomacy by merely publishing their own treaties. To abolish secret diplomacy effectively, Europe must first get rid of autocratic rulers. We can never prevent the German Emperor from making private arrangements with the Emperor Karl or with any other autocratic monarch, and no one has ever suggested that we should try. So long as the democracies are troubled with militarist and autocratic neighbours it may not always be desirable, even in times of peace, to let those neighbours know everything that passes between London and Paris or between London and Washington, and most people will agree that in times of war some secrecy among friends may certainly be excused We cannot be expected to tell our enemies the terms of agreements made for the purposes of the war^ or to publish all our intimate discussions with our Allies. Such agreements and discussions are naturally kept secret, not froin a sense of guilt, but as a matter of common sense, just as a prudent business man, for similar reasons, declines to publish to his competitors the contracts which he makes in the course of his business. Secrecy, whether in private or public, is not necessarily a crime : it is sometimes a duty, especially in time of war, and in reading the documents published by M. Trotzky it INTRODUCTION. 5 should first of all be noted that they are all dated during the period of the war. Only one of them purports to be a copy of an actual Treaty affecting Great Britain or the Allies generally, and that is the agreement (if it be accurately stated) by which Italy became our Ally for the purposes of the war. Some of the documents are records of conversations, of pro- posals and suggestions, rather than of actual definite agreements. For example, the first of these documents begins : At the forthcoming conference you may be guided by the following general principles. It is not a treaty or an agreement at all — it is not even a record of a fixed settled purpose. It is a statement of principles to be used for guidance at some future Conference of Peace, and in the same document, lower down, we find this illuminating remark : All suggestions for the future delimitation of Central Europe are at present premature. This is one of the documents which has been put forward as proving the existence of a secret treaty between France and Russia for the extension of the boundaries of France at the expense of Germany. So far as it proves anything, it proves exactly the reverse. " All suggestions for the future delimitation of Central Europe are at present premature." It makes it clear that nothing in the nature of a treaty to fix Germany's frontiers was then intended. It is therefore obviously unfair to refer to this document as a '■ secret treaty," or to suggest that the Allies are thereby in any way debarred from considering other proposals for a just settlement of the matters discussed. Soiiir 1.1 iht' proposals which appear to have been discussed in 191 j and 1916 are now shown to be impracticable by the stern logic of events, by the unexpected course of aft'airs in Russia ; others air n(» doubt open to fair criticism. It would be difficult to make any proposal that would command universal assent. But the reader will judge for himself whether there is any shadow of excuse for the suggestion which has been made by pa; ifist critics 6 INTRODUCTION. that because these discussions were secret they were therefore shameful, or for pretending that they disclose unworthy or improper aims or constitute an obstacle to a just and honourable peace. To add interest to M. Trotzky's somewhat jejune disclosures, I have added some reference to actual secret treaties contracted by Germany in the last four years, and a detailed account of the agreement made on July 5, 1914, in secret council at Berlin, when under the presidency of the Kaiser in person the military and political chiefs of Germany and Austria fixed the date and engineered the outbreak of the present war. German diplomacy has always been remarkable for the secrecy with which it has made, and the skill with which it has concealed, its treaties with other Powers. The history of the Triple Alliance is one of the most interesting chapters in the history of secret diplomacy. Its full purpose and intent have never been disclosed. For thirty-three years Eoumania was bound to Germany by a secret treaty concluded in September, 1883, between Bismarck and Count Kalnoky, then Prime Minister of Roumania The feelings of the R')umanian people to the Austrian oppressors of their kith and kin made it impossible for the Roumanian Govern- ment ever to disclose that betrayal of the national interests to which the Roumanian Government was compelled by German pressure, and it is said that when King Carol sought to bring Roumania into this war on the side of Germany in August, 1914, and, to support his case, spread the secret treaty on the table, there were only five persons out of many Ministers and ex-Ministers then present who were informed of its contents. And there are more recent examples When Germany granted Bulgaria a loan in the spring of 1915 it is safe to assume that it was not granted except for value received. There was at least as early as February, 1915, a secret understanding between Ferdinand of Bulgaria and the Central Powers. A few months later, through Germany's kind offices, a secret treaty was concluded between Bulgaria and Turkey, by which Bulgaria FNTRODUCTION. 7 received Turkish territories on the right bank of the Maritsa ; and in return agreed to take part in the war. The secret treaty between Germany and Bulgaria is still a secret, but both the German and Bulgarian Governments have frf>m time to time made references to it. It exists. And one of its terms provides for the recompense of Bulgaria by large territories, of which Serbia is to be despoiled. Germany does not pay much more respect, however, to secret treaties than to those openly made before the world. She is now said to be encouraging the Turks to demand back from Bulgaria the secret price in land which Bulgaria was to get for entering the war, and some further light on the tortuous diplomacy of Germany at the Court of King Constantine will appear in the telegrams which are set out in these pages. It is a surprising and significant fact that the critics in this country who have spoken or written about " secret diplomacy " and the so-called " secret treaties " mostly confine themselves to M. Trotzky's meagre revelations, and leave the rich fiells of the secret diplomacy and secret treaties of Germany unexplorcvl. I cannot understand those critics who so severely blame Great Britain for not at once publishing an agreement made in the course of the war, but find no word of blame for the secret agr< e- nient by which Germany deliberately brought the war into being. They strain at a gnat but complacently swallow a camel. If we really desire to abolish secret diplomacy we must be prepared to pay the price — we must first conquer and destroy the military autocracy of the Central Powers. So long as the autocrats remain secret diplomacy remains, and it is no use pretending otherwise. When the forces of militarism and autocracy are finally overthrown, then, and then only, shall we be able to unite all peoples in open and mutual covenants of peace — and make 'democratic control of foreign affairs" a real guarantee of future peace Charles A. M Curdy. House of Commons, S.W. THE "SECRET TREATIES." I.— ALSACE-LORRAINE AND THE PROTECTION OF BELGIUM. An interesting series of telegrams published by the Manrhester Guardian on December 12, 1917, refers to a proposal put forward by M. Doumergue, the Radical Socialist Ambassador of France to Russia, for the restoration to France of an enlarged Alsace-Lorraine and the formation of a buffer state on the west of the Rhine for the protection of Belgium and France. The proposal appears to have met with the approval of the Tsar, but it was never discussed with the British Government, and it is doubtful whether it ever represented a definite policy on the part of any French Government. The proposal was apparently intended to form part of an offer of peace by France (" the Government of the Republic is contemplating the inclusion in the terms- of peace to he offered to Germany, of the following demands "), and in that event France might naturally put forward a suggestion, not as a term to be insisted on, but in the hope of getting a favourable counter proposal. Mr. Balfour, in the House of Commons on December 19, 1917, referring to this proposal for a buffer state, said categorically : We have never expressed our approval of it, nor do I believe it represents the policy of successive French CJovemments who have held office during the war. Never did we desire and never did we encourage the idea. The question of Alsace-Lorraine has got to be settled somehow. The Inter-Allied Labour and Socialist Conference held in London on February 23, 1918, declared that The problon of Alsace-Lorraine is one of right. . . . The new Treaty of Peace . . . will make null and void the gains of a brutal conquest and of the violence committed against the people. THE TRUTH ABOUT THE "SECRET TREATIES." 9 No one would suggest that the French are not entitled to recover their stolen provinces, and an enlargement of the boundaries of a restored Alsace and Lorraine could hardly be (loomed an oxopssive compensation for forty years^ enjoyment of stuhn jjioji'ity, while the idea of a buffer state to include the Saar Valloy and all the territory west of the Rhine is one which Bejoiimi may well regard as essential to her security, if no otiV'ct ivo Loague of Nations can be formed to make her safe from future (.Terinan aggressions. In considering the wisdom or unwisdom of this suggestion "that in future the River Rhine anight form a permanent strategical frontier against a German incasion,'" we must remember that France and Belgium alike are entitled to security, and that unless the military power of Germany is sensibly weakened, or held in check, they can only look for that security to the old devices of statesmanship — strategic frontiers, buffer states, and protecting alliances. If, at the Peace (,'onference, Belgium were to ask for the protection of a buffer state against the menace of German Kultur and German militarism, we might think that she was mistaken in her judgment, as to what form of protection would be most effective; but there is nothing she could ask for at the expense of Germany, which would be adequate to compen- sate her for the robberies and murder, the misery, material and spiritual^ which she has suffered at the hands of Germany in the last four years. Either Belgium or France might with justice ask for much more than the proposal that was suggested by M. Doumergue. Some pacifist writers criticise this proposal on the ground that Lorraine contains valuable iron ores which Germany needs for making war But that seems an insufficient ground fbr leaving Germany in possession of '' the gains of a brutal conquest," and perpetuating the wrong done to the Zabernized and consctipted peoples of Alsace and Lorraine. 10 THE TRUTH ABOUT THE " SECRET TREATIES." ALSACE-LORRAINE AND THE PROTECTION OF BELGIUxM. The Boundary of the R'iine. From a confidential telegram from 31. Sa~o naff {Russian Foreign Minister) to the Russian Ambassador in Fari.^, March 9 {Feb. 24 Old Style), 1916, No. 948. At the forthcoming Conference you may be guided by the following general principles ;— The political agreements concluded between the Allies during the war must remain intact, and are not subject to revision. They include the agreement with France and England on Constantinople, the Straits, Syria, and Asia Minor, and also the London treaty with Italy. All suggestions for the future delimitation of Central Europe are at present premature, but in general one must bear in mind that we are prepared to allow France and England complete freedom in drawing up the western frontiers of Germany, in the expectation that the Allies on their part would allow us equal freedom in drawing up our frontiers with Germany and Austria. It is particularly necessary to insist on the exclusion of the Polish question from the subjects of inter- national discussion and on the elimination of all attempts to place the future of Poland under the guarantee and the control of the Powers. — {Manchester Guardian, December 12, 1917.) From a confidential telegram from the Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs {M. PoTcrovsky) to the Russian Ambassador at Paris, February 12, 1917. M. Doumergue submitted to the Emperor the desire of France to secure for herself at the end of the present war the restoration of Alsace- Lorraine and a special position in the valley of the River Saar, as well as to attain the political separation from Germany of her trans-Rhenish districts and their organisation on a separate basis in order that in future the River Rhine might form a permanent strategical frontier against a Germanic invasion. Doumergue expressed the hope that the Imperial Government would not refuse immediately to draw up its assent to these suggestions in a formal manner. His Imperial Majesty was pleased to agree to this in principle, in conse- quence of which I requested Doumergue, after communicating with his Government, to let me have the draft of an agreement, which would then be given a formal sanction by an exchange of Notes between the French Ambassador and myself. Proceeding thus to meet the wishes of our ally, I nevertheless consider it my duty to recall the standpoint put forward by the Imperial Government in the telegram of February 24, 1916, No. 948, to the effect that, " while allow- ing iVance and England complete liberty in delimiting the western frontiers of Germany, we expect that the AUios on their part will give us equal liberty in delimiting our frontiers with Germany and Austria- Hungary." Hence the impending exchange of Notes on the question raised by Dou- mergue will justify us in asking the French Government simultaneously to confirm its assent to allowing Russia freedom of action in diawiug up her fatoie frontiers in the west. THE TRUTH ABOUT THE " SECRET TREATIES." 11 A^o/c of the Russian Minister for Foreign Affairs of February 14, 1917, No. 26, addressed to the French Awhassador at Petrograd : — In your Note of to-day's date your Excellency was good enough to inform the Imperial Government that the Government of the Republic was fontomplating the inclusion in the terms of peace to be offered to Germany of the following demands and guarantees of a territorial nature : — - (1) Alsace-Lorraine to be restored to France. (2) The frontiers are to bo extended at least up to the limits of the former principality of Lorraine, and are to be drawn up at the discretion of the French Government so as to provide for the strategical needs and for the inclusion in French territory of the entire iron district of Lorraine and of the entire coal district of the Saar valley. (3) The rest of the territories situated on the left bank of the Rhine which now form part of the German Empire are to be entirely separated from Germany and freed from all political and economic dependence upon her. (4) The territories of the left bank of the Rhine outside French territory are to be constituted an autonomous and neutral State, and are to be occupied by French troops until such time as the enemy States have completely satisfied all the conditions and guarantees indicated in the treaty of peace. Your Excellency stated that the Government of the Republic would be happy to be able to rely upon the support of the Imperial Government for the carrying out of its plans. By order of his Imperial Majesty, my most august master, 1 have the honour, in the name of the Russian Govern- ment, to inform your Excellency by the present Note that the Government of the Republic may rely upon the support of the Imperial Government for the carrying out of its plans as set out above. — (Manchester Guardian , December 12, 1917.) Telegram from the Bussiati Ambassador in Paris, March 11, 1917, No. 168. See my reply to telegram No. 167, No. 2. The Government of the French Republic, anxious to confirm the importance of the treaties con- cluded with the Russian Government in 1916 for the settlement on the termination of the war of the question of Constantinople and the Straits in accordance with Russia's aspirations, anxious, on the other hand, to secure for its ally ih military and industrial respects all the guarantees desirable for the safety and the economic development of the Empire recognises Rusvsia's complete liberty in establishing her western frontiers. (Signed) Isvolsky. — {Manrhrstrr Guardian, December 12, 1917.) II.— TURKEY AND THE TURKISH PROVINCES. Of all the alleged secret documents published by the Bolsheviks those relating to the future of the Turkish Empire appear to cause most concern to pacifist critics. They are distressed that the Allies should wish to disturb the Sultan and his Pashas in their government or dispossess them of their lands. 12 THE TRUTH ABOUT THE "SECRET TREATIES." If these documents are correct it will be clear that in 1915 the Allies were prepared in earnest to adopt Mr. Gladstone's policy and clear the Turk " bag and baggage out of Europe," and that in the spring of 1916 they had come to a definite conclusion that the Turks must have no further opportunity to rape and massacre in their Asiatic provinces. It was a decision which ought to have been taken at least three centuries ago. The sum of human misery that would have been saved is beyond all calculation. So far as the pacifist critics of these documents are concerned Armenians, Syrians, and Arabs do not appear to exist. They never refer to them at all. For these critics Armenia is merely a place which contains '' valuable deposits of copper, silver, and salt." In Cilicia " there are considerations far more important than mere people. There is wheat in the valleys, and there are vines on the hillsides. And beneath the surface there is iron and lead and prospects of who knows what mineral wealth." In Mesopotamia " there is oil " And so the documents are said to disclose the shameful and predatory purpose of robbing the Turk of all these rich and profitable territories. A hundred thousand corpses lie festering in the plains, the hills are white with the bones of slaughtered Christians, and our British pacifists can see in a proposal to end the murderous tyranny of the Turk only predatory, imperialistic, and annexa- tionist aims. Such strange forms may a love of peace assume ! When the European war broke out the Government of Turkey was in the hands of a small gang of unscrupulous ruffians who called themselves the " Committee of Union and Progress." Three days later they had made a secret alliance with Germany, and as soon as the Dardanelles Expedition had failed, feeling secure under the protection of their German Allies, they began the deliberate execution of the greatest crime which history records. THE TRUTH ABOUT THE " SECRET TREATIES." 13 First of all they disarmed the Armenian population, and then issued orders to the local governors for their wholesale massacre. For months the killing proceeded. Armenians were collected in barns and burnt to death ; Armenian men, women, and children were driven into the desert to die ; Armenians were taken in shiploads to sea, and there drowned like dogs ; Armenians were led in batches to the shambles to be killed by the knife. The whole Armenian population was seized. The younger women were sold by auction or taken by the officials for their harems. Nearly a million men, women, and children perished in that sickening massacre by the orders of the Turkish Government, with the connivance of the German Government, without any protest from the German people. Never did any diplomatic documents disclose a more righteous and holy purpose than these documents which disclose the intention of the Allies in 1915 and 1916 to make an end once and for all of that vice-regency of Hell which is known as the Turkish Empire. TURKEY AND THE TURKISH PROVINCES. From an undated Memorandum forming one of a series of Russian diplomatic documents published by the " IzveHiya " on Noremher 23, 1917. On March 4, 1915, a Memorandum was handed by the Minist.r for Foreign Affairs to the French and J^ritish Ambassadors, in which was sel^ forth the desire for the anne.xation, as a result of the present war, of*the following territories : — The town of (Constantinople, the western shores of the Bosphor«gs, of the Sea of Marmora, and of the Dardanelles, Southern Thrace, up to the line of Enos-Midia, the shores of Asia Minor between the Bosphonis, the River Sakaria, and some point on the (iulf of Izmid, which was reserved for closer definition, the Islands of the vSea of Marmora, and the Islands of Imbros and Tenedos. The special rights of France and England within the limits of these territories were not to be infringed. The British as well as the French ( Jovernment declared their consent to the fulfilment of our wishes, on the condition of a successful conclusion of the war, and of the fulfilment of a series of French and English claims, both within the Umits of the Ottoman Empire and elsewhere. These claims, as far as they concern Turkey, may be summarised as follows : — The recognition of Constantinople as a free port for the transit of merchandise not coming from Russia nor going into Russia, and the free transit of merchant ships through the Straits. The recognition of certain rights of England and France in Asiatic Turkey, which rights are reserved for more precise definition by means of a special agreement between France, England, and Russia. 14 THE TRUTH ABOUT THE " SECRET TREATIES." The placing of the sacred Mussulman places and Arabia under an independent Mussulman rule. The inclusion within the English sphere of influence of the neutral zone of Persia (as established by the agreement between England and Russia in 1907). Recognising these demands in general, subject to satisfaction (?), the Russian Government nevertheless made several reserves. [There follow certain conditions regarding the future of the sacred Mussulman places and Russian claims in Persia and Afghanistan.] After Italy s entry into the war our desires were communicated to the Itahan (lovernment, which on its side declared its agreement on con- dition of a victorious conclusion of the war, of the fultilment of Italy's claims in general and in the East in particular, and of our giving to Italy rights similar to those given to France and England in the territories conceded to us. Confidential telegram of the Russian Minister for Foreign Affairs to the Russian Ambassador in Paris, March 18, 1915, Ao. 1,226. On March 8 the French Ambassador, on behalf of his Government, announced to me that France was prepared to take up a most favourable attitude in the matter of realisation of our desires as set out in my telegram to you. No. 937, in respect of the Straits and Constantinople, for which I charged you to tender Delcassa my gratitude. In his conversations with you DelcassS had previously more than once given his assurance that we could rely on the sympathy of France, and only referred to the need of elucidating the question of the attitude of England, from whom he feared some objections, before he could give us a more deiinite assurance in the above sense. Now the British Govern- ment has given its complete consent in writing to the annexation by Russia of the Straits and Constantinople within the limits indicated by us, and only demanded security for economic interests and a similar benevolent attitude on our part towards the political aspirations of England in other l^arts. For me, personally, filled as I am with most complete confidence in Delcass5, the assurance received from him is quite sufficient, but the Imperial Government would desire a more definite pronouncement of France's assent to the complete satisfaction of our desires, similar to that made by the British Government. ,,,. ,. ,, (Signed) Sazonoff. —{Manchester Guardian, Decern ber 12, 1917. ) From a confidentyil telegram of thr, Russian Minister for Foreign Affairs to the Russian Ambassador in Paris {? London), March 20, 1915, No. 1,205. Reierring to the nieraorandum of the British Government (? Embassy) here of March 12, will you please express to Grey the profound gratitude of the Imperial Government for the complete and final assent of Great Britain to the solution of the question of the Straits and Constantinople, in accordance v/ith Russia's desires. The Imperial Government fully appreciates the sentiments of the British Government and feels certain that a sincere recognition of mutual interests will secure for ever the firm friendship between Russia and Great Britain. in tho Having already given its promise respecting the conditions of trade o Straits and C(•. ,;n!).i 12, 1917.) Memorandum {dated March G, 1917) oi a i (ijixi/ifnf arrlnd at it-twecn Britain, France, and Uanaia in thr. Sprimj ui 19 1 G. As a result of negotiations which took place in London and Petrograd in the spring of 191ti, the Allied British, French, and Russian (Jovernments came to an agreement as regards the future delimitation of their respective /.ones of influence and territorial acquisitions in Asiatic Turkey, as well as the formation in Arabia of an inde]x^ndent Arab State, or a federation of Arab States. The general principles of the agreement are as follows : — Russia obtains the provinces of Erzerum, Trebizond, Van, and Bitlis. as well as territory in the southern part of Kurdistan along the lino Mush-Sert-Ibn-Omar-Amadjie-Persian frontier. The limit of Russian acquisitions on the Black Sea coast would be fixed later on at a point lying west of Trebizond. France obtains the coastal strip of Syria, the villayet of Adana, and a territory bounded on the south by a line Aintab-Mardin to the future Russian frontier, and on the north by a line Ala-Dagh-Zara-Egin-Kharput. Great Britain obtains the southern part of Mesopotamia, with Bagdad, and stipulates for herself in Syria the ports of Haifa and Akka. By agreement between France and England the zone between the French and British territories forms a confederation of Arab States, or one independent Arab State, the zones of influence in which are determined at the same time. Alexandretta is proclaimed a free port. With a view to securing the religious interests of the Entente Powers, Palestine, with the holy places, is separated from Turkish territory and subjected to a special regime to be determined by agreement between Russia, France, and England. As a general rule the contracting Powers undertake mutually to recog- nise the concessions and privileges existing in the territories now acquired by them which have existed before the war. They agree to assume such portions of the Ottoman Debt as correspond to their respective acquisitions. — {Manchester Gnardian, January 19, 1918.) Ill— ITALY AND ROUMANIA. One of the documents published by the Bolshevik Govern- ment purports to be the text of the Treaty made between Italy and the Allies when Italy came into the war; another document refers to an agreement witli Roumania* on the Roumanians joining the Allies. It is historically true to say that in 191.5 Italy, and in 1916 Roumania, declared war upon the Central Powers. But the 16 THE TRUTH ABOUT THE "SECRET TREATIES/' war was not of their seeking. It was forced on them by the Central Powers, who had compelled great numbers of Italians and Koumanians to take part in the war from its very commencement. The military strength of the Central Powers very largelv depends upon their power to call upon millions of subject people to fight their masters' battles to sacrifice themselves for rulers they detest, for a victory which will leave them more helplessl, in subjection than before. Frenchmen from Alsace and Lorraine are forced into the German army, to fight the Allies of France, or even to fight against Frenchmen ; Slavs, Toles, Croats, Italians, and Roumanians are driven into the ranks in order that the military autocracy of Austria, under which they groan, may be preserved. If the Germans had to fight their own battles, this war would have been over long ago. Nearly a million Italians, and four million Roumanians, are at present subjects of Austrian misrule, paying in blood and treasure for a war against their kinsmen and their friends— a war against themselves. In times of peace they are ruthlessly deprived of political freedom. A law passed by Tisza, the Hungarian Prime Minister, in 1913 restricted the parliamentary vote in Hungary to those able to read and write, ability to be ascertained by commissions composed of Government officials! In 1910 194 battalions of infantry and 114 squadrons of cavalry were brought into Transylvania during the Parliamentary elections nominally to " preserve order," in reality to overawe the Roumanian electors. In time of war, the subject people are cattle, to be milked by taxation, or driven by conscription to the slaughter, as their rulers may decide. During 1914 and 1915 Italy and Roumania had to see their sons placed by German and Austrian war lords in the forefront of many a battle, singled out for the most exposed positions, until it became a question whether the end of the THE TRUTH ABOUT THE "SECRET TREATIES." 17 war would not inem the destruction of Italian and Roumanian males in the Empire of Austria Hungary. This Wis the constraining reason that brought Italy and Rouniania into the war. The Roumanian point of view was eloquently expressed by M. Take Jonescu in the Roumanian Chamber of Deputies on Deceiiii).M' 1<). I 111."). Spt-akiii;^ ol the possibility of " the definite destruction of the Roumanian race " in Austria -Hungary he said : Already inhuman military dispositions have worked in this direction. M. Carp is wrong to console himself with the thought that the Roumanians died as heroes, for if the Roumanians were systematically sent in a larger propor- tion than the others to die as heroes, it was in order that the country which they had inhabited might remain deserted so as to make room for Austrian colonist-s, for a pack of the scum of the earth. But, gentlemen, we shall not only lose the bodies of the Roumanians across the mountains, we shall also lose their souls. These people will say to themselves, " If even in these circumstances, which no one could foresee, in this coalition of the most powerful States in the world, bent on the abolition of Austrian rule — if even on this occasion our brothers have risked nothing for us, surely the hour will never come when they will risk or dare anything ? " Italy might have made her complaint in the same words. Italy and Roumania entered the war to free Italians and Roumanians suffering under an oppression which Englishmen have ha])pily never known. Their aims were clear — to wrest from the .slave owning Empire of the Hapsburgs some millions of its enslaved peoples ; to take from Austria lands to which it had no title in any court of morality or justice, and which could be redeemed in no other way ; and to divide the eastern seaboard of the Adriatic among Croats, Slavs, and Italians whos3 claims as against the Emperor of Austria no one could reasonably dispute. The only [)lausible criticism which has been urged against the propriety of tl;e ' Italian treaty," assuming the text to be accurate, is that as between the Slavs and Croats and the Italians 18 THE TRUTH ABOUT THE "SEUKEl TREATIES." Italy demanded territory on the coast of Dalmatia to which tiie Croats had a better claim. THE I' ACT OF ROME. It may be so, but in the last few weeks, at the great Con- gress of Rome, held on April 8, 9, and 10 1918, all the oppressed nationalities which suffer imder Austrian rule have come to a definite and welcome understanding with Italy, and decided on a common policy for achieving their freedom and the liberation of the Adriatic in harmony and agreement with the Allies. Since Croats, Italians, and Slavs are now all happily agreed as to the question of the Dalmatian coast, that is all that matters to us. It concerns no one else. The claims of Italy and Roumania as expressed in these agreements are based on two simple principles — first that Italians and Roumanians are to be set free, and secondly that the boundaries of the lands redeemed shall be such as to make their defence possible, if the militarist autocracies of Germany and Austria are permitted by Providence to survive the war as a continuing menace to their neighbours Differences of opinion there may be as to the proper line of demarcation, but the purpose is plain, and it is a purpose of which no honest man need be ashamed At present all the gates of Italy are open to her enemy. Austria holds all the keys The Alps, which Napoleon declared to be Italy's natural frontier, are in Austrian hands. From all the passes Austria can debouch her armies upon the Italian plains ; from all the harbours of the Adriatic Austria can launch her warships against the Italian coast. Austria in possession of the Dalmatian coast has Italy at her mercy. The situation is as intolerable to Italy as the Germans in possession of Calais and Boulogne would be to ourselves. SHALL GREAT BRITAIN BREAK HER TREATIES ? The very question is an insult ; but from the pens of writers who, we may charitably hope, have never even read the " secret THE TRUTH ABOLT THE "SECRET IKEATIES." 19 treaties" they denounce, there have been appeals to the Allied Governments to clean the slate, to repudiate their obligations, to '■ get rid of the secret treaties."' Let us not forget this fact: Italy came to our assistance in this war at a dark hour in the fortunes of Great Britain and her Allies. In that hour we pledged our word to Italy. We shall not break it. As Lord Robert Cecil said in answer to a question in the House of Commons, "It is not the practice of British statesmanship to repudiate its treaties." THE AGREEMENT WITH ITALY. Memorandum laid before the Allies by the Italian Government on the eve of Italy's entry into the war in 191 5, together with the Agreement signed by the representatives of Great Britain, France, Bussia, and Italy, on. April 26, 1915. Article 1. — A mililary convention is to be concluded without delay between the General Staffs of France, Great Britain, Russia, and Italy to determine the minimum number of troops which Russia would have to throw against Austria- Hungary if the latter should want to concentrate all her forces against Italy. Russia should decide mainly to attack Germany. Similarly the said convention is to regulate the questions relating to armistices, in so far as such armistices form an essential part of the competence of the Supreme Army Command. Article 2. — On her part Italy undertakes by all means at her disposal to crjnduct the campaign in union with Frame, Groat Britain, and Russia against all the Powers at war with them. Artict.e 3. — The naval forces of Franco and (-roat Britain are to render uninterrupted and active assistance to Italy until tiuch time as the navy of Austria has been destroyed or peace has been concluded. A naval convention is to be concluded withoiit delay between France, (troat Britain, and Italy. Article 4. — By the future treaty of |iracc Jjaly is d. rnoiv o flu; district of Trentino ; the entire southern Tyrol up to its natural geographical frontier, which is the Brenner Pass ; the city and district of Trieste ; the county of Gorizia and Gradisca ; the entire Istria up to the Quamero, including V^olosco and the Istrian islands of Cherso and Lussina, as well as the smaller islands of Plavnika, Unia, Canidoli, Palazzuoh, S. Petri dei Nembi, Asinello, and Gruica, with the neighbouring islets. Note 1. — Here follow the details of the frontier delimitation. Article 5. — Italy will likewise receive the province of Dalmatia in its present frontiers, including Lisserica and Trebigno [TrebanjoJ, in tho north, and all the country in the south up to a line drawn from the coast at the promontory of Planka, eastwards along the watershed in such a 20 THE TRUTH ABOUT THE " SECRET TREATIES." way as to in(;lude in the Italian possessions all the valleys of the rivers ilowing into the Sebenico — viz., Cikola, Kerka, and Buotisnica, with all their affluents. Italy will likewise obtain all the islands situated to the north and west of the coasts of Dalmatia, beginning with Premuda, Selve, Ulbo, Skerda, Maoh, Pago, and Puntadura, and further north, and down to Melada in the south, with the inclusion of the islands of S. Andrea, Busi, Lissa, Lesina, Torcola, Curzola, Cazza, and Lagosta, with all tho adjacent rocks and islets, as well as Pelagosa, but without the islands of Zirona Grande and Zirona Piccola, Bua, Solta, and Brazza. The following are to be neutralised : — (1) The entire coast from Planka, in the north, to the southern extremity of the Sabbioncello peninsula, including this last-named peninsula in its entirety ; (2) the part of the littoral from a point ten versts south of the promontory of Ragusa Vocchia to the Viosa [V'ojuzza] River, so as to include in the neutralised zone the entire guK of Caibtaro, with its ports of Antivari, Dulcigno, San Giovanni di Medua, and Durazzo ; the rights of Montenegro, arising from the declara- tions exchanged by the two contracting parties as far back as April and May, 1909, remaining intact. Nevertheless, in view of the fact that those rights were guaranteed to Montenegro within her present frontiers, they are not to be extended to those territories and ports which may eventually be given to Montenegro. Thus none of the ports of the littoral now belong- ing to Montenegro is to be neutralised at any future time. On the other hand, the disqualifications affecting Antivari, to which Montenegro herself agreed in 1909, arc to remain in force ; (3) lastly, all the islands which are not annexed to Italy. Note 2. — The following territories on the Adriatic will be included by the Powers of the Quadruple Entente in Croatia, Serbia, and Montenegro : — In the north of the Adriatic, the entire coast from Volosco Bay, on the border of Istria, to the northern frontier of Dal- matia, including the entire coast now belonging to Hungary, and- the entire coast of Croatia, the port of Fiume, and the small ports of Novi and Carlopago, and also the islands of Veglia, Perviccio, Gregorio, Coli, and Arbe ; and in the south of the Adriatic, where Serbia and Montenegro have interests, the entire coast from Planka up to the River Drin, with the chief ports of Spalato, Ragusa, Cattaro, Antivari, Dulcigno, and San Giovanni di Medua, with the islands of Zirona Grande, Zirona Piccola, Bua, Solta, Brazza, Jaklian, and Calamotta. The Port of Durazzo may be given to the independent Mohammedan St te of Albania. Article 6. — Italy will receive in absolute property V^alona, the islands •of Sasseno, and as much territory as would be required to secure their military safety — approximately between the River V'ojazza in the north and in the east down to the borders of the Chimara district in the south ARTit;LE 7. — Italy, having received Trentino and Istria in accordance with Article 4, and Dalmatia and the Adriatic islands in accordance with Article 5 and the Gulf of V^alona, is not, in case of the creation of a small autonomous and neutralised State in Albania, to resist the possible desire of France, Great Britain, and Russia to distribute among Montenegro, Serbia and Greece the northern and southern parts of Albania. The latter s southern littoral from the frontier of theltahan district of Valona to Capo Stylos is to be neutralised. Italy is to have the right to conduct foreign relations with Albania ; at any rate, Italy is to agree to the inclusion in Albania of a territory large enough to allow her frontiers to touch those of Greece and Serbia west of Ochrida Lake. Article 8. — Italy will obtain all the Twelve Islands [Dodekanese] now occupied by her, in fuU pos^e^gioji. THE TRUTH ABOUT THE " SECRET TREATIES." 21 Article 9. — France, Great Britain, and Russia admit in principle the fact of Italy's interest in the maintenance of the political balance of power in the Mediterranean, and her right, in case of a partition of Turkey, to a share, equal to theirs, in the basin of the Mediterranean — viz., in that I)art of it which adjoins the province of AdaUa, in which Italy has already acquired special rights and interests defined in the Italo- British Convention. The zone which is to be made Italy s property is to be more precisely dotined in due course in conformity with the vital interests of France and (ireat Britain. Italy's interests will likewise be taken into consideration in case the Powers shoifid also maintain the territorial integrity of Asiatic Turkey for some future period of time, and if they should only proceed to establish among themselves spheres of influence. In ease France, Great Britain, and Russia should in the course of the present war, occupy any districts of Asiatic Turk