[Sailor Steve]

Saturday, March 8, 1919

PARIS PEACE CONFERENCE
Day 39

M Pichon's hotel suite, Quai d’Orsay, 15:00


1. On February 24th the Inter-Allied Blockade Council had passed a resolution removing the blockade of the Adriatic Sea. M Clementel, representing that organization, asks that the Conference approve this Resolution. Baron Sonnino asks whether the Resolution refers only to the commercial blockade of the Adriatic. Mr Lansing confirms this. It was agreed that the commercial blockade of the Adriatic should forthwith be raised.


2. Four Generals are appointed to travel to Laibach (modern Ljubljana), Slovenia to look into incidents which took place on February 12th, when men in Serbian uniforms fired on a train carrying Italian refugees through Saloch (modern Zalog), and on February 20th. They are to travel by train via Italy.


3. M Tardieu, speaking for the Commission on Belgian Affairs, says that his Commission has finished their study of the Treaties of 1839 and finds that those Treaties are in need of revision in order to meet guarantees made to Belgium by the Peace Conference. The report is accepted by the Conference.


4. M Jules Gambon reports on a Meeting of the Small Powers to elect Delegates to the Financial Commission. M Gambon reports that the South American Powers have appropriated four of the five seats, limiting the Small European Powers to one seat, which went to Portugal. The other Small European Powers had walked out of the Meeting in protest, and refused to take part in future elections.

M Clemenceau called it unjust that the South American Powers, who had sacrificed nothing during the war, garnered all the representation, while Powers who had sacrificed much had no representation at all.

Mr House proposes a fractional voting system in which of the European Small Powers receives a representative. Mr Balfour says that this concept is new to him.

M Pichon proposes a doctrine that States which had broken off relations with the Central Powers but had not taken an actual part in the War could not be represented to the exclusion of States which had taken an active role in the fighting.

Baron Sonnino asks if a distinction could be made between Powers entitled to a Vote and those who are merely allowed to attend meetings.

M Pichon says there is a difference between Powers with a General Interest in the proceedings and those with a Special Interest. He asks how a Commission could decide what reparations Germany must pay without Belgium and Poland having a say in the matter.

It is finally agreed that M Pichon should write a Draft Proposal consolidating the matters concerning Delegates to Economic Commissions, to be submitted at Monday's meeting.


5. Sir Robert Cecil reports that the Supreme Economic Council has been considering the problems created by the breakdown of negotiations at Spa. He states that they have concluded that the handing over of German ships and the supply of food to Germany are two unrelated matters. The original Armistice of November 11, 1918, states that “The Allies and the United States contemplate the provisioning of Germany during the Armistice, as shall be found necessary”, while the Revised Armistice of January 16, 1919 says “In order to assure the provisioning of Germany and the rest of Europe, the German Government shall take all necessary steps to place the German Merchant Fleet for the duration of the Armistice, under the control and power of the Allied flags and the United States, who shall be assisted by a German Delegate. This arrangement shall in no wise affect the final disposal of such vessels”. Sir Robert adds that they must consider the possibility of Germany drifting into Bolshevism if the food is not supplied.

The Supreme Economic Council proposes that a message be sent to Germany:

1) The merchant ships must be handed over immediately, as agreed.

2) As soon as the ships are handed over, the food will be sent to Germany via those same ships.


3) Germany may import up to 300,000 tons of bread and 70,000 tons of fats per month, until September.


4) This may be paid for in a number of ways, including the hiring out of the ships.


5) Germany may export commodities to a number of agreed-upon destinations, provided the money earned be used to pay for the imported foodstuffs.


6) A listed amount of the shipping handed over will be used for the importation of food until the next harvest.


7) Germany may also purchase food from neutral nations, within pre-determined limits.


8) This communication will become null and void if hostilities are resumed.

The French Delegates raise an objection. The English version of the message implies that once food supply is started it will not be cut off except for a renewal of hostilities. The objection is that food supplies might alos be cut off when the Armistice expires.

The more this is discussed the more objections are raised. Every Delegate to the Peace Conference points out flaws that cause more arguments. Mr Lloyd George makes an impassioned speech referring to earlier discussions which always came back to the promise of Germany being fed. It is his feeling that the bottom line is that if Germany starts to starve the people will run riot, and open revolution will ensue. M Clemenceau remarks that Mr Lloyd George's beliefs are far from the truth, and that in neither Armistice was a promise made. Mr Balfour says that the wording is "almost a promise".

M Clemenceau replies that it doesn't matter, since he is ready to give the food, promise or not. He believes the Germans are using the threat of Bolshevism as a bogeyman to frighten the Allies. If the Germans are starving, why do they keep refusing to surrender their merchant fleet? They don't seem to be in any hurry. In his opinion the Germans were trying to see how far they could go in attempting to blackmail the Allies.

M Clemenceau then reads a telegram he has received from the French Naval Attaché in London, to the effect that the Armistice Commission has proposed that the Germans be given three days to hand over the merchant fleet or the blockade will be fully resumed, with no shipping allowed to enter or leave German ports.

This leads to an argument which lasts for some time before the final draft of a message to the Germans is prepared, which differs from the earlier drafts only in the details. A meeting is planned to take place in Brussels, and the Council meeting is adjourned.