The Economic Consequences of the PeaceKeynes, John Maynard
History
The Economic Consequences of the Peace
Keynes, John Maynard
Economic history -- 1918-1945; Treaty of Versailles (1919 June 28); World War, 1914-1918 -- Economic aspects
Thus the great waterways of Germany are handed over to foreign bodies
with the widest powers; and much of the local and domestic business of
Hamburg, Magdeburg, Dresden, Stettin, Frankfurt, Breslan, and Ulm will
be subject to a foreign jurisdiction. It is almost as though the Powers
of Continental Europe were to be placed in a majority on the Thames
Conservancy or the Port of London.
Certain minor provisions follow lines which in our survey of the Treaty
are now familiar. Under Annex III. of the Reparation Chapter Germany is
to cede up to 20 per cent of her inland navigation tonnage. Over and
above this she must cede such proportion of her river craft upon the
Elbe, the Oder, the Niemen, and the Danube as an American arbitrator may
determine, "due regard being had to the legitimate needs of the parties
concerned, and particularly to the shipping traffic during the five
years preceding the war," the craft so ceded to be selected from those
most recently built.[72] The same course is to be followed with German
vessels and tugs on the Rhine and with German property in the port of
Rotterdam.[73] Where the Rhine flows between France and Germany, France
is to have all the rights of utilizing the water for irrigation or for
power and Germany is to have none;[74] and all the bridges are to be
French property as to their whole length.[75] Finally the administration
of the purely German Rhine port of Kehl lying on the eastern bank of the
river is to be united to that of Strassburg for seven years and managed
by a Frenchman to be nominated by the new Rhine Commission.
Thus the Economic Clauses of the Treaty are comprehensive, and little
has been overlooked which might impoverish Germany now or obstruct her
development in future. So situated, Germany is to make payments of
money, on a scale and in a manner to be examined in the next chapter.
FOOTNOTES:
[7] The precise force of this reservation is discussed in
detail in Chapter V.
[8] I also omit those which have no special relevance to the
German Settlement. The second of the Fourteen Points, which relates to
the Freedom of the Seas, is omitted because the Allies did not accept
it. Any italics are mine.
[9] Part VIII. Annex III. (1).
[10] Part VIII. Annex III. (3).
[11] In the years before the war the average shipbuilding
output of Germany was about 350,000 tons annually, exclusive of
warships.
[12] Part VIII. Annex III. (5).
[13] Art. 119.
[14] Arts. 120 and 257.
[15] Art. 122.
[16] Arts. 121 and 297(b). The exercise or non-exercise of this
option of expropriation appears to lie, not with the Reparation
Commission, but with the particular Power in whose territory the
property has become situated by cession or mandation.
[17] Art. 297 (h) and para. 4 of Annex to Part X. Section IV.
[18] Arts. 53 and 74.
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