PUBLIC DOCUMENTS. 



669 



diately after the ratification, the German troops will 

 leave the interior of the city of Paris, as well as the 

 forts situated on the left bank of the Seine. ^ In the 

 shortest possible time, which shall be determined by 

 an agreement between the military authorities or 

 both countries, they will entirely evacuate the De- 

 partments Calvados, Orne, Sartlie, Eure-et-Loire, Loi- 

 ret, Loir-et-Cher, Indre-et-Loire, and Yonne, and fur- 

 ther, the Departments Seine-Infe'rieure, Seine-et-Oise, 

 Seine-et-Marne, Aube, and Cote d'Or, or as far as 

 the left bank of the Seine. The French troops will 

 simultaneously retire behind the Loire, which they 

 will not be permitted to cross before the ratification 

 of the definitive treaty of peace. The garrison of 

 Paris, whose force shall not exceed the number of 

 40,000 men, and the garrisons indispensably requisite 

 for the security of the strongholds, are excepted from 

 this stipulation. 



The evacuation of the departments situated be- 

 tween the right bank of the Seine and the eastern 

 boundary shall, on the part of the German troops, 

 follow gradually after the ratification of the defini- 

 tive treaty of peace and the payment of the first half 

 of the thousand millions of the contribution stipu- 

 lated in Article IT. 



The evacuation will commence with the depart- 

 ments situated nearest Paris, and will be continued, 

 according as the payments of the contribution are ef- 

 fected. After the first payment of one-half of the thou- 

 sand millions, the evacuation of the following de- 

 partments will take place : Somme. Oise, and those 

 Sirts of the Departments Seine-Inferieure, Seine-et- 

 ise, Seine-et-Marne, which are situated on the right 

 bank of the Seine, as well as the part of the De- 

 partment Seine and the forts on the right bank of 

 the Seine. 



After the payment of two thousand millions, the 

 German troops will occupy only the Departments 

 Marne, Ardennes, Haute-Marne, Meuse, Vosges, and 

 Meurthe, as well as the fortress of Belfort with its 

 district, which shall serve as a pledge for the remain- 

 ing three thousand millions. The number of the 

 German troops there located shall not exceed 50,000 

 men. 



It is left to His Majesty the Emperor to accept a 

 financial guarantee in place of the territorial guaran- 

 tee, which consists in the partial occupation of the 

 French district, if the former be oifered by the 

 French Government on terms acknowledged by His 

 Majesty the Emperor and King as sufficient for the 

 interests of Germany. On the three thousand mil- 

 lions, whose payment will be deferred, five per cent, 

 interest will bVpaid from the day of the ratification 

 of the present agreement. 



ART. IV. The German troops will refrain from re- 

 quisitions, whether of money or of natural products, 

 in the departments occupied by them, pn the other 

 hand, the German troops which remain in France 

 shall be maintained at the cost of the French Gov- 

 ernment, and according to an agreement made with 

 the military intendancy. 



ART. V. The interests of the inhabitants of the 

 districts ceded by France shall, in every thing con- 

 cerning their business and private rights, be regu- 

 lated as favorably as possible, as soon as the terms 

 of the definitive treaty of peace are determined. For 

 this purpose, a space^ of time shall be agreed upon, 

 within which these inhabitants shall enjoy special 

 facilities relative to the circulation of their produc- 

 tions. The German Government will place nothing 

 in the way of the unimpeded emigration of the in- 

 habitants of the ceded districts, and will not be per- 

 mitted to take any measures against the inhabitants 

 which would touch either person or property. 



ART. VI. The prisoners of war, who have not al- 

 ready been set at liberty by means of exchange, 

 shall be returned immediately after the ratification 

 of the foregoing preliminaries. In order to hasten 

 the transport of French prisoners, the French Gov- 

 ernment will place at the disposition of the German 



authorities a portion of the rolling-stock of their 

 railroads in the interior of the country, and to an ex- 

 tent to be determined by special agreement, as well 

 as at those prices which are paid by the French Gov- 

 ernment for military transport in France. 



ART. VII. The opening of the negotiations con- 

 cerning the definitive treaty of peace, which is to be 

 concluded upon the foundation of the present pre- 

 liminaries, will take place in Brussels, immediately 

 after the ratification of the latter by the National As- 

 sembly and His Majesty the German Emperor. 



ART. VIII. After the conclusion and ratification of 

 the definitive treaty of peace, the administrations of 

 the departments, which still remain occupied by Ger- 

 man troops, shall be again delivered to the French 

 authorities. The latter shall, nevertheless, be 

 obliged to obey the orders which the commanders of 

 the German troops shall believe it necessary to issue 

 in the interest of the security, maintenance, and dis- 

 tribution of their troops. 



The collection of taxes will be effected in the de- 

 partments occupied by the German troops, after the 

 ratification of the present treaty, for the account of 

 the French Government and by means of its officers. 



ART. IX. It is understood that the foregoing stipu- 

 lations of the treaty can give the German military 

 authorities no right whatever upon those parts of any 

 district not at present occupied by Germans. 



ART. X. These preliminaries will be submitted for 

 the ratification of His Majesty the German Emperor, 

 as well as the French National Assembly, which is 

 convened in Bordeaux. 



(Signatures.) 



Issued at VERSAILLES, February 26, 1871. 



The definitive treaty of peace concluded on 

 May 10th, with the three side treaties, runs thus : 



Prince Otto von Bismarck-Schoenhausen, Chancel- 

 lor of the German Empire, and Count Harry von 

 Arnim, Extraordinary Ambassador and Minister 

 Plenipotentiary of His Majesty the German Emperor 

 at the Apostolic See, empowered to conclude the 

 treaty in the name of His Majesty the German Em- 

 peror, on one part, and^ on the other side, M. Jules 

 Favre, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the French Ee- 

 public, M. Augustin Thomas Joseph Pouyer-Quer- 

 tier, Minister of Finance of the French EepubliCj 

 and M. Marc Thomas Eugen do Goulard, Member ol 

 the National Assembly, empowered to conclude the 

 treaty in the name of the French Eepublic, _have 

 agreed with one another to change the preliminary 

 treaty of peace of February 26, 1871j into a definitive 

 peace, modifying it by the following stipulations. 



ARTICLE I. The distance from the city of Belfort to 

 the boundary-line, as originally proposed in the ne- 

 gotiations at Versailles, and marked upon the map 

 annexed to the ratified deed of the preliminaries of 

 February 26th, is considered as determining the lim- 

 its of the rayon, which, according to the clause rela- 

 tive to the latter, in the first article of the prelimi- 

 naries, shall remain in possession of France with the 

 city and fortifications of Belfort. [The details of the 

 change of the boundary-line, agreed upon in this ar- 

 ticle, are given in the article ALSACE. ED.] The In- 

 ternational Commission, mentioned in Article I. of the 

 preliminaries, will, immediately after the exchange 

 of the ratifications of the present treaty, repair to 

 the designated points, in order to accomplish the 

 necessary work, and draw the line of the new boun- 

 dary, in conformity with the foregoing arrange- 

 ment. 



ART. II. The French subjects, belonging to_ the 

 ceded districts, at present resident in those districts, 

 who intend to retain their French nationality, shall, 

 until October 1,1872, and by means of a declaration 

 to be given in advance, enjoy full power to transfer 

 their domicil to France and to settle there, this right 

 not being affected by the laws in regard to military 

 service ; in which case their character as French 



