The Royal German Government and the Finnish Government, inspired by the wish, after the declaration of the independence of Finland and its recognition through Germany, to bring about a condition of peace and friendship between both countries on a lasting basis, have resolved to conclude a peace, and for this purpose they have appointed the following plenipotentiaries: For the Royal German Government, the Chancellor of the German Empire, Dr. Count von Hertling; for the Finnish Government, Dr. Phil Edvard Immanuel Hjelt, State Adviser, Vice Councilor of the University of Helsingfors, and Rafael Waldemar Erich, LL.D., Professor of State Law and of the Law of Nations at the University of Helsingfors, who, after the mutual setting forth in good order and form of their plenipotentiary powers, have come to an agreement on the following provisions:
CHAPTER I.—Friendship Between Germany and Finland and the Assuring of the Independence of Finland
Article 1. The contracting parties declare that between Germany and Finland no state of war exists and that they are resolved henceforth to live in peace and friendship with each other. Germany will do what she can to bring about the recognition of the independence of Finland by all the powers. On the other hand, Finland will not cede any part of her possessions to any foreign power nor constitute a charge on her sovereign territory to any such power before first having come to an understanding with Germany on the matter.
Article 2. Diplomatic and consular relations between the contracting parties will be resumed immediately after the confirmation of the peace treaty. The freest possible admission of Consuls on both sides is to be provided for by arrangements in special treaties.
Article 3. Each of the contracting parties will replace the damage which has been caused in its own territory by the war, or which the States or populations have brought about by actions contrary to international law, or which has been caused by the consular officials of the other party either to life, liberty, health, or property.
CHAPTER II.—War Indemnities
Article 4. The contracting parties renounce mutually the making good of war costs; that is to say, State expenses for the carrying on of the war as well as the payment of war indemnities; that is to say, of those prejudices which have arisen for them and their subjects in the war zones by reason of the military measures connected with all the requisitions undertaken in enemy country.
CHAPTER III.—The Re-entry Into Force of State Treaties
Article 5. The treaties which lapsed as a consequence of the war between Germany and Russia shall be replaced as soon as possible by new treaties for relations between the contracting parties, and they shall be made to correspond to the new outlook and conditions which have now arisen. Especially the contracting parties shall at once enter into negotiations in order to draw up a treaty for the settlement of trade and shipping relations between the two countries, to be signed at the same time as the peace treaty.
Article 6. Treaties in which, apart from Germany and Russia, also a third power takes part, and in which Finland appears together with Russia or in the place of the latter, come into force between the contracting parties on the ratification of peace treaty or, in case the entry takes place later, at that moment. In connection with collective treaties of political contents, in which other belligerent powers are also involved, the two parties reserve their attitude until after the conclusion of a general peace.
CHAPTER IV.—Re-establishment of Private Rights
Article 7. All stipulations existing in the territory of either of the contracting parties, according to which, in view of the state of war, subjects of the other party are subjected to any special regulation whatever in the observation of their private rights, cease to be of force on the confirmation of this treaty. Subjects of either of the contracting parties are such legal persons and societies as have their domicile in the respective territories. Furthermore, subjects of either of the parties, legal persons and societies which do not have their domicile in the territory, must be regarded as on the same level in so far as in the territory of the other party they were submitted to the stipulations applying to such subjects.
Article 8. With regard to the civil debt conditions which have been influenced by war laws, the following has been agreed:
1. The debt conditions will be re-established in so far as the stipulations in Articles 8 to 12 do not decide otherwise.
2. The stipulation in Paragraph 1 does not prejudice the question as to what extent the conditions created by the war (especially the impossibility of settlement of debt owing to the obstacles in traffic or commercial prohibitions in the territory of either of the contracting parties) shall be taken into account in the determination of claims of subjects of either party in accordance with the laws applying thereto in the respective territories. In this connection subjects of the other party who have been prevented by the measures of that party, are not to be dealt with more unfavorably than the subjects of their own State, who have been prevented by the measures of that State.
A person who by the war has been prevented from carrying out in good time a payment shall not be obliged to make good the damage which has occurred owing thereto.
3. Demands of money, whose payment could be refused during the war on the strength of war laws, need not be paid until after the expiration of three months after the confirmation of the peace treaty. In so far as nothing else has been stipulated in the supplementary treaty, an interest of 5 per cent. per annum must be paid on such debts from the original date on which they were due, for the duration of the war and the further three months, regardless of moratoriums. Up to the day on which they were originally due, the interests agreed upon, if any, must be paid. In the case of bills or checks submission for payment as well as protests against nonpayment must take place within the fourth month after the confirmation of this treaty.
4. For the settlement of outstanding affairs and other civil obligations, officially recognized unions for the protection of debtors and for the examination of claims of lay and legal persons belonging to the union, as well as their plenipotentiaries, are to be mutually recognized and permitted.
Article 9. Each contracting party will immediately after the confirmation of the peace treaty resume payment of its obligations, especially the public debt duties to subjects of the other party. The obligations which became due before the confirmation of the treaty will be paid within three months after the confirmation.
Article 10. Copyrights, trade protective rights, concessions and privileges, as well as similar claims on public legal foundations, which have been influenced by war laws, shall be re-established, in so far as nothing else has been stipulated in Article 12.
Each contracting party will grant subjects of the other party who on account of the war have neglected the legal period in which to undertake an action necessary for the establishment or maintenance of a trade protective right, without prejudice to the justly obtained rights of third parties, a period of at least one year in which to recover the action. Trade protective rights of subjects of one party which were in force on the outbreak of war, shall not expire in the territory of the other party, owing to their non-application, till after the termination of four years from the confirmation of this treaty. If in the territory of one of the contracting parties a trade protective right, which in accordance with the war laws could not be applied for, is applied for by an agent who during the war has taken protective measures in the territory of the other party in accordance with the rules, such right, if claimed within six months after the confirmation of the treaty, shall, with the reservation of the rights of third parties, have priority over all applications submitted in the meantime, and cannot be made ineffective by facts which have arisen in the meantime.
Article 11. Periods for the superannuation of rights shall, in the territory of each of the contracting parties, toward subjects of the other party, expire at the earliest one year after the confirmation of the peace treaty in so far as they had not expired at the time of the outbreak of war. The same applies to periods for the submission of dividend-warrants or warrants for shares in profit, as well as to bills which have become redeemable or have become otherwise payable.
Article 12. The activities of authorities who on the strength of war laws have become occupied with the supervision, custody, administration, or liquidation of property or with the receiving of payments, are without prejudice to the stipulations of Article 13, to be wound up in accordance with the following principles:
1. Properties under supervision, in custody or under administration, are to be set free immediately on the demand of the parties entitled to them. Until the moment of transfer to the entitled party care must be taken for the safeguarding of his interests.
2. The provisions of Paragraph 1 shall not modify the properly acquired right of a third party. Payments and other obligations of a debtor which, as mentioned at the beginning of the article, have been received or caused to be received at the places mentioned, shall, in the territories of the contracting parties, have the same effect as if the creditor himself had received them.
Civil dispositions which have been made at the places mentioned at the instigation of the parties or by them will have full effect and are to be maintained by the parties.
3. Regarding the operations of the places mentioned at the beginning of this article, especially those for receipts and payments, details shall at once be given to the authorized parties immediately upon demand. Claims which have been lodged to be dealt with at these places can only be dealt with in accordance with the stipulations of Article 14.
Article 13. Land or rights in land or in mines as well as rights in the use or exploitation of lands, or undertakings, or claims for participation in an undertaking, especially those represented by shares, which have been forcibly alienated from the persons entitled to them by reason of war laws, shall be transferred to the former owner within a period of one year after the confirmation of the peace treaty, and there shall be returned to him any profits which have accrued on such property during the alienation or deprivation, and this shall be done free from all rights of third parties which may have arisen in the meantime.
CHAPTER VI.—Indemnity for Civil Damages
Article 14. Subjects of one of the contracting parties resident in the territory of the other contracting party who, by reason of war laws, have suffered damage either by the temporary or lasting privation of concessions, privileges, and similar claims, or by the supervision, trusteeship, administration or alienation of property, are to be appropriately indemnified so far as the damage by the war cannot be replaced by the actual re-establishment of their former conditions. This also applies to shareholders who, on account of their character as foreign enemies, are excluded from certain rights.
Article 15. Each of the contracting parties will indemnify the civilian subjects of the other party for damages which have been caused to them in its territory during the war by the State officials or the population there through breaches of international law and acts of violence against life, health, or property.
Article 16. Each of the contracting parties will at once pay to the subjects of the other party their just claims so far as this has not already been done.
Article 17. For the fixing of the damages, according to Articles 14 and 15, there shall meet in Berlin a commission immediately after the confirmation of this treaty which shall consist of one-third of each of the contracting parties and one-third of neutrals. The President of the Swiss Bundesrat shall be asked to nominate the neutral members, from whom the Chairman shall be chosen. The commission shall fix the principles, on which it is to work, and it shall decide as to what procedure it shall follow. Its decisions shall be carried out by sub-commissions, which shall consist of one representative from each of the contracting parties and a neutral umpire. The amounts fixed by the sub-commissions are to be paid within one month of the decision being made.
CHAPTER VII.—The Exchange of Prisoners of War and Interned Civilians
Article 18. Finnish prisoners of war in Germany and German prisoners of war in Finland shall, as soon as practicable, be exchanged within the times fixed by a German-Finnish Commission, and subject to the payment of the costs entailed in such exchange in so far as those prisoners do not wish to stay in the country where they happen to be, with its consent, or to go to another country. The commission will also have to settle the further details of such exchange and to supervise their execution.
Article 19. The deported or interned civilians on both sides will be sent home as soon as practicable free of charge so far as, subject to the consent of the country on whose territory they are staying, they do not wish to remain there or wish to go to another country. The settlement of the details and the supervision of their execution shall be carried out by the commission mentioned in Article 18. The Finnish Government will endeavor to obtain from the Russian Government the release of those Germans who were captured in Finnish territory and who at the present time are outside Finnish on Russian territory.
Article 20. Subjects of one party who at the outbreak of war had their domicile or commercial establishments in the territory of the other party and who did not remain in that territory may return there as soon as the other party is not in a state of war. Their return can only be refused on the ground of the endangering of the internal or foreign safety of the State. It would suffice that a pass be made out by the authorities of the home Government in which it is to be stated that the bearer is one of those persons as stipulated in Item 1. No visÉ is to be necessary on these passes.
Article 21. Each of the Contracting Parties undertakes to respect and to tend the several burial places of subjects of the other party who fell in the war as well as those who died during internment or deportation and the persons intrusted by each party with care and proper decoration of the burial places may attend to these duties in accord with the authorities of each country. Questions connected with the care of such burial places are reserved for further agreements.
CHAPTER VIII.—Amnesty.
Article 22. Each of the contracting parties concedes amnesty from penalties to the subjects of the other party who are prisoners of war for all criminal acts committed by them and further to all civilian interned or deported subjects of the other party for all punishable acts committed by them during their internment or deportation period, and lastly to all subjects of the other party for crimes against all exceptional laws made to the disadvantage of enemy foreigners. The amnesty will not apply to actions committed after the confirmation of the peace treaty.
Article 23. Each party concedes complete amnesty to all its own subjects in view of the work which they have done in the territory of the other party as prisoners of war, interned civilians, or deported civilians.
Article 24. The contracting parties reserve to themselves the right to make further agreements according to which each party may grant an amnesty of penalties decreed on account of actions committed to its disadvantage.
CHAPTER IX.—The Treatment of Mercantile Vessels and Cargoes Which Have Fallen Into the Hands of the Enemy.
Article 25. Mercantile ships of one contracting party which lay in the ports of the other contracting party on the outbreak of the war, as well as their cargoes, are to be given back to their owners, or in so far as this is not possible they are to be paid for in money. For the use of such embargoed vessels during the war the usual daily freight is to be paid.
Article 26. German mercantile ships and their cargoes which are in the power of Finland, except in cases foreseen in Article 25 at the signing of this treaty or which may arrive there later, are to be given back if on the outbreak of war they were in an enemy port or were interned in neutral waters by enemy forces.
Article 27. The mercantile vessels of either of the contracting parties captured as prizes in the zone of power of the other party shall be regarded as definitely confiscated if they have been legally condemned as prizes, and if they do not come under the provisions of Articles 25 and 26. Otherwise they are to be given back, or, in so far as they are no longer available, they are to be paid for. The provisions of Paragraph 1 are to apply also to ships' cargoes taken as prizes belonging to subjects of the contracting parties, but goods belonging to subjects of one of the contracting parties on board ships flying enemy flags which have fallen into the hands of the other contracting party are in all cases to be handed over to their rightful owners, or, so far as this is not possible, they are to be paid for.
Article 28. The carrying out of the provisions contained in Articles 25 to 27, especially the fixing of the damages to be paid, shall be decided by a mixed commission, which shall consist of one representative from each of the contracting parties with a neutral umpire, and shall sit in Stettin within three months after the date of confirmation of the peace treaty. The President of the Swiss Bundesrat shall be requested to nominate the umpire.
Article 29. The contracting parties will do all in their power to facilitate the free return of the mercantile ships and their cargoes to their homes as set forth in Articles 25 to 27. The contracting parties will also give their support to each other in the re-establishment of the mutual commercial intercourse, after the assuring of safe shipping routes, which had been disturbed by the war.
CHAPTER X.—Adjustment of the Aland Question.
Article 30. The contracting parties are agreed that the Forts put upon the Aland Islands are to be removed as soon as possible, and that the lasting non-fortified character of these Islands and also their treatment in a military and technical sense for purposes of shipping, shall be settled by agreement between Germany, Finland, Russia and Sweden; and to these agreements, at the wish of Germany, the other States lying in the Baltic Sea shall be invited to assent.
CHAPTER XI.—Final Provisions.
Article 31. The Peace Treaty shall be confirmed. The confirmatory documents shall be exchanged as soon as practicable in Berlin.
Article 32. The Peace Treaty, so far as is not otherwise stipulated, shall come into force with its confirmation. For the making of supplementary additions to the Treaty the representatives of the contracting parties shall meet in Berlin within four months of its confirmation.
