PART VIII

Reparation

SECTION I.--_General Provisions_

=ARTICLE 231.=--The Allied and Associated Governments affirm, and Germany accepts, the responsibility of Germany and her allies for causing all the loss and damage to which the Allied and Associated Governments and their nationals have been subjected as a consequence of the war imposed upon them by the aggression of Germany and her allies.

=ARTICLE 232.=--The Allied and Associated Governments recognize that the resources of Germany are not adequate, after taking into account permanent diminutions of such resources which will result from other provisions of the present treaty, to make complete reparation for all such loss and damage.

The Allied and Associated Governments, however, require, and Germany undertakes, that she will make compensation for all damage done to the civilian population of the Allied and Associated Powers and to their property during the period of the belligerency of each as an Allied or Associated Power against Germany by such aggression by land, by sea, and from the air, and in general all damage as defined in Annex I. hereto.

In accordance with Germany's pledges, already given as to complete restoration for Belgium, Germany undertakes, in addition to the compensation for damage elsewhere in this chapter provided for, as a consequence of the violation of the treaty of 1839, to make reimbursement of all sums which Belgium has borrowed from the Allies and Associated Governments up to Nov. 11, 1918, together with interest at the rate of 5 per cent. per annum on such sums. This amount shall be determined by the Reparation Commission, and the German Government undertakes thereupon forthwith to make a special issue of bearer bonds to an equivalent amount payable in marks gold, on May 1, 1926, or, at the option of the German Government, on the 1st of May in any year up to 1926. Subject to the foregoing, the form of such bonds shall be determined by the Reparation Commission. Such bonds shall be handed over to the Reparation Commission, which has authority to take and acknowledge receipt thereof on behalf of Belgium.

=ARTICLE 233.=--The amount of the above damage for which compensation is to be made by Germany shall be determined by an interallied commission, to be called the Reparation Commission, and constituted in the form and with the power set forth hereunder and in Annexes II. to VII. inclusive hereto.

This commission shall consider the claims and give to the German Government a just opportunity to be heard.

The findings of the commission as to the amount of damage defined as above shall be concluded and notified to the German Government on or before the 1st May, 1921, as representing the extent of that Government's obligations.

The commission shall concurrently draw up a schedule of payments prescribing the time and manner for securing and discharging the entire obligation within a period of thirty years from the 1st May, 1921. If, however, within the period mentioned, Germany fails to discharge her obligations, any balance remaining unpaid may, within the discretion of the commission, be postponed for settlement in subsequent years, or may be handled otherwise in such manner as the Allied and Associated Governments, acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in this part of the present treaty, shall determine.

=ARTICLE 234.=--The Reparation Commission shall after the 1st May, 1921, from time to time, consider the resources and capacity of Germany and, after giving her representatives a just opportunity to be heard, shall have discretion to extend the date and to modify the form of payments, such as are to be provided for in accordance with Article 233; but not to cancel any part, except with the specific authority of the several Governments represented upon the commission.

=ARTICLE 235.=--In order to enable the Allied and Associated Powers to proceed at once to the restoration of their industrial and economic life, pending the full determination of their claims, Germany shall pay in such installments and in such manner (whether in gold, commodities, ships, securities, or otherwise) as the Reparation Commission may fix, during 1919, 1920, and the first four months of 1921, the equivalent of 20,000,000,000 gold marks.

Out of this sum the expenses of the armies of occupation subsequent to the armistice of the 11th November, 1918, shall first be met, and such supplies of food and raw materials as may be judged by the Governments of the principal Allied and Associated Powers to be essential to enable Germany to meet her obligations for reparation may also, with the approval of the said Governments, be paid for out of the above sum. The balance shall be reckoned toward liquidation of the amounts due for reparation.

Germany shall further deposit bonds as prescribed in Paragraph 12 (c) of Annex II. hereto.

=ARTICLE 236.=--Germany further agrees to the direct application of her economic resources to reparation as specified in Annexes III., IV., V., and VI., relating respectively to merchant shipping, to physical restoration, and to coal and derivatives of coal, and to dyestuffs and other chemical products; provided always that the value of the property transferred and any services rendered by her under these annexes, assessed in the manner herein prescribed, shall be credited to her toward liquidation of her obligations under the above articles.

=ARTICLE 237.=--The successive installments, including the above sum, paid over by Germany in satisfaction of the above claims, will be divided by the Allied and Associated Governments in proportions which have been determined upon by them in advance on a basis of general equity and of the rights of each.

For the purposes of this division the value of property transferred and services rendered under Article 243 and under Annexes III., IV., VI., and VII. shall be reckoned in the same manner as cash payments effected in that year.

=ARTICLE 238.=--In addition to the payments mentioned above, Germany shall effect, in accordance with the procedure laid down by the Reparation Commission, restitution in cash of cash taken away, seized, or sequestrated, and also restitution of animals, objects of every nature, and securities taken away, seized, or sequestrated, in the cases in which it proves possible to identify them in territory belonging to Germany or her allies.

Until this procedure is laid down restitution will continue in accordance with the provisions of the armistice of 11th November, 1918, and its renewals and the protocols thereto.

=ARTICLE 239.=--Germany undertakes to make forthwith the restitution contemplated by Article 238 and to make the payments and deliveries contemplated by Articles 233, 234, 235, and 236.

=ARTICLE 240.=--Germany recognizes the commission provided for by Article 233 as the same may be constituted by the Allied and Associated Governments in accordance with Annex II. and agrees irrevocably to the possession and exercise by such commission of the power and authority given to it under the present treaty. The German Government will supply to the commission all the information which the commission may require relative to the financial situation and operations and to the property, productive capacity, and stocks and current production of raw materials and manufactured articles of Germany and her nationals, and, further, any information relative to military operations which in the judgment of the commission may be necessary for the assessment of Germany's liability for reparation as defined in Annex I.

The German Government will accord to the members of the commission and its authorized agents the same rights and immunities as are enjoyed in Germany by duly accredited diplomatic agents of friendly powers. Germany further agrees to provide for the salaries and expenses of the commission, and of such staff as it may employ.

=ARTICLE 241.=--Germany undertakes to pass, issue, and maintain in force any legislation, orders, and decrees that may be necessary to give complete effect to these provisions.

=ARTICLE 242.=--The provisions of this part of the present treaty do not apply to the property, rights, and interests referred to in Sections III. and IV. of Part X. (economic clauses) of the present treaty, nor to the product of their liquidation, except so far as concerns any final balance in favor of Germany under Article 243 (a).

=ARTICLE 243.=--The following shall be reckoned as credits to Germany in respect of her reparation obligations:

(a) Any final balance in favor of Germany under Sections III. and IV. of