Declaration of Sainte-Adresse

Last updated January 29, 2024

The Declaration of Sainte-Adresse was a diplomatic announcement made on 14 February 1916 by the principal Allied powers of the First World War (Britain, France and Russia). It was also supported by Italy and Japan. The declaration stated that the powers would refuse to sign any peace treaty ending the war that left Belgium, a neutral power at the war's start, without "political and economic independence". It was extended in April 1916 to also cover the Belgian Congo.

Background

The majority of Belgium had been occupied by the Germans in the early stages of the First World War. A government-in-exile had been established at Sainte-Adresse in France. A minister in the cabinet, Paul Hymans, worried that his nation would not be allowed to participate in any peace treaty negotiations following the end of the war. He worried that, in the absence of a Belgian representative to argue against it, the great powers would permit Germany to retain some Belgian territory.^[1] This was despite Britain, one of the principal Allied countries, entering the war to defend Belgium's neutrality (as established by the 1839 Treaty of London). British prime minister H. H. Asquith had committed to the restoration of Belgian territory as a principal war aim in a London Guildhall speech of 9 December 1914.^[2] A further assurance was made by British foreign minister Edward Grey in August 1915 that Britain would insist upon restoration of full Belgian independence in any peace negotiation.^[3]

Following the Italian entry into the war in May 1915, with territorial expansion promised by the Allies in the Treaty of London, Belgium considered renouncing her neutrality to secure similar rewards. However this was considered unacceptable by the Belgian government and the Allies. On 20 December the Belgian cabinet directed the foreign minister, Baron Napoléon-Eugène Beyens, to seek a commitment from the Allies to a Belgian seat at any peace conference and to continue to safeguard her neutrality. Beyens visited Paris to meet with the French government but before he could visit London the British set in motion their own plans. The British had been spurred on by the Belgian concerns over the peace conference and were also keen to counter defeatism in occupied Belgium and to reinvigorate support for the war in Belgian king Albert I.^[4] Britain also thought a conciliatory gesture was advisable following their opposition to the American supply of food to occupied Belgium, arguing that it assisted Germany.^[5]

Declaration

The British proposed a formal declaration by the major Allied powers and this was agreed to by the French government. Beyens' ministry then drafted the declaration.^[5] The declaration states that the major Allied powers (Britain, France and Russia) would not sign a peace deal that failed to ensure Belgium's "political and economic independence" and provide her with financial reimbursement for damage suffered in the war.^[1] The parties also pledged to support the "commercial and financial rehabilitation" of the country and to ensure Belgium was represented at any peace conference.^[1]^[6] Russia was initially reluctant to make the declaration in case Serbia made a similar request but was persuaded that Belgium was a special case.^[5] At French insistence Britain deleted a clause in the draft referring to Belgium's "just aims" for the war.^[1]^[7] No mention was made of any territorial expansion of Belgium after the war and the British foreign secretary, Arthur Balfour, was clear that his government opposed this when questioned in July 1916.^[8] In exchange for the declaration Belgium reiterated its commitment to the Allies not to conclude a separate peace with any of the Central Powers.^[9]^: 587

The declaration was made in the names of and presence of the ambassadors of France, Britain and Russia to Belgium at the ministry of foreign affairs in Sainte-Adresse on 14 February 1916. The declaration was read by the Russian ambassador Prince Koudacheff. Beyens spoke afterwards to express his thanks to the Allies.^[10]

The Italian and Japanese governments issued statements shortly afterwards, noting that the declaration was made with their consent. On 29 April 1916 the declaration was extended to the Belgian Congo, at Albert I's insistence and in response to an American proposal that the colony be sold to Germany with the proceeds being used as reparations for Belgium.^[5] The Congo statement was treated as an appendix to the Declaration.^[6]

Text of the declaration

The Allied powers and guarantors declare that, when the time comes, the Belgian Government shall be invited to participate in the negotiations of peace and that they will not terminate hostilities until Belgium shall be reestablished in her political and economic independence, and liberally indemnified for the losses which she has sustained. They will extend their aid to Belgium in order to insure her commercial and financial restoration.
— Declaration of Sainte-Adresse, 14 February 1916^[10]

Later events

Peace negotiations between the Allies and the Central Powers began in 1919 at the Paris Peace Conference following the Armistice of 11 November 1918. The Allies divided their delegations into those "powers of general interest" (the UK, France, US, Italy and Japan) and the remainder, "of limited interest", including Belgium. The minor nations were effectively excluded from participating in the major decisions.^[11]^[12] In the Treaty of Versailles Belgium was allocated a small portion of former German territory (including Malmedy and Eupen) and received a League of Nations mandate over the former German East African territory of Ruanda-Urundi but found its demands for the annexation of Luxembourg and part of the Netherlands unfulfilled. Hymans was appointed the first president of the League of Nations.^{[ citation needed ]}

Germany was required to pay 132 billion gold marks in reparations to the Allies, with Belgium receiving priority on the first 2 billion marks in cash.^[13]^[14]^: 236 Because of the priority arrangement and difficulties that post-war Germany had in meeting its obligations, the other Allies did not receive any cash payments before the failure to meet payments led to a Franco-Belgian occupation of the Ruhr in 1923, after British proposals to reform the system (including removal of the Belgian priority) failed.^[15]^[14]^: 243 Germany paid just over 20 billion marks before reparation repayments ceased after the failed Lausanne Conference of 1932.^[14]^: 254

In the run up to the German invasion of May 1940 Belgian King Leopold III discussed a possible renewal of the declaration with Britain, but the government of Neville Chamberlain did not progress the matter.^[16] The declaration of 1916 formed the basis for Belgium's war aims in the Second World War.^[6]

Related Research Articles

The Potsdam Conference was held at Potsdam in the Soviet occupation zone from July 17 to August 2, 1945, to allow the three leading Allies to plan the postwar peace, while avoiding the mistakes of the Paris Peace Conference of 1919. The participants were the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States. They were represented respectively by General Secretary Joseph Stalin, Prime Ministers Winston Churchill and Clement Attlee, and President Harry S. Truman. They gathered to decide how to administer Germany, which had agreed to an unconditional surrender nine weeks earlier. The goals of the conference also included establishing the postwar order, solving issues on the peace treaty, and countering the effects of the war.

The Potsdam Agreement was the agreement between three of the Allies of World War II: the United Kingdom, the United States, and the Soviet Union after the war ended in Europe on 1 August 1945 and it was published the next day. A product of the Potsdam Conference, it concerned the military occupation and reconstruction of Germany, its border, and the entire European Theatre of War territory. It also addressed Germany's demilitarisation, reparations, the prosecution of war criminals and the mass expulsion of ethnic Germans from various parts of Europe. France was not invited to the conference but formally remained one of the powers occupying Germany.

The Treaty of Versailles was a peace treaty signed on 28 June 1919. As the most important treaty of World War I, it ended the state of war between Germany and most of the Allied Powers. It was signed in the Palace of Versailles, exactly five years after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, which led to the war. The other Central Powers on the German side signed separate treaties. The United States never ratified the Versailles treaty and made a separate peace treaty with Germany. Although the armistice of 11 November 1918 ended the actual fighting, it took six months of Allied negotiations at the Paris Peace Conference to conclude the peace treaty. Germany was not allowed to participate in the negotiations; it was forced to sign the final treaty.

Following the ratification of article 231 of the Treaty of Versailles at the conclusion of World War I, the Central Powers were made to give war reparations to the Allied Powers. Each defeated power was required to make payments in either cash or kind. Because of the financial situation in Austria, Hungary, and Turkey after the war, few to no reparations were paid and the requirements for reparations were cancelled. Bulgaria, having paid only a fraction of what was required, saw its reparation figure reduced and then cancelled. Historians have recognized the German requirement to pay reparations as the "chief battleground of the post-war era" and "the focus of the power struggle between France and Germany over whether the Versailles Treaty was to be enforced or revised."

The San Remo conference was an international meeting of the post-World War I Allied Supreme Council as an outgrowth of the Paris Peace Conference, held at Castle Devachan in Sanremo, Italy, from 19 to 26 April 1920. The San Remo Resolution passed on 25 April 1920 determined the allocation of Class "A" League of Nations mandates for the administration of three then-undefined Ottoman territories in the Middle East: "Palestine", "Syria" and "Mesopotamia". The boundaries of the three territories were "to be determined [at a later date] by the Principal Allied Powers", leaving the status of outlying areas such as Zor and Transjordan unclear.

The Locarno Treaties were seven agreements negotiated in Locarno, Switzerland, from 5 to 16 October 1925 and formally signed in London on 1 December, in which the First World War Western European Allied powers and the new states of Central and Eastern Europe sought to secure the post-war territorial settlement, in return for normalizing relations with the defeated German Reich. It also stated that Germany would never go to war with the other countries. Locarno divided borders in Europe into two categories: western, which were guaranteed by the Locarno Treaties, and eastern borders of Germany with Poland, which were open for revision.

The aftermath of World War I saw far-reaching and wide-ranging cultural, economic, and social change across Eurasia, Africa, and even in areas outside those that were directly involved. Four empires collapsed due to the war, old countries were abolished, new ones were formed, boundaries were redrawn, international organizations were established, and many new and old ideologies took a firm hold in people's minds. World War I also had the effect of bringing political transformation to most of the principal parties involved in the conflict, transforming them into electoral democracies by bringing near-universal suffrage for the first time in history, as in Germany, Great Britain, and Turkey.

The Paris Peace Conference was a set of formal and informal diplomatic meetings in 1919 and 1920 after the end of World War I, in which the victorious Allies set the peace terms for the defeated Central Powers. Dominated by the leaders of Britain, France, the United States and Italy, the conference resulted in five treaties that rearranged the maps of Europe and parts of Asia, Africa and the Pacific Islands, and also imposed financial penalties. Germany, Austria-Hungary, Turkey and the other losing nations were not given a voice in the deliberations; this later gave rise to political resentments that lasted for decades. The arrangements made by this conference are considered one of the great watersheds of 20th-century geopolitical history.

The Young Plan was a 1929 attempt to settle issues surrounding the World War I reparations obligations that Germany owed under the terms of Treaty of Versailles. Developed to replace the 1924 Dawes Plan, the Young Plan was negotiated in Paris from February to June 1929 by a committee of international financial experts under the leadership of American businessman and economist Owen D. Young. Representatives of the affected governments then finalised and approved the plan at The Hague conference of 1929/30. Reparations were set at 36 billion Reichsmarks payable through 1988. Including interest, the total came to 112 billion Reichsmarks. The average annual payment was approximately two billion Reichsmarks. The plan came into effect on 17 May 1930, retroactive to 1 September 1929.

The Declaration by United Nations was the main treaty that formalized the Allies of World War II and was signed by 47 national governments between 1942 and 1945. On 1 January 1942, during the Arcadia Conference, the Allied "Big Four"—the United States, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, and China—signed a short document which later came to be known as the United Nations Declaration, and the next day the representatives of 22 other nations added their signatures.

Article 231, often known as the War Guilt Clause, was the opening article of the reparations section of the Treaty of Versailles, which ended the First World War between the German Empire and the Allied and Associated Powers. The article did not use the word "guilt" but it served as a legal basis to compel Germany to pay reparations for the war.

The Occupation of the Ruhr was a period of military occupation of the Ruhr region of Germany by France and Belgium from 11 January 1923 to 25 August 1925.

<i>The Economic Consequences of the Peace</i> 1919 book by John Maynard Keynes

The Economic Consequences of the Peace (1919) is a book written and published by the British economist John Maynard Keynes. After the First World War, Keynes attended the Paris Peace Conference of 1919 as a delegate of the British Treasury. At the conference as a representative of the British Treasury and deputy to the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the Supreme Economic Council he had publicly urged and secretly arranged on behalf of 'Rosie' Wemyss for a discontinuing of the food blockade of Germany but became ill and on his return found that there was 'no hope' of an economically sustainable settlement, and so resigned. In this book, he presents his arguments for a much less onerous treaty for a wider readership, not just for the sake of German civilians but for the sake of the economic well-being of all of Europe and beyond, including the Allied Powers, which the Treaty of Versailles and its associated treaties endangered.

The Allies, or the Entente Powers, were an international military coalition of countries led by France, the United Kingdom, Russia, the United States, Italy, and Japan against the Central Powers of Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and Bulgaria in World War I (1914–1918).

The Lausanne Conference of 1932, held from 16 June to 9 July 1932 in Lausanne, Switzerland, was a meeting of representatives from the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Belgium, Japan and Germany that resulted in an agreement to lower Germany's World War I reparations obligations as imposed by the Treaty of Versailles and the 1929 Young Plan. The reduction of approximately 90 per cent was made as a result of the difficult economic circumstances during the Great Depression. The Lausanne Treaty never came into effect because it was dependent on an agreement with the United States on the repayment of the loans it had made to the Allied powers during World War I, and that agreement was never reached. The Lausanne Conference marked the de facto end of Germany's reparations payments until after World War II.

The London and Paris Conferences were two related conferences held in London and Paris during September–October 1954 to determine the status of West Germany. The talks concluded with the signing of the Paris Agreements, which granted West Germany some sovereignty, ended the occupation, and allowed its admittance to NATO. Furthermore, both West Germany and Italy joined the Brussels Treaty on 23 October 1954. The Agreements went into force on 5 May 1955. The participating powers included France, the United Kingdom, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, West Germany, Italy, Canada, the United States, and remaining NATO members.

The Paris Economy Pact was an international economic agreement reached at the Paris Economic Conference, held from 14 June 1916 in Paris. The meeting, held at the height of World War I, included representatives of the Allied Powers: Great Britain, France, Italy, Japan and Russia.

After World War II both West Germany and East Germany were obliged to pay war reparations to the Allied governments, according to the Potsdam Conference. Other Axis nations were obliged to pay war reparations according to the Paris Peace Treaties, 1947. Austria was not included in any of these treaties.

The United Kingdom declared war on Germany on Sunday 3 September 1939, two days after Germany invaded Poland. France also declared war on Germany later the same day.

The diplomatic history of World War I covers the non-military interactions among the major players during World War I. For the domestic histories of participants see home front during World War I. For a longer-term perspective see international relations (1814–1919) and causes of World War I. For the following (post-war) era see international relations (1919–1939). The major "Allies" grouping included Great Britain and its empire, France, Russia, Italy and the United States. Opposing the Allies, the major Central Powers included Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire (Turkey) and Bulgaria. Other countries also joined the Allies. For a detailed chronology see timeline of World War I.

References

1 2 3 4 Marks, Sally (1 April 2010). Paul Hymans: Belgium. Haus Publishing. p. 27. ISBN 978-1-907822-24-7.
↑ Nicolson, Colin (15 July 2014). Longman Companion to the First World War: Europe 1914–1918. Routledge. p. 214. ISBN 978-1-317-88826-0.
↑ Goemans, H. E. (6 January 2012). War and Punishment: The Causes of War Termination and the First World War. Princeton University Press. p. 227. ISBN 978-1-4008-2395-6.
↑ Marks, Sally (10 October 2017). Innocent Abroad: Belgium at the Paris Peace Conference of 1919. UNC Press Books. p. 29. ISBN 978-1-4696-4004-4.
1 2 3 4 Marks, Sally (10 October 2017). Innocent Abroad: Belgium at the Paris Peace Conference of 1919. UNC Press Books. p. 30. ISBN 978-1-4696-4004-4.
1 2 3 Crombois, Jean F. (6 October 2015). Camille Gutt and Postwar International Finance. Routledge. p. 39. ISBN 978-1-317-32365-5.
↑ Tuyll, H. P. van (21 November 2016). Small Countries in a Big Power World: The Belgian-Dutch Conflict at Versailles, 1919. BRILL. p. 76. ISBN 978-90-04-33156-3.
↑ O'Connell, Vincent (16 November 2017). The Annexation of Eupen-Malmedy: Becoming Belgian, 1919–1929. Springer. p. 29. ISBN 978-1-349-95295-3.
↑ Palo, Michael F. (1980). "Belgium's Response to the Peace Initiatives of December 1916: An Exercise in Diplomatic Self-Determination". The Historian. 42 (4): 583–597. doi:10.1111/j.1540-6563.1980.tb01561.x. ISSN 0018-2370. JSTOR 24446201.
1 2 State, United States Department of (1929). Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States. U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 18.
↑ Veranneman, Jean-Michel (30 November 2018). Belgium in the Great War. Casemate Publishers. ISBN 978-1-5267-1662-0.
↑ Spielvogel, Jackson J. (1 January 2011). Western Civilization: Alternate Volume: Since 1300. Cengage Learning. p. 805. ISBN 978-1-133-17264-2.
↑ Helmreich, Jonathan E. (23 September 2019). Belgium and Europe: A Study in Small Power Diplomacy. Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. p. 207. ISBN 978-3-11-088258-2.
1 2 3 Marks, Sally (1978). "The Myths of Reparations". Central European History. 11 (3): 231–255. doi:10.1017/S0008938900018707. ISSN 0008-9389. S2CID 144072556.
↑ Gomes, L. (14 April 2010). German Reparations, 1919 – 1932: A Historical Survey. Springer. p. 88. ISBN 978-0-230-27746-5.
↑ Vanthemsche, Guy (30 April 2012). Belgium and the Congo, 1885–1980. Cambridge University Press. p. 122. ISBN 978-0-521-19421-1.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[marks-1] 1 2 3 4 Marks, Sally (1 April 2010). Paul Hymans: Belgium. Haus Publishing. p. 27. ISBN 978-1-907822-24-7.

[2] Nicolson, Colin (15 July 2014). Longman Companion to the First World War: Europe 1914–1918. Routledge. p. 214. ISBN 978-1-317-88826-0.

[3] Goemans, H. E. (6 January 2012). War and Punishment: The Causes of War Termination and the First World War. Princeton University Press. p. 227. ISBN 978-1-4008-2395-6.

[4] Marks, Sally (10 October 2017). Innocent Abroad: Belgium at the Paris Peace Conference of 1919. UNC Press Books. p. 29. ISBN 978-1-4696-4004-4.

[marks30-5] 1 2 3 4 Marks, Sally (10 October 2017). Innocent Abroad: Belgium at the Paris Peace Conference of 1919. UNC Press Books. p. 30. ISBN 978-1-4696-4004-4.

[crombois-6] 1 2 3 Crombois, Jean F. (6 October 2015). Camille Gutt and Postwar International Finance. Routledge. p. 39. ISBN 978-1-317-32365-5.

[7] Tuyll, H. P. van (21 November 2016). Small Countries in a Big Power World: The Belgian-Dutch Conflict at Versailles, 1919. BRILL. p. 76. ISBN 978-90-04-33156-3.

[8] O'Connell, Vincent (16 November 2017). The Annexation of Eupen-Malmedy: Becoming Belgian, 1919–1929. Springer. p. 29. ISBN 978-1-349-95295-3.

[9] Palo, Michael F. (1980). "Belgium's Response to the Peace Initiatives of December 1916: An Exercise in Diplomatic Self-Determination". The Historian. 42 (4): 583–597. doi:10.1111/j.1540-6563.1980.tb01561.x. ISSN 0018-2370. JSTOR 24446201.

[US-10] 1 2 State, United States Department of (1929). Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States. U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 18.

[11] Veranneman, Jean-Michel (30 November 2018). Belgium in the Great War. Casemate Publishers. ISBN 978-1-5267-1662-0.

[12] Spielvogel, Jackson J. (1 January 2011). Western Civilization: Alternate Volume: Since 1300. Cengage Learning. p. 805. ISBN 978-1-133-17264-2.

[13] Helmreich, Jonathan E. (23 September 2019). Belgium and Europe: A Study in Small Power Diplomacy. Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. p. 207. ISBN 978-3-11-088258-2.

[myths-14] 1 2 3 Marks, Sally (1978). "The Myths of Reparations". Central European History. 11 (3): 231–255. doi:10.1017/S0008938900018707. ISSN 0008-9389. S2CID 144072556.

[15] Gomes, L. (14 April 2010). German Reparations, 1919 – 1932: A Historical Survey. Springer. p. 88. ISBN 978-0-230-27746-5.

[16] Vanthemsche, Guy (30 April 2012). Belgium and the Congo, 1885–1980. Cambridge University Press. p. 122. ISBN 978-0-521-19421-1.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

[13]

[14]

[15]

[16]