Treaty Revision and Revisionism

TREATY REVISION AND REVISIONISM StR GEOFFREY KNOX T HE idea that a treaty of peace must.be subject to revision, which was introduced in the Covenant of the League of Nations and eagerly canvassed in the period between the two wars, has been brought up again at San Francis.co and more will certainly be heard of it before the Peace Conferences begin. It may therefore be worth while to look back at how t he experiment of 1919 fared in practice and how the principle of revision was e>Cploited for ends· which its authors and advocates had not foreseen. I Article XIX of the Covenant laid down: "The Assembly may from time to time advise the reconsicleration by members of the League of treaties which have become inapplicable and the consideration of co~ditions whose continuance might endanger the peace of the world." This appeared innocuous enough- the application of a principle which no normal man would think of challenging; but it was evidently intendi;d to go somewhat further, since the Allied and Associated Powers in their reply to the German Delegation's comments on the Treaty of Versailles s'tated: "It [the Treaty] creates the machinery for the adjustme~t of all international problems by discussion anrl consent, whereby the settlement of 1919 itselfcan be modified from time to time to suit new facts and new conditions as they arise." This was meanl no doubt ro cover such modifications as those already provided for in the R eparations Section in connection with Germany's "capac'ity to pay," and other clauses of the Treaty of which the usefulness might lapse owing to unforeseen ci rcu mstan~cs or which experience might show to be .u npractical, thus aJlowing the Powers to make the nece3sary readj ustments .wi thout undermining the Treaty as a whole. It is not to be believed that a body of responsible statesmen, with comperent advisers at thei r elbow, deliberately deci of creating (riendlier relacions with her1 but more of (t inspired by the f:agcrness of politicians TREATY REVISION AND REVISlQNJSM · . 31 to pander to that strange sentimental hysteria that had been generated by German propaganda playing on popuJar ignorance of ,rhe facts and the issues involved-an ignorance which. most unfortunately governments did , nothing to dispel. . Thus from an early date Reparations were submitted to frequent revisions which whittled them down and finally extinguished them just at the moment when Germany needed. all the foreign exchange and barter power she could get together to supply her massive- rearmament.. Military· Control was first weakened and then prematurely withdrawn, and one of the weightiest of the Mili cary Clauses, Arc! c.le 177 prohibiting· che 11 privare _armies", was never enforce·d, in spite o( incessant and open provocation. When it. came· to Germany's entry into the League, th·e conditions laid down in the Covenant and elaborated jn the Note to" the German Delegation at Versailles were eluded\ and she wa.sjuggled into her seat on the Council without any affirmation o( respect for her international obligations-a. procedure well designed to ·bring the League into contempt, parcicul~rly in the eyes of ics new member. The occupied _Rhineland too, the corner-stone o{ the defence o( Europe> was abandoned in 1930, fiV"c: ye.ars in advance o( the dare set by the Treaty. (That Germany -was able to secure these alleviations by means of a propaganda chat was chen having its fuJI effect only in Anglo-Sa~on and Nordic countries is to be explained by the facr that France, who, )t must be admitted today, was the only Great Power to show a sense of reaJity and responsibility. in the generat light-hc:adedness thac followed rhe war, was dependent on rhe , . Anglo-Saxe~ Powers (or her security. She was acutdy conscious o( this but also reali2ed char the concessions which she was obliged to m·ake in order to r~rain what she could o( their good will were sapping that sec.uriry.) These concessions which· already passed the bounds of reason able _prudence only served to whet Germany·s appetire, and her efforts to rearm...