The Nizkor Project: Remembering the Holocaust (Shoah)

Nazi Conspiracy & Aggression
Volume I Chapter IX
Treaty Violations
(Part 7 of 11)


(2) Armament Limitations. Part V of the Treaty, containing military, Naval and Air Clauses reads as follows:

"In order to render possible the initiation of a general limitation of the armaments of all nations, Germany undertakes strictly to observe the military, naval and air clauses which follow. "Section 1. Military Clauses. Effectives and Cadres of the German Army ***"

*******

"Article 159. The German military forces shall be demobilized and reduced as prescribed hereinafter. "Article 160. By a date which must not be later than 31 March 1920, the German Army must not comprise more than seven divisions of infantry and three divisions of cavalry. "After that date, the total number of effectives in the army of the States constituting Germany must not exceed 100,000 men, including officers and establishments of depots. The army shall be devoted exclusively to the maintenance of order within the territory and to the control of the frontier. "The total effective strength of officers, including the personnel of staffs, whatever their composition, must not exceed 4,000."

*******

(2) "Divisions and Army Corps headquarters staffs, shall be organized in accordance with Table Number 1 annexed to this Section. The number and strength of units of infantry, artillery, engineers, technical services and troops laid down in the aforesaid table constitute maxima which must not be exceeded."

*******

"The maintenance or formation of forces differently grouped or of other organizations for the command of troops or for preparation for war is forbidden.

"The great German General Staff and all similar organizations shall be dissolved and may not be reconstituted in any form." (TC-10)

Article 163 provides the steps by which the reduction will take place. Chapter which deals with armament, provides that up till the time at which Germany is admitted as a member of the League

[Page 660]

of Nations, the armaments shall not be greater than the amount fixed in Table Number 11. In other words, Germany agrees that after she has become a member of the League of Nations, the armaments fixed in the said table shall remain in force until they are modified by the Council of the League of Nations. Furthermore, she hereby agrees strictly to observe the decisions of the Council of the League on this subject. (TC-10)

Article 168 reads:

"The manufacture of arms, munitions or any war material shall only be carried out in factories or works, the location of which shall be communicated to and approved by the governments of the Principal Allied and Associated Powers, and the number of which they retain the right to restrict. ***" (TC-10)

Article 173, under the heading "Recruiting and Military Training", deals with one matter, the breach of which is of great importance:

"Universal compulsory military service shall be abolished in Germany. The German Army may only be reconstituted and recruited by means of voluntary enlistment." (TC-10)

The succeeding articles deal with the method of enlistment in order to prevent a quick rush through the army of men enlisted for a short time.

Article 180 provides:

"All fortified works, fortresses and field works situated in German territory to the west of a line drawn 50 kilometers to the east of the Rhine shall be disarmed and dismantled. ***" (TC-10)

Article 181 contains naval limitations:

"After a period of two months from the coming into force of the present Treaty the German naval forces in commission must not exceed:

"Six battleships of the Deutschland or Lothringen type
Six light cruisers
Twelve destroyers
Twelve torpedo boats

or an equal number of ships constructed to replace them as provided in Article 190.
"No submarines are to be included.
"All other warships, except where there is provision to the contrary in the present Treaty, must be placed in reserve or devoted to commercial purposes." (TC-10)

Article 183 limits naval personnel to fifteen thousand, including officers and men of all grades and corps.

[Page 661]

Article 191 provides:

"The construction or acquisition of any submarines, even for commercial purposes, shall be forbidden in Germany." (TC-10)

Article 198, the first of the Air Clauses, commences:

"The armed forces of Germany must not include any military or naval air forces." (TC-10)

The formal statement made at the German Air Ministry about the re-inauguration of the Air Corps is reproduced in TC-44. The public proclamation of compulsory military service is contained in TC-4.


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