Grossbrit., 15. Juli 1870. No. 4069. that so far as France was concerned, it was quite unnecessary for Belgium to watch her railways, or go to any expense to protect herself. He had, he said, solemnly assured the Belgian Minister that absolute respect for the neutrality of Belgium would be a fundamental principle in the eyes of the French Government if France went to war; that France would respect the neutrality of Belgium under all circumstances ,,quand même". ¶M. de Gramont authorized me to convey the same assurances to Her Majesty's Government. ¶ I have, &c. Lyons. No. 4070. Grossbrit., 1870. GROSSBRITANNIEN. No. 4070. Botschafter in Berlin an den Min. d. Ausw. Neutralität Hollands, Luxemburgs und Belgiens. Berlin, July 16, 1870. My Lord, I am informed that Count Bylandt, the Netherlands 16. Juli Minister at this Court, has informed Baron Thile verbally that, in the event of a war between France and Germany, the Government of His Netherlands Majesty will remain strictly neutral. He added that the necessary measures would be taken to protect their neutrality, and he stated that probably the Netherlands Government would try to come to an arrangement with Belgium for a joint protection of the neutrality of both countries. ¶ Baron Thile replied that this information would give satisfaction to the Prussian Government, who only looked to the neutrality of Holland. As regards Belgium and Luxemburg, the neutrality of both countries was guaranted by Treaty, and it would be scrupulously respected by Prussia. ¶ I have, &c. Augustus Loftus. No. 4071. Grossbrit., 1870. GROSSBRITANNIEN. - No. 4071. An Botschafter in Paris an den Min. des Ausw. erkennung der Neutralität Hollands und Luxemburgs Seitens Frank My Lord, reichs. Paris, July 18, 1870. This afternoon, in obedience to the instruction con18. Juli tained in your Lordship's despatch of yesterday's date, I conveyed to the Duc de Gramont the warm thanks of Her Majesty's Government for the spontaneous declaration which his Excellency had made of the determination of the French Government to respect the neutrality of Belgium. M. de Gramont said he would authorize me to communicate to Her Majesty's Government an equally positive assurance that France would also respect the neutrality of Luxemburg and Holland. M. de Gramont added that the only reservation which France made was, that the neutrality of these countries should be also respected by Prussia. If, he said, Prussia should enter any of them, we should of course hold ourselves at liberty to do the same. I have, &c. Lyons. No. 4072. GROSSBRITANNIEN. Aner Gesandter im Haag an den Min. d. Ausw. kennung der Neutralität Hollands und Luxemburgs Seitens der Krieg 1870. (Extract.) The Minister for Foreign Affairs, in answer to an inter- No. 4072. Grossbrit., pellation addressed to him in the First Chamber, stated to-day that his 18. Juli Government had received in writing formal assurances from the Governments of France and Prussia that they recognized and would respect the neutrality of Holland. In answer to another question relative to a rumour which had been circulated that Prussia had offered to Holland a body of troops to aid her in maintaining her neutrality, the Minister said that his Government had received no such offer from any Government whatever. [ I to-day informed your Lordship by telegram that the Government of the North Confederation had promised that of Luxemburg to respect its neutrality as long as France did so. I am assured that in the Council of Ministers presided yesterday by the King, it was determined to maintain the strictest neutrality. Harris. No. 4073. Aner GROSSBRITANNIEN. Gesandter in Bern an den Min. des Ausw. kennung der Schweizer Neutralität Seitens der Kriegführenden. Berne, July 18, 1870. My Lord, The Federal Council having asked of both the French and Prussian Governments a direct assurance that the position assured by Treaties to Switzerland would be observed, and both the integrity and neutrality of the territory of the Confederation strictly respected by the belligerent Powers in the event of war, an official answer has already been received by the President of the Confederation from the French Government, affording that assurance in the most unequivocal terms. From the Prussian Government the official answer has not yet had time to reach the Federal Council; but the verbal answer of M. de Thile, at Berlin, to the communication of M. Mercier, the Swiss Chargé d'Affaires, was completely satisfactory. ¶ A representation having been made by the Federal Council to the Government. of Baden relative to a small portion of the railway line which, between Constance and Bâle, crosses the Swiss territory, the Baden Government at once and unhesitatingly declared that such portion of the said railway would be strictly respected in the passage of troops, munition of war, &c. I have, &c. A. G. G. Bonar. No. 4074. Grossbrit., 1870. GROSSBRITANNIEN. No. 4074. Botschafter in Berlin an den Min. des Ausw. Anerkennung der Neutralität Belgiens. Berlin, July 23, 1870. My Lord, In conformity with the instructions of your Lordship's 23. Juli despatch of the 16th instant, received yesterday morning, I have stated to Baron Thile that Her Majesty's Ambassador at Paris had reported the language held to him by the Duc de Gramont, in which he announced the determination of the French Government to respect the neutrality of Belgium; and that I was instructed by your Lordship to state to Count Bismarck that this declaration, spontaneously made by France, only confirms the confident expectation of Her Majesty's Government that both Prussia and France, even under the pressure of war, would scrupulously respect the Treaties of Neutrality to which they were parties. ¶ Baron Thile replied to this communication, that the Government of the North German Confederation had expressed, on three different occasions, their determination to respect the neutrality of Belgium. They had done so verbally to Baron Nothomb, the Belgian Minister at this Court; they had repeated these assurances to the Belgian Government through their Representative at Brussels; and, lastly, a document to this effect, signed by Count Bismarck, had been addressed to Baron Nothomb. His Excellency added that the North German Government had also formally recognized the neutrality of Luxemburg, Holland, and Switzerland. I have, &c. Augustus Loftus. No. 4075. Frankreich, No. 4075. FRANKREICH. Entwurf eines Offensiv- und Defensiv-Bündnisses zwischen Frankreich und Preussen, zuerst veröffentlicht in The Times" vom 25. Juli 1870. Sa Majesté le Roi de Prusse et Sa Majesté l'Empereur des Français, 1867). jugeant utile de resserrer les liens d'amitié qui les unissent et de consolider les rapports de bon voisinage heureusement existant entre les deux pays, convaincus d'autre part que pour atteindre ce résultat, propre d'ailleurs à assurer le maintien de la paix générale, il leur importe de s'entendre sur des questions qui intéressent leurs relations futures, ont résolu de conclure un Traité à cet effet, et nommé en conséquence pour leurs Plénipotentiaires, &c., savoir: Sa Majesté, &c.; Sa Majesté, &c.; *) Ueber die Zeit der Entstehung siehe Telegramm Bismarcks an Bernstorff in No. 4077; vergleiche übrigens No. 4076 und die Circular-Depesche Bismarcks vom 29. Juli [No. 4078]. Lesquels, après avoir échangé leurs pleins pouvoirs, trouvés en bonne et due forme, sont convenus des Articles suivants : Art. I. Sa Majesté l'Empereur des Français admet et reconnait les acquisitions que la Prusse a faites à la suite de la dernière guerre qu'elle a soutenue contre l'Autriche et contre ses alliés. *) Art. II. Sa Majesté le Roi de Prusse promet de faciliter à la France l'acquisition du Luxembourg; à cet effet la dite Majesté entrera en négociations avec Sa Majesté le Roi des Pays-Bas pour le déterminer à faire, à l'Empereur des Français, la cession de ses droits souverains sur ce Duché, moyennant telle compensation qui sera jugée suffisante ou autrement. De son côté l'Empereur des Français s'engage à assumer les charges pécuniaires que cette transaction peut comporter.**) Art. III. Sa Majesté l'Empereur des Français ne s'opposera pas à une union fédérale de la Confédération du Nord avec les Etats du Midi de l'Allemagne, à l'exception de l'Autriche, laquelle union pourra être basée sur un Parlement commun, tout en respectant, dans une juste mesure, la souveraineté des dits Etats. Art. IV. De son côté, Sa Majesté le Roi de Prusse, au cas où Sa Majesté l'Empereur des Français serait amené par les circonstances à faire entrer ses troupes en Belgique ou à la conquérir, accordera le secours de ses armes à la France, et il la soutiendra avec toutes ses forces de terre et de mer, envers et contre toute Puissance qui, dans cette éventualité, lui déclarerait la guerre. Art. V. Pour assurer l'entière exécution des dispositions qui précèdent, Sa Majesté le Roi de Prusse et Sa Majesté l'Empereur des Français contractent, par le présent Traité, une alliance offensive et défensive qu'ils s'engagent solennellement à maintenir. Leurs Majestés s'obligent, en outre et notamment, à l'observer dans tous les cas où leurs Etats respectifs, dont elles se garantissent mutuellement l'intégrité, seraient menacés d'une agression, se tenant pour liées, en pareille conjoncture, de prendre sans retard, et de ne décliner sous aucun prétexte, les arrangements militaires qui seraient commandés par leur intérêt commun conformément aux clauses et prévisions ci-dessus énoncées. ***) ་་ *) In dem später zu Tage gekommenen Original folgen hier noch eingeklammert die Worte: ainsi que les arrangements pris ou à prendre pour une constitution d'une Confédération dans l'Allemagne du Nord, s'engageant en même temps à prêter son appui à la conservation de cette oeuvre.“ **) In dem Original ist der im Druck ausgezeichnete Satz durchstrichen und am Rande von derselben Handschrift durch folgende Fassung ersetzt: Pour faciliter cette transaction, l'Empereur des Français, de son côté, s'engage à assumer accessoirement les charges pécuniaires qu'elle pourrait comporter.“ ***) In der Sitzung des Englischen Oberhauses vom 25. Juli äusserte Earl Granville in Antwort auf eine Anfrage des Lord Stratford de Redcliffe: I am not informed whence came the document which appeared in The Times this morning, but I am not surprised that my noble friend should regard it as a very important document. I can only state the conviction of Her Majesty's Government that, after the announceStaatsarchiv XIX. 1870. 10 No. 4075. Frankreich, 1867. GROSSBRITANNIEN. No. 4076. - Ueber - Botschafter in Berlin an den Min. d. Ausw. sendung eines Facsimile des Vertragsentwurfes; Anerkennung der Handschrift Benedetti's. Berlin, July 26, 1870. No. 4076. Grossbrit., 26. Juli 1870. My Lord, With reference to my telegram of yesterday, I have now the honour to transmit to your Lordship a lithographed copy of the draft of the Treaty of Alliance, offensive and defensive, which M. Benedetti proposed for the acceptance of the Prussian Government at the commencement of 1869, on the eve of the Belgian Railway Question. The original, which I myself have seen, is in M. Benedetti's handwriting. ¶ I have, &c. Augustus Loftus. No. 4077. Grossbrit., 1870. GROSSBRITANNIEN. No. 4077. Aus der Sitzung des Oberhauses vom 29. Juli 1870. Der geheime französisch-preussische Vertragsentwurf; gegebene Aufklärungen über die Entstehung; Bericht eines „Englishman“ über eine Unterredung mit dem Kaiser Napoleon. The Earl of Malmesbury. My noble friend the Foreign 29. Juli Secretary having given me permission to ask him a question, I now rise to do So. I remarked last night that this House and the country would be very anxious for further information respecting the Projet de Traité which appeared in The Times on Monday. A few days afterwards my noble friend stated that Lord Augustus Loftus, the British Ambassador at Berlin, had verified the document as authentic, and that it would be published in the Prussian official journals. He added that he had had a conversation with the French Ambassador, who treated it as a project which had never been seriously entertained, and to which the two parties had not agreed. Since then the Prussian Government has apparently published in the official journal a letter which the Chancellor of the North German Confederation has addressed to Count Bernstorff, the Prussian Ambassador at this Court. That letter appeared in the newspapers this morning, and it is a document of such an extraordinary nature that I can only make use of the word "appalling" to describe its tenour. (Hear, hear.) It is almost impossible for us, I think, to believe implicitly what it states, but I wish to ask my noble friend what he knows of the matter. (The noble earl here read the letter which appeared in The Times of yesterday).) This paper actually accuses the French ment of the alleged existence of such a draught of a Treaty, both the Governments of France and Prussia will be induced immediately and spontaneously to explain to Europe all that concerns this matter." *) S. w. u. in der Antwort Granville's. |