The Seven Weeks' War

by H M Hozier

  Article 9.—The share of the public debt to the Danish monarchy, which according to the above article is to fell on the duchies, shall, under the guarantee of their Majesties the King of Prussia and the Emperor of Austria, reckon as to the debt of the above-mentioned duchies to the kingdom of Denmark, after the expiration of a year, or earlier if it be possible, from the time of the definitive organisation of the duchies. For the payment of this debt the duchies can avail themselves, wholly or in part, of one or other of the following means:—

  1. Payment in silver currency, 75 thalers (Prussian) equal to 100 thalers (Danish);

  2. Parent to the Danish Treasury, by indissoluble bonds at 4 per cent, on the internal debt of the Danish monarchy;

  3. Payment to the Danish Treasury, in new Treasury bonds, given out by the duchies, and the value of which shall be determined in Prussian thalers (30 to the pound), or in Hamburg marks. These will be liquidated by a half-yearly annuity of 5 per cent upon the original amount of the debt, of which 2 per cent, represents the interest ad judged to the debt for each term, while the rest will serve to pay it off. The above-mentioned payment of the half-yearly annuity will be made through the public coffers of the duchies, or through the bankers of Berlin and Hamburg. The bonds named under 2 and 3 will be accepted by the Danish Treasury at their nominal value.

  Article 10.—Up to the time when the duchies definitively receive the sum, which according to the 8th Article of the present Treaty is that which the Danish monarchy has to pay as its share of the mutual debt, they will pay 2 per cent, on the settled sum, that is 580,000 thalers, Danish currency. This payment will be so effected that the interest and the account settlement of the Danish debt, which to the present has been assigned to the public offices of the duchies, shall, as before, be paid by them.

  These payments will be made every half year, and in case they do not reach the above-mentioned sums, the duchies will pay off the remainder in cash to the Danish Finance Administration; if the reverse, the overplus is to be likewise repaid to them in cash. The liquidation will take place between Denmark and the highest managing authorities of the duchies, commissioned for the purpose, according to the stipulated manner of the present list, or even quarterly, if it be considered necessary on both sides. The first settlement shall be for the especial purpose of arranging the interest and account payment of the Danish monarchy, which were made after the 2nd December, 1863.

  Article 11.—The sums which represent the so-called Holstein-Plousche equivalent, the remainder of the compensation for the former possessions of the Duke of Augustenburg, including the debt of precedence with which it is burdened, and the government bonds of Schleswig and Holstein, shall fall exclusively to the duchies.

  Article 12.—The governments of Prussia and Austria will repay themselves the expenses of the war through the duchies.

  Article 13.—His Majesty the King of Denmark binds himself, immediately after the ratification of the present treaty, to give up, with their freights, all the merchant ships of Prussia, Austria, and Germany, which have been taken during the war, also the cargoes belonging to Prussian, Austrian, or German subjects, which have been taken from neutral vessels; lastly, all vessels which Denmark had taken with a warlike design from the abdicated duchies. These objects shall be given back in the same condition in which they really are up to the time of restoration. In case the objects to be returned no longer exist, the worth shall be given in restitution; and should the value have considerably diminished since their seizure, the owner shall receive a proportionate remuneration.

  It is also acknowledged as binding to make amends to the owners and crews of the ships, and to the owners of the cargoes, for all outlay and direct loss which are proved to have fallen on them through the seizure of the vessels; also for the port duties, quarantine duties, law expenses, costs of maintenance, and expenses of sending back the ships and crews. Concerning the vessels which cannot be restored, the value of these at the time of seizure will be accepted as remuneration. Concerning the average freights, or those objects which exist no more, the indemnification will be fixed according to the value which they would have borne at the place of their destination, at the time when the vessel would have reached it, according to probable calculation.

  Their Majesties the King of Prussia and the Emperor of Austria will also give up the merchant ships which have been taken by their troops and men-of-war, with their freights, as far as these are the properties of private individuals. If the restoration cannot be made in naturâ, the indemnification will be settled according to the abovementioned principles. At the same time their Majesties bind themselves to bring to a settlement the sum total of the war contributions which were received in advance by their troops in Jutland. This sum will be deducted from the indemnification which was to be paid by Denmark, according to the principles of the present act. Their Majesties the King of Prussia and the Emperor of Austria, and the King of Denmark, will name a special commission to fix the sum total of the indemnifications. This commission will assemble at Copenhagen, at latest six weeks after the ratification of the present Treaty, and will endeavour to complete their task in three months. If at the end of this term they have arrived at no understanding about the claims brought before them, those which are not yet arranged shall be submitted to a court of separation (Schneide), To this end their Majesties the King of Prussia, the Emperor of Austria, and the King of Denmark, will agree on the choice of a judge (of separation?). The indemnifications will be paid, at latest, one month after their definitive appointment.

  Article 14.—The Danish Government remains burdened with all sums which are paid through the subjects of the duchies, communities, public institutions, and corporations, to the Danish pay offices, as cautions, deposits, and consignments. Moreover shall be restored to the duchies—

  1. The deposit fixed for the payment of the Holstein Bank certificates;

  2. The funds appointed for the prison building;

  3. The fire insurance funds;

  4. The Savings’ Bank;

  5. The capital proceeding from legacies belonging to the parishes or public institutions of the duchies;

  6. Bank reserves from the special receipts of the duchies, which were bonâ fide in the public coffers, at the commencement of the Germanic execution and occupation of these lands. An international commission shall be authorized to liquidate the amount of the above-mentioned sums, deducting the expenses which the special administration required. The collection of antiquities at Flensburg, relating to the history of Schleswig, and which during the late occurrences have been for the most part dispersed, shall, by the assistance of the Danish Government, be again gathered together. Likewise shall those Danish subjects, communities, public institutions, and corporations which have paid sums of money into the public coffers of the duchies, as cautions, deposits, or consignments, be most promptly satisfied by the new government.

  Article 15.—The pensions which depend on the special budgets, be it of the kingdom of Denmark or of the duchies, shall in future be paid by the country concerned, and the holders of them shall be free to choose their domicile, either in the kingdom or in the duchies. All other pensions, civil as well as military (including the pensions of the functionaries of the civil list of His late Majesty King Frederick VII., of His late Royal Highness Prince Ferdinand, of Her late Royal Highness the Margravine Charlotte of Hesse, née Princess of Denmark), and the pensions which till now have been paid through the Privy Purse, will be divided between the kingdom and duchies, according; to the proportion of their population. To this end, a list of all these pensions will soon after be drawn up, the value of the life rents converted into capital, and all the pensioners invited to declare whether in future they desire to receive their pensions in the kingdom or the duchies.

  Should it happen that, in consequence of this declaration, the proportion between the two parts, that is, between that which falls to the duchies and that which remains as a charge on the kingdom, should not be acco
rding to the proportionate population, the difference shall be equalized by the parties concerned. The pensions which are assigned to the General Widows’ Pay-office, and the Pension-fund of the subordinate military, will for the future, as formerly, be paid as far as the funds reach.

  As regards the additional sums which the State will have to advance to these funds, the duchies will be charged with a share, according to the proportion of their population. The share of the Income and Life Insurance Institution, founded at Copenhagen in 1848, which the individual rights belonging to the duchies have attained, they shall expressly retain. An international commission, composed of representatives of both sides, shall assemble at Copenhagen, immediately after the exchange of the ratifications of the present Treaty, and regulate singly the stipulations of this article.

  Article 16.—The Royal Government of Denmark undertakes the payment of the following royal annuities: Her Majesty the Dowager Queen Caroline Amelia; Her Royal Highness the Hereditary Princess Caroline; Her Royal Highness the Duchess Wilhelmina von Glücksburg; Her Serene Highness the Princess Caroline Charlotte Marianne of Mecklenburg-Strelitz; Her Serene Highness the Dowager Duchess Louise Caroline von Glücksburg; His Highness the Prince of Hesse; and their Serene Highnesses the Princesses Charlotte Victoria, and Amelia of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg. The share of these payments which according to the proportion of the population falls to the duchies will be repaid to the Danish Government by the administration of the duchies. The selected commissioners mentioned in the preceding article will also be charged to fix the arrangements for the performance of the present article.

  Article 17.—The new government of the duchies undertakes the rights and obligations of all contracts and objects of public interest (especially those which concern the abdicated country) which have been concluded, conformable to the law of the administration of His Majesty the King of Denmark. It is, of course, understood that all obligations resulting from contracts which the Danish Government had concluded, in reference to the war and the Germanic execution, are not included in the preceding determinations. The new government of the duchies will respect every right or title of individuals or civilians, legally acquired in the duchies. In case of dispute, the Law Courts will find their matters under this category.

  Article 18.—The native subjects of the relinquished countries serving in the Danish army or navy have the right to be immediately exempted from military service, and to return to their homes. It is understood that those among them who remain in the service of His Majesty the King of Denmark need not therefore be in fear, either in reference to their persons or their estates. The same rights and guarantees will be mutually assured to the civil functionaries born in Denmark or the duchies, and who hare the intention either to give up or retain the offices they hold, either in Denmark or the duchies.

  Article 19.—The subjects domiciled in the countries relinquished under the present Treaty have, during an interval of six years (reckoned from the day of the exchange of the ratifications), by means of a preliminary declaration before the authorized jurisdiction, full and entire freedom to carry out their moveable possessions free from all tax, and to retire with their families into the states of His Danish Majesty, in which case they will retain the quality of Danish subjects. At the same time they are permitted to keep their estates in the abdicated countries. The same freedom is also mutually allowed to Danish subjects and individuals born in the duchies, who are established in the states of His Majesty the King of Denmark.

  The subjects who make use of these arrangements need suffer no inquietude, either for their persons or with reference to the properties situate in both states, on account of their choice of either one side or the other. The above-mentioned respite of six years is also available to those belonging either to the kingdom of Denmark or to the ceded country, who are staying out of the territories of the King of Denmark, or of the duchies at the time of the exchange of the ratifications of the present Treaty. The nearest Danish Embassy, or any high provincial jurisdiction of the kingdom or the duchies, will receive their declaration. The naturalisation in the kingdom of Denmark, as in the duchies, belongs to any individual who has possessed it up to the time of the ratification of this Treaty.

  Article 20.—The titles of possession, the acts of administration and civil justice, which relate to the ceded countries, and which are in the archives of the kingdom of Denmark, shall be surrendered to the commissioners of the new government of the duchies as soon as possible. All those divisions of the archives at Copenhagen, which belonged to the ceded country, and which were taken from their archives, shall be given up. The Danish Government and the new government of the duchies mutually bind themselves to divide all documents and manuscripts which bear reference to the common concerns of Denmark and the duchies, on the demand of the high administrative jurisdiction.

  The trade and navigation of Denmark and the ceded duchies shall enjoy the rights and privileges of the most favoured nations, and indeed, until a special. Treaty settles the conditions, the exemptions and facilities relating to the transit duty, which, according to Article 2 of the Treaty of the 14th May, 1857, is allowed to the goods which are conveyed on the highways and canals which unite, or will unite, the North Sea and the East Sea, will find their application to all goods which the kingdom or the duchies convey, whatever mode of communication it be.

  Article 21.—The evacuation of Jutland by the allied troops will be accomplished in as short a time as possible, at latest in the course of three weeks after the exchange of the ratifications of the present Treaty. The extra arrangements concerning the evacuation are fixed in a protocol appended to the present Treaty.

  Article 22.—And to contribute all in their power to the tranquillity of every mind, the high contracting powers declare and promise that no person who is compromised on the occasion of the late events, because of His position and political opinions, shall be at all persecuted, molested, or alarmed, either in his person or with reference to his possessions, whatever be his rank or situation.

  Article 23.—The present Treaty will be ratified, and the ratifications will be exchanged in Vienna, within three weeks, or sooner. In witness whereof the plenipotentiaries have signed and sealed it with their arms.

  Passed at Vienna the 30th October, in the Year of Grace 1864.

  Werther,

  Balen.

  Rechberg.

  Brenner,

  Quaade.

  Kaufmann.

  (Here follows, as Appendix, a protocol, which decides the manner in which the evacuation of Jutland shall take place within three weeks. Then also a second protocol of the same 30th October, which says: “Immediately after the exchange of the ratifications of the abovementioned Treaties, His Majesty the King of Denmark will issue proclamations to the inhabitants of the ceded countries, to notify the change which has taken place in their situation and to release them from their oath of fidelity.”)

  Appendix 2

  1865. February 21.—Prussian Despatch to the Austrian Ministry, pronouncing the conditions the fulfilment of which is demanded by the Prussian Cabinet in the duchies of Schleswig Holstein, for the safe position of the German interests. There are six Articles.

  1st.—Lasting and indissoluble defensive and offensive alliance of the duchies with Prussia. To make this feasible, Prussia binds herself to give protection and defence to the duchies against all attacks, in return the future duke will place the whole defensive power of the duchies at the disposition of the King of Prussia, to apply it in the army and navy to the protection and interest of both countries. The whole military disposition of the duchies shall be placed on Prussian footing. It shall be yielded to the Prussian Government, to appoint the quarters of the duchy troops, either in Prussia, or the duchies; the troops shall take the oath of allegiance to the king. The same principles apply to the navy.

  2nd.—The Federal obligation of the sovereign of the duchies remains unaltered. He will organise his Federal contingent
from the Holstein-Prussian troops not belonging to the Prussian Federal contingent.

  3rd.—Rendsburg shall be a Federal Fortress, and remain occupied by the Prussians as hitherto.

  4th.—On behalf of the protection of the duchies, the following territories, with full sovereignty, shall be resigned: (a) The town of Sonderburg, Math corresponding dominions, on both sides of the Alsen Sound, (b) The fortress of Friedricksort, with corresponding dominions, for the protection of Kiel. (c) The ground necessary for the establishment of fortifications at the mouths of the canal joining the East and North Seas. Prussia demands that the levelling of the canal, the guidance of the structure, and the supreme direction, shall be given up to her.

  5th.—The duchies, with their entire dominions, shall assent to the Pussian tariff system (Prussian tariff union).

  6th.—The postal and telegraph affairs of the duchies shall be united with those of Prussia. The surrender of the duchies to the future sovereign will follow on the fixing and performance of the above conditions. Be they not executed, Prussia will again enter on the rights appertaining to her from the Peace of Vienna, and will reserve to herself the monetary winding up (Geltendmachung) of her other appertaining pretensions with regard to the duchies.

  The Austrian Cabinet answered this despatch on the 5th March. It declared that each one of the Prussian demands contradicted either the Federal law, or the independence of the new Federal state. The Austrian minister, Count Mensdorff, had however, directly from the beginning set up the principle in regard to constituting the duchies, that the new Federal state should be independent, and that the regulation of its future relations to Prussia should take place within the limits of the Federal legislation. As soon as these two demands shall be fulfilled, Austria will willingly agree to those arrangements, which Prussia may judge necessary for the preservation of her interests in the formation of the new state.