23. The following German surface warships, which shall be designated by the Allies and the United States, shall forthwith be disarmed and thereafter interned in neutral ports, or, failing these, in Allied ports designated by the Allies and the United States, and there placed under the supervision of the Allies and the United States, only guards being left on board, namely :

6 battle cruisers.

10 battleships.

8 light cruisers, including two mine-layers. 50 destroyers of the most modern types.

All other surface warships (including river craft) shall be concentrated in German naval bases to be designated by the Allies and the United States, completely disarmed, and there placed under the supervision of the Allies and the United States. All vessels of the auxiliary fleet shall be disarmed. All vessels selected for internment shall be ready to leave German ports seven days after the signature of the armistice. Sailing orders shall be given by wireless.

24. The Allies and the United States shall have the right to sweep all mine-fields and destroy all obstructions laid by Germany outside German territorial waters. The position of such mine-fields and obstructions is to be indicated.

25. Freedom of access to and egress from the Baltic to be given to the naval and mercantile marines of the Allied and Associated Powers; to secure this the Allies and the United States shall be empowered to occupy all German forts, fortifications, batteries, and defense works of all kinds in all the channels from the Cattegat into the Baltic, and to sweep and destroy all mines and obstructions within and without German territorial waters. The plans and exact positions of the above shall be furnished by Germany, who may not raise any question of neutrality.

26. The existing blockade conditions set up by the Allied and Associated Powers shall remain unchanged, and all German merchant ships met at sea shall remain liable to capture. The Allies and the United States contemplate the provisioning of Germany, during the armistice, to such extent as shall be found necessary.

27. All aircraft shall be concentrated and immobilized in German bases specified by the Allied Powers and the United States.

28. In evacuating the Belgian coast and ports, Germany shall leave in situ and intact all harbor material and material for inland navigation, all merchant craft, tugs, and barges; all naval aircraft, equipment, and stores, together with all armament, equipment, and stores of every description.

29. All Black Sea ports are to be evacuated by Germany; Russian warships of all descriptions seized by Germany in the Black Sea are to be handed over to the Allies and the United States; all neutral merchant ships seized are to be released; war and other material of all kinds seized in those ports are to be returned, and German material as specified in clause 28 is to be abandoned.

30. All merchant ships now in German hands belonging to the Allied and Associated Powers shall be restored, without reciprocity, in ports specified by the Allies and the United States.

31. No destruction of ships or of material to be permitted before evacuation, surrender, or restoration.

32. The German Government shall formally notify all neutral Governments, and particularly the Governments of Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and Holland, that all restrictions imposed on the trading of their vessels with the Allied and Associated countries, whether by the German Government or by private German interests, and whether in return for specific concessions, such as the export of shipbuilding materials or not, are immediately cancelled.

33. No transfers of German merchant shipping of any description to any neutral flag are to take place after the signature of the Armistice.

(F.)-Duration of the Armistice.

34. The duration of the Armistice shall be thirty-six days, with option to extend.

During such period the Armistice may, owing to non-execution of any of the above clauses, be denounced by one of the contracting parties, who shall give forty-eight hours' notice of its intention to that effect. It is agreed that the Armistice shall not be denounced owing to non-sufficient execution of the stipulations of clauses 3 and 18 within the time-limits specified, except in the case of intentional negligence in execution. To insure the adequate fulfilment of the present agreement, the principle of a Permanent International Armistice Commission is admitted. This Commission shall work under the high authority of the military and naval Command-in-Chief of the Allied forces.

This Armistice was signed on the 11th November, 1918, at 5 A.M. (French time).

The Allied Representatives declare that, owing to recent events, it appears necessary to them that the following condition should be added to the clauses of the armistice :

"In the event of the German vessels not being handed over within the periods specified, the Allied and United States Governments shall have the right to occupy Heligoland so as to insure the surrender of the vessels."

R. E. WEMYSS, Admiral.

(Signed)

F. FOCH.

The German delegates state that they will transmit this declaration to the German Chancellor, with the recommendation that it should be accepted, together with the reasons upon which this demand on the part of the Allies is based.

t

(Signed) ERZBERGER.

WINTERFELDT.

OBERNDORFF.

VANSELOW.

(Translation.)

ANNEX No. 1.

I. The Evacuation of the Invaded Territories of Belgium, France, and Luxemburg, as well as of Alsace-Lorraine,

Shall be carried out in three successive stages under the following conditions:

1st Stage. Evacuation of the territory situated between the present front and line No. 1 as shown on the attached map, to be completed within five days after the signature of the armistice.

2d Stage. Evacuation of the territory situated between line No. 1

and line No. 2, to be completed within four further days (nine days in all after the signature of the armistice).

3d Stage. Evacuation of the territory situated between line No. 2 and line No. 3, to be completed within six further days (fifteen days in all after the signature of the armistice).

Troops of the Allies and of the United States shall enter these different zones on the expiration of the periods allowed to the German troops for their evacuation. Thus the present German front line will be crossed by the Allied troops as from the sixth day following the signature of the armistice, line No. 1 as from the tenth day, and line No. 2 as from the sixteenth day.

II.-Evacuation of the Rhine Lands.

This evacuation shall also be carried out in several successive stages, viz. :

1st Stage. Evacuation of the territories situated between line 2, line 3, and line 4 to be completed within four further days (nineteen days in all after the signature of the armistice).

2d Stage. Evacuation of the territory situated between line 4 and line 5 to be completed within four further days (twenty-three days in all after the signature of the armistice).

3d Stage. Evacuation of the territory situated between line 5 and line 6 (line of the Rhine) to be completed within four further days (twenty-seven days in all after the signature of the armistice).

4th Stage. Evacuation of the bridgeheads and of the neutral zone on the right bank of the Rhine to be completed within four further days (thirty-one days in all after the signature of the armistice).

The armies of occupation of the Allies and the United States shall enter these different zones on the expiration of the period allowed to the German troops for the evacuation of each zone; thus line No. 3 shall be crossed by them as from the twentieth day following the signature of the Armistice; line No. 4 shall be crossed by them as from the twenty-fourth day following the signature of the Armistice; line No. 5 as from the twenty-eighth day; and line No. 6 (Rhine) as from the thirty-second day, for the occupation of the bridgeheads.

III.-Surrender by the German Armies of the War Material fixed by the Armistice Conditions.

This war material shall be handed over in the following manner: The first half before the tenth day, the second half before the twentieth day. This material shall be handed over to each Allied and United States Army by each tactical group of the German army in proportions to be laid down by the Permanent Armistice Commission.

(Translation.)

ANNEX No. 2.

Conditions relating to the means of Communication (railways, waterways, roads, river harbors, seaports, telegraphs and telephones).

1. All means of communication up to and including the Rhine, or included on the right bank of that river within the bridgeheads occupied by the Allied armies, shall be placed under the full and complete control of the Commander-in-Chief of the Allied Armies, who shall have the right to take any steps which he may judge necessary in order to insure their occupation and use. All documents relating to the means of communication shall be held in readiness to be delivered to him.

2. All the material and all civil and military personnel at present employed for the upkeep and use of the means of communication will be maintained in toto on these communications throughout the territory evacuated by the German troops.

Any additional material necessary for the maintenance of these lines of communication in the territories on the left bank of the Rhine shall be furnished by the German Government throughout the duration of the armistice.

3. Personnel. - The French and Belgian personnel belonging to the communication services, whether interned or not, shall be returned to the French or Belgian Armies within fifteen days of the signature of the Armistice. The personnel directly employed on the AlsaceLorraine railway system shall be retained or shall return to their posts in order to keep these railways running.

The Commander-in-Chief of the Allied Armies shall have the right