CFM Files
Report of the Military Commission on the Military, Naval, and Air Clauses of the Draft Peace Treaty With Finland
I. Introductory
The Commission held two meetings on the military clauses of the Draft Peace Treaty with Finland. It submits to the Plenary Conference recommendations concerning Articles 13 to 21 and Annexes 2 and 3 of the Treaty. The Commission considered proposals for amendments put forward by the Delegations of Belgium and the United Kingdom (see C.P.(Gen)Doc.1C5 and Records of 30th and 31st Meetings).
It heard the Representatives of Finland who submitted written observations.
All the Articles of the Draft Treaty which the Commission examined had been approved by the Council of Foreign Ministers.
A new article was added.
[Page 590]II. Decisions on Articles
a—Articles adopted without change
Articles 13, 14, 15, 18, 19, 20 and 21, and annexes 2 and 3.
b—drafting amendments adopted
The French version of Article 17 was redrafted in order to bring the last sentence into line with the English and Russian texts. The revised French Article reads:
“La Finlande ne devra pas conserver, fabriquer ou acquérir par d’autres moyens, de matériel de guerre en excédent de ce qui est nécessaire au maintien des forces armées autorisées par l’Article 13 du présent Traité. Elle ne conservera pas d’installations en excédent de celles nécessaires à l’armement des forces armées autorisées par l’Article 13 du présent Traité.”
c—amendments of substance adopted
Article 16.
1. The Belgian amendment to add “any atomic weapon” to those prohibited to Finland was adopted; and the Article was redrafted and runs as follows:
“Finland shall not possess, construct or experiment with any atomic weapon, any self-propelled or guided missiles or apparatus connected with their discharge (other than torpedoes and torpedo launching gear inherent to naval vessels permitted by this Treaty), sea-mines or torpedoes of non-contact types actuated by influence mechanisms, torpedoes capable of being manned, submarines or other submersible craft or specialised types of assault craft.”
The following resolution was adopted unanimously.
“The Commission agrees that the Article on prohibitions in the Balkan and Finnish Treaties (Article 12 of the Bulgarian Treaty, Article 14 of the Roumanian Treaty, Article 13 of the Hungarian Treaty and Article 16 of the Finnish Treaty) should be in identical language, i.e., that decided upon for Article 12 of the Bulgarian Treaty.”
The Representatives of Byelorussia, Czechoslovakia, Poland, the Ukraine, Yugoslavia and the U.S.S.R. state that in their opinion the Commission has not reached unanimous agreement on the inclusion of M.T.B.’s in the Peace Treaties with Bulgaria, Roumania, Hungary and Finland, and that the unanimous decision reached on the 28th September, 1946, regarding the similarity of Article 12 and the corresponding Articles in the Peace Treaties with the Balkan States and Finland, refers to the decision already taken by the Military Commission (see amended text of Article 12 in the Commission’s Record of Decisions of the 27th September 1946), and not to future decisions. The [Page 591] French and Russian texts of this resolution confirm this declaration.
2. A new article, proposed by the United Kingdom Delegation, was adopted unanimously as 13 A.
Article 13 A.
- 1.
- As from the entry into force of the Treaty, Finland will be invited to join the Barents, Baltic, and Black Sea Zone Board of the International Organisation for Mine Clearance of European Waters, and she undertakes to maintain at the disposal of the Central Mine Clearance Board the whole of her minesweeping forces until the end of the post-war mine clearance period, as determined by the Central Board.
- 2.
- During this post-war mine clearance period, Finland may retain additional naval units employed only for the specific purpose of mine-sweeping, over and above the tonnage permitted in Article 13, Clause 1 (b).
- Such units are to be handed over to their owners, or to be demilitarised with a view to civilian use, within two months of the end of the said period.
- 3.
- Finland is also authorised to employ 1,500 additional officers and men for minesweeping over and above the numbers permitted in Article 13 (1.b). Two months after the completion of minesweeping, the excess personnel is to be disbanded or absorbed within the numbers permitted in the said Article.
Conclusion
The Commission, at the 31st Meeting, unanimously adopted all the Military Clauses of the Draft Peace Treaty with Finland as indicated above.
The Commission has the honour to recommend to the Plenary Conference that it should:
Decide on the new text of the Military Clauses, as set out above, viz. Articles 13 A, 16 and 17 (French text).