General Treaty of Peace, Paris

Their Majesties the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Emperor of the French, the Emperor of all the Russias, the King of Sardinia, and the Emperor of the Ottomans, animated by the desire of putting an end to the calamities of war, and wishing to prevent the return of the complications which occasioned it, resolve to come to an understanding with His Majesty the Emperor of Austria as to the bases on which peace might be re-established and consolidated, by securing, through effectual and reciprocal guarantees, the independence and integrity of the Ottoman Empire. For this purpose Their said Majesties have named as their Plenipotentiaries, that is to say: Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Right Honourable George William Frederick Earl of Clarendon, &c., Her Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs; and the Right Honourable Henry Richard Charles Baron Cowley, &c., Her Majesty's Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to His Majesty the Emperor of the French; His Majesty the Emperor of Austria, the Sieur Charles Ferdinand Count of Buol-Schauenstein, &c., His Minister of the House and of Foreign Affairs, President of the Conference of Ministers; and the Sieur Joseph Alexander Baron de Hübner, &c., His Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the Court of France; His Majesty the Emperor of the French, the Sieur Alexander Count Colonna Walewski, &c., His Minister and Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs; and the Sieur Francis Adolphus Baron de Bourqueney, &c., His Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to His Imperial and Royal Apostolic Majesty; His Majesty the Emperor of all the Russias, the Sieur Alexis Count Orloff, &c.; and the Sieur Philip, Baron de Brunnow, His Privy Councillor, His Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the Germanic Confederation and to the Grand Duke of Hesse, &c.; His Majesty the King of Sardinia, the Sieur Camille Benso Count of Cavour, &c., President of the Council of Ministers,and His Minister Secretary of State for the Finances; and the Sieur Salvator Marquis de Villa-Marina, &c., His Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the Court of France; And His Majesty the Emperor of the Ottomans, Mouhammed Emin Aali Pasha, Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire &c.; and Mehemmed Djemil Bey, &c., His Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to His Majesty the Emperor of the French, accredited in the same character to His Majesty the King of Sardinia; Which Plenipotentiaries assembled in Congress at Paris. An understanding having been happily established between them, Their Majesties the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Emperor of Austria, the Emperor of the French, the Emperor of all the Russias, the King of Sardinia, and the Emperor of the Ottomans, considering that in the interest of Europe, His Majesty the King of Prussia, a signing Party to the Convention of the 13th of July, 1841, should be invited to participate in the new arrangements to be adopted, and appreciating the value that the concurrence of His said Majesty would add to a work of general pacification, invited him to send Plenipotentiaries to the Congress. In consequence, His Majesty the King of Prussia has named as His Plenipotentiaries, that is to say: The Sieur Otho Theodore Baron de Manteuffel, President of His Council, and His Minister for Foreign Affairs, &c.; and the Sieur Maximilian Frederick Charles Francis Count of Hatzfeldt Wildenburg-Schoenstein, His actual Privy Councillor, His Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the Court of France, &c. The Plenipotentiaries, after having exchanged their full powers, found in good and due form, have agreed upon the following Articles:—

From the day of the exchange of the ratifications of the present Treaty, there shall be peace and friendship between Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, His Majesty the Emperor of the French, His Majesty the King of Sardinia, His Imperial Majesty the Sultan, on the one part, and His Majesty the Emperor of all the Bussias, on the other part; as well as between their heirs and successors, their respective dominions and subjects, in perpetuity.

Peace being happily re-established between their said Majesties, the territories conquered or occupied by their armies during the war shall be reciprocally evacuated. Special arrangements shall regulate the mode of the evacuation, which shall be as prompt as possible.

His Majesty the Emperor of all the Russias engages to restore to His Majesty the Sultan the town and citadel of Kars, as well as the other parts of the Ottoman territory of which the Russian troops are in possession.

Their Majesties the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Emperor of the French, the King of Sardinia, and the Sultan, engage to restore to His Majesty the Emperor of all the Russias, the towns and ports of Sebastopol, Balaklava, Kamiesch, Eupatoria, Kertch, Jenikale, Kinburn, as well as all other territories occupied by the allied troops.

Their Majesties the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Emperor of the French, the Emperor of all the Russias, the King of Sardinia, and the Sultan, grant a full and entire amnesty to those of their subjects who may have been compromised by any participation whatsoever in the events of the war in favour of the cause of the enemy. It is expressly understood that such amnesty shall extend to the subjects of each of the belligerent parties who may have continued, during the war, to be employed in the service of one of the other belligerents.

Prisoners of war shall be immediately given up on either side.

Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, His Majesty the Emperor of Austria, His Majesty the Emperor of the French, His Majesty the King of Prussia, His Majesty the Emperor of all the Russias, and His Majesty the King of Sardinia, declare the Sublime Porte admitted to participate in the advantages of the public law and system (concert) of Europe. Their Majesties engage, each on his part, to respect the independence and the territorial integrity of the Ottoman Empire; guarantee in comrnon the strict observance of that engagements; and will, in consequence, consider any act tending to its violation as a question of general interest.

If there should arise between the Sublime Porte and one or more of the other signing Powers, any misunderstanding which might endanger the maintenance of their relations, the Sublime Porte, and each of such Powers, before having recourse to the use of force, shall afford the other Contracting Parties the opportunity of preventing such an extremity by means of their mediation.

His Imperial Majesty the Sultan, having, in his constant solicitude for the welfare of his subjects, issued a Firman which, while ameliorating their condition without distinction of religion or of race, records his generous intentions towards the Christian populations of his Empire, and wishing to give a further proof of his sentiments in that respect, has resolved to communicate to the Contracting Parties the said Firman emanating spontaneously from his sovereign will. The Contracting Powers recognise the high value of this communication. It is clearly understood that it cannot, in any case, give to the said Powers the right to interfere, either collectively or separately, in the relations of His Majesty the Sultan with his subjects, nor in the internal administration of his Empire.

The Convention of the 13th of July, 1841, which maintains the ancient rule of the Ottoman Empire relative to the closing of the Straits of the Bosphorus and of the Dardanelles, has been revised by common consent. The Act concluded for that purpose, and in conformity with that principle, between the High Contracting Parties, is and remains annexed to the present Treaty, and shall have the same force and validity as if it formed an integral part thereof.

The Black Sea is neutralized: its waters and its ports, thrown open to the mercantile marine of every nation are formally and in perpetuity interdicted to the flag of war, either of the Powers possessing its coasts, or of any other Power, with the exceptions mentioned in Articles XIV and XIX of the present Treaty.

Free from any impediment, the commerce in the ports and waters of the Black Sea shall be subject only to regulations of health, customs, and police, framed in a spirit favourable to the development of commercial transactions. In order to afford to the commercial and maritime interests of every nation the security which is desired, Russia and the Sublime Porte will admit Consuls into their ports situated upon the coast of the Black Sea, in conformity with the principles of international law.

The Black Sea being neutralised according to terms of Article XI, the maintenance or establishment upon its coast of military-maritime arsenals becomes alike unnecessary and purposeless; in consequence, His Majesty the Emperor of all the Russias and His Imperial Majesty the Sultan engage not to establish or to maintain upon that coast any military-maritime arsenal.

Their Majesties the Emperor of all the Russias and the Sultan having concluded a Convention for the purpose of settling the force and the number of light vessels, necessary for the service of their coasts, which they reserve to themselves to maintain in the Black Sea, that Convention is annexed to the present Treaty, and shall have the same force and validity as if it formed an integral part thereof. It cannot be either annulled or modified without the assent of the Powers signing the present Treaty.

The Act of the Congress of Vienna having established principles intended to regulate the navigation of rivers which separate or traverse different States, the Contracting Powers stipulate among themselves that those principles shall in future be equally applied to the Danube and its mouths. They declare that this arrangement henceforth forms a part of the public law of Europe, and take it under their guarantee. The navigation of the Danube cannot be subjected to any impediment or charge not expressly provided for by the stipulations contained in the following Articles: in consequence, there shall not be levied any toll founded solely upon the fact of the navigation of the river, nor any duty upon the goods which may be on board of vessels. The regulations of police and of quarantine to be established for the safety of the States separated or traversed by that river shall be so framed as to facilitate, as much as possible, the passage of vessels. With the exception of such regulations, no obstacle whatever shall be opposed to free navigation.

With the view to carry out the arrangements of the preceding Article, a Commission, in which Great Britain, Austria, France, Prussia, Russia, Sardinia, and Turkey, shall each be represented by one delegate, shall be charged to designate and to cause to be executed the works necessary below Isaktcha, to clear the mouths of the Danube, as well as the neighbouring parts of the sea, from the sands and other impediments which obstruct them, in order to put that part of the river and the said parts of the sea in the best possible state for navigation. In order to cover the expenses of such works, as well as of the establishments intended to secure and to facilitate the navigation at the mouths of the Danube, fixed duties, of a suitable rate, settled by the Commission by a majority of votes, may be levied, on the express condition that, in this respect as in every other, the flags of all nations shall be treated on the footing of perfect equality.

A Commission shall be estahlished, and shall be composed of delegates of Austria, Bavaria, the Sublime Porte, and Würtemberg (one for each of those Powers), to whom shall be added Commissioners from the three Danubian Principalities, whose nomination shall have been approved by the Porte. This Commission, which shall be permanent: 1. Shall prepare regulations of navigation and river police; 2. Shall remove the impediments, of whatever nature they may be, which still prevent the application to the Danube of the arrangements of the Treaty of Vienna; 3. Shall order and cause to be executed the necessary works throughout the whole course of the river; and 4, Shall, after the dissolution of the European Commission, see to maintaining the mouths of the Danube and the neighbouring parts of the sea in a navigable state.

It is understood that the European Commission shall have completed its task, and that the Riverain Commission shall have finished the works described in the preceding Article, under Nos. 1 and 2, within the period of two years. The signing Powers assembled in Conference having been informed of that fact, shall, after having placed it on record, pronounce the dissolution of the European Commission, and from that time the permanent Riverain Commission shall enjoy the same powers as those with which the European Commission shall have until then been invested.

In order to insure the execution of the regulations which shall have been established by common agreement, in conformity with the principles above declared, each of the Contracting Powers shall have the right to station, at all times, two light vessels at the mouths of the Danube.

In exchange for the towns, ports, and territories enumerated in Article IV of the present Treaty, and in order more fully to secure the freedom of the navigation of the Danube, His Majesty the Emperor of all the Russias consents to the rectification of his frontier in Bessarabia. The new frontier shall begin from the Black Sea, one kilometre to the east of the Lake Bourna Sola, shall run perpendicularly to the Akerman road, shall follow that road to the Val de Trajan, pass to the south of Bolgrad, ascend the course of the River Yalpuck to the Height of Saratsiki, and terminate at Katamori on the Pruth. Above that point the old frontier between the two Empires shall not undergo any modification. Delegates of the Contractifig Powers shall fix, in its details, the line of the new frontier.

The territory ceded by Russia shall be annexed to the Principality of Moldavia under the suzerainty of the Sublime Porte. The inhabitants of that territory shall enjoy the rights and privileges secured to the Principalities; and, during the space of three years, they shall be permitted to transfer their domicile elsewhere, disposing freely of their property.

The Principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia shall continue to enjoy under the suzerainty of the Porte, and under the guarantee of the Contracting Powers, the privileges and immunities of which they are in possession. No exclusive protection shall be exercised over them by any of the Guaranteeing Powers. There shall be no separate right of interference in their internal affairs.

The Sublime Porte engages to preserve to said Principalities an independent and national administration, as well as full liberty of worship, of legislation, of commerce, and of navigation. The laws and statutes at present in force shall be revised. In order to establish a complete agreement in regard to such revision, a Special Commission, as to the composition of which the High Contracting Powers will come to an understanding among themselves, shall assemble, without delay, at Bucharest, together with a Commissioner of the Sublime Porte. The business of this Commission shall be to investigate the present state of the Principalities, and to propose bases for their future organization.

His Majesty the Sultan promises to convoke immediately in each of the two Provinces a Divan ad hoc, composed in such a manner as to represent most closely the interests of all classes of society. These Divans shall be called upon to express the wishes of the people in regard to the definitive organization of the Principalities. An instruction from the Congress shall regulate the relations between the Commission and these Divans.

Taking into consideration the opinion expressed by the two Divans, the Commission shall transmit, without delay, to the present seat of the Conferences, the result of its own labours. The final agreement with the Suzerain Power shall be recorded in a Convention to be concluded at Paris between the High Contracting Parties; and a Hatti-Scherif in conformity with the stipulations of the Convention, shall constitute definitively the organization of those Provinces, placed thenceforward under the collective guarantee of all the signing Powers.

It is agreed that there shall be in the Principalities a national armed force, organized with the view to maintain the security of the interior, and to insure that of the frontiers. No impediment shall be opposed to the extraordinary measures of defence which, by agreement with the Sublime Porte, they may be called upon to take in order to repel any external aggression.

If the internal tranquillity of the Principalities should be menaced or compromised, the Sublime Porte shall come to an understanding with the other Contracting Powers in regard to the measures to be taken for maintaining or re-establishing legal order. No armed intervention can take place without previous agreement between those Powers.

The Principality of Servia shall continue to hold of the Sublime Porte, in conformity with the Imperial Hatts which fix and determine its rights and immunities, placed hence-forward under the collective guarantee of the Contracting Powers. In consequence, the said Principality shall preserve its independent and national administration, as well as full liberty of worship, of legislation, of commerce, and of navigation.

The right of garrison of the Sublime Porte, as stipulated by anterior regulations, is maintained. No armed intervention can take place in Servia without previous agreement between the High Contracting Powers.

His Majesty the Emperor of all the Russias and His Majesty the Sultan maintain, in its integrity, the state of their possessions in Asia, such as it legally existed before the rupture. In order to prevent all local dispute, the line of frontier shall be verified, and, if necessary, rectified, without any prejudice as regards territory being sustained by either party. For this purpose a Mixed Commission, composed of two Russian Commissioners, two Ottoman Commissioners, one English Commissioner, and one French Commissioner, shall be sent to the spot immediately after the re-establishment of diplomatic relations between the Court of Russia and the Sublime Porte. Its labours shall be completed within the period of eight months after the exchange of the ratifications of the present Treaty.

The territories occupied during the war by the troops of Their Majesties the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Emperor of Austria, the Emperor of the French, and the King of Sardinia, according to the terms of the Conventions signed at Constantinople on the twelfth of March, one thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, between Great Britain, France, and the Sublime Porte; on the fourteenth of June of the same year between Austria and the Sublime Porte; and on the fifteenth of March, one thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, between Sardinia and the Sublime Porte; shall be evacuated as soon as possible after the exchange of the ratifications of the present Treaty. The periods and the means of execution shall form the object of an arrangement between the Sublime Porte and the Powers whose troops have occupied its territory.

Until the Treaties or Conventions which existed before the war between the belligerent Powers have been either renewed or replaced by new Acts, commerce of importation or of exportation shall take place reciprocally on the footing of the regulations in force before the war; and in all other matters their subjects shall be respectively treated upon the footing of the most favored nation.

The Convention concluded this day between Their Majesties the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Emperor of the French, on the one part, and His Majesty the Emperor of all the Russias on the other part, respecting the Aland Islands, is and remains annexed to the present Treaty, and shall have the same force and validity as if it formed a part thereof.

The present Treaty shall be ratified, and the ratifications shall be exchanged at Paris in the space of four weeks, or sooner if possible .

In witness whereof the respective Plenipotentiaries have signed the same, and have affixed thereto the seal of their arms. Done at Paris, the thirtieth day of the month of March, in the year one thousand eight hundred and fifty-six. CLARENDON. COWLEY. BUOL-SCHAUENSTEIN. HÜBNER. A. WALEWSKI. BOURQUENEY. MANTEUFFEL. C. M. D'HATZFELDT. ORLOFF. BRUNNOW. C. CAVOUR. DE VILLAMARINA. AALI. MEHEMMED DJEMIL.

The stipulations of the Convention respecting the Straits, signed this day, shall not be applicable to the vessels of war employed by the belligerent Powers for the evacuation, by sea, of the territories occupied by their armies; but the said stipulations shall resume their entire effect as soon as the evacuation shall be terminated. Done at Paris, the thirtieth day of the month of March, in the year one thousand eight hundred and fifty-six. (The same signatures.)

In the Name of Almighty God. Their Majesties the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Emperor of Austria, the Emperor of the French, the King of Prussia, the Emperor of all the Russias, signing Parties to the Convention of the thirteenth day of July, one thousand eight hundred and forty-one; and His Majesty the King of Sardinia; wishing to record in common their unanimous determination to conform to the ancient rule of the Ottoman Empire, according to which the Straits of the Dardanelles and of the Bosphorus are closed to foreign ships of war, so long as the Porte is at peace; Their said Majesties, on the one part, and His Majesty the Sultan, on the other, have resolved to renew the Convention concluded at London on the thirteenth day of July, one thousand eight hundred and forty-one, with the exception of some modifications of detail which do not affect the principle upon which it rests. In consequence, Their said Majesties have named for that purpose as their Plenipotentiaries, that is to say:— Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Right Honourable George William Frederick Earl of Clarendon, &c., and the Right Honourable Henry Richard Charles Baron Cowley, &c.; His Majesty the Emperor of Austria, the Sieur Charles Ferdinand Count of Buol-Schauenstein, &c., and the Sieur Joseph Alexander Baron de Hübner, &c.; His Majesty the Emperor of the French, the Sieur Alexander Count Colonna Walewski, &c., and the Sieur Francis Adolphus Baron de Bourqueney, &c.; His Majesty the King of Prussia, the Sieur Otho Theodore Baron de Manteuffel, &c., and the Sieur Maximilian Frederick Charles Francis, Count of Hatzfeldt Wildenburg-Schoenstein, &c.; His Majesty the Emperor of all the Russias, the Sieur Alexis Count Orloff, &c., and the Sieur Philip Baron de Brunnow, &c.; His Majesty the King of Sardinia, the Sieur Camille Benso, Count of Cavour, &c.; and the Sieur Salvator Marquis de Villamarina, &c.; And His Majesty the Emperor of the Ottomans, Mouhammed Emin Aali Pasha, &c.; and Mehemmed Djemil Bey, &c.; Who, after having exchanged their full powers, found in good and due form, have agreed upon the following Articles:—

His Majesty the Sultan, on the one part, declares that he is firmly resolved to maintain for the future the principle invariably established as the ancient rule of his Empire, and in virtue of which it has, at all times, been prohibited for the ships of war of foreign Powers to enter the Straits of the Dardanelles and of the Bosphorus; and that, so long as the Porte is at Peace, His Majesty will admit no foreign ship of war into the said Straits. And Their Majesties the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Emperor of Austria, the Emperor of the French, the King of Prussia, the Emperor of all the Russias, and the King of Sardinia, on the other part, engage to respect this determination of the Sultan, and to conform themselves to the principle above declared.

The Sultan reserves to himself, as in past times, to deliver firmans of passage for light vessels under flag of war, which shall be employed, as is usual, in the service of the Missions of foreign Powers.

The same exception applies to the light vessels under flag of war which each of the Contracting Powers is authorized to station at the mouths of the Danube in order to secure the execution of the regulations relative to the liberty of that river, and the number of which is not to exceed two for each Power.

The present Convention, annexed to the General Treaty signed at Paris this day, shall be ratified, and the ratifications shall be exchanged in the space of four weeks, or sooner if possible.

In witness whereof the respective Plenipotentiaries have signed the same, and have affixed thereto the seal of their arms. Done at Paris, the thirtieth day of the month of March, in the year one thousand eight hundred and fifty-six. (The same signatures.)

In the Name of Almighty God. His Majesty the Emperor of all the Russias, and His Imperial Majesty the Sultan, taking into consideration the principle of the neutralization of the Black Sea established by the preliminaries contained in the Protocol No. I, signed at Paris on the twenty-fifth of February of the present year, and wishing, in consequence, to regulate by common agreement the number and the force of the light vessels which they have reserved to themselves to maintain in the Black Sea for the service of their coasts, have resolved to sign, with that view, a Special Convention, and have named for that purpose:— His Majesty the Emperor of all the Russias, the Sieur Alexis Count Orloff, &c.; and the Sieur Philip Baron de Brunnow, &c.; And His Majesty the Emperor of the Ottomans, Mouhammed Emin Aali Pasha, &c.; and Mehemmed Djemil Bey, &c.; Who, after having exchanged their full powers, found in good and due form, have agreed upon the following Articles:—

The High Contracting Parties mutually engage not to have in the Black Sea any other vessels of war than those of which the number, the force, and the dimensions are hereinafter stipulated.

The High Contracting Parties reserve to themselves each to maintain in that sea six steam-vessels of fifty metres in length at the line of flotation, of a tonnage of eight hundred tons at the maximum, and four light steam or sailing-vessels of a tonnage which shall not exceed two hundred tons each.

The present Convention annexed to the General Treaty, signed at Paris this day, shall be ratified, and the ratifications shall be exchanged in the space of four weeks, or sooner, if possible.

In witness whereof the respective Plenipotentiaries have signed the same, and have affixed thereto the seal of their arms. Done at Paris, the thirtieth day of the month of March, in the year one thousand eight hundred and fifty-six. ORLOFF. BRUNNOW. AALI. MEHEMMED DJEMIL.