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No. 9440, Confidential.
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doubtless possess definite and precise information as to the existing state of affairs there.
4. The neutrality of Belgium.
It has been urged in the public press that one of the principal reasons against the fortification of Flushing is that it would render it difficult, if not impossible, for the Powers who have guaranteed the neutrality of Belgium to come to the succour of that country by means of a naval force having Antwerp, the great central fortress, as its destination. Strong arguments have been advanced, notably in an article published in the "Times" of the 21st December, 1910, as to the military inconvenience which would result in regard to the operations the guaranteeing Powers might have to undertake in order to maintain the neutrality of Belgium if, instead of ascending the Scheldt, they were obliged to effect a landing at Ostend or Zeebrugge.
It is a question for military experts to determine whether or not it would render it impossible for Great Britain to fulfil her contractual obligations as to the neutrality of Belgium if she were precluded from access to Antwerp by sea; but if this proposition should be answered in the affirmative, it would then have to be determined whether it is permissible to limit the sovereignty of one State for the purpose of safeguarding the neutrality of another, and also whether it is a probable contingency, if the neutrality of Belgium should be violated, that Holland would side with the nation thus infringing treaty stipulations, and against Great Britain intent upon upholding those stipulations.
These are strategical and political considerations which, as has been stated, are beyond the purview of this paper: but it may not be out of place to recall what is the position of Holland with regard to Belgian neutrality under the treaties of 1839.
On the 19th April, 1839, Holland concluded a treaty with Belgium, of which article 7 was as follows:
La Belgique,
formera un État indépendant et perpétuellement
neutre. Elle sera tenue d'observer cette même neutralité envers tous les autres États."
The whole of the treaty between Holland and Belgium was declared, in treaties concluded on the same date by the five Great Powers with Holland and Belgium respectively, to have the same force and validity as if the articles were textually inserted in the treaties signed by the Great Powers with the two countries, and to be thus placed under the guarantee of the Great Powers.
It would thus appear that Holland, though not bound to take active measures to uphold the neutrality of Belgium, is expressly engaged to respect that neutrality, and to take no action calculated to impede the Powers involved in its maintenance.
The nature of the obligations of Great Britain in relation to the neutrality of Belgium have been discussed very fully in a separate departmental memorandum, dated the 15th November, 1908, and it is accordingly not proposed to deal with the matter in
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