The Treaty of Miramar
Signed on April 10, 1864 |
NAPOLEON, by the grace of God and
the national will Emperor of the French, to all who will see
the present letters, Greeting:
A convention, followed by secret additional articles, having
been concluded on April 10, 1864, between France and Mexico,
to settle the conditions of the sojourn of French troops in Mexico,
the said convention and secret additional articles are as follows:
The government of H.M. the Emperor of the French and H.M. the
Emperor of Mexico, animated with an equal desire to assure the
reestablishment of order in Mexico and to consolidate the new
empire, have resolved to settle through a convention the conditions
of the sojourn of the French troops in that country, and have
appointed to that effect: H.M. the Emperor of the French, M.
Charles François Édouard Herbet, Minister Plenipotenciary
of the First Class, etc., and H.M. the Emperor of Mexico, M.
Joaquin Velazquez de Leon, his Minister of State without a portfolio,
etc., who, after communicating their full powers to one another,
these having been found to be in good and due form, have agreed
upon the following articles:
ARTICLE I. The French troops actually in Mexico shall, as soon
as possible, be reduced to a corps of twenty-five thousand men,
including the foreign legion. This corps, as a safeguard to the
interests which have brought about the French intervention, shall
temporarily remain in Mexico under the conditions agreed upon
in the following articles.
ARTICLE II. The French troops shall gradually evacuate Mexico
as H.M. the Emperor of Mexico shall be able to organize the troops
necessary to take their place.
ARTICLE III. The foreign legion in the service of France, composed
of eight thousand men, shall, however, remain for six years in
Mexico after all other French forces shall have been recalled
under Article II. From that date said legion shall pass into
the service and pay of the Mexican government, the Mexican government
reserving unto itself the right to shorten the duration of the
employment in Mexico of the foreign legion.
ARTICLE IV. The points of the territory to be occupied by the
French troops, as well as the military expeditions of said troops
if necessary, shall be determined under direct agreement between
H.M. the Emperor of Mexico and the commander-in-chief of the
French corps.
ARTICLE V. Upon all points where a garrison shall not be exclusively
composed of Mexican troops, the military command shall devolve
upon the French commander. In case of combined expeditions of
French and Mexican troops the superior command shall also belong
to the French commander.
ARTICLE VI. The French commanders
shall not interfere with any branch of the Mexican administration.
ARTICLE VII. So long as the needs of the French army-corps will
require every two months a service of transports between France
and the port of Vera Cruz, the expense of this service, fixed
at the sum of four hundred thousand francs per journey, including
return, shall be borne by the Mexican government and paid in
Mexico.
ARTICLE VIII. The naval stations supported by France in the Antilles
and in the Pacific Ocean shall frequently send ships to show
the French flag in Mexican ports.
ARTICLE IX. The cost of the French expedition in Mexico, to be
reimbursed by the Mexican government, is fixed at the sum of
two hundred and seventy million francs at the time of the expedition
to July 1, 1864. That sum shall bear interest at three per cent
.a year.
ARTICLE X. The indemnity to be paid to France by the Mexican
government for the pay and support of the army-corps from July
1, 1864, shall be fixed at the rate of one thousand francs per
man a year.
ARTICLE XI. The Mexican government shall remit to the French
government the sum of sixty-six millions in loan securities at
par, i.e., fifty-four millions to be deducted from the
debt mentioned in Article IX, and twelve millions as an instalment
on the indemnities due the French under Article XIV of the present
agreement.
ARTICLE XII. In payment of the balance of war expenses and of
the charges mentioned in Articles VII, X, and XIV, the Mexican
government agrees to pay to France the annual sum of twenty-five
million francs in cash. That sum shall be credited, first, to
the sums due under Articles VII and X; second, to the amount,
interest and principal, of the sum fixed in Article IX; third,
to the indemnities still due to French subjects under Article
XIV and following.
ARTICLE XIII. The Mexican government shall pay on the last day
of every month, in Mexico, into the hands of the paymaster-general
of the army, the amount necessary to cover the expense of the
French troops remaining in Mexico, in conformity with Article
X.
ARTICLE XIV. The Mexican government agrees to indemnify French
subjects for the grievances unduly suffered by them and which
caused the expedition.
ARTICLE XV. A mixed commission composed of three Frenchmen and
three Mexicans, appointed by their respective governments, shall
meet in Mexico within three months to examine into and settle
these claims.
ARTICLE XVI. A mission of revision composed of two Frenchmen
and two Mexicans, appointed as above and sitting in Paris, shall
proceed to the definite settlement of the claims already admitted
by the commission mentioned in the preceeding article, and shall
pass upon those the settlement of which shall be reserved to
them.
ARTICLE XVII. The French government shall set free all Mexican
prisoners of war as soon as H.M. the Emperor of Mexico shall
have entered his empire.
ARTICLE XVIII. The present convention shall be ratified and the
ratification shall be exchanged as soon as possible.
Done at the Castle of Miramar, on April 10, 1864.
HERBET.
VELAZQUEZ.
Additional
Secret Articles
ARTICLE I. H.M. the Emperor of Mexico, approving the principles
and promises announced in General Forey's proclamation, dated
June 12, 1863, as well as the measures taken by the regency and
by the French general-in-chief in accordance with said declaration,
has resolved to inform his people, by a manifesto, of his intentions
in the matter.
ARTICLE II. On his side, H.M. the Emperor of the French declares
that the actual effective force of the French corps of thirty-eight
thousand men shall only be reduced gradually and from year to
year, in such a way that the French troops remaining in Mexico,
including the foreign legion, shall be of twenty-eight thousand
men in 1865, of twnety-five thousand in 1866, of twenty thousand
in 1867.
ARTICLE III. When the said foreign legion, under the terms of
Article III of the above convention, shall pass into the service
and pay of Mexico, as it nevertheless shall continue to serve
a cause in which France is interested, its generals and officers
shall preserve their quality of Frenchmen and their claim to
promotion in the French army according to law.
Done at the Castle of Miramar, April 10, 1864.
HERBET.
VELAZQUEZ.
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