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TREATY OF PARIS of 1856



Paris, March 30, 1856



Peace Treaty between Great Britain, France, the Ottoman Empire, Sardinia and
Russia







ARTICLE I.

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 Russias, on the
other part; as well as between their heirs and successors, their respective
dominions and subjects, in perpetuity.



ARTICLE II.

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.



ARTICLE III.

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.



ARTICLE IV.

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.



ARTICLE V.

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.



ARTICLE VI

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



ARTICLE VII.

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 common the strict observance of that engagement; and will, in
consequence, consider any act tending to its violation as a question of
general interest.



ARTICLE VIII.

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.



ARTICLE IX.

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 population 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.



ARTICLE X.

The Convention of 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 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.



ARTICLE XI.

The Black Sea is Neutralised; its Waters and its Ports, thrown 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.



ARTICLE XII.

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.



ARTICLE XIII.

The Black Sea being neutralised according to the 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.



ARTICLE XIV.

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.



ARTICLE XV.

The Act of the Congress of Vienna, having established the 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 its 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.



ARTICLE XVI.

With a 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
Isatcba, 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.



ARTICLE XVII.

A Commission shall be established, and shall be composed of delegates of
Austria, Bavaria, the Sublime Porte, and Wurtemberg (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.



ARTICLE XVIII.

It is understood that the European Commission shall have completed its task,
and that the River Commission shall have finished the Works described in the
preceding Article, under Nos. I 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 River Commission shall
enjoy the same powers as those with which the European Commission shall have
until then been invested.



ARTICLE XIX.

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.



ARTICLE XX.

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 Ackerman 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 Saratsika, 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 Contracting Powers shall fix, in its details, the Line of
the new Frontier.



ARTICLE XXI.

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 3 years, they shall
be permitted to transfer their domicile elsewhere, disposing freely of their
Property.



ARTICLE XXII.

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.



ARTICLE XXIII.

The Sublime Porte engages to preserve to the 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.



ARTICLE XXIV.

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.



ARTICLE XXV.

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-sché rif, 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.



ARTICLE XXVI.

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 ensure 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.



ARTICLE XXVII.

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.



ARTICLE XXVIII.

The Principality of Servia shall continue to hold of the Sublime Porte, in
conformity with the Imperial Hats which fix and determine its Rights and
Immunities, placed henceforward 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.



ARTICLE XXIX.

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.



ARTICLE XXX.

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 8 months
after the exchange of the Ratifications of the present Treaty.



ARTICLE XXXI.

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 12th of March,
1854, between Great Britain, France, and the Sublime Porte; on the 14th of
June of the same year, between Austria and the Sublime Porte and on the 15th
of March, 1855, between Sardinia and the Sublime Porte; shall be evacuated
as soon as possible after the exchange of the Ratificatians 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.



ARTICLE XXXII.

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 Favoured Nation.



ARTICLE XXXIII.

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.



ARTICLE XXXIV.

The present Treaty shall be ratified, and the Ratifications shall be
exchanged at Paris in the space of 4 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 30th day of the month of March, in the year 1856.



(L.S.) CLARENDON.

(L.S.) COWLEY.

(L.S.) BUOL-SCHAUENSTEIN.

(L.S.) HUBNER.

(L.S.) A. WALEWSKI.

(L.S.) BOURQUENEY.

(L.S.) MANTEUFFEL.

(L.S.) C. M. D’HATZFELDT.

(L.S.) ORLOFF

(L.S.) BRUNNOW.

(L.S.) C. CAVOUR.

(L.S.) DE VILLAMARINA.

(L.S.) AALI.

(L.S.) MEHEMMED DJEMIL.