iv THE TREATY 55

done to the civilian population of the Allies and totheir property by the aggression of Germany by land,by sea, and from the air." 1

The nature of the Contract between Germany andthe Allies resulting from this exchange of documentsis plain and unequivocal. The terms of the peaceare to be in accordance with the Addresses of thePresident, and the purpose of the Peace Conference is" to discuss the details of their application." Thecircumstances of the Contract were of an unusuallysolemn and binding character; for one of the condi-tions of it was that Germany should agree to ArmisticeTerms which were to be such as would leave herhelpless. Germany having rendered herself helplessin reliance on the Contract, the honour of the Allies was peculiarly involved in fulfilling their part and,if there were ambiguities, in not using their positionto take advantage of them.

What, then, was the substance of this Contract towhich the Allies had bound themselves ? An ex-amination of the documents shows that, although alarge part of the Addresses is concerned with spirit,purpose, and intention, and not with concrete solu-tions, and that many questions requiring a settlementin the Peace Treaty are not touched on, neverthe-less, there are certain questions which they settledefinitely. It is true that within somewhat widelimits the Allies still had a free hand. Further, it is

1 The precise force of this reservation is discussed in detail in Chapter V.