cash payments. 1 But assuming that there had beentechnical default in respect of the war criminals and dis-armament (and the original provisions of the Treaty hadbeen so constantly modified that it was very difficult tosay to what extent this was the case), it was our dutyto state our charges precisely, and, if penalties werethreatened, to make these penalties dependent on afailure to meet our charges. We were not entitled tomake vague charges, and then threaten penaltiesunless Germany agreed to something which hadnothing to do with the charges. The Ultimatum ofMarch 7 substituted for the Treaty the intermittentapplication of force in exaction of varying demands.For whenever Germany was involved in a technicalbreach of any one part of the Treaty, the Allies were,apparently, to consider themselves entitled to makeany changes they saw fit in any other part of theTreaty.
In any case the invasion of Germany beyond theKhine was not a lawful act under the Treaty. Thisquestion became of even greater importance in thefollowing month, when the French announced theirintention of occupying the Euhr. The legal issueis discussed in Excursus II. at the conclusion of thischapter.
1 A few weeks later the Reparation Commission endeavoured to putthe action of the Supreme Council in order, by demanding one milliard marksin gold (£50,000,000), that is to say, the greater part of the reserve of theReichsbank against its note issue. This demand was afterwards dropped.