The Geneva Protocol, by David Hunter Miller

CHAPTER XVII. 67
CHAPTER XVII.
DEMILITARIZED ZONES.
Emphasis is laid by the Protocol on the creation and maintenance of demilitarized zones along frontiers.
Article 9 of the Protocol treats of such zones, and their violation is, by Article 10 made the equivalent of a
resort to war.
Any question of the real value, in the strict military sense, of agreements for demilitarized zones, may be left
at one side. Undoubtedly, expert opinions differ in this matter. At least it may be said that such agreements
have a value in the realm of feeling, which is as much a reality in international affairs as is a fleet of
battleships.
If countries feel more secure because of the creation of such zones, certainly agreements regarding them are
worth while on each side of a frontier.
As mentioned above, the question of demilitarized zones will certainly be one of the items of the agenda of
the Conference on Disarmament. There are quite a number of precedents for the creation of such zones in
recent international agreements. For example, the Treaty of Versailles[1] creates a demilitarized zone for fifty
kilometres east of the Rhine. The Aaland Islands were demilitarized by the Treaty[2] which attributed them to
Finland; and the Treaty of Lausanne[3] creates certain demilitarized zones, not only on each side of the
Straits, but also in Western Thrace.
It is such agreements as these that are referred to in Article 9 of the Protocol as those "already existing under
the terms of certain treaties." It is these zones, and others which may be established by consent of the
neighboring States, which, according to Article 9, may be placed under a system of supervision by the
League, either temporary or permanent. Obviously, any such supervision would come about by means of the
voluntary agreement of the States concerned; and, in view of the fact that the Protocol makes a violation of a
demilitarized zone the {102} equivalent of a resort to war (Article 10), supervision by the League of the
carrying out of these essential agreements would seem to be highly desirable.
Indeed, it may be said here that it will almost certainly be found that a system of international inspection will
inevitably be a part of agreements for the reduction and limitation of armaments. A system of general
international inspection was suggested as one of the parts of the so-called American Plan,[4] and the proposal
for a system of supervision of demilitarized zones under the League of Nations is a part of that general idea.
I do not think it should be lost sight of that the thought of certain places where violence is forbidden has roots
which go far back in human history. The idea of "sanctuary" is as old as any records that we have; and, if it be
thought that I am going very far afield in speaking of sanctuary, I mention that the legal development of this
general notion is a very early development. At least as long ago as Anglo-Saxon law in England, it was a
peculiarly heinous offence to commit a crime on the King's Highway. It was a much more serious matter to
break the peace there than elsewhere, because it was a breach of the King's peace; and this notion of the
King's peace is said by high authority to be as old as the Salic Law.
We have heard much in the past of strategic frontiers. A great deal of ability and learning have been devoted
toward the problem of making frontiers available for attack or for defence. It is perhaps true, as some critics
appear to think, that the development of war in the air and of chemical warfare has made questions of strategic
frontiers in general less important than heretofore. Perhaps that is so. I suggest, however, that even if it is so,
that same ability and learning may be able to find in a combination of the ideas of demilitarized zones and
international supervision a real solution of the problems arising from these new methods and discoveries; and,
as I have pointed out, there is a very ancient human feeling behind this whole idea of peaceful places, on
which popular support for such a programme may be based.