Madrid Protocol (1885)

The Madrid Protocol , signed in 1885, is an agreement between Great Britain , Germany and Spain that established both the sovereignty of Spain over the Sulu archipelago and the boundaries of the Spanish sphere of influence in the region, as well as free trade and navigation for the signatory parties within the Sulu -Archipelago and North Borneo Guaranteed.

history

The signing of the agreement was preceded by negotiations in London and Berlin, which were led in 1881 and 1882 by envoys of the Spanish king to the courts of England and Germany.

The contract was signed on March 7, 1885 at the Spanish Court in Madrid. Were signers of the contract

• Sir Robert DB Morier, Envoy Extraordinary and Ministre plénipotentiaire to the British Queen,
• Don Jose Elduayen, Marquis del Pazo de la Merced, Minister of State of the Spanish King and
• Count Eberhard zu Solms-Sonnenwalde , envoy extraordinary and ministre plénipotentiaire of the German emperor.

Key points of the agreement

In Article I, Great Britain and Germany recognize the sovereign rights of Spain over the areas of the region already occupied by Spain as well as over the Sulu Archipelago. The exact definition of the Sulu archipelago is given in Article II with reference to the agreement of September 23, 1836 between the Sultan of Sulu and the Spanish government.

In Article III of the Agreement, Spain waived in favor of Great Britain all claims to North Borneo that had previously been attributable to the Sultanate:

“The Spanish Government renounces, as far as regards the British Government, all claims of sovereignty over the territories of the continent of Borneo, which belong, or which have belonged in the past to the Sultan of Sulu (Jolo), and which comprise the neighboring islands of Balambangan, Banguey, and Malawali, as well as all those comprised within a zone of three maritime leagues from the coast, and which form part of the territories administered by the Company styled the 'British North Borneo Company'. "

“ As far as the British Government is concerned, the Spanish Government renounces all sovereignty claims over the territories on Borneo which belong to the Sultan of Sulu (Jolo) or which have belonged in the past and which include the neighboring islands of Balambang, Banguey and Malawali form part of the territory administered by the company known as the British North Borneo Company. "

- Madrid Protocol, Article III

In Article IV of the Agreement, the Spanish Government guarantees the signatory parties free trade and shipping within the Sulu Archipelago.

In Article V of the agreement, Great Britain guarantees the signatory parties free trade and shipping within the territories of North Borneo administered by the North Borneo Chartered Company .

Article VI stipulates that the agreement will enter into force 15 days after its signature, if none of the signatory parties withdraws from the contract.

See also

• North Borneo Dispute

Web links

• Sabah LawNet: Full text of the Madrid Protocol

literature

• Leigh R. Wright: Historical Notes on the North Borneo Dispute in: The Journal of Asian Studies , Vol. 25, No. 3 (May 1966), pp. 471-484.
• Leigh R. Wright: The Origins of British Borneo. in: Modern Asian Studies , Vol. 10, No. 1, pp. 149-154 (1976)
• Leigh R. Wright: The Anglo-Spanish-German Treaty of 1885: A Step in the Development of British Hegemony in North Borneo. in: Australian Journal of Politics & History , No. 18 (1), pp. 62–75

Individual evidence

1. ↑ State Attorney-General's Chambers (ed.): BRITISH NORTH BORNEO, 1885. PROTOCOL OF 1885 . State Attorney-General's Chambers, 2010 (Retrieved January 5, 2014).