Treaty of Abeis
| Type | Treaty of partnership and mutual defense |
|---|---|
| Signed | 1602 AN |
| Location | Abeis |
| Effective | On ratification by both parties |
| Condition | Ratification by both parties |
| Signatories |
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| Parties | |
| Purpose | To develop a lasting economic, cultural and political partnership, and to bind each party to treat an armed attack on the other as an attack on itself |
| Notes | The obligation passed to the Most Serene Republic of St. Andre at the dissolution of Haifa in 1620 AN |
The Treaty of Abeis was an agreement of 1602 AN between the Free State of Haifa and the Empire of the Alexandrians, concluded within weeks of the proclamation of the Haifan republic and one of the first two agreements it made. It provided for cooperation across political, military, cultural, and economic affairs, and carried at its center a mutual-defense guarantee: each party affirmed that an armed attack on the other would be treated as an attack on them both, and undertook to assist the party attacked with such action as it deemed necessary, including the use of armed force.
The treaty was proposed by the Emperor of the Alexandrians to the Haifan Prime Minister and Foreign Minister. It was signed at Abeis for Haifa by the Foreign Minister, Benjamin Meir, and for the empire by the Emperor, and ratified in Alexandria on the day of signature.
Of everything the republic made, the Treaty of Abeis was the only instrument to outlive it. The Agreement of Dissolution of 1620 AN made the Most Serene Republic of St. Andre Haifa's successor in the treaty by name, assuming its rights, responsibilities, and terms by decree of the transitional government, and left the choice of every other Haifan inheritance to St. Andre's discretion.
Background
Haifa was proclaimed at Abeis after the Commonwealth of Hamland failed to secure recognition of the wider territorial claim that would have carried the country onto the map inside it. The new republic committed itself at once to formal neutrality and to the unconditional recognition of every Micran nation, a doctrine set out in the founding directives of its Foreign Office and adhered to without exception thereafter.
Two agreements followed within weeks of the proclamation. One was a treaty of friendship and cooperation with the Republic of North Antarctica, which guaranteed that republic's neutrality and which Haifa superseded by annexing the other party. The other was the Treaty of Abeis. A treaty with the Republic of Mercury followed in the same period, and a first agreement with the Commonwealth of Hamland in 1606 AN.
The Alexandrian treaty was the deepest of them. The friendship instruments Haifa concluded elsewhere guaranteed neutrality or exchanged recognition. This one committed a state with roughly two thousand full-time soldiers to the defense of an empire, and the empire to the defense of the state.
The Emperor of the Alexandrians proposed the treaty to the Haifan Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, and the negotiation ran between the two governments from there. It was signed at Abeis, for Haifa by the Foreign Minister, Benjamin Meir, and for the empire by the Emperor. Alexandria ratified on the day of signature. The surviving record notes no separate Haifan ratification, and the treaty was treated as in force from that day by both parties.
Terms
The treaty runs to five articles.
Article I covers political cooperation. The parties undertake to work together where their politics coincide, including the presentation of unified diplomatic fronts, cooperation on law enforcement and internal security, coordinated approaches to international development, and coordination on non-proliferation, human rights, and weapons control, together with cooperation between their agencies and departments on domestic policy of mutual importance. The article closes by affirming the sovereignty of each party over its own territory.
Article II covers military cooperation and is the substance of the treaty. Its first limb provides for enhanced cooperation on matters of joint strategic importance, information sharing on national security and defense, standardization of munitions and parts where possible, and joint exercises. Its second limb is the guarantee. Each party makes a solemn affirmation that an armed attack on the other shall be treated as an attack on both, and agrees that if such an attack occurs it will, in exercise of the right of individual or collective self-defense, assist the party attacked and take such action as it deems necessary, including the use of armed force, to restore and maintain that party's security.
Article III covers cultural and community cooperation, providing for the identification of common cultural strands, the preservation of culture, joint work between cultural bodies, a joint commission for the promotion of each party's culture in the other, and relaxed immigration procedures for citizens visiting the other party.
Article IV covers economic cooperation. The parties commit to investigating bilateral trade, agree to establish and maintain a common rate of exchange between their currencies, and undertake to examine financial incentives for trade between them.
Article V brings the treaty into force on the day it is ratified by both parties.
Text
TREATY OF ABEIS
TREATY between the Free State of Haifa and the Empire of the Alexandrians (hereafter referred to as 'the Parties'), for the development of a lasting economic, cultural, and political partnership between these two great civilised nations;
Article I. Political Co-Operation
The Parties agree to work together on area of mutual political co-operation, including but not limited to; the presentation of unified diplomatic fronts on certain areas, increased co-operation on law enforcement and internal security matters; co-ordinated approaches to international development; co-ordination on policy areas involving non-proliferation, human rights, weapons control; and the enablement of increased co-operation between agencies and departments on mutually important domestic policy areas.
The Parties each affirm the recognition of individual sovereignty of the Parties over their respective territories.
Article II. Military Co-Operation
The Parties agree to seek further avenues for enhanced military co-operation on matters of joint strategic importance; agree to develop the possibilities for information-sharing on matters of national security and national defense; to investigate and work towards standardization of munitions and parts where possible; and to develop plans for the holding of exercises and events involving the armed forces of both Parties for the purpose of improving co-operation and joint working and improving working relationships.
The Parties each make a solemn affirmation that an armed attack on the other shall be treated as an attack on them both. Consequently they each agree that, if such an armed attack occurs, they, in exercise of the right of individual or collective self-defense, will assist the Party being attacked and take such action as they deem necessary, including the use of armed force, to restore and maintain the security of the Party.
Article III. Cultural and Community Co-Operation
The Parties agree to identify and pursue common cultural strands; to work together to ensure the preservation of culture; to identify areas where cultural bodies from both nations can work together in pursuit of cultural excellence; to establish a joint commission for the promotion of each Party's culture in the other; and to relax immigration procedures for citizens of the respective Parties who wish to visit the other.
Article IV. Economic Co-Operation
The Parties affirm their commitment to investigating the possibilities of bilateral international trade; agree to the establishment of a common rate of exchange between their two currencies, and the maintenance of that rate; agree to investigate the possibilities of financial incentives in relation to trade between the two countries and to develop and strengthen further economical and financial links between the two.
Article V. Enactment
This Treaty shall come into force on the day it is ratified by both Parties.
Signed for the Free State of Haifa by Benjamin Meir, Foreign Minister Signed for the Empire of the Alexandrians by the Emperor of the Alexandrians
Operation
No armed attack on either party is recorded during the life of the republic, and the guarantee of Article II was never invoked. Haifa fought no war, and no deployment of Haifan forces abroad appears in the record. The military of the republic numbered about two thousand full-time personnel, with the Special Haifan Forces as its premier formation. Command rested with the Prime Minister in the early years.
The economic limb of Article IV was overtaken by circumstance. Haifa's commercial life ran through Hammish institutions from the beginning: its firms were listed on the Ham50, it belonged to the SCUE, and it issued that system's credit under its own name as the Lliev. The treaty provided for a common rate of exchange with the Alexandrian currency, but the republic's monetary alignment lay elsewhere.
What the treaty did supply was a security guarantee that cost the republic nothing to hold and that it never had to honor. It is the one Haifan commitment the record shows surviving the state.
Succession
Article II(d) of the Agreement of Dissolution provided that the transitional government of the Most Serene Republic of St. Andre would be Haifa's successor in the Treaty of Abeis, assuming its rights, responsibilities, and terms by decree of that government. The provision is singular in the agreement. Article I(b) gave St. Andre a free choice over which Haifan laws, agreements, treaties, and regulations it would inherit; the Treaty of Abeis is the only instrument the agreement transferred by name rather than leaving to that choice.
St. Andre held the position for the whole of its independence. It came under Natopian protection thereafter and was annexed by Natopia in 1652 AN.
The other guarantor did not endure either. The Empire of the Alexandrians is itself a defunct state, so that of the two parties bound to defend one another in 1602 AN, neither survives and the obligation outlived them both only in the succession that carried it.
