PACTS AND BEATLES

A couple of items for the 9th February:

PACT OF BALKAN AGREEMENT

 BETWEEN YUGOSLAVIA, GREECE,
 ROMANIA, AND TURKEY


Athens, 9^th  February 1934

His Majesty The King of Yugoslavia, the President of the Republic of Greece, His Majesty The King of Romania and the President of the Republic of Turkey, in a wish to contribute to the consolidation of peace in the Balkans,

Inspired by the spirit of accommodation and conciliation which was of decisive importance in the elaboration of the Kellogg-Briand Pact and the adoption of the decisions of the League of Nations relating to it,

Strongly determined to ensure the respect for the already existing treaty obligations and the maintenance of the territorial order now established in the Balkans,

Have decided to conclude a

PACT OF BALKAN AGREEMENT,

And for this purpose, designated as their Plenipotentiaries:

His Majesty The King of Yugoslavia: His Excellency Mr. Bogoljub Jevtić, Minister of Foreign Affairs,

The President of the Republic of Greece: His Excellency Mr. Dimitrios Maximos, Minister of Foreign Affairs,

His Majesty The King of Romania:
 His Excellency Mr. Nicola Titulescu, Minister of Foreign Affairs,


His Majesty the King of Romania: His Excellency Mr. Nicola Titulescu, Minister of Foreign Affairs,

Who, after exchanging their Full Powers which were found to be in good and prescribed form, agreed on the following provisions:

Article 1

Yugoslavia, Greece, Romania and Turkey shall mutually guarantee the security of their Balkan borders.

Article 2

The High Contracting Parties undertake to reach agreement on measures which must be taken if cases should arise that could affect their interests as defined by the present Agreement. They assume the obligation not to take any political action towards any other Balkan country which is not a signatory to this Agreement, without a prior mutual notification and not to assume any political obligation towards any other Balkan country without the consent of the other Contracting Parties.

Article 3

The present Agreement shall come into force upon its signing by all the Contracting Powers and shall be ratified within the shortest possible time. The Agreement shall be open to any Balkan country for accession which shall be taken into favourable consideration by the Contracting Parties and shall come into effect as soon as the other signatory countries notify their consent.

In witness whereof of the afore-mentioned Plenipotentiaries have signed this Pact. Done in Athens, this ninth February one thousand nine hundred thirty four, in four copies, one copy having been handed to each High Contracting Party.

(L.S.) (signed) B.D. Jevtić; 
(L.S.) (signed) D. Maximos
; (L.S) (signed) N. Titulescu; 
(L.S) (signed) Dr. Rushdi Bey

Yet another treaty to keep the borders intact. It lasted all of 6 years. It calls upon the spirit of the Kellogg-Briand Pact of April 1928. This Pact was a Proclamation by the then President of the United States, Herbert Hoover. It was a Treaty between the President of the United States Of America, the President of the German Reich, His Majesty the King of the Belgians, the President of the French Republic, His Majesty the King of Great Britain, Ireland and the British Dominions beyond the Seas, Emperor of India, His Majesty the King of Italy, His Majesty the Emperor of Japan, the President of the Republic of Poland, and the President of the Czechoslovak Republic, providing for the renunciation of war as an instrument of national policy.  It was also a short treaty of three articles, the third being an administrative section concerning ratification. The first two articles read:

Article I: The High Contracting Parties solemnly declare in the names of their respective peoples that they condemn recourse to war for the solution of international controversies, and renounce it, as an instrument of national policy in their relations with one another.

Article II: The High Contracting Parties agree that the settlement or solution of all disputes or conflicts of whatever nature or of whatever origin they may be, which may arise among them, shall never be sought except by pacific means…

So what happened?

Of perhaps less import, but more culturally significant, The Beatles appeared on three consecutive Sundays in February 1964, on the Ed Sullivan Show, to great anticipation and fanfare as "I Want to Hold  Your Hand" had swiftly risen to No. 1 in the charts. Their first appearance on 9^th February 1964 is considered a milestone in American pop culture and the beginning of the British Invasion in music. The broadcast drew an estimated 73 million viewers, at the time a record for US television, and was characterized by an audience composed largely of screaming hysterical teenage girls in tears. The Beatles followed Ed's show opening intro, performing "All My Loving", "Till There Was You" which featured the names of the group members superimposed on close-up shots, including the famous "Sorry girls, he's married" caption on John Lennon, and "She Loves You". They returned later in the program to perform "I Saw Her Standing There" and "I Want to Hold Your Hand."

The texts written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney have clearly lasted longer than the texts of Mr. Frank B. Kellogg and Monsieur Aristide Briand (despite his Nobel peace prize) or indeed the pacts of other High Contracting Parties.