Britain tightens its contraband rules

On 29 October 1914 the British government issued two instruments that redefined the rules for controlling seaborne trade. A royal proclamation laid down new lists of contraband of war, and an Order in Council changed the way the Declaration of London of 1909 was applied. The order revoked the order of 20 August, and the proclamation replaced the earlier lists of August and of 21 September.

The new lists

The most important change was a considerable extension of the list of absolute contraband, that is, goods that could always be seized if they were bound for the enemy, even via a neutral port. Alongside arms, ammunition and explosives it now included, among other things, raw copper, lead, aluminium, rubber and tyres, motor vehicles, aircraft and airships, barbed wire, sulphuric acid, and mineral oils and motor spirit. Some of these raw materials had been regarded only a month earlier as merely conditional contraband. The list of conditional contraband, which could be seized only if it was destined for the enemy’s armed forces or authorities, still included, among other things, food, fodder, clothing, gold and silver, railway materials and fuel.

The Order in Council

Under Article 35 of the Declaration of London, conditional contraband could not be seized if the ship was bound for a neutral port. The new order introduced exceptions to this rule. Goods could be seized if they were consigned “to order”, without naming the consignee, if the ship’s papers did not name the consignee, or if the consignee was in enemy territory. The British government could also declare that the enemy was supplying its forces through a particular neutral country. The protection of Article 35 then ceased to apply to all cargoes of conditional contraband bound for that country. The burden of proving the innocent destination of the goods lay on their owner.

The August order had suspended Article 35 altogether and allowed conditional contraband bound for any neutral port to be seized if its ultimate recipient was the enemy’s authorities or armed forces. The new rules were therefore narrower and more precise on paper. In practice, however, because many raw materials had been moved to the absolute list, they gave the Royal Navy even greater scope to control trade with the Netherlands, Denmark or Sweden.

Washington’s objections

The new rules were the subject of weeks of talks with the United States. As early as 9 October the Foreign Secretary, Edward Grey, gave the US ambassador a draft of the order. The Americans considered, however, that it still restricted the rights of neutrals too much, and on 22 October they withdrew their proposal that the Declaration of London be applied. The day before the new rules were announced, the acting Secretary of State, Robert Lansing, reserved Washington’s right to protest against any item added to the contraband list if it harmed American trade.

The order of 29 October was not London’s last word. In the following months the contraband lists grew longer, and in March 1915 Britain decided to stop all goods going to and from Germany, which in practice meant a full naval blockade.