An Example of International Legal Mobilisation: The German–Belgian Mixed Arbitral Tribunal and the Case of the Belgian Deportees

This chapter presents the lawsuit of the Belgian deportees examined by the German-Belgian MAT in 1923-24, a single case with major political ramifications. Between 1916 and 1918, Germany had deported tens of thousands of Belgian workers as forced labourers for its war-relevant industries and armed forces, sparking an international outcry amongst both Allied and neutral states. Pursuant to Part VIII of the Versailles Treaty, Germany was under the obligation to compensate Belgium for these deportations to forced labour. However, when the former deportees realised that the sums agreed to by Germa... Mehr ...