Secret treaty

A secret treaty is an international treaty between two States, which is kept secret. Common are those secret treaties in particular as treaties of alliance in case of war. Often they exist in secret supplementary agreements to existing agreements. Secret treaties were common especially in the period of imperialism. Since it was assumed that they contributed to the outbreak of World War I, Woodrow Wilson demanded in his 14 -point program for a ban of secret diplomacy.

The UN provides for the registration of international treaties. If they are not registered with her, they are not recognized by her and by the International Court of Justice.

Known examples of secret treaties are the secret protocol of the Hitler - Stalin Pact of 1939, which provided for the partition of Poland, and the Russian-German Reinsurance Treaty of 1887. Less was known and far less problematic the quadripartite agreement on intelligence cooperation between the United States, Great Britain, Canada and Australia by 1956.