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Papers of the War Cabinet's Eastern Committee [233v] (466/544)
The record is made up of 1 file (272 folios). It was created in 13 Mar 1918-7 Jan 1919. It was written in English. The original is part of the British Library: India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity. .
Transcription
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
14
LORD ROBERT CECIL : A completely independent Power would obviously be
entitled to.
MR. BALFOUR: Restrictions on the sovereignty of the King of the Hejaz in so
far as foreign affairs are concerned ; those are the only restrictions. I suppose ?
LORD CURZON : Shall we come back to this presently ?
MR. BALFOUR: Yes.
LORD CURZON : “ (3) While it is desirable to exclude foreign intrigue from
the Hejaz, it is not desirable that the King’s foreign relations should be controlled
by a single Power, and no such claim should be made by His Majesty’s Government.”
LORD ROBERT CECIL : Yes. Of course, it is desirable to exclude foreign
intrigue everywhere, but how would that practically work out ?
LORD CURZON : They are Foreign Office words, and I am not responsible for
them.
LORD ROBERT CECIL : I should have thought it would have been better to
leave out the first phrase and simply say, “ It is not desirable,” and so on.
LORD CURZON : Yes. I do not think it is necessary.
MR. BALFOUR: When you say. “It is not desirable that the King’s foreign
relations should be controlled by a single Pover,” it almost implies that you think it
would be a good thing that they should be controlled by a lot of Powers, which is the
very last thing we should want.
LORD CURZON : It is a general way of stating that we do not intend to put
forward a claim ourselves to have control of his foreign relations.
MR. BALFOUR: What you really want to say is that His Majesty’s Government
put forward no claim to control the foreign policy of the King of the Hejaz, and that
no other Power or Powers ought to be allowed to do so.
LORD ROBERT CECIL: That comes later.
MR. BALFOUR : Then what is this all about ?
LORD ROBERT CECIL : I really agree, it would be enough to make it run, “ No
claim should be made that the King’s foreign relations should be controlled by His
Majesty’s Government.”
LORD CURZON : We could meet Mr. Balfour’s point by saying, “It is not
desirable that the King’s foreign relations should be controlled by any European Power.
LORD ROBERT CECIL: That is better.
LORD CURZON : “And no such claim should be made by His Majesty’s Govern
ment.”
MR. BALFOUR: That is the important thing. In fact, I think that is what I
said.
LORD CURZON : Then we cut out the preamble about “ It is desirable.”
LORD ROBERT CECIL : Yes.
LORD CURZON : “ It is not desirable that the King’s foreign relations should be
controlled by any European Power, and no such claim should be made by His Majesty’s
Government.” “ (4) It is preferable that the Powers should formerly recognise in a ,
treaty the peculiar position of the Hejaz and bind themselves not to interfere in its
internal affairs, nor to seek political influence or concessions or commercial advantages
for themselves or their subjects, nor to support their subjects in seeking such.” Is rhe
word “preferable” or “desirable”? I see “preferable” here. Why do we say
“ preferable ” ?—preferable to what ?
LORD ROBERT CECIL: I think “ desirable ” was what was meant. But does
it not go a little far, as you have stated it ? Supposing the King, as suggested in the
Foreign Office Memorandum, should say, “ I should like Jeddah to have electric light,”
are we to discourage any of our subjects from seeking the concession ?
LORD CURZON : I am not responsible for this clause.
About this item
- Content
This file is composed of papers produced by the War Cabinet's Eastern Committee, which was chaired by George Curzon for most of its existence. The file contains a complete set of printed minutes, beginning with the committee's first meeting on 28 March 1918, and concluding with its final meeting on 7 January 1919 (ff 6-214 and ff 227-272).
The file begins with two copies of a memorandum by Curzon, dated 13 March 1918, proposing the formation of the Eastern Committee. This is followed by a memorandum by Arthur James Balfour, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, approving Curzon's proposal, and a copy of a procedure for the newly created committee, outlining arrangements for committee meetings and the dissemination of information to committee members.
Also included is a set of resolutions, passed by the committee in December 1918, in order to guide British representatives at the Paris Peace conference (ff 216-225). The resolutions cover the following: the Caucasus and Armenia; Syria; Palestine; Hejaz and Arabia; Mesopotamia, Mosul, Baghdad and Basra. They are preceded by a handwritten note written by Curzon 'some years later', which remarks on how they are a 'rather remarkable forecast of the bulk of the results since obtained.'
- Extent and format
- 1 file (272 folios)
- Arrangement
The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the front to the rear of the file.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the first folio with 1, and terminates at the last folio with 272; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio.
- Written in
- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- Mss Eur F112/274
- Title
- Papers of the War Cabinet's Eastern Committee
- Pages
- 1r:214v, 216r:272v
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence