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File 4722/1918 Pt 1 'Mesopotamia: administration of policy and situation' [296r] (607/687)
The record is made up of 1 volume (326 folios). It was created in 23 Oct 1918-2 Nov 1919. It was written in English, French and Arabic. 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.
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f
\ J>M(
2.0 tPfar-J I*c.
^.A.C,
iu.r n
yJn-*—
my
u.)
duty
not be doing
Anglo-French
to Mesopotamia, bids fair
Mahon s early assurances
1
J'vom Political, Baghdad, 1 1th November 1918.
(Repeated to Noi-eign.)
(Received 18th, 11 a.in.)
_b92f).^ lour telegram of 14th November. 1 shouh
... if I ( ii ( i not first of all record my conviction that
Declaration of 8th November, in so far as it refers
to involve us in difficulties as great as Sir A. H. filer
to Sherif of Mecca.
It is for representatives of His Majesty’s Government on the spot to
make the best of the situation created by this Declaration, and, as Govern-
ment is aware, I am trying to do so, but unless latter is superseded or
moditied by a pronouncement of the Peace Conference, I anticipate that in
years to come we shall be laced with alternatives of evading the spirit whilst
perhaps keeping within letter of this Declaration, or of setting up form of
government which wdl negative orderly progress and will gravely embarrass
efforts of European Powers to introduce stable institutions into Middle
East.
Declaration involves us here on the spot in diplomatic insincerities
which we have hitherto successfully avoided and places a potent weajjoii in
the hands of those least fitted to control a nation’s destinies.
1 would emphasise almost entire absence of political, racial or other
connection between Mesopotamia and rest of Arabia.
If the future status of this country is to be dealt with successfully it
must, I am convinced, be treated independently of Arab problems else
where.
Arabs of Mesopotamia will not tolerate that foreign Arabs should have
any say in their affairs, whether they come from Syria or from Hedjaz. In
practice they dislike and distrust both. National unity means for them
united Mesopotamia and not unity with either Syria or Hedjaz. So, too,
they resent importation of social or administrative institutions ol* methods
that savour of India.
Average Arab as opposed to handful of amateur politicians of Baghdad
sees the future as one of fair dealing and material and moral progress under
the aegis of Great Britain, and is clear-sighted enough to realise that he
would lose rather than gain in^Vovolting (against) unity if we were to
relinquish effective control. He will learn more quickly than the Indian.
But he is still far behind him in education and experience. Irrespective of
this element is a constant potential source of dissension and grave public
insecurity. Nor can we afford to ignore mutual contempt and jealousy that
exist between townsmen and tribesmen.
With experience of my political officers behind me, I can confidently
declare country as a whole neither expects nor desires any such sweeping
scheme of independence as isNulu mb rated if not clearly denoted in Anglo-
French Declaration.
Arabs are content with our occupation; non-Mahometan element
clings to it as the tardy fulfilment of hopes of many generations; world at
large recognises that it is our duty and our high privilege to establish an
effective protectorate, and to introduce a form of government which shall
make possible development of this country, which in spite of centuries of
neglect is still the ganglion of the Middle East. If we allow ourselves to
be diverted from this path by political catchwords, our soldiers will have
fought and died in vain, and treasure we have lavished on this country will
in eyes of the world and of peoples of the Middle East have been wasted,
for it was not merely to defeat Germany that we came here.
I think, therefore, that our best course is to declare Mesopotamia to be
British protectorate, under which all races and classes will be given forth
with maximum possible degree of liberty and self-rule that is compatible
with that good and safe government to which all nations aspire, but so
few now enjoy.
Our national characteristics and trend of our policy in this country
during past four years afford best guarantee that we shall not fail here as
in India to make every effort by spread of education and institutions
familiar
State.
to progressive States
to encourage
>Towth of a self-contained Iraq
About this item
- Content
The volume contains correspondence, memoranda, reports, telegrams and minutes regarding the administration of, and situation in, Mesopotamia [Iraq] following the Asia Minor Agreement of 1916, more commonly known as the Sykes-Picot Agreement, between the French and British governments, and the Anglo-French Declaration of November 1918. The volume also concerns the subject of self-determination in Persia [Iran].
The papers notably cover:
- Discussion of advance interpretations of the 1916 Agreement
- The Anglo-French Declaration of November 1918, which publicised their intentions and policy in the former Ottoman territories of Syria and Iraq
- Presentation of the 1918 Declaration to the President of the United States of America by the French Ambassador to the US, Jean Adrien Antoine Jules Jusserand
- Disagreement between the British and French visions of the future administration of Mesopotamia
- The situation in southern Kurdistan
- The 1919 Paris Peace Conference
- Apprehensions of the Baghdad Jewish community about the tenor of the Anglo-French Declaration, including a petition to the Civil Commissioner, Baghdad, requesting to be made subjects of the British Crown
- Reaction to the Declaration from the across the Arab world
- Disagreement among the British over the form that Britain’s control in Mesopotamia should take
- The views of the principal sheikhs [shaikhs] of Mesopotamia on the 1918 Agreement
- Discussion among British officials of the benefits of control over Mesopotamia and the view of the Civil Commissioner, Baghdad, Arnold Talbot Wilson, on the situation in Mesopotamia
- Discussion of the potential candidates for the head of the new state of Iraq
- Reports on consultations with political and religious leaders and inhabitants from across Iraq on the future Government of Iraq
- The views of Sir Percy Cox and Arnold Wilson on the situation in Mesopotamia
- The question of the future political status of Mesopotamia, including the views of British officers serving in Syria and the Hejaz
- Discussion of the question of Iraqi self-determination.
Notable documents in this volume include:
- Text by Sir Percy Cox regarding ‘The Future of Mesopotamia’ (ff 308-310 and ff 270-272)
- Extracts from The Times , 26 November 1819, including a series of articles under the title ‘The Arab Campaign’ (ff 230-232)
- The statutes for the independence of Iraq (ff 127-130)
- A memorandum by Major W H Young regarding the future of Mesopotamia (ff 99-112)
- Copies of ‘Self-determination in Iraq’ in Arabic (ff 75-97) and English (ff 57-73).
The principal correspondents are: the 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. , Political Department; the Governor-General of India; the Civil Commissioner, Baghdad; the Military Governor and Political Officer, Baghdad; Government of India, Military Department, the French Ambassador to the United States; and the British Embassy, Paris.
The volume includes a divider, which gives the subject number, the year the subject file was opened, the subject heading, and a list of correspondence references by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence.
- Extent and format
- 1 volume (326 folios)
- Arrangement
The contents of the volume are arranged in approximate chronological order from the rear to the front of the volume.
The subject 4722 (Mesopotamia) consists of ten volumes, IOR/L/PS/10/755-764. The volumes are divided into twelve parts, with parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11 and 12 comprising one volume each. Part 10 is missing. Part 7, entitled ‘Mesopotamia: Sir A. Wilson’s invitation to Syrian Baghdadis’, was transferred to File 5268/20 Parts 1 and 2 (see IOR/L/PS/10/913).
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the first folio with 1 and terminates at the last folio with 334; 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. Multiple intermittent additional mixed foliation/pagination sequences are also present. The foliation sequence does not include the front and back covers, nor does it include the leading and ending flyleaves. The sequence contains two anomalies: f 181a and f 181b.
- Written in
- English, French and Arabic in Latin and Arabic script View the complete information for this record
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File 4722/1918 Pt 1 'Mesopotamia: administration of policy and situation' [296r] (607/687), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/10/755, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100188328443.0x000038> [accessed 9 June 2026]
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/L/PS/10/755
- Title
- File 4722/1918 Pt 1 'Mesopotamia: administration of policy and situation'
- Pages
- front, back, spine, edge, head, tail, front-i, i-r:i-v, 1r:127v, 128ar, 128r:175v, 176ar, 176r:181v, 181ar:181av, 181cr, 181br:181bv, 182r:182v, 186r:229v, 232v:325v, 327r:334v, ii-r:ii-v, back-i
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence