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File 4722/1918 Pt 1 'Mesopotamia: administration of policy and situation' [142r] (293/687)
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.
rms Document is the Property of Hls Britamric ^a^^
ft awavA
Printed for the War Cabinet. January l ( n$Y
SECRET.
P.-97.
1
, i
WAR CABINET.
\ 8 i 9 J
EASTERN COMMITTEE RESOLUTIONS REGARDING THE DISPOSAL
OF MIDDLE EAST TERRITORIES.
Note by Lord Curzon.
IN the weeks immediately preceding the Paris Conference the Eastern Committee
held a number of special meetings attended by Mr. Balfour, Lord Robert Cecil,
Mr. Montagu, General Smuts, and the Chief of the Imperial General Staff, in order to
discuss and'attempt to formulate the principles of our policy in the Middle East. The
conclusions were summed up in a series of Resolutions, some of which have already
been issued to the Imperial War Cabinet. I now circulate the entire series in the hope
that they may be of some use in the impending discussions at Paris.
(Initialled) C. of K.
Privy Council Office, January 16, 1919.
E C.-2773.
(Misc.)
General Resolution regarding the Territories of the Middle East.
In no circumstances should any claim by Turkey to share the sovereignty, real or
nominal, of any of the States or territories specially dealt with in other Resolutions of
the Eastern Committee, viz., Mesopotamia, Syria, the Caucasus, Armenia, Palestine, or
Arabia, be admitted.
E.C.-2771.
( C - iv ’)
Resolutions on Mesopotamia, Mosul, Baghdad, and Basra. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
1. There can be no restoration of these territories to Turkish ride.
2. There should be no annexation of any of these territories by Great Britain.
3. It is the object of His Maiesty’s Government to set up an Arab Government or
Governments of the liberated areas, and not to impose upon the populations any
Government which is not acceptable to them.
4. Whether there should be a single Arab State or a number of Arab States in
these areas is a matter upon which educated native opinion in the areas affected is now
being consulted.
5. All reports so far received appear to indicate a universal repugnance to the
incorporation of these territories under a single Arab ruler, or to the recognition of
the temporal sovereignty of the King of the Hejaz.
6. If it is found necessary to provide in any form for the authority over these
areas of the King of the Hejaz, this should in all probability be confined to a recog
nition of his spiritual position and to the use ol his name in the prayers in the
Mosques. But the Committee recognise that this is a question for Moslem and not for
Christian opinion to decide.
7. Whether a single Arab State or a number of Arab States be set up in
these areas, the support and protection of a great European Power will be found
indispensable. . . . . ^
8. If the inhabitants of these areas, acting upon the principle of self-determina
tion, express a desire that Great Britain should fill this r61e, the interests of the native
19561
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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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