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'THE WAR WITH TURKEY. Note by the Under Secretary, India Office.' [55v] (2/6)
The record is made up of 1 file (3 folios). It was created in 13 Jun 1916. 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.
I
ascendancy over the Turkish Government in its new capital of Brusa or
Ivonia. These safeguards against a revival of German influence are not
recited in the draft of the decentralisation scheme proposed by the Committee,
but they would exist all the same, for they constitute the circumstances in
which alone peace conditions of the kind could be imposed on Turkey. It
was also part of the scheme that the revision of the Bagdad Railway
concessions should be one of the conditions of peace with the Central
Powers, and that the Turkish Government should be required to confirm
and make effective all concessions and engagements which before the war it
had made or entered into with any of the Allies.
3. The scheme, as already said, has been superseded by the agreements
recently concluded between France, Great Britain and Russia, and it is not
put forward now on its merits for adoption. But it illustrates the broad
principle that any settlement which the Allies may make with Turkey should
be viewed quite as much with reference to the general issue of the war as
to the actual terms of the settlement itself. If the general issue of the war
is satisfactory, terms of peace with Turkey w r hicli fall short of extinguishing v
the Ottoman empire may still be regarded without trepidation. A Turkey
which is excluded from Constantinople and from a foothold in Europe or
the Asiatic shore of the Straits, and which in Asia has ceded avenues
of approach to its enemies, will not be the power which has posed
in the past as the champion of Islam, has kept Christendom at bay, and has '
held the key of the road from Vienna to the East. An Ottoman empire
might continue to exist, but its power for evil will be abated, and it will no
longer be the rallying point for Moslem dreams of a world-wide ascendancy.
A Germany which has been defeated in the present war will not have the
same forces as in the past to organise a decadent empire for its own
purposes, and will have less promising materials to work with. It might be
bettei for the world at large that the 1 urkish empire should perish root and
branch and its territories be distributed among the Allies under conditions
that would give the indigenous peoples a chance of more prosperous
existence. Bat if this is not attainable, or is thought to be attended with
more than counter-balancing dangers and disadvantages, a less radical /
readjustment of the map of the near East 3ieed not necessarily be a standing
menace to the Indian empire and to Christian Powers that have to deal
with large masses of Muhammedan subjects.
4. To pass to the Memorandum. Its forecast of what would happen if
the war were to be concluded by a peace which left the Turk in possession
of Constantinople and his Asiatic provinces would be gladly accepted by
Pr0 eSS r? aS in aC ? 0rd Wlth theu ' i ust expectations, and contains no
doubt important elements of truth. But the degree of truth would depend
on circumstances.- The relative exhaustion of the Allies and the enemy at
the,close of the war, the effect of the protracted struggle on the W of
S t i ie t State 0f th / lr finances aud «teir internal political condition
would an be determining factors. If Germany, contrarv to proSS'
were to wm the war, securing thereby the control of the Balkan States'
exacting large indemnities, and trampling over a prostrate Eurnnp t"hai'
her ambitions would be kindled afresh, the servitude of Turkey would be
complete, her Asiatic dominions would become a Gertvan HrmJL i
penl of England and her Indian empire eTeVe But 1 ^
Allies should obtain some at least Tthe im^oHSu 'I t fe ped ■^, th ' ,
States 6 ^ and Servia Md the freedom of* the^alkJu
btates from the domination of the Central Pnw^ fl^ if Balkan
would be necessary, and capital will be scarce in P expenditure
the war the Berlin financiers of the Bagdad Railway hiTfo' —
too big for their purses -md waro ;d found the project
British capital. Whether with a peaceTaT brhi^nn ^ FTench a ° d evei1
could carry the load unaided may well 'be doubted "!pj; mn ' t ,' es Germany
discontent of the Turks would afso hav ' t^^.d.^^^y
J
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Note written by Sir Thomas William Holderness, Under Secretary of State, 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. , in response to Sir Arthur Hirtzel's memorandum on the war with Turkey (IOR/L/PS/18/B233).
The note describes the recommendations of the Inter-Department Committee on Asiatic Turkey, which Sir Thomas Holderness was a member of, and which were based on the assumption by the Committee at the time of its convening that an allied occupation of Constantinople was only weeks away, that Russia would be in possession of the city and surrounding areas and that peace with the Turks would be possible.
The committee's responsibility, in light of the assumptions, was as follows:
- To propose a scheme for Asiatic Turkey that would satisfy Russian, French, Italian and Greek interests in the region and which would suit the needs and requirements of Great Britain; possibilities included the complete partition of the region; the removal of the Ottoman Empire; and decentralisation of Turkey without the need for military intervention.
The note goes on to consider potential concerns over German power and influence in Turkey; the dangers of any settlement with Turkey that would not include the ending of the Ottoman Empire; the risks from Germany gaining control of the Balkan States; the danger of pan-Islamism; the possibilities of British interests in the East being achieved if Germany is defeated and Turkey collapses as a military power; and the Mesopotamian Campaign and its development as a serious military operation.
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- 1 file (3 folios)
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: The foliation for this description commences at folio 55 and terminates at folio 57, as it is part of a larger physical volume; 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. An additional foliation sequence is also present in parallel between folios 6-153; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled, and can be found in the same position as the main sequence.
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- IOR/L/PS/18/B234
- Title
- 'THE WAR WITH TURKEY. Note by the Under Secretary, India Office.'
- Pages
- 55r:57v
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence