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Coll 6/19 'Arabia: (Saudi Arabia) Hejaz-Nejd Annual Report.' [‎67v] (135/540)

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The record is made up of 1 file (268 folios). It was created in 18 Apr 1931-18 May 1945. 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. .

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40
nations and from which they all derive beneht. Applying this suggestion to the
problem in hand, Sir R. Bullard said : “ It offers advantages sub specie ceternitatis
and even in the narrower light of the fact that a survey drawn up on such lines
would have to give an honourable place to the British. If the suggestion seems
unpractical, I would ask whether books consciously designed with the main inten
tion of making students pro-British are likely to be successful. If the teaching
is on imperialistic lines it may repel the student by its very nature, and it will
have to compete with the much better organised foe of its own kind, Italian
propaganda; while propaganda resting on any spiritual values discernible in the
British character or British institutions will sooner or later lead the student to
apply Areopagitica and Mills's Liberty to his own case.”
151. In conclusion, Sir R. Bullard pointed out that British influence was
still more in evidence than Italian in Jedda, which, except for the oil-fields of
Hasa, is the only point at which Saudi Arabia comes into direct contact with the
west, and enumerated a number of items in support of this contention, from the
much greater British share in the pilgrim traflic to the fact that, when Ibn Sand
wanted an engineer whom he could trust to set up a new lighting plant in his
palace at Riyadh, he borrowed an Englishman from the staff of His Majesty’s
Legation in Jedda. In Jedda British influence rested largely on a factor which
the Italians still had to prove that they possessed, the integrity of the average
“ Briton.'’ Unless we could help Saudi Arabia in the matter of armaments and
(less probably) aviation, there seemed to be no form of propaganda, except wireless
broadcasting, which we should be permitted to do here, and which would be at the
same time useful and in conformity with our customs. As to the point in which
Italy has the great advantage over us, viz., our relative positions with regard to
the Arab world, all that we could do was to try to preserve our essential interests
within the limits of a policy which would be the least vulnerable to open or covert
attacks from Italian sources.
152. On several occasions during the year a representative of the Italian
Embassy in London made enquiries at the Foreign Office as to the policy of His
Majesty s Government in Arabia. The peg on which the enquiries were hung was
usually weak {e.g., the visit of Captain Seager, frontier officer in the Aden Pro
tectorate, to Sanaa, Mr. Philby’s latest journey, and the visit of the Royal Air
Force aeroplanes to Jedda in June), and there Was no difficulty in explaining all
the incidents quoted. Two points were noticeable at such interviews : the Italians
may perhaps be as suspicious of us as we are of them; and, secondly, on every
occasion the Italian representative affirmed the intention of the Italian Govern
ment to adhere strictly to the Rome Understanding of 1927, and expressed the
hope that this was also the policy of His Majesty’s Government. The most
categorical assurances as to the adherence of His Majesty’s Government to the
Rome Understanding were given by the Foreign Office whenever that point was
raised.
153. The international status of the islands in that part of the Red Sea
lying to the southward of a line drawn at approximately latitude 18° N. formed
the subject of an important memorandum by the Admiralty which was received
in January. The memorandum pointed out that, although the Farsan Islands
are under the effective sovereignty of Ibn Baud, it is recognised as a mutual
Anglo-Italian interest, in article 4 of the Rome Understanding, that no European
Power should establish itself on those islands, and that they should not fall into
the hands of an unfriendly Arab ruler. The other islands dealt with in the memo
randum lie outside Saudi Arabia, but it may be mentioned, as affecting Italian
relations with His Majesty’s Government, that there are Italian police posts,
nominally for the protection of a person holding a fishing concession from the
Government of Eritrea, on Great Hanish and Jabal Zuqar Islands. Towards the
end of the yeai the Admiralty, acting on a report that Italian activities in those
regions were increasing, made an investigation which found no confirmation of
the news.
Turkey.
154. It is convenient to record here a reference to Turco-Arab relations
which was made by the Turkish Premier in a public speech in December 1936.
Certain elements in Syria, General Inonu said, professed to see in Turkey’s

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Content

This file contains copies of annual reports regarding the Kingdom of Hejaz and Nejd (later Saudi Arabia) during the years 1930-1938 and 1943-1944.

The reports were produced by the British Minister at Jedda (Sir Andrew Ryan, succeeded by Sir Reader William Bullard) and sent to the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (and in the case of these copies, forwarded by the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs to the Under-Secretary of State for India), with the exception of the reports for 1943 and 1944, which appear to have been produced and sent by His Majesty's Chargé d’Affaires at Jedda, Stanley R Jordan.

The reports covering 1930-1938 discuss the following subjects: foreign relations; internal affairs; financial, economic and commercial affairs; military organisation; aviation; legislation; press; education; the pilgrimage; slavery and the slave trade; naval matters. The reports for 1943 and 1944 are rather less substantial. The 1943 report discusses Arab affairs, Saudi relations with foreign powers, finance, supplies, and the pilgrimage, whilst the 1944 report covers these subjects in addition to the following: the activities of the United States in Saudi Arabia, the Middle East Supply Centre, and the Saudi royal family.

The file includes a divider which gives a list of correspondence references contained in the file by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence.

Extent and format
1 file (268 folios)
Arrangement

The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the rear to the front of the file.

Physical characteristics

Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1 and terminates at the last folio with 269; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located at 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 present in parallel between ff 2-12 and ff 45-268; these numbers are also written in pencil but are not circled.

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English in Latin script
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Coll 6/19 'Arabia: (Saudi Arabia) Hejaz-Nejd Annual Report.' [‎67v] (135/540), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/12/2085, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100036362870.0x000088> [accessed 29 March 2024]

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