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Coll 7/5 'Afghanistan: purchase of arms etc. from foreign sources: Germany' [107r] (213/1035)
The record is made up of 1 file (517 folios). It was created in 3 Jul 1931-24 Oct 1939. It was written in English and French. 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.
0160/2007 (M.I.l.)*
I am very sorry that we have not replied
before to your letter No1165/2/97 of March 19th, -
to which Napier sent a provisional reply on April 22nd, -
on the subject of the supply of arms to Afghanistan.
The matter has now been investigated and I am afraid that
in view of our own rearmament programme and the
interference which would be caused to it by the taking
on of these orders for Afghanistan, all we can usefully
offer at present are the 120 Vickers-Armstrong Heavy
Machine-Guns Class •c*. Delivery of these could
commence within 14 months of the date of the order, at
the rate of 50 guns per month. we cannot at present
hold out any possibility of supply of class f L f Light
Machine—guns. As regards 75 m.m. A.A. equipments,
ammunition and predictors, the best we can offer is
manufacture commencing in 1939 and delivery, at the
earliest, in April, 1940. The predictors would take
longer to make but delivery could be made not later,than
the guns, if the order was given in advance, as
manufacture will comi ence earlier.
In view of the orders which we understand that
the Afghans have placed in Germany and the unlikelihood
that they would be able to pay for purchases here it
would not appear that any order for the arms included in
Colonel Kinsman's list would be likely to eventuate,
even if we v/ere able to offer earlier delivery dates.
I am sending a copy of this letter to Clauson
at 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.
.
L. Col ier, Esq., C. .G<
Foreign office,
Downing Street,
S.W. !•
V fa.) dU/
/
About this item
- Content
The file contains correspondence regarding the purchase of weapons and ammunition by the Afghan Government from Germany and other sources. It includes correspondence between Afghan Officials -- the Foreign Minister, the Legations to Paris and London, and the Consulate of Afghanistan in India -- and British Officials, including 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, HM Minister Kabul (Richard Maconachie), the Foreign Office, the War Office, and HM Ambassador to Berlin (Neville Henderson).
The file opens with correspondence regarding the alleged purchase in 1931 of arms from Germany, in violation of Article 170 of the Treaty of Versailles. It is determined that the arms in question originated in Poland, with funding from the German Government. Later correspondence documents the British decision not to protest against such treaty violations, in light of the obligation on Britain to not interfere with the supply of arms to Afghanistan as agreed in the Anglo-Afghan Treaty (1921).
Arrangements for the purchase, licensing and transport of arms to Afghanistan from Czechoslovakia, Germany, Japan, Spain, the USA, France and Belgium are documented in the file. The principal firms involved in these arrangements are: Škoda Works; Rheinmetall-Borsig AG; Dynamit-Actien-Gesellschaft (vormals Alfred Nobel); and Messrs Vickers-Armstrongs Limited. A number of additional firms are mentioned but not named. The file also contains communications received from the Government of India Central Board of Revenue and the Collector of Customs at Karachi, reporting on the arrival and examination of shipments, the validity of export licences, and the payment of customs dues.
The file includes dividers which give lists of correspondence references contained in the file by year. These are placed at the end of the correspondence (folios 2-4).
- Extent and format
- 1 file (517 folios)
- Arrangement
The papers are arranged in rough chronological order from the rear to the front of the file.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at the inside front cover with 1 and terminates at the last folio with 517; 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.
- Written in
- English and French in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/L/PS/12/2174
- Title
- Coll 7/5 'Afghanistan: purchase of arms etc. from foreign sources: Germany'
- Pages
- front, front-i, 2r:10v, 12r:21v, 23r:23v, 25r:27v, 29r:42v, 44r:60v, 62r:65v, 67r:67v, 69r:74v, 76r:77v, 80r:80v, 82r:145v, 149r:160v, 162r:169v, 171r:174v, 176r:205r, 206r:248v, 250r:254v, 256r:334v, 336r:357v, 359r:370v, 372r:378v, 380r:390v, 392r:394v, 396r:398v, 400r:418v, 420r:420v, 422r:428v, 430r:431v, 433r:443v, 445r:451v, 453r:456v, 458r:462v, 465r:465v, 468r:474v, 476r:481v, 484r:496v, 498r:517v, back
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence