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Coll 7/5 'Afghanistan: purchase of arms etc. from foreign sources: Germany' [297r] (593/1035)
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.
rv
A
^ ? < j t29S /^
r
Colonel Kinsman called here a few days ago to say
that he might he going to Kabul on behalf of Vickers,
and to ask for some information about the journey to
Kabul, which I was able to give him. I did not record
the conversation at the time as Colonel Kinsman said that
«
he would very shortly v/rite to us officially, when his
plans were more definite. He has not yet done so. He
seemed a little doubtful whether the Afghans would like
to do business with a British officer (even a retired
one). It is just possible that they might be afraid of
propaganda to the effect that they were associating
too closely with the British army etc. and it ma\ r be
worth asking Colonel Fraser-Tytler more explicitly for
his opinion on this point. I have added to the last
sentence of the draft telegram accordingly.
? Cpncur in draft telegram as amended.
Central Dept, for obs on
Versailles point.
(Signed) B.A.B. BURROV/S
11 . 1 .
*( Intld) J.L.D.
The conversation with the German Minister is rather
awkward. It is one thing to decide that we cannot at
this hour of the day dp anything to enforce the
observance of Article 170 on the German Government: it
is quite another to tell the representative of the German
Government that we' ”would not raise any objection to a
’’sale in reasonable quantities” - though I suppose
Colonel Fraser Tytler was thinking of local not
”Versailles” considerations. The Afghan Government of
course are not signatories of the Versailles Treaty, so
that they cannot be called to account for buying arms from:
Germany.
I ibink it would be better (if this is possible from
the/
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