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Coll 7/5 'Afghanistan: purchase of arms etc. from foreign sources: Germany' [‎423r] (845/1035)

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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. .

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2119
5000 8.33
Sven/
/
Minute Paper.
P.Z.486/34.
political Department.
The reference in Katodon 11 of 19th Januaiy to
Article 170 of the Treaty of Versailles has caused the
Foreign Office to examine the position and to conclude
that, if it were established that the arms which the
alleged German firm have offered to the Afghan Govt,
were indeed manufactured in Germany, there would be
ground for complaint to the German Govt. Our
information, however, is insufficient to shew:-
(1) whether the German firm mentioned by the
Afghan M.F.A. exists at all, and, if it does, what
its name is.
(2) whether the munitions mentioned in Katodon 2
(3.A.A*» Colt, Vickers and Lewis Guns) are manufactured
In, or to be exported from, Germany.
(3) whence the German firm obtained the arms.
This question has however been considered before
|on more than oneoccasion. In 1929 during the Bacha-i-
3aqao regime (see Foreign Office despatch to Berlin
No.644 dated 27th May 1929, N.2462/42/97) there was a
transaction in arms reported by the Polish authorities.
It was decided that there was insufficient material for
a protest by H.M.G. and that the Polish Government mlgjjt
be left to complain if they thought themselves on
sufficiently strong ground.
Again, in 1931, there was a purchase by Amanullah
"in Germany" which, on investigation, proved to have
taken place in Poland, the German Govt, having merely
warehoused the rifles and supplied the funds for the
purchase out of the credit of M.6,000,000 granted to
the ex-King. (see Foreign Office letter N.4298/299/97
ol 2nd July 1931 and Kabul despatch No.150 dated
6th November 1931).

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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
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Coll 7/5 'Afghanistan: purchase of arms etc. from foreign sources: Germany' [‎423r] (845/1035), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/12/2174, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100037552875.0x00002e> [accessed 29 March 2024]

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