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Coll 6/84 'Yemen: Attitude of Yemeni Govt. towards the Italo-Ethiopian dispute. Policy of H.M.G. in event of Italian occupation of Yemeni territory.' [‎102r] (203/699)

The record is made up of 1 file (348 folios). It was created in 22 Mar 1934-1 Nov 1939. 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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THIS DOCUMENT IS THE PROPERTY OF HIS BRITANNIC MAJESTY’S GOVERNMENT
ItUf
EASTERN (Arabia).
CONFIDENTIAL.
> • ri
March 1, 1937.
Section 2.
[E 1242/27/91
Copy No.
M . Lam/pson to Mr. Eden.—(Received March 1.)
223.)
(No.
Sir. Cairo, February 18, 1937.
I HAVE the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your secret despatcli
No. 81 of the 25th January, in which, with reference to my secret despatch
No. 1385 of the 18th December, you ask for my further views regarding the
possibilities of Italian penetration of the Yemen and on the whole question of
Italian activities in Arabia in the light of such bearing as the conclusion of the
Anglo-Egyptian alliance has upon it.
2. I do not believe that Italy would hesitate to violate the Rome under
standing of 1927 if she felt that she could do so with impunity. We have the
example of her Abyssinian adventure. I agree, however, that the Rome under
standing is at least a deterrent to any early Italian invasion of the Yemen,
seeing that a violation of it by Italy would free us to take our own measures in
the Yemen and also to assist, should we so desire, Ibn Baud’s penetration from the
north. No doubt, therefore, Italy would not embark on anything like an actual
invasion of the Yemen unless she were fairly sure that we should remain passive
oi* unless our hands were too full elsewhere for us to take effective action.
3. I also agree that, as things are at present, Italy's preoccupation with her
task in Abyssinia is likely to make the Italian Government pause before
attempting anything really drastic in the Yemen in the immediate future.
4. But I doubt whether the Italian mind is at present working along the
lines of actual conquest or invasion of the Yemen. The more likely policy is one
of gradual penetration beginning with the corruption of Yemeni elements and
leading to the creation, perhaps on the death of the Imam if no earlier opportunity
presents itself, of a native Government subservient to Italian dictates. It is to
this danger that Ibn Baud is evidently and very naturally alive and, as you are
aware, our secret information bears out that he is in touch with certain Yemeni
elements with a view to provoking and supporting a rising in the Yemen on the
Imam’s death. Maybe he hopes that such a rising would result either in his own
virtual occupation of the Yemen or in the establishment of a regime subservient
to himself. At all events his activities are doubtless—and again very naturally—
designed to forestall the Italians and secure that the Yemen shall not fall into
their hostile and powerful hand. For it is clear that a puppet Government in the
Yemen supported by Italian money, arms and technical assistance, would consti
tute a grave menace to Ibn Baud. In this respect Mr. Philby's wanderings on the
western and northern frontiers of the Yemen are of interest, particularly the
report of his reconnoitring in connexion with a motor road towards the Yemen
frontier (see section 6261 of Aden Political Intelligence Summary No. 522 for the
week ending the 27th January, 1937).
5. The menace is one which closely concerns ourselves. Clearly, if the
Italians, through their adherents in the Yemen, were to worst Ibn Baud, we should
be faced with a position gravely prejudicial to our interests in Arabia and with a
threat to our communications through the Red Sea.
6 . As regards the second and wider question raised in your despatch under
reply, it is self-evident that an independent Egypt will endeavour to play a
prominent part in Arabian affairs. The whole trend of events points that way,
and the creation of a general Egypto-Arab entente, which, we know, is in the
minds of Egyptians as well as Arabs, is advanced by the Anglo-Egyptian treaty,
in that Egypt gains thereby liberty of action in the foreign field, so long as not
demonstrably hostile to British interests.
7. The question therefore turns primarily on how the Anglo-Egyptian
treaty works. If the Egyptians play the game and behave as true allies, the
Anglo-Egyptian treaty, in spite of Egyptian and Arab aspirations incompatible
[956 a—2]

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Content

This file relates to Italian activities in the Middle East, particularly in the Yemen. The correspondence includes discussion of the following:

  • British policy in the event of the Italians occupying Sheikh Said [Ra’s Shaykh Sa‘īd], or any other part of the Yemen.
  • The Yemen's position in the Italo-Abyssinian conflict [Italo-Ethiopian War].
  • Relations between Ethiopia and the Yemen.
  • Italian activities in the Yemen.
  • British suspicions regarding Italian activities in the Yemen.
  • Future British policy in the Yemen.
  • Internal affairs in the Yemen.
  • Anglo-Italian relations in the Middle East, and the likelihood of Italy violating the Rome Understanding of 1927.
  • Ibn Saud's [‘Abd al-‘Azīz bin ‘Abd al-Raḥmān bin Fayṣal Āl Sa‘ūd] view on Italian activity in the region.
  • The visits of Italian destroyers to Kamaran Island in March 1937 and January 1938.
  • British and French concerns that Italy, following its denunciation of the Franco-Italian Agreement of 1935, seeks possession of the Island of Doumeira [Dumēra Desēt, Red Sea, also spelled Dumeira in the file], currently under French control.

The file features the following principal correspondents: His Majesty's Minister at Jedda (Sir Andrew Ryan, succeeded by Sir Reader William Bullard); the Political Resident A senior ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul General) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Residency. , Aden (Sir Bernard Rawdon Reilly); the Governor of Aden (Reilly again); the High Commissioner, Cairo (Sir Miles Lampson); His Majesty's Ambassador in Cairo (Lampson again); His Majesty's Chargé d'Affaires, Alexandria (John Cecil Sterndale Bennett); His Majesty's Ambassador in Paris (Eric Phipps); His Majesty's Ambassador in Rome (Eric Drummond); the British Consul General, Jibuti [Djibouti] (Herbert George Jakins); the British Naval Commander-in-Chief, East Indies Station (Vice-Admiral Alexander Robert Maule Ramsay); the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (Anthony Eden); the Secretary of State for the Colonies (James Henry Thomas, succeeded by William George Arthur Ormsby-Gore); officials of the Foreign Office, the Colonial Office, and the Air Ministry.

In addition to correspondence, the file includes the following: copies of extracts from Aden political intelligence summaries; copies of the minutes of meetings of the Committee of Imperial Defence's Standing Official Sub-Committee for Questions Concerning the Middle East, dated 26 November 1935, 14 December 1936, and 8 June 1937 respectively; a copy of a translation of a treaty of friendship and commerce between the Ethiopian and Yemeni governments, which was ratified on 21 September 1935.

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 (folios 2).

Extent and format
1 file (348 folios)
Arrangement

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

Physical characteristics

Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the last folio with 349; 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. A previous foliation sequence, which is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.

Written in
English in Latin script
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Coll 6/84 'Yemen: Attitude of Yemeni Govt. towards the Italo-Ethiopian dispute. Policy of H.M.G. in event of Italian occupation of Yemeni territory.' [‎102r] (203/699), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/12/2157, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100041685366.0x000006> [accessed 28 March 2024]

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