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Coll 15/1 'Egypt Affairs: General Situation 1931; Anglo-Egyptian Treaty, 1936' [‎23r] (46/493)

The record is made up of 1 file (246 folios). It was created in 15 May 1931-10 Dec 1947. 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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25
“■ The suggestions should,' he told them,
“ be regarded from the following angle.
“ We are two allies of unequal strength
who may have to face a powerful and rapid
act of aggression launched by an enemy of
not less strength than Great Britain.
Whatever Egyptian preparations may be,
th"^ defence cannot be immediately in a
state capable of repulsing the invader; our
British allies must therefore intervene at
once and they consider that the defence
may prove to be ineffective without the
presence in our country of a nucleus form
ing in advance an ‘ allied administrative
base ’ whose composition is set out in detail
in the note and whose purpose will be to
prepare in time of peace for the reception
of troops and reinforcement formations."
“ Consider this without being influenced
by the political aspect of the suggestion; I
only ask you for a military opinion."
The members of the bureau have handed
their opinion, in the form of the attached
note^ 1 ) to Sidky Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. this evening.
The Prime Minister, after a personal
examination of the British aide-memoire
which was handed to him on 19th April
and of the above note from his military
bureau, can only give his entire support to
the latter’s conclusions. He adds the
following considerations which will be the
last after the series of considerations which
he has developed orally or in writing in
recent days: —
1. There is no longer any doubt that, in
the form set forth in the aide-memoire
communicated on 19th April, the base
asked for in Egyptian territory constitutes
a veritable military occupation of this
territory.
2. This base, to which is added a British
air force contingent, presents such a
variety of aspects—including notably a
veritable headquarters belonging to a
foreign army—that the fiction consisting
in saying that it simply involves an allied
base cannot take away its true character
from it.
3. By the arrangement suggested by the
aide-memoire the alliance between the two
countries is reduced to a military tutelage
exercised by a big country over a smaller
country which will rapidly degenerate—as
in fact has happened—into political supre
macy. An alliance based on equality
cannot involve more than consultations and
conversations between Staffs to arrive at a
rational use of forces and preparation in
common of defence plans.
(p Not included.
86-10
4. Egypt would go as far as possible m
this way since she envisages a development
of the cultural help to be furnished by
British schools for military instruction and
a harmonious choice of the arms to be
employed.
5. The development of the power and
effectiveness of the new Egyptian army,
planned as a sign of the true and final
liberation of the country, could not but
suffer from the position of inferiority
which would be created by the presence of
a British base, of which the undoubted
influence would halt or discourage many
initiatives. The facts of a recent past are
there to prove it.
6. The same influence will continue to
be exercised in the political field notwith
standing the assurances, often dictated by
incontestable good faith, which are offered.
This is ground on to which the present note
does not wish to venture, since it would
involve needlessiy the examination of a
past which gave little reason for confidence.
7. After the final disappearance of the
reasons wdiich determined the measures
contemplated by the treaty of 1936. a
country like Egypt could not agree that its
independence should remain at the mercy
of new and various reasons which the
political repertory is never at a loss to
discover. An independent country should
provide for its own security from its own
resources, and this should be so in Egypt’s
case; she does not want to fail in this task,
but her dignity as a free country cannot
but refuse to alienate her independence as
a result of exaggerated and almost imagi
nary anxieties as to probable dangers.
And if this could be explained to some
extent before the last war, it would no
longer be understood, since the creation
of the mechanism of world security inaugu
rated at San Francisco, how an indepen
dent country could cheerfully allow its
liberty to be fettered by benevolent agree
ments of doubtful efficacy.
8. It is now apparently a question of a
danger from the East, just as later on, and
even after the end of the alliance, it may
be a question of quite a different danger
resulting from the difficulties of the
moment, or from any other product of the
always fertile imagination of Chancel
leries.
9. It is not the aim of the present note
to expatiate on the extent of the dangers
to which world peace is exposed. But may
we remark that these perils are often
presented in a light in which a sometimes
deliberate pessimism plays a leading part.
E

About this item

Content

The file comprises telegrams, despatches, correspondence and government printed papers. On the front of the file is written in red ink 'Secret Cupboard'.

The correspondence concerns the general situation in Egypt in the periods 1931-1937 and 1945-1947. Correspondence also discusses the issues relating to the negotiation and conclusion of the Anglo-Egyptian Treaty 1936, including:

  • negotiating points
  • concessions
  • capability of the Egyptian army
  • location of British military facilities
  • the significance of the Suez Canal as an 'artery of communication' for the British empire

The main correspondents include: the Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs; the Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Australia; the Minister of External Affairs, Union of South Africa; and HBM High Commissioner to Egypt and the Sudan (Sir Miles Lampson).

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 (246 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 (used for referencing) commences at the inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the last folio with 246; 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.

Written in
English in Latin script
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Coll 15/1 'Egypt Affairs: General Situation 1931; Anglo-Egyptian Treaty, 1936' [‎23r] (46/493), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/12/2762, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100043038405.0x000031> [accessed 29 March 2024]

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