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Coll 6/91 'Saudi Arabia. Policy of H.M.G. Qn. of credits and guarantee of assistance to Ibn Saud.' [207r] (414/680)
The record is made up of 1 file (338 folios). It was created in 24 Oct 1939-1 Jan 1945. 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. .
Transcription
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
INDEXED
Copy,
(E 1759/953/65)
833/653/1
confidential.
With the Compli
of the
h^er Secretar • /
c or Foreign
ol > 9^ • ^ v b
to
Co
*XX’
'vkxj-6
'Nv ' ^
sh Legation
,d a .
dJ^UL^t ^fc- o,a |Li
V| rApril 8th, 1^407
My dear Baggallay,
FROM SECRETARY, POLITICAL AND
SECRET DEPT.
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.
In your letter of January 20th 1 (E"T , 8T3/'fQD r i 1l /0ft ) juu
suggested that it might he a good thing for me to have a talk with
Ballereau about Arab federation and cognate subjects.
I followed your suggestion and read him parts of the paper
which you said had been communicated confidentially to the French
Government. Ballereau was gratified especially so as he feels
very strongly that there is not sufficient contact between His
Majesty's Government and the French Government in the matter of
policy in Arabia. He felt that we should know exactly what the
French views and policy were and that His Majesty's Government on
their side should keep the French fully informed. I said I
thought that there was such contact, but he considered that it
was not sufficiently close nor was it sufficiently generally
knov/n that such contact existed. There were Syrians ready to
whisper to French officials that France must mind her step as the
British were plotting to form an Arab federation under their
protection.
As regards this question of federation Ballereau felt as I
do that Ibn Saud cannot want it. He as head of the least advanced
of the four states could only play a minor rdle and might indeed
feel that his country if not during his own reign then after his
death would be engulfed by its more advanced and more powerful
neighbour Iraq to which Trans-Jordan would probably have joined
itself. Ibn Saud was much too intelligent to think that he
could possibly dominate or be anything but a junior partner in a
federation and he would not accept this humble r6le. What I
think Ibn Saud meant was not Arab federation but the formation
of an Arab bloc guaranteed by His Majesty's Government not only
against aggression from outside but guaranteed against the
aggression of one against the other. In other v/ords Ibn Saud
wanted to feel safe not only in the event of attack by a European
power but against the possibility of Iraq taking advantage of
the situation to attack him.
As regards Syria Ballereau did not think that the idea of
federation would appeal unless France was there to see that
Syria was not swallowed by a combination of Iraq and Trans-Jordan.
The Syrians wanted complete liberty but liberty under the aegis
of France. France was to supply all the money, all the moral
and if need be, the armed support required for the maintenance of
independence but she must derive no economic or other benefits
from the arrangement and the fact of her backing must not be
apparentJ
Ballereau then spoke of the Mufti at whose birth he had,
he said, been present when he was Consul at Damascus. He was
H.L. Baggallay Esq.,
Foreign Office.
RECd. POL. DEPt. !
-HQ
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.
1
born
4
About this item
- Content
This file concerns British policy towards Saudi Arabia during the Second World War (the abbreviation 'Qn' in the title stands for 'Question'). The correspondence discusses the question of providing financial or material assistance to Ibn Saud [‘Abd al-‘Azīz bin ‘Abd al-Raḥmān bin Fayṣal Āl Sa‘ūd], as well as the United States' growing economic and strategic interests in Saudi Arabia.
The file features the following principal correspondents: His Majesty's Minister at Jedda (Sir Reader Bullard, Hugh Stonehewer Bird, and Stanley R Jordan successively); the Secretary of State for India (Leo Amery); the Viceroy of India (Archibald Percival Wavell); the Chancellor of the Exchequer (John Anderson); officials of the Foreign Office, 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. , the Treasury, the Government of India's Finance and External Affairs Departments, and the United States Embassy in London.
Related matters of discussion include the following:
- The idea (initially discussed in correspondence dating from 1939) of an alliance or a bloc of Arab states (chiefly comprised of Saudi Arabia and the Yemen), which would support the Allied cause.
- The Italo-German reaction to Ibn Saud's refusal to receive German diplomat Dr Fritz Konrad Ferdinand Grobba, a decision that was applauded by the British.
- Italian influence in the Middle East.
- Anglo-French co-operation in the Middle East.
- Details of the Saudi Government's finances (i.e. expenditure and revenue) during the early war years.
- Arrangements for loans and payments from the British to the Saudi Government, as well as details of royalties and loans paid to the Saudi Government by the California Arabian Standard Oil Company (Casoc).
- Proposals for an irrigation and agricultural mission to Saudi Arabia, headed by a United States agricultural expert.
- Conversations between Ibn Saud and United States General Patrick Hurley during the latter's visit to Riyadh in May 1943.
- The Government of India's decision in 1942 not to allow pilgrim ships to sail from India to Saudi Arabia, because of a risk of the ships being attacked.
- Ibn Saud's requests in 1944 for the British Government to send to Saudi Arabia financial and military advisers, preferably Sunni Moslems [Muslims].
- The proposed appointment of Ibn Saud's requested financial adviser, which is delayed and eventually abandoned, following the United States' suggestion that the position be given to a United States adviser, because of the United States' 'preponderant interest' in the Saudi economy.
The file includes two dividers which give a list of correspondence references contained in the file by year. These are placed at the back of the correspondence (folio 2).
- Extent and format
- 1 file (338 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 339; 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. An additional foliation sequence is present in parallel between ff 262-286; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled. A previous foliation sequence, which is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.
- Written in
- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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Coll 6/91 'Saudi Arabia. Policy of H.M.G. Qn. of credits and guarantee of assistance to Ibn Saud.' [207r] (414/680), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/12/2163, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100046518048.0x000011> [accessed 5 June 2026]
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/L/PS/12/2163
- Title
- Coll 6/91 'Saudi Arabia. Policy of H.M.G. Qn. of credits and guarantee of assistance to Ibn Saud.'
- Pages
- front, front-i, 2r:36v, 39r:57v, 59r:110v, 113r:182v, 184r:189v, 191r:310r, 311v:339v, back
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence