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Coll 6/43 'Pan Arab Congress 1933. Attitude of H.M.G. to a Pan Arab Movement' [‎311r] (622/1144)

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The record is made up of 1 file (570 folios). It was created in 21 Dec 1932-5 Mar 1948. 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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Govern tent th*t they should issics sn spppoach to the Oorman
or Italian Govern «nts* Oene^l Hurl apparently regards
Irsql Amy as only tailltary fores of consequence in
aiddls Seat sc^hs to be lending his support to sei ieras
1-u tsdiats f odsfa ti on of X via x imnslordan 'tnd
i^j ^ssTih s (no doubt In expectation th;-1 '2yH'«Twould in
due course Join them) with 3audi Arabia if his Majesty
is willing to coo?«rcte 9 but othsr^ise without* He has
not described his project to His MsJeatyU Govem.entt
but they understand that it includes cub tools union and
cot t on Arab smy. It is extroaely dim milt to sss how
such s scheme could be &ads to worfc 9 but in any csss
it Is quits luuccsptabls to His Majesty’s Government if
only bccauss it apparently pays very little regard Wither
rag*-?-- to the views of Ibn deud.
ft* Incidentally 9 it is not clear *h©t i©r underlying
principles of federation are fully understood* Woramlly
fader^tion implies partial union for seonoioic and other
reasons of independent dtetes which have eonsidenable
common interests but which ars unwilling to surrender
their autonomy in internal administrative cotters* They
desire to cooperate for cefencs 9 customs, comauniestiOM
and similar purpose only* This Involves creation of s
federal administrative centre and s cotton federal fund
derived from federal taxes* Federal Government is
p»remount in certain define spheres while governments of
component iitates ret sin their local power* in other spheres*
There should ic sally be no dominating partner in federation*
If therefore in present proposal predo«nin^inoe of one
partner or of certain personalities is con tempi tiled it
would seem that ths Sta tes concerned arc not ripe for
federation and could better achieve closer cooperation by
means of bi-latrral or multilateral agree.ante freely
negotli ted*
6* It has tlways bs^sri the aim of His Majesty's
Govern f?nt 9 so fur as lies in their power, to promote
friendly relations between the Areb states, sMd they would
view with sympathy practical proposal* to increase
cooperation, provided thot such px k OT>ossla had sup ort of
all leading Arab groups (sss «r telsgrsm Me*Aiy to Bagdad
of August IBth;* They cmnot however jlvo their support
to any sohame which would favour one Arab Htatc at the expense
of the others, asii they asauruc that Ibn aaud is in agrsfsuont
with theca over this*
7* They will themselves endeavour to bring Iraqi
Govern ent to more reasonable frame of mind, and a re content
to leave it csitirsly to Ibn £aud to decide how best to
proceed meanwhile* It seerks to them th* t Hie Majesty would
$ fully justified in declining to t^ke part in any general
discussions with Iraqi Govern unt until outst^iiding questions
between two countries had been finally settled* They
these elves feel extremely doubtful whether such discussions
are likely to lead to any positive results whan Italy has
not yet been defeated, when there is no stable govern out in
[ France with whom negotiations oould be oonduoted, and when
I Iraqi Government seem more interested in extension of their
o*n influence than in cooperating with His Majesty’s
f Gevem-ent* His Majesty’s Goverwasnt would however quite
understand it if Ibn Maud preferred to agree to confidential
meetiivc of repreeent^tivee of his own and other Arab
Governments/

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Content

This file concerns the British Government's response to the Pan-Arab movement during the 1930s and 1940s. Much of the correspondence refers to the prospect of an Arab federation, although the use of the word 'federation' is noted in some of the correspondence as being a mistranslation of the original Arabic expression, which would be more accurately represented by the words 'unification' or 'unity'.

Significant subjects of discussion include:

  • Arab party politics in Palestine.
  • Iraqi-Egyptian relations.
  • Italian propaganda in the Middle East.
  • The future of Palestine.
  • Britain's post-war policy in the Middle East.
  • Whether the Arab states should be induced to make a wartime declaration in favour of the democracies (i.e. the Allies).
  • The formation of the Arab League (also referred to as the Arab Federation in the correspondence).
  • Details of the Pact (also referred to as Covenant) of the Arab League, signed in Cairo on 22 March 1945.
  • Whether representatives of the Arab League should be present at the Palestine Conference in London, in 1947, in addition to representatives of Arab states.

Notable correspondents include the following: 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. in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. ; the High Commissioner for Iraq; His Majesty's Ambassador in Baghdad; the High Commissioner for Egypt; His Majesty's Ambassador in Cairo; the High Commissioner for Palestine; His Majesty's Minister at Jedda; the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs; the Minister of State in the Middle East; officials of the Foreign Office, the Colonial 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 Commonwealth Relations Office, and the Indian Political Service The branch of the British Government of India with responsibility for managing political relations between British-ruled India and its surrounding states, and by extension the Gulf, during the period 1937-47. 's External Affairs Department; Noury Said [Nūrī al-Sa‘īd], Prime Minister of Iraq; George Antonius, Lebanese-Egyptian author and diplomat.

Also included with the correspondence are the following:

  • Extracts from Palestine police summaries dating from 1933 to 1936, produced by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in Jerusalem.
  • A printed copy of a paper on Arab federation by the Foreign Research and Press Service, dated 20 June 1941.
  • Copies of documents produced by the War Cabinet's Standing Official Sub-Committee for Questions Concerning the Middle East (also referred to as the Middle East (Official) Committee), including minutes of meetings (1941-1942) and a copy of a report on Arab Federation, dated January 1942.
  • A copy (in French) of the Protocol of the Preparatory Committee for the Arab Congress, dated 7 October 1944.
  • Copies of the Pact/Covenant of the recently formed Arab League (consisting of a printed copy in French, distributed by the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and an English translation of the full Arabic text, which includes a passage that was omitted from the French version).

The French material consists of the aforementioned Protocol and Arab League Pact, plus one item of correspondence and a copy of a newspaper extract.

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 (folios 2-3).

Extent and format
1 file (570 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 for this description commences at the inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the last folio with 571; 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. Two previous foliation sequences, which are also circled, have been superseded and therefore crossed out.

Written in
English and French in Latin script
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Coll 6/43 'Pan Arab Congress 1933. Attitude of H.M.G. to a Pan Arab Movement' [‎311r] (622/1144), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/12/2110, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100047229912.0x000019> [accessed 16 August 2026]

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