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Coll 6/15 'Syria: Administration. Question of offer of throne to King Feisal of Iraq.' [‎53r] (105/497)

The record is made up of 1 file (247 folios). It was created in 13 Jun 1928-15 Dec 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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THIS DOCUMENT IS THE PROPERTY OF HIS BRITANNIC MAJESTY’S GOVERNMENT
EASTERN (Syria).
CONFIDENTIAL.
November 23, 1936.
Section 2.
[E 7315/195/89]
Copy No. 1 31
(No. 103.)
Sir, Beirut, November 17, 1936.
WITH reference to my telegram No 10 of the 13th November reporting the
signature on that date of the Treaty oT Friendship and Alliance between 1 ranee
and the Lebanon, I have the honour to transmit to you herewith the French texts
of the treaty and its annexes, which form an integral part of the treaty and which
comprise a military convention, five protocols, and twelve exchanges of letters.
2. The majority of the articles of the treaty and of the annexed protocols
and exchanges of letters reproduce word for word the corresponding items of the
Franco-Syrian treaty. I attach a table showing briefly where the main
differences are to be found.
3. As in the case of Syria, the treaty is concluded for a period of twenty-
five years. Similarly, the text implies that within three years of the date of its
ratification the Lebanese Republic will apply for membership of the League of
Nations and that France will sponsor her candidature.
4. The military convention, however, shows important differences. As for
Syria, France provides a military mission for the Lebanon (the members of which
may be called upon to assume command of Lebanese units) and training for
Lebanese military students, in return for freedom of movement in the Lebanon
for her troops. But the lower limit of the Lebanese armed forces is to be fixed
at one mixed brigade, as opposed to a division of infantry and a brigade of
cavalry in the case of Syria, while by article 5 of the treaty, which is explained
and defined by article 5'of the military convention, France is to maintain naval,
military and air units in the Lebanon for an as yet unspecified period. In this
instance the helplessness and the desire for French protection, which are felt and
freely admitted by most thinking Lebanese, have happily coincided with the
French wish for a Levantine base for her Mediterranean forces.
5. So far as the civil provisions of the treaty are concerned, an important
item is contained in Exchange of Letters No. 6 (bis), which foreshadows a unifi
cation of the fiscal regime and a programme of administrative reform, comprising
the grant of wider powers to municipalities and the creation of local advisory and
executive councils.
6. The fiscal reform measure is long overdue. The existing system, an
inheritance from Turkish days, is responsible for many discriminations and
injustices, notably as regards the incidence of the temettu or professional tax. It
is to be hoped that the revised system will sweep away the Ottoman basis of
taxation to replace it by one on more western lines.
7. The reference in Exchange of Letters No. 6 (bis) to the creation of local
councils, combined with the assurances in Exchange of Letters No. 6 of equality
of treatment and of opportunity for all, are clearly intended to placate those
Moslem elements, especially at Tripoli, which have been conducting a campaign
against their inclusion in the Lebanon. The effect of these measures cannot, of
course, be judged until the regulations are published, though it is doubtful whether
any measures on these lines would suffice to appease the recalcitrant Moslem
devotees of union with Syria.
8. Exchange of Letters No. 4 provides for the appointment of Lebanese
attaches to French missions at places abroad where the number of Lebanese
residents warrants this measure. The provision is a necessary one in view of the
size and importance of the Lebanese colonies in North and South America and
in many other parts of the world.
9. The two clauses of chief interest to British subjects and institutions in
the Lebanon are Exchange of Letters No. 7 and Protocol No. 4. The former
maintains all the existing privileges of foreign educational, charitable and
[856 z—2] b

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Content

This file relates to the administration of Syria and the possibility of the French Government installing a King of Syria.

The file mostly contains copies of Colonial Office and Foreign Office correspondence, much of which consists of copies of the minutes, memoranda and correspondence of the Committee of Imperial Defence's Standing Official Sub-Committee for Questions Concerning the Middle East, which discuss how the British Government should respond to rumours that the French Government has been approaching both King Feisal of Iraq [Fayṣal bin Ḥusayn bin ‘Alī al-Hāshimī] and his brother, Ali [‘Alī bin Ḥusayn al-Hāshimī], as candidates for the throne of Syria.

Related matters discussed in the correspondence include:

  • The British stance on whether Iraq and Syria should be ruled by one king.
  • The possibility of Syria becoming a republic rather than a monarchy, with a Syrian as President (an outcome which is deemed to be more suited to British interests).
  • Reports in the Turkish press that the ex-Khedive of Egypt, Abbas Hilmi [ʿAbbās Ḥilmī II] has aspirations for the Syrian throne, and that the Turkish Government also favours the ex-Khedive as a candidate.
  • Reports that the French Government is contemplating ending its mandate over Syria and is negotiating a treaty with Syria, using the 1930 Anglo-Iraqi Treaty as a basis.
  • Details of the Treaty of Alliance between France and Syria (signed on 16 November 1933), and of its suspended ratification.
  • Details of the Franco-Lebanese Treaty of Friendship and Alliance, signed on 13 November 1936.
  • Egypt's preference for Prince [Muhammad] Abdul Moneim to be installed as King of Syria.
  • Ibn Saud's [‘Abd al-‘Azīz bin ‘Abd al-Raḥmān bin Fayṣal Āl Sa‘ūd's] concerns that the throne of Syria might be offered to a Hashimite candidate (i.e. a member of the Hāshimī family).

The principal correspondents are the following: His Majesty's Consul at Damascus (Edwyn Cecil Hole, succeeded by Gilbert Mackereth); the High Commissioner for Iraq (Sir Francis Henry Humphrys and his Acting Commissioner, Hubert Winthrop Young); His Majesty's Ambassador in Baghdad (Humphrys again, and later, Basil Cochrane Newton); the Secretary of State for the Colonies; the British Consul-General at Beirut (Harold Eustace Satow); the High Commissioner for Egypt (Percy Lyham Loraine, succeeded by Miles Wedderburn Lampson); His Majesty's Ambassador in Angora [Ankara] (George Russell Clerk, succeeded by Loraine); the British Minister at Jedda (Sir Reader William Bullard); His Majesty's Chargé d’Affaires, Jedda (Alan Charles Trott); officials of the Colonial Office and the Foreign Office.

The French material in this file consists of several items of correspondence, a copy of the Franco-Syrian Treaty of 1933, a copy of the Franco-Lebanese Treaty of 1936, and copies of extracts from two French language publications (the Lebanese newspaper, L'Orient , and the Damascus newspaper, Les Échos de Syrie ).

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.

Extent and format
1 file (247 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 248; 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 external leather cover wraps around the documents; the front inside of this cover has been foliated as f 1. A previous foliation sequence, which is present between ff 12-247 and is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.

Written in
English and French in Latin script
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Coll 6/15 'Syria: Administration. Question of offer of throne to King Feisal of Iraq.' [‎53r] (105/497), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/12/2081, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100049603986.0x00006c> [accessed 29 March 2024]

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