Skip to item: of 497
Information about this record Back to top
Open in Universal viewer
Open in Mirador IIIF viewer

Coll 6/15 'Syria: Administration. Question of offer of throne to King Feisal of Iraq.' [‎146r] (291/497)

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. .

Transcription

This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.

Apply page layout

THIS DOCUMENT IS THE PROPERTY OF HIS BRITANNIC MAJESTY’S GOVERNMENT
EASTERN (Syria).
November 5, 1932.
CONFIDENTIAL.
Section 1.
[E 5807/171/89]
No. 1.
Acting Consul-General Urquhart to Sir John Simon.—[Received November 5.)
(No. 83.)
Sir, Beirut, October 26, 1932.
I HAVE the honour to report that M. Ponsot, the French High
Commissioner, arrived from Europe on the 21st instant, having broken his journey
in Turkey. He did not come to Beirut. After a talk with M. Debbas, President
of the Lebanese Republic, at Rayak, he proceeded direct to Damascus. He has
summoned thither his secretary-general and the political Cabinet from Beirut,
and clearly intends to concentrate on Syrian affairs.
2. It is generally understood that M. Ponsot has brought back with him
proposals for a solution of the Syrian political situation. The case of Iraq is
naturally prominent at the moment and is popularly held to impose on the High
Commissioner an obligation to offer something approximating the satisfactory
status now attained by that country. The inspired press does not evade this
implication, but it stresses the comparative docility of the nationalists in Iraq and
makes reserve for the intractability of Syrian Nationalists. France is represented
as ready to treat Syria handsomely provided the Nationalists behave themselves.
A meeting of these Nationalists at Sofar in the Lebanon about ten days ago
discussed the situation which would arise on the High Commissioner’s return and
there were some who suspected that France had no intention of treating Syria
as Iraq has been treated; they thought that the High Commissioner would bring
back some proposal quite inacceptabie to patriots like themselves (who have not
l>eeii successful in obtaining office) and that when they objected he would turn to
the world at large, and the League of Nations in particular, and declare that
Syria was still unfit to rise from her present position. The meeting decided to
await the High Commissioner's proposals in a mood of some suspicion and in
readiness to resume obstructive tactics if they proved unsatisfactory.
3. Negotiations are now proceeding, and progress will doubtless be reported
to you in due course. The High Commissioner has begun at a great pace; if he
can keep it up he may reach his objective, but if he finds that he must stop and
bargain with all the niggling and contradictory interests in Syria he will again
arrive at an impasse. Feeling is, however, optimistic here for the time being.
4. In these circumstances, the Lebanon is, for the time being, in a political
backwater. The public, as a whole, appear to be perfectly satisfied with present
political conditions; there is no demand for the restoration of a system of govern
ment which has become entirely discredited because it cost so much and did so
little, because also, as appears from an enquiry which has for some months been
made into the doings of the Ministry of Public Works, it was extremely dishonest
whenever opportunity offered. That Ministry naturally offered the best oppor
tunities for the malversation of public funds. Rumours of fortunes made in a few
years were investigated, after the suspension of the Constitution, and by degrees
suspicion has crept higher up the line of officials, until it is approaching the
Minister himself, some say that it ought to go beyond him to certain French
officials, but there is perhaps a too great readiness to seek sensation by implicating
the supreme authority.
5. Though tranquil politically, the economic situation of the Lebanon is
still difficult. The programme of higher tariffs and protection for all local
industries in the territories under French mandate is not altogether welcomed
here, where so many live by handling imports from abroad. There is a good deal
of distress among the common people which tends from time to time to express
itself, for lack of other means, by violence. A determined attempt was made in
the course of the summer to blow up the oil tanks of the Shell and Standard Oil
companies, happily without success. It is unfortunate that the police have been
unable to find the culprits. The fact is that what might be called the “ depressed
[627 e—1]

About this item

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
View the complete information for this record

Use and share this item

Share this item
Cite this item in your research

Coll 6/15 'Syria: Administration. Question of offer of throne to King Feisal of Iraq.' [‎146r] (291/497), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/12/2081, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100049603987.0x00005e> [accessed 28 March 2024]

Link to this item
Embed this item

Copy and paste the code below into your web page where you would like to embed the image.

<meta charset="utf-8"><a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100049603987.0x00005e">Coll 6/15 'Syria: Administration. Question of offer of throne to King Feisal of Iraq.' [&lrm;146r] (291/497)</a>
<a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100049603987.0x00005e">
	<img src="https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000000555.0x00026b/IOR_L_PS_12_2081_0296.jp2/full/!280,240/0/default.jpg" alt="" />
</a>
IIIF details

This record has a IIIF manifest available as follows. If you have a compatible viewer you can drag the icon to load it.https://www.qdl.qa/en/iiif/81055/vdc_100000000555.0x00026b/manifestOpen in Universal viewerOpen in Mirador viewerMore options for embedding images

Use and reuse
Download this image