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File 3839/1916 Pt 1 'Persia: - Incidence of expenditure in - question of revising the agreement of 1900' [‎338r] (688/880)

The record is made up of 1 volume (430 folios). It was created in 10 Mar 1914-4 Jun 1928. 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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Draf \lM>;4)
From High Comm,
5042-
2 l Jl S. Your
. to India. Persian situation,
ensue on the withdrawal of
y, whether two or three
Tlo T*\0 4-
isswner, Mesopotamia, 2[)rh January 1921. 13G7
, (Repeated to Foreign 291 S., Teheran 20
(Received 1 st February. S a.m.)
telegram of the 18th January. 389
It is impossible to prophesy what precisely will
Norperforce, as it depends on two factors at present, he., firstlv, whethe
montlishencBBdshevilvs wiJ have the will and ability to undertake military occupation
of North ersia, and secondly, whether m the las. resort, His Majesty's Government
will st,11 he prepared to incur some further expenditure in Persia to save remnants o
situation and greater loss. As regards the first problem, the agreement said to have
been concluded, or on the point oi being concluded, between Soviets and Persia
doubtless offers no safeguard against prosecution of Bolsheviks’ prooramme of
aggiessne expansion, nevertheless, it is difficult to believe that they will proceed to
extremities immediately after having concluded such an agreement with Persia
ana having been deprived, by the withdrawal of the troops, of their last excuse
for armed intrusion into Persia. It will be remembered that thev’were
expected to occupy la briz directly it was left open, but they ha
In this connection it
. v ave ; not yet done
so. in tins connection it is worth noting that, when the first news of our intended
evacuation was telegraphed by Teheran merchants to their correspondents here,
general panic ensued, for it was regarded as portending loss of not less than
4,000,000 sterling to Baghdad merchants, in the shape of outstandings or stocks of
merchandise left in Persia without hope of recovery. This panic, however, in a
general measure subsided when it became known that Persia was on the point of
concluding a treaty with the Soviets, as it was believed that such a treaty, combined
with our retirement, would put an end to Bolshevik activities in Persia and reopen
trade route between Baghdad and Enzeli. This is doubtless a sanguine outlook, but
for many reasons it is greatly to be desired that the withdrawal of Europeans from
Teheran could have been postponed, or at all events left to take its natural course
without pressure. It is easy to imagine the lamentable picture of apparent British
impotence and collapse before the Bolshevik menace, which will be presented
to the public of this region by the stream of women and children trickling down
Teheran-Baghdad road, under circumstances of grave discomfort and hardship,
resulting from severe winter conditions, and with our troops following on their heels.
It would have been infinitely less harmful if the civilian evacuation could have been
deferred, at any rate until the immediate effect of our military withdrawal, both on
Bolsheviks and Teheran public, had become apparent; and then (if it were inevitable)
if it could have taken the form of a gradual exodus to or via Ispahan in the spring. [
note the reasons given by His Majesty’s Minister for putting that route out of the
question, but I shall venture to revert to the subject later on.
As to the question of financial assistance, 1 understand that His Majesty s
Government have suspended all subsidies to Central Government, and intend to cease
financing South Persian Rifles from 1st April. It is clear from the papers that this
policy has been forced upon the Cabinet by the insistence of the public at home on
drastic reduction of expenditure. But unless some alternative constinictive policy
can be devised to counteract its destructive effect, adoption of such a line of action;
will entail complete collapse of commercial position in Persia, which it has taken
generations to establish. It will react, both commercially and politically,, in
Afghanistan and Mesopotamia, and in the latter case will greatly upset the calculations
on which we have formed our Budget. It seems to amount to this : IN lis Majesty s
Government are prepared to continue to incur certain expenditure in Persia to cave
remnants of our position, something can no doubt be done and is worth doing. It
they are not so prepared, but insist on withholding all further linancial assistance,
I see no alternative but to evacuate our women and children, not only from leiieian
hut from all towns in Persia, and simply leave those who will not come away oi v lose
presence until the last moment is a necessity, to await the development ot chaos.
Reverting to Bolshevik menace, I am aware that there is a section or i ow-nan
public in Teheran and Gillan who see in Bolshevism, as they see in otaei xoims
of anarchy, golden opportunities for enriching themselves. I am convinced, hov e \ei,
that the people of Persia in general are not prone to welcome Bolshevism, an' vw
hold out against it if given am' solid foundation to stand, on.
As regards Anglo-Persian Agreement. lair and reasonable document as it m,
it has become such a red herring to the Bolshevik and Such a pietext foi extiem is
propaganda, that I agree with the Government of India, that limst ( ' ro l ) 'I 111 l b
present form as a basis of policy. Ot: the other hand, it is difficult to | : ’ T (Hlc , f '’ ve j iri y
scheme of financial assistance calculated to save Persian situation which His-i aje.^ y s
Government could be expected to enter upon without protecting themselves )\ some
agreement of same kind. . .
I now beg to (? submit omitted) for consideration two lines of policy for adoption
according to circumstances. The first is, that we should not assume that alt m os,
in Teheran. The trend of recent intelligence reports regarding Bolshevik plans
rather indicates that thev have other pre-occupations for the p resen t, e s ion e

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Content

The volume contains papers mostly relating to expenditure incurred in Persia, and the issue of how this expenditure should be divided between the Imperial and Indian Exchequers.

The papers mainly consist of correspondence between 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. and the following: the Foreign Office, the Foreign and Political Department of the Government of India, and the Treasury; as well as 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. Minute Papers, Reference Papers, and other 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. papers and notes.

The volume mostly concerns diplomatic and consular expenditure, specifically: the question of revising the existing arrangements under which, following the recommendations of the Welby Commission of 1900, the cost of this expenditure in Persia had been shared roughly equally between the Indian and Imperial Revenues (between the Indian Political Department and the Foreign Office); the proposals of the Foreign Office that Indian Political Department posts in Persia should be transferred to the Levant A geographical area corresponding to the region around the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Consular Service, and thus come under the responsibility of the Foreign Office, with the Government of India paying a yearly contribution towards the posts; and the objections of the Government of India to the Foreign Office’s proposals.

The volume also includes papers regarding: the cost of troops from the Indian Establishment employed in Oman and Persia during the First World War; and the projected contribution from Indian Revenues of a moiety of a loan of £2,000,000 to the Persian Government under the ‘Curzon Agreement’ [Anglo-Persian Agreement] of 1919. In addition, it includes some papers relating to expenditure on diplomatic and consular establishments in Turkish Arabia A term used by the British officials to describe the territory roughly corresponding to, but not coextensive with, modern-day Iraq under the control of the Ottoman Empire. , Muscat and China, as well as Persia.

The file includes a divider which gives the subject number, the year the subject file was opened, the subject heading, and a list of correspondence references by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence.

Extent and format
1 volume (430 folios)
Arrangement

The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the rear to the front of the file.

The subject 3839 (Part 1, Persia, and Part 2, China) consists of two volumes, IOR/L/PS/10/626-627. The volumes are divided into two parts, with each part comprising one volume.

Physical characteristics

Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the first folio with 1 and terminates at the last folio with 430; 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.

The foliation sequence does not include the front and back covers, nor does it include the leading and ending flyleaves.

Written in
English in Latin script
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File 3839/1916 Pt 1 'Persia: - Incidence of expenditure in - question of revising the agreement of 1900' [‎338r] (688/880), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/10/626, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100056594229.0x000057> [accessed 29 March 2024]

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