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Papers of the War Cabinet's Eastern Committee [‎162v] (324/544)

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The record is made up of 1 file (272 folios). It was created in 13 Mar 1918-7 Jan 1919. 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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6
* E.C. 2302.
f E.C. 2136a.
Colonel Lawrence, ana ariidng him to comment upon them. What Colonel Lawrence
said at the meeting here and what was telegraphed to Baghdad is not precisely
identical with what he said in his paper. At our table he put forward proposals
for the creation of three Kingdoms or States: the Syrian Arab State, under Faisal,
in the north; another Arab State under Zeid, with capital at Mosul, in Upper Meso
potamia; and Lower Mesopotamia, under the third son, Abdullah, m the south,
Hussein to be disposed of by having the title of Amir-ul-Mominin and being men
tioned in the prayer in the mosques. That was the proposal he placed before us here.
In his paper you will see that he does not go so far as to propose these exact sub
divisions, but he does say—and this is of very great importance—that Faisal—T will
not say in return for these concessions, if made to him—is in favour of the British
in Palestine, and is also in favour of the British in Irak, and of a purely nominal
Arab administration there. In so far, therefore, as Colonel Lawrence speaks for
Faisal, if we can meet Faisal’s views elsewhere in the West, we know that Faisal is
behind us, I do not say in the extreme views that have been advanced, but in the
British aspect of the case that we desire to put forward with regard to these
countries.
Next in order is this. Captain Wilson sends a telegram a d^y or two later,
telling us a rather interesting fact, namely, that he and his officers are already
engaged in setting up local arid municipal councils in Mesopotamia. It will be an
important point, even if small, that when the Peace Conference comes we shall be
able to point to indigenous institutions already existing, not only in municipal areas,
but even in the country around, where the peasants and landowners are being
organised into something like administrative units.
At this stage we have a paper,* dated the 15th November, 1918, from another
authority, Commander Hogarth, some of which must really be quoted, because he
speaks with an authority as great as that of any man living. His views, broadly
speaking, are these. He"speaks of the claims of the Arabs to the Syrian coast and
to a seaport at Tripoli, and he says that Syria should be treated as an entity apart
from either Mesopotamia and Irak or Hejaz, and that the Arab leaders should receive,
as soon as possible, explicit assurances on the above points. He says there must be
a non-Turkish Cilicia, into which the Armenians should be invited to migrate. He
also advocates a separate State in Northern Mesopotamia, with Mosul or Urfa as
the capital, and says its northern boundaries must depend upon the attitude of the
Kurds.
A few days earlier the Anglo-French Declaration! of the 8th November, 1918,
had been concluded by the Foreign Office with the French Government; it was the
subject of many previous discussions here, and it put in general language, which
should not be unduly compromising to either, the common aim which we believe
France to have with ourselves in those parts of the world. No sooner, however, had
that Declaration been issued and telegraphed to the East than it appears to have
excited a good deal of alarm there. For the first time it brought on to the tapis the
0 f self-determination. It encouraged all those unfriendly to us to think that an
Asiatic rather than a British form of government might be set up, and every com-
mnr! pv bAn-an to look at it to ^ee how it was going to affect itself.
LORD ROBERT CECIL : That is true of Mesopotamia, too.
LORD CURZON : I think you are quite right.
A rather remarkable sequence of telegrams—and I am now drawing to an end—
show-s how this Declaration was received by Captain Wilson, our Political Officer at
Baghdad. The first is dated the 17th November. Captain Wilson is very much
alarmed at the Declaration. He says the Arabs in Mesopotamia will not have any
thing to do with Syria or the Hejaz, and do not expect any sweeping measure of
independence, and once again he advocates the firm and unquestioned declaration of
a British Protectorate. That telegram is followed in a day or two by one from
General Marshall, also speaking with the authority of three or four years’ experi
ence in that part of the world. He does not agree with Captain Wilson’s pessimistic
views of the effects of the Declaration, which he thinks may be accepted, but he
would like an addition to it, in this sense, namely, that the establishment of national
government and administration should be stated as the ultimate aim rather than as
the first objective of the British Government there. Captain Wilson at the same
time reports that the Sheikhs of Diwaniyah, Ruaithah, and Nasiriyah, on the
Euphrates, have been to see him, and are apprehensive of any idea of Arab rule
untempered by British interference.

About this item

Content

This file is composed of papers produced by the War Cabinet's Eastern Committee, which was chaired by George Curzon for most of its existence. The file contains a complete set of printed minutes, beginning with the committee's first meeting on 28 March 1918, and concluding with its final meeting on 7 January 1919 (ff 6-214 and ff 227-272).

The file begins with two copies of a memorandum by Curzon, dated 13 March 1918, proposing the formation of the Eastern Committee. This is followed by a memorandum by Arthur James Balfour, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, approving Curzon's proposal, and a copy of a procedure for the newly created committee, outlining arrangements for committee meetings and the dissemination of information to committee members.

Also included is a set of resolutions, passed by the committee in December 1918, in order to guide British representatives at the Paris Peace conference (ff 216-225). The resolutions cover the following: the Caucasus and Armenia; Syria; Palestine; Hejaz and Arabia; Mesopotamia, Mosul, Baghdad and Basra. They are preceded by a handwritten note written by Curzon 'some years later', which remarks on how they are a 'rather remarkable forecast of the bulk of the results since obtained.'

Extent and format
1 file (272 folios)
Arrangement

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

Physical characteristics

Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the first folio with 1, and terminates at the last folio with 272; 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.

Written in
English in Latin script
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Papers of the War Cabinet's Eastern Committee [‎162v] (324/544), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F112/274, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100069672678.0x00007d> [accessed 28 March 2024]

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