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Papers of the War Cabinet's Eastern Committee [‎261r] (521/544)

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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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7
Britain. That was the Convention of July 1913, but the war having broken out in
1914, in November of that year we took a step iorward. We made a further agreement
with’the Sheikh. We constituted Koweit an independent principality under British
* There, again, it seems to me that the only way in which the Sheikh of Koweit need
come into the Peace Conference or into the arrangements that have to be made would
be if we found it necessary to require of Turkey the renunciation of all claims
whatsoever in those regions.
(At this point Mr. Balfour entered the Meeting.)
On the other side of the estuary we have the Sheikh of Mohammerah, who is a
Persian subject. His connection with Persia, which was fairly substantial when I was
there thirty years ago, has been steadily weakening ever since, and he is now practically
an independent chief. Simultaneously with the weakening of his relations with Persia,
ours with him have been strengthened by a series of agreements. In 1910 we gave
him a special assurance of our support for himself and his family as against Persian
aggression or the aggression of any foreign Power. In November 1914, soon after the
outbreak of war, we repeated this guarantee to him in a more emphatic form, and 1
suppose it may now be said that the Sheikh of Mohammerah is an independent or a
semi-independent chief to whom we are bound by very close ties, ties to which he and
his family have been conspicuously loyal during the past twenty years, and that he
has definitely passed into our sphere of influence. The Committee will have seen only
this morning that, encouraged by his rising position and- aware of the difficulties that
are occurring in Mesopotamia in carrying out the policy of self-determination, he has
put himself forward as a possible candidate for the Amirate of Iraq, pointing out, what
is quite true, that he has been a loyal ally, whose fidelity has been proven by many
years of good service ; that he is a Shiah, and that the bulk of the inhabitants, of that
district are Shiahs ; that he will be popular with the people ol Basra in the neighbour
hood where he is well known, and other arguments to the like effect. But the political
officer at Baghdad points out that possible as his candidature might be if ^ were
confined to those regions, it would be the very worst possible candidature for Baghdad,
which is a much more advanced centre, where the population are Sunni and where the
intrusion of an Arab-Persian Sheikh would be quite impracticable. He therefore thinks
that this suggestion on the part ol the Sheikh, upon which the latter is prepared to
spend 20,0001. or 30,000?. out of his own pocket, should be dissuaded at once, and 1
believe the Secretary of State has brought a draft telegram which he is about to submit
to the Committee suggesting that course. We might interrupt my argument for the
moment to find out whether Mr. Balfour agrees that that ought to be done.
MB. BALFOUB : I should think so, but I am a little startled at the theory that
you cannot have a Shiah Prince of Mesopotamia, or head of a Mesopotamian State,
under us, because Baghdad is Sunni, and that you cannot have a Sunni because the rest
of your population is Shiah. It is rather an embarrassing doctrine.
LORD CURZON : I do not think it is, because we are now considering a single
Amir, and what it means is that they do not want a single Amir at all, either Sunni or
Shiah. That brings us to the other alternative—that what they will probably ask for is
a disguised British protectorate, assisting the creation of native institutions in each
of the provinces of this united area.
MR. BALFOUR : That will suit us best.
LORD CURZON : Wilson says they are all going to advise against any single
Amir at this stage. Mr. Montagu, will you read your proof ?
MR. MONTAGU: “Apart from objections mentioned in your telegram, His
Majesty’s Government consider that the status of Sheikh as Persian subject disqualifies
him from Amirate of Iraq. Please take the steps proposed to discourage is
candidature, while expressing full appreciation of his loyal friendship.
LORD CURZON : I think that is right.
MR. BALFOUR : Yes, 1 quite agree.
LORD CURZON: I have been dealing so far with the chiefs with whom we had
relations before the war. I must now say a word about a group with whom we have
established relations since the war, and who pass, therefore, rather reluctantly, so tar

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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 [‎261r] (521/544), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F112/274, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100069672679.0x00007a> [accessed 28 March 2024]

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