'Minutes memos despatches etc' [75r] (149/156)
The record is made up of 1 file (76 folios). It was created in 17 Aug 1916-1 Mar 1922. 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. .
Transcription
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[This Document is the Property of His Britaimic Majesty s GovernmentJ
PERSIA.
No. 1.—SECRETARY OF STATE.
Confidential.
[E 2381/7/34]
[March 1. ] /f 2
Section 1.
American Advisers for Persia.
1 HE Persian Government having expressed the desire to place their financial
administration in the hands of an American financial adviser, it seems desirable that
His Majesty s Government should explain why it is that they are prepared to give to
this proposal rheir sincere support. Their attitude is, indeed, the logical outcome of
the close and at times commanding interest which they have taken in Persia for
considerably more than a century, and which has arisen from conditions (a) historical,
(b) economic and financial, and (c) political. A few words may be said about each of
these.
((7.) 1 he historical connection of Great Britain with Persia dates from the reign
of Queen Elizabeth, when an English mission assisted Shah Abbas (1598) to reorganise
the Persian army. It was, however, in the early days of the 19th century that
the geographical proximity of Persia to the expanding sphere of influence of the
East India Company, and the acute rivalry at that time existing between Great
Britain and trance in the East, led to the institution of close diplomatic relations
between the two countries.
1 he connection has lasted ever since, and for the past 120 years Persia has been
regarded by successive British Ministries, as well as by the Government of India, as
a British interest of the highest importance. A peaceful, stable, friendly and
independent Persia has been throughout this period one of the chief aims of British
policy.
During the second half of the 19th century Persia became, for reasons which are
well known, a stage on which the long-standing rivalry between Great Britain and
Bussia in Asia was fought out with diplomatic weapons. The tension was continuous
and sometimes menacing; at length, in 1907, an attempt to teiminate it in a manner
honourable to both parties, and, as it was hoped, favourable to Persia herself, was
made by the Anglo-Russian Agreement of that year. Unfortunately this instrument
aroused the deep suspicions of the Persian Government and people, who saw in it only
a scheme for the partition of their country between Russia and Great Britain,
suspicions which were, to a large extent, justified by the policy and actions of Russia,
who proceeded to act as though she were a dictator in the northern parts of Persia
lying within her sphere. This agreement perished during the war and there is no
question of its revival.
r I he history of Persia during the Great War need not be recapitulated here. It is
enough to say that she was only saved successively from German, Turkish and Russian
inroads by the aid of British troops and at the cost of the British and Indian
Exchequers. When hostilities ceased, leaving Persia in a state of complete financial
and administrative collapse, a serious endeavour was made by His Majesty’s Government
to set her upon her legs again, and the Anglo-Persian Agreement of 1919 was concluded.
No attempt was made in that agreement to impair or to compromise the independence
of Persia. On the contrary, it was categorically and expressly reaffirmed and
guarantied. What His Majesty’s Government sought to do was to provide Persia with
the means by which that independence could best be secured. They offered to assist her
in creating an independent national military force of her own, lending her expert
assistance in the organisation of a purely Persian army. They sought t<» purify her
internal administration and to give her a scheme of sound finance. They aimed at
opening up communications and developing the resources of the country. At the same
time, as a sequel to the agreement, a loan of 2,000,000/. was offered to Persia, guaranteed
upon the customs and other revenues of the country, and she obtained simultaneously
a tariff revision which proved very greatly to her advantage. Soonafter the agreement
was signed and after a portion of the loan had actually been paid over, the Persian
Government that concluded it fell from power and since then it has been difficult for
[7901 o—l] B
About this item
- Content
This file concerns British policy regarding Persia (and, to a lesser extent, British interests in Mesopotamia). It is largely composed of printed memoranda by George Curzon and other senior British politicians. Also included is a significant amount of related letters and despatches, as well as printed transcripts of speeches delivered by Curzon. Of particular note are the following:
- Memorandum by Curzon entitled 'Nushki-Seistan Railway', dated 17 August 1916
- Papers of the War Cabinet's Eastern Committee, comprised of correspondence and memoranda, dated September 1918-November 1918 (ff 5-6 and ff 10-19)
- War Cabinet report entitled 'Railway Policy in Relation to General Military Policy in the Middle East.', dated December 1918 (ff 21-26)
- Memorandum entitled 'Memorandum Regarding the Policy of His Majesty's Government Towards Persia at the Peace Conference.', dated December 1918 (ff 31-42)
- Letter to Curzon from the Secretary of State for India, Edwin Samuel Montagu (ff 43-49)
- Transcript of a speech on Persia, delivered by Curzon at a banquet given in honour of His Highness Prince Firouz Mirza Nosret-ed-Dowleh, at the Carlton Hotel, 18 September 1919 (ff 56-58)
- Printed letters from Curzon, writing as Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, to Percy Zachariah Cox, British representative in Persia, dated October 1919-April 1920 (ff 60-66)
- Transcripts of two speeches given by Curzon as Foreign Secretary, in the House of Lords, regarding the British Government's Persian policy, dated 16 November 1920 and 26 July 1921 respectively (ff 68-71 and ff 72-73).
Appended to the aforementioned War Cabinet report is a map of railway gauges across the Middle East region (f 25).
- Extent and format
- 1 file (76 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 front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 78, 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.
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- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- Mss Eur F112/253
- Title
- 'Minutes memos despatches etc'
- Pages
- front, front-i, 2r:24v, 26r:51r, 52v:54r, 55v:77v, back-i, back
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence