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Papers of the Mesopotamian Administration (later Middle East) Committee [24r] (49/80)
The record is made up of 1 file (39 folios). It was created in 19 Mar 1917-12 Jan 1918. 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
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
/
I
Offices of the War Cabinet,
2 Whitehall Gardens,
London S.?/. 1.
July 2nd 1927.
Dear Lord Curzon,
Although I am to see you to-day at 2-30 I write to you
in order to save your valuable tine and lay before you certain
points which I hope to lay before you for your consideration.
As matters at present stand, there are a series of problems
which are very closely intertwined and which have hitherto lacked
a single controlling hand inspired by a defined objective or ideal
The problems may be enumerated as follows:-
1. Persia, and future policy towards.
2. The Arab movement in Asia.
3. Anglo-French relations in regard to Hejaz.
I
4. Our future policy in Mesopotamia.
These main problems break up into a number of minor ones.
The handling of these problems has hitherto fallen to the India
Office, Government of India, Foreign Office, and occasional
references to the War Cabinet. However you may have noticed that
the coming into being of the Mesopotamia Administration Committee
has, under your chairmanship, tended to act as a long felt want viz:
a co-ordinating instrument. Both the Foreign Office and India
Office have referred to you for youp decision matters which y/ould
no./ otherwise have been dealt with at all, or would have a’oueared
and disappeared as did the "Rabegh" question. The influence
o" the Committee under your guidance has been to speed up deeisions
and clear up situations, however amidst the great press of vork
About this item
- Content
This file mostly consists of minutes of meetings of the War Cabinet's Mesopotamian Administration Committee (later renamed the Middle East Committee), chaired by George Curzon.
The papers are chiefly concerned with current and future British policy in Mesopotamia, which during the period covered was under British military occupation. However, the minutes also discuss matters relating to the wider Middle Eastern region, as reflected in the change of name to Middle East Committee in August 1917.
In addition to minutes, the file includes the following: a draft report by the committee, dated March 1917, containing recommendations regarding future British policy in Mesopotamia and the wider region (ff 1-2); a letter to George Curzon from Lieutenant-Colonel Mark Sykes, dated 2 July 1917, recommending that the committee be renamed, in order to define its scope and work (ff 24-25).
- Extent and format
- 1 file (39 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 39; 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 View the complete information for this record
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Papers of the Mesopotamian Administration (later Middle East) Committee [24r] (49/80), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F112/272, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100070535784.0x000032> [accessed 12 July 2026]
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- Mss Eur F112/272
- Title
- Papers of the Mesopotamian Administration (later Middle East) Committee
- Pages
- 1r:22v, 23ar:23av, 23r:39v
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence