'Papers relating to transfer of Middle Eastern Affairs to the Colonial Office and creation of a new Department there, 1920-1921, with Cabinet notes of Milner, Montague, Churchill, self, and others' [‎23r] (45/136)

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Property of
f*?. Government.
rculated by the Secretary of State for India.
SECRET.
I circulate the annexed Memorandum to my colleagues m complian :e with the
Prime Minister’s request. I regard the proposals made therein as developments ofi
the suggestions which I placed before the War Cabinet in November 1917 and in/ '
subsequent memoranda. *The area with which we have to deal is much larger than
the responsibilities I had in contemplation 2.V years ago, and 1 have had to modify
or bring up to date suggestions that I made then. Perhaps, however unusual
in forwarding for consideration such a document, and in recommending the trans
ference to another Department of administrative work hitherto discharged by my
Office, I may be allowed to express my admiration of the work which has been
done in Mesopotamia, and my appreciation of the ready acceptance and efficient
discharge of new responsibilities by the officials in my Department. I would also
add lhat I recognise, even more fully than in 1917, the services rendered to the
Government by Lord Curzon’s presidency The name given to each of the three divisions of the territory of the East India Company, and later the British Raj, on the Indian subcontinent. of the Eastern Committee and its
successors. Any proposals that I have made, in conformity with the principles
that I think ought to govern the distribution of functions between Government
Departments, for transference of work from the Foreign Office to a new Department,
are to me the more acceptable, because if the scheme which 1 have suggested for a
Standing Cabinet Committee is accepted, Lord Curzon’s great qualities will still be
available in discussing the problems of an area to which he has devoted so much time
and of which he has acquired such knowledge.
E. S. M.
2nd June 1920.
Mesopotamia and Middle East: Question of future Control.
(Memorandum by Secretary of State for India.)
1. The war has brought us into special relationship with various areas in the
Middle East formerly included in the Ottoman Empire. The character of this
relationship varies in the different areas. It is closest in Mesopotamia and Palestine,
for which we have accepted a “mandate’ ; less close in the Arabian peninsula
(excluding the Hejaz), where we merely enjoy a “ predominant influence ” ; loosest of
all in the Hejaz, which has been recognised as an “ independent ” State. But all these
varieties have one feature in common : they all differ from anything that existed
before the war. Even in the mandated territories, our position falls far short of
sovereignty or even suzerainty, and our duties will, it is hoped, be transitory and
diminishing. It does not amount to a “ protectorate ” as hitherto understood. On
the other hand, it differs entirely—even in the “ independent ” Hejaz—from the
ordinary diplomatic connection between nations of equal status. The novelty of
this relationship is the measure of the need for some new controlling agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. at head
quarters. 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 Colonial Office are accustomed to administer and
to “ protect ” ; diplomacy niter pares is the business of the Foreign Office. No Depart
ment of His Majesty’s Government has hitherto conducted (at any rate on any
considerable scale) the delicate relations which circumstances have now imposed
upon us. 2 * *
2. It has always appeared to 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. that the proper solution of th6
difficulty lies in the creation of a new Department (the “ Middle East Office” might
be a suitable designation) to control our relations with all the areas in the Middle
East with which we have now been brought into direct contact. These would
comprise Mesopotamia, the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , the whole Arabian peninsula (including the
Gulf littoral, Oman, the Aden Hinterland and the Hejaz). Palestine, Syria (in so far as
concerns British interests in that area), Armenia and Kurdistan. Egypt and the
Sudan would naturally pass under the control of the same Department. Probably
also Persia, with whom the agreement of 1919 has brought us into a new relationship
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