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'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' [‎28r] (55/136)

The record is made up of 1 file (68 folios). It was created in 1 May 1920-10 Feb 1921. 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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[This Document is the Property of His Britannio Majesty’s Government]
Printed for the Cabinet. June 1920.
CONFIDENTIAL.
FUTURE ADMINISTRATION OF THE MIDDLE EAST.
Memorandum by the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
1. THE events of the war have precipitated an issue which has long been
impending, viz., the regulation of the policy and administration of the countries
lying between the western frontiers or outskirts of India and the eastern end of the
Mediterranean. Our responsibilities in these regions have been greatly increased
by the imposition upon us of the Mandates for Mesopotamia and Palestine, by the
creation of an independent State of the Hejaz, by the probable emergence of a quasi
independent State of Syria, by the closer relations into which we shall inevitably be
brought in the future with countries such as Kurdistan and Armenia, by the obliga
tions that we have assumed in connection with Persia, and by the new complexion of
our policy with regard to Egypt. There is a general recognition in every paper so
far submitted that, to deal with this situation, a new machinery is required; and that
no existing Office, as at present constituted, is fully qualified for the task.
2. I have for years been of the opinion that there should one day be a Department
of the Middle East, with a Secretary of State at the head, and an administrative
service of its own, which it should recruit and control. To such a Department under
such a head might safely be transferred the management of our relations with an
independent Kingdom such as Persia, or a quasi-independent Protectorate such at*
Egypt—neither of which would consent to be placed under either 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.
or the Colonial Office, because they would fear the loss of importance or influence
which such an association might be held to involve. I understand that this solution
is favoured in theory both by Mr. Montagu and by the group of Members of
Parliament who have addressed a Note to the Prime Minister. On the other hand,
it may be held that, in the present state of our finances, the creation of an entirely new
Ministry with a Secretary of State at its head is inexpedient; while it mav also be
argued that, if the newly mandated territories (Palestine and Mesopotamia) pass at
a comparatively early stage from the Mandate status to that of independence, the
need for so costly a mechanism will no longer exist. It may be thought therefore
that a less elaborate rearrangement will suffice—provided always that all the terri
tories and interests affected shall be grouped under a single departmental head and
shall be administered by a single service. It is upon these general lines that my
colleagues have noted. What should this department be, or what form should such
a department, if it be not identical with any now in existence, assume? That is the
question which we have to answer.
3. There appears to be a general consensus that it should not be 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 in this opinion 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. itself concurs. Not only has the Secretary of
State for India responsibilities sufficient for the shoulders of any one man—responsi
bilities which are likely to increase as time goes on, not, I hope, in range or extent, but
in complexity and anxiety; but the countries concerned would greatly resent being
placed under Indian control, both because they regard with often exaggerated
suspicion the methods of Indian administration and the traditions of Indian
officialdom, and because they would fear the possibility of Indian immigration or
Indian competition in trade.
4. Mr. Churchill prefers the Colonial Office, but I think must be very imperfectly
acquainted with the views or interests of the States of the Middle East, if he thinks
that such a transference would be contentedly acquiesced in by them, or would lead
to an immediate solution of the difficulties by which we are confronted. The work
that the Colonial Office has done in East Africa and elsewhere, to which he refers in
terms of well-merited eulogy, does not bear the remotest resemblance to that which
will arise in the countries of the Middle East. In the one case we have been dealing
as a rule with native tribes, commonly in a very backward state of civilisation, with
few or no traditions of sovereignty or independence, and with none of the organisa-
143 [3453]

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Content

The file contains correspondence, minutes, memoranda, and reports concerning the administration of Mesopotamia and other Middle Eastern territories and the transfer of responsibility for Middle Eastern Affairs to a new department within the Colonial Office. Authors and correspondents include Curzon himself, members of the Cabinet, officials from 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. , Foreign Office, Colonial Office, Air Staff, Imperial General Staff, and High Commission in Baghdad.

Extent and format
1 file (68 folios)
Arrangement

The file is arranged in chronological order from the front to the back.

Physical characteristics

Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the first folio with 1, and terminates at the last folio with 68; 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. An additional foliation sequence is present in parallel between ff 1-68; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled.

Pagination: the file also contains an original printed pagination sequence.

Written in
English in Latin script
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'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' [‎28r] (55/136), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F112/281, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100076639645.0x000038> [accessed 29 March 2024]

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