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File of printed papers marked 'Egyptian negotiation' between Curzon and Adly Pasha and the Egyptian delegation [‎12r] (23/178)

The record is made up of 1 file (87 folios). It was created in 13 Jul 1921-4 Jan 1923. 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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17
the problem led us to take a more hopeful view. From many and intimate conversa
tions with representative Egyptians, including some who were commonly regarded
as extreme Nationalists, the conviction w r as borne in upon us, that they were not so
intransigeant, and certainly not so anti-British, as the frantic diatribes of the press
might have led us to suppose. The broad banner of Nationalism was seen to cover
many shades of opinion, and, above all, most notable differences of temper and of
aim. I ndoubtedly there are a number of Nationalists whose fundamental hatred
of all foreign, and especially all British, control leads them to commit, or at any rate
sympathise with, acts of lawlessness and crime. Not only are their aims wholly
incompatible with any sort of understanding between British and Egyptians, but
they are prepared to pursue them by methods which nothing could justify and which
no Government could do otherwise than strive to repress. They are deliberately
encouraging a system oi terrorism, which is intended to render any co-operation
between British and Egyptians impossible in the future.
I he untow ard events of the last few' years in Egypt itself and the restless and
revolutionary spirit throughout the whole world, which has had a strong repercussion
in that country, have undoubtedly been grist to the mill of this extreme section and
have given a more sinister character to the Nationalist movement. No wonder that,
under these circumstances, Nationalism has appeared to many British people on the
spot, and perhaps to even more at home, to be synonymous with violent Anglophobia
and to be aiming at the complete subversion of the existing system of government in
Egypt.
But we were satisfied, even before leaving Cairo, that it would be a profound
mistake to take this sweeping view. It would be wrong to allow the impressions of
a period of turbulence, like the preceding twelve months, to blind us to what is
reasonable and legitimate in the aspirations of Egyptian Nationalism. Such an
indiscriminating attitude could only tend to drive moderate men more and more into
the camp of the Extremists and to convert the present deplorable friction between
British and Egyptians, w r hioh is not incapable of being remedied, into bitter and
enduring hostility. Violence and disorder must, of course, be suppressed, and here let
us say that the measures taken to that end during our stay in Egypt were as temperate
as they were effective. The necessity of continuing to maintain Martial Law in
Egypt is regrettable, but under Lord Allenby Martial Law r was being administered
with the minimum of severity or of disturhan *e to the normal course of justice and
the everyday life of the people. The duty of promptly suppressing violence and
disorder must not, however, lead us to confound all those who are in a greater or
less degree opposed to the existing system of government with the pronounced
revolutionaries, or simple criminals, who w^ere responsible for the outbreak of the
spring of 1919 and the sporadic acts of violence which have been perpetrated since.
In talking to many men who professed Nationalist opinions—and indeed it was
difficult to find anyone who repudiated all sympathy with them—w'e encountered a
\er\ different spirit from that which found expression in such detectable outrages.
These men denounced the resort to violence, or open rebellion, as not only criminal, but
useless. Great Britain—such was the general view—was more than strong enough to
keep Egypt in permanent subjection, if she preferred unwilling subjects to friendly
and grateful allies. For they all recognised, with more or less warmth and spontaneity,
the great benefits which Great Britain had conferred upon Egypt, while most of them
also recognised that Egypt still stood in need of British assistance, not only in the work
of internal reconstruction, but for her defence against foreign interference, and the
danger of once more becoming the arena of international rivalry and intrigue. Thev
all, without exception, admitted that Great Britain had a very special interest in
Egypt, as the central link in her communications with her Eastern Empire and the
Austialasian Dominions, and a perfect right to safeguard these communications
from any danger of interruption. But w^as it necessary for the fulfilment of these
objects to deprive Egypt of her independence, to try to convert her into an integral
part of the British Empire, and to run counter to the ineradicable desire of^the
Egyptians to take their place, as a distinct people, among the nations of the world?
Would not an orderly and friendly Egypt, in intimate association with Great Britain,
serve British purposes as well, or even better, while removing all sense of grievance
and all spirit of revolt on the Egyptian side ? Moreover, was not such a consumma
tion the only one consistent with the avowed policy of Great Britain, with her
reiterated declarations, that it was not her intention to appropriate Egypt, or to
incornorate her in the British Empire, but to make her capable of standing on her
own feet ? In the sincerity of these declarations they had long believed, but were
now ceasing to believe. After nearly forty years of British occupation, they seemed
[4941] n

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Content

The file contains correspondence, minutes, and memoranda relating to negotiations between the British and Egyptian governments over Egyptian independence. Most of the file consists of minutes of conferences that took place at the Foreign Office during July and August 1921. These conferences involved an Egyptian delegation, led by Sir Adly Yeghen [Yakan] Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. , and the British, led by the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Lord George Nathaniel Curzon. Matters covered in these meetings included: the termination of the British Protectorate, Britain's military presence, foreign relations, legislation, employment of foreign officials, financial and judicial control, Soudan [Sudan], the Suez Canal, communication rights, protection of minorities, retirement and compensation of British officials, and diplomatic relations between the two countries.

Also contained within the file are minutes by Ronald Charles Lindsay and John Murray, both Foreign Office officials, and correspondence between Curzon, Lindsay, Adly Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. , and Field Marshal Edmund Henry Hynman Allenby, High Commissioner for Egypt and Sudan. These papers all concern matters covered by the negotiations.

Documents of note include a copy of the Report of the Special Mission to Egypt, dated 9 December 1920 (folios 4-23), and a memorandum on the political situation in Egypt by John Murray, dated 4 January 1923 (folios 74-87).

Extent and format
1 file (87 folios)
Arrangement

The file is arranged in rough chronological order, from the front to the rear. On the inside front cover is a manuscript index with a numbered list of the file's contents.

Physical characteristics

Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 89; 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 2-87; 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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File of printed papers marked 'Egyptian negotiation' between Curzon and Adly Pasha and the Egyptian delegation [‎12r] (23/178), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F112/261, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100077019155.0x000018> [accessed 29 March 2024]

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