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File 4722/1918 Pt 1 'Mesopotamia: administration of policy and situation' [143r] (295/687)
The record is made up of 1 volume (326 folios). It was created in 23 Oct 1918-2 Nov 1919. It was written in English, French and Arabic. 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.
drettnandby France It Haifa ITthlT* ngtlt f s v "j 0 y ed by Great Britain at Alexan-
“ d ft r ~“*
pi£d “ »s sstt^^x-tsss:
be predi^L^Hn A^l^ndB inilUen0e ’ ° ther that ° f « reat Britain > 8 ‘‘- W
8. In any readjustment in Syria, the claims of Italy should be taken into account.
E.C.-2717 a. ~
(B. iv.)
Resolutions on Palestine.
in Palestine C ° mmittee 18 °PP osed to the institution of an international administration
t 2 ' f avours t}ie nomination of a single Great Power, either by the
League of Nations or otherwise, to act as representative of the nations in Palestine.
3 - Po . wer should not be France or Italy, but should be either the United
btates ot America or Great Britain.
4. While we would not object to the selection of the United States of America,
yet, if the ofter were made to Great Britain, we ought not to decline.
5. The choice, whatever form it may take, should be, as far as possible, in
accordance with the expressed desires (a) of the Arab population, (b) of the Zionist
community m Palestine.
6. Every effort should be made at the Peace Conference to secure an equitable
readjustment of the boundaries of Palestine, both on the north and east and south.
7. In any case the pledges as to the care of the Holy Places must be effectivelv
fulfilled.
E.C.-2763 A.
(A. ii.)
Resolutions on the Rejaz and Arabia.
1. It is desirable that the special position of Great Britain in Arabia should be
recognised by the Powers, as it has already been by the French Government in the
correspondence and negotiations of 1916 and 1917.
2. His Majesty’s Government are already pledged to secure that the Holy Places
shall remain in possession of an independent sovereign Moslem Power. It is desirable,
therefore, from the point of view more especially of Moslem sentiment, that the re
strictions on the independence and sovereignty of the King of the H ejaz should be as
few as possible, if any such are found necessary.
3. It is not desirable that the King’s foreign relations should be controlled by any
European Power, and no such claim should be made by His Majesty’s Government.
4. It is desirable that the Powers should formally recognise in a treaty the
peculiar position of the Hejaz, and bind themselves not to interfere in its internal
affairs, nor to seek political influence for themselves or their subjects.
5. It would follow, and should be stipulated, that any agents kept by the Powers
in the Hejaz should have no diplomatic status or functions, but should be confined to
purposes connected with the pilgrimage or trade. Equally the King of the Hejaz
should not be allowed to be represented by agents at foreign Gourts.
6. It is not worth while to dispute about the title “ King of the Arab Countries, ’
which has already been assumed by King Hussein. But we should refuse to recognise
any inferences which he may draw from it as to his status, and the question of his
suzerainty should not be settled by us. The attitude of Mesopotamia and of the
principal chieftains of the interior and coast appears to render it certain that his extreme
claims will not be accepted by them.
7. It is not desirable that the King of the Hejaz should continue after the war to be
directly subsidised either by Great Bi itam or any other Christian Power. The subvention
formerly paid to him by the Turks should be replaced, as far as possible, by annual
subventions from the Arab State of Syria, and possibly from the Arab States of Meso-
About this item
- Content
The volume contains correspondence, memoranda, reports, telegrams and minutes regarding the administration of, and situation in, Mesopotamia [Iraq] following the Asia Minor Agreement of 1916, more commonly known as the Sykes-Picot Agreement, between the French and British governments, and the Anglo-French Declaration of November 1918. The volume also concerns the subject of self-determination in Persia [Iran].
The papers notably cover:
- Discussion of advance interpretations of the 1916 Agreement
- The Anglo-French Declaration of November 1918, which publicised their intentions and policy in the former Ottoman territories of Syria and Iraq
- Presentation of the 1918 Declaration to the President of the United States of America by the French Ambassador to the US, Jean Adrien Antoine Jules Jusserand
- Disagreement between the British and French visions of the future administration of Mesopotamia
- The situation in southern Kurdistan
- The 1919 Paris Peace Conference
- Apprehensions of the Baghdad Jewish community about the tenor of the Anglo-French Declaration, including a petition to the Civil Commissioner, Baghdad, requesting to be made subjects of the British Crown
- Reaction to the Declaration from the across the Arab world
- Disagreement among the British over the form that Britain’s control in Mesopotamia should take
- The views of the principal sheikhs [shaikhs] of Mesopotamia on the 1918 Agreement
- Discussion among British officials of the benefits of control over Mesopotamia and the view of the Civil Commissioner, Baghdad, Arnold Talbot Wilson, on the situation in Mesopotamia
- Discussion of the potential candidates for the head of the new state of Iraq
- Reports on consultations with political and religious leaders and inhabitants from across Iraq on the future Government of Iraq
- The views of Sir Percy Cox and Arnold Wilson on the situation in Mesopotamia
- The question of the future political status of Mesopotamia, including the views of British officers serving in Syria and the Hejaz
- Discussion of the question of Iraqi self-determination.
Notable documents in this volume include:
- Text by Sir Percy Cox regarding ‘The Future of Mesopotamia’ (ff 308-310 and ff 270-272)
- Extracts from The Times , 26 November 1819, including a series of articles under the title ‘The Arab Campaign’ (ff 230-232)
- The statutes for the independence of Iraq (ff 127-130)
- A memorandum by Major W H Young regarding the future of Mesopotamia (ff 99-112)
- Copies of ‘Self-determination in Iraq’ in Arabic (ff 75-97) and English (ff 57-73).
The principal correspondents are: 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. , Political Department; the Governor-General of India; the Civil Commissioner, Baghdad; the Military Governor and Political Officer, Baghdad; Government of India, Military Department, the French Ambassador to the United States; and the British Embassy, Paris.
The volume includes a divider, which gives the subject number, the year the subject file was opened, the subject heading, and a list of correspondence references by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence.
- Extent and format
- 1 volume (326 folios)
- Arrangement
The contents of the volume are arranged in approximate chronological order from the rear to the front of the volume.
The subject 4722 (Mesopotamia) consists of ten volumes, IOR/L/PS/10/755-764. The volumes are divided into twelve parts, with parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11 and 12 comprising one volume each. Part 10 is missing. Part 7, entitled ‘Mesopotamia: Sir A. Wilson’s invitation to Syrian Baghdadis’, was transferred to File 5268/20 Parts 1 and 2 (see IOR/L/PS/10/913).
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the first folio with 1 and terminates at the last folio with 334; 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. Multiple intermittent additional mixed foliation/pagination sequences are also present. The foliation sequence does not include the front and back covers, nor does it include the leading and ending flyleaves. The sequence contains two anomalies: f 181a and f 181b.
- Written in
- English, French and Arabic in Latin and Arabic script View the complete information for this record
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/L/PS/10/755
- Title
- File 4722/1918 Pt 1 'Mesopotamia: administration of policy and situation'
- Pages
- front, back, spine, edge, head, tail, front-i, i-r:i-v, 1r:127v, 128ar, 128r:175v, 176ar, 176r:181v, 181ar:181av, 181cr, 181br:181bv, 182r:182v, 186r:229v, 232v:325v, 327r:334v, ii-r:ii-v, back-i
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence