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Coll 6/91 'Saudi Arabia. Policy of H.M.G. Qn. of credits and guarantee of assistance to Ibn Saud.' [136r] (272/680)
The record is made up of 1 file (338 folios). It was created in 24 Oct 1939-1 Jan 1945. 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.
FILfcK
OUTWARD TEtEGRAM
'"i
< TThis Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty’s Government, and should be ^ ^
s
fTr ^ "Y*
i i a
kept under Lock and Key.]
With the Compliments ^
ct Hie A _ ai
Ikk
/
/
Under Secretary of State
tor Foreign Affairs
E.8041/155/25.
[CYPHER]
FROM FOREIGN OFFICE TO JEDDA
'V'/bcKs
DEPART1!ENTAL NO.
No. 252.
•November 16th,
D: ll„55 0 p 9 m 0 December 16th, 1941*
t-Cafa kU+i
3.0. -£££<- ZTi'l'}, lifrli-fck‘Titm
'Vember lo(,h: ^ „
Y^ur__telegram No. 332 [of November 10th: financial- ^
ssistance rorT^hYCaurfl ' t./W^w/iecy.
Before deciding on amount of financial assistance that can
^e given to Ibn Saud during 1942, we would like further infor-
Nation on following points. Ax-xii.
2. Total estimated revenue apart from oil royalties is
aid to amount to only £250,000 instead of the pre-war figure
m^f about £2,000,000. So complete a collapse is difficult toP^o Dedr
^understand. No doubt the reductions in the pilgrimage, the ■ tI /y j s
^ customs revenues and the agricultural tax have resulted in
serious fall of revenue, but we should like a fairly close \icc:la\
analysis of the foregoing figures. It is moreover difficult
to believe that there is no means whatever of increasing '
revenue, and we shall be glad to receive details of further /
measures which Saudi Arabian authorities have had under con- v
ftoto
sideration to this end.
5. Detailed information is also desired regarding the ^
measures taken by Saudi Arabian authorities to cut down expen
diture. Ibn Saud’s abandonment of his pilgrimage is a good
beginning^ but it is clear that a serious effort is required
to economise in all directions.
4. '.That annual royalties are paid by California Arabian
Standard Oil Company, and to what extent have loans been
advanced to the Saudi-Arabian Government on the security of
these royalties? Cannot the Company, who have a strong interest
in the stability of Ibn Saud’s regime, be expected to do more?
5. When telegraphing any further information supplied by
Saudi Arabian authorities, please state whether you are your
self satisfied that they have really attempted to deal
adequately... with the country ’ s-financial err sis, bath by cutting
down expenditure and by devising other means of increasing
revenue.
6 0 In your conversations with these authorities you
should endeavour to bring home to them that your willingness to
recommend assistance is conditional on your being satisfied
that the prospective deficit on their Budget for 1942 could
n?t be^reduced by greater efforts on their part, and that, in
view of the heavy demands on our Exchequer imposed by the war,
His Majesty s Government would clearly require adequate proof
assistance on an appropriate scale was indispen-
sabr^ before they could consider request for it.
[ftCC* POL- DEPt,
1 > »atu 941
f
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.
About this item
- Content
This file concerns British policy towards Saudi Arabia during the Second World War (the abbreviation 'Qn' in the title stands for 'Question'). The correspondence discusses the question of providing financial or material assistance to Ibn Saud [‘Abd al-‘Azīz bin ‘Abd al-Raḥmān bin Fayṣal Āl Sa‘ūd], as well as the United States' growing economic and strategic interests in Saudi Arabia.
The file features the following principal correspondents: His Majesty's Minister at Jedda (Sir Reader Bullard, Hugh Stonehewer Bird, and Stanley R Jordan successively); the Secretary of State for India (Leo Amery); the Viceroy of India (Archibald Percival Wavell); the Chancellor of the Exchequer (John Anderson); officials of the Foreign Office, 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. , the Treasury, the Government of India's Finance and External Affairs Departments, and the United States Embassy in London.
Related matters of discussion include the following:
- The idea (initially discussed in correspondence dating from 1939) of an alliance or a bloc of Arab states (chiefly comprised of Saudi Arabia and the Yemen), which would support the Allied cause.
- The Italo-German reaction to Ibn Saud's refusal to receive German diplomat Dr Fritz Konrad Ferdinand Grobba, a decision that was applauded by the British.
- Italian influence in the Middle East.
- Anglo-French co-operation in the Middle East.
- Details of the Saudi Government's finances (i.e. expenditure and revenue) during the early war years.
- Arrangements for loans and payments from the British to the Saudi Government, as well as details of royalties and loans paid to the Saudi Government by the California Arabian Standard Oil Company (Casoc).
- Proposals for an irrigation and agricultural mission to Saudi Arabia, headed by a United States agricultural expert.
- Conversations between Ibn Saud and United States General Patrick Hurley during the latter's visit to Riyadh in May 1943.
- The Government of India's decision in 1942 not to allow pilgrim ships to sail from India to Saudi Arabia, because of a risk of the ships being attacked.
- Ibn Saud's requests in 1944 for the British Government to send to Saudi Arabia financial and military advisers, preferably Sunni Moslems [Muslims].
- The proposed appointment of Ibn Saud's requested financial adviser, which is delayed and eventually abandoned, following the United States' suggestion that the position be given to a United States adviser, because of the United States' 'preponderant interest' in the Saudi economy.
The file includes two dividers which give a list of correspondence references contained in the file by year. These are placed at the back of the correspondence (folio 2).
- Extent and format
- 1 file (338 folios)
- Arrangement
The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the rear to the front of the file.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the last folio with 339; 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 262-286; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled. A previous foliation sequence, which is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.
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- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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Coll 6/91 'Saudi Arabia. Policy of H.M.G. Qn. of credits and guarantee of assistance to Ibn Saud.' [136r] (272/680), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/12/2163, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100046518047.0x00004b> [accessed 5 April 2025]
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/L/PS/12/2163
- Title
- Coll 6/91 'Saudi Arabia. Policy of H.M.G. Qn. of credits and guarantee of assistance to Ibn Saud.'
- Pages
- front, front-i, 2r:36v, 39r:57v, 59r:110v, 113r:182v, 184r:189v, 191r:310r, 311v:339v, back
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence