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Coll 6/91 'Saudi Arabia. Policy of H.M.G. Qn. of credits and guarantee of assistance to Ibn Saud.' [338r] (676/680)
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
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THIS DOCUMENT IS THE PROPERTY OP HIS BRITANNIC MAJESTY’S GOVERNMENT
EASTERN (Arabia).
November 9. 1939.
CONFIDENTIAL.
"I * r *
f 4*. L'
Section 2.
FE 7409/177/25]
[ '953 J
Copy No. 113
Sir R. Bullard to Viscount Halifax.—(Received November 9.)
(No. 150.)
My Lord,
Jedda, October 24. 1939.
DURING my recent visit to Riyadh I sent brief telegrams on the various
matters discussed, and on my return to Jedda I have the honour to submit some
general remarks, in the light of my visit, on the relations at this critical moment
between His Majesty’s Government and Ibn Saud.
2. I found the King not at all inclined to sit on the fence, waiting to see
how the war in Europe would go, but outspoken in his sympathy for the Allies
and anxious to do all he could to ensure that there should be nothing to prevent
the Arabs of the territories with which Great Britain and France have special
relations from co-operating with them. One of the first remarks of the Amir
Saud (in the presence of an American doctor, too) was : “ We are on the side of
the Allies/’ and he said something of the same kind when 1 called on him to say
good-bye; but his father was just as outspoken. Nor has Ibn Saud been content
with assurances to us. Apart from his general support in the Palestine question
and his remarkable frankness in communicating to us over the last two years
some at least of the particulars of negotiations with Iraq, Italy, Japan and
i Germany, we have recent evidence of his decision not to proceed, while the war
j lasts, with the negotiations for the supply of arms and ammunition from
! Germany, and of his consent to receive a representative of His Majesty’s Govern
ment to reside at Riyadh for a considerable time.
3. Ibn Baud’s desire that His Majesty’s Government should be on the
winning side in the present war agrees with the tenor of his previous words and
acts, but is none the less satisfactory, in view of the relative insignificance of the
material help we have been able to give him in contrast to the greater generosity
(as it might seem) of the Italians and, more recently, the Germans, in letting
him have, in part at low prices and in part as a gift, arms and ammunition which
he badly needs and which we are unable to furnish on any terms. Ibn Baud
estimates Danaan gifts at their true value, and accepts them without illusions.
On the other hand, we know, from copies of correspondence which he has shown
us, that he has not secured the German arms by protestations of exclusive
friendship. He seems to have told the Germans flatly that his interests were too
closely connected with those of His Majesty’s Government for him to adopt a
policy hostile to their interests, and in the end to have forced the Germans to
accept the position and to sign the agreement for the supply of arms without
insisting on the condition that Ibn Baud should agree to observe neutrality in
case of any dispute which might arise between Germany and Great Britain. Bo
eager were the Germans to conciliate Ibn Saud that, after the outbreak ol war,
Herr Woermann gave Khalid-al-Qarqani, the King’s envoy, an official letter
offering to supply the arms now, to be exported to Jedda on a Netherlands steamer
at Saudi risk, or to hold them, in the safe-keeping of the German Government,
at the disposal of His Majesty. The King decided, however, not to proceed with
the transaction during the war. He was grateful to His Majesty’s Government
for the suggestions as to the best means to overcome the difficulties of finance, but
he felt that the political objections were insuperable. He feared that, if the
arms were shipped to him, the fact would be used as a basis for exaggerated
claims by the Germans, whose wireless propaganda about Khalid’s visit to Berlin
will be' remembered, and that his action might be misinterpreted in Arab
countries and elsewhere. This decision is satisfactory to His Majesty s Go\em
inent, who do not wish to see even £120,000 in gold or free exchange pass into
German hands. With characteristic frankness, Ibn Saud did not claim that
political considerations alone underlay his decision; on the contrary, he said with
a grin that after the war German arms might be going for nothing. Nevertheless,
[755 i—2]
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.
- Written in
- 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.' [338r] (676/680), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/12/2163, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100046518049.0x00004f> [accessed 4 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