Papers Relating to the League of Nations Mandates

Content

File containing correspondence, memoranda and reports relating to the creation of the League of Nations mandates, by which the administration of former colonies of Germany and the Ottoman Empire [Turkey] was granted variously to the United Kingdom, France, Belgium and Japan.

Much of the file is focused on the mandates formed from former Ottoman possessions, and particularly on the rapidly changing political situation in Mesopotamia [Iraq], leading to the formation of the Kingdom of Iraq and the eventual abandonment of the British Mandate for Mesopotamia. Final drafts of the mandates for Mesopotamia and Palestine are on folios 236-242, and a draft of the Anglo-Iraqi Treaty of 1922 is on folios 295-298.

Other topics covered in the file include:

• Initial discussions between the Allied powers about the formation of the mandates, particularly relating to differences between the three classes of mandate
• Arrangements for formalising and establishing individual mandates
• A request by Japan to insert clauses establishing free trade for the Allied powers within the mandates
• Attempts by the United States to be given the right to approve final drafts of the mandates, despite not having ratified the Treaty of Versailles or participated in the San Remo Conference.

Copies of the official declarations of each of the mandates formed from former German possessions in Africa and the Pacific are included on folios 3-34, and conventions for the same mandates are on folios 68-93.

There are ten folios of material in French, primarily correspondence relating to British and French mandates in West Africa.

The primary correspondents are: Lord Curzon of Kedleston, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs; Winston Churchill, Secretary of State for Colonial Affairs; Arthur Balfour, Lord President of the Council; Herbert Fisher, President of the Board of Education; Sir Percy Cox, High Commissioner, Mesopotamia; Bainbridge Colby, United States Secretary of State; the Ambassadors of France, Japan and the United States to the United Kingdom; the Colonial 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 Foreign Office; and the War Office.

Extent and format

1 file (323 folios)

Arrangement

The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the front to the rear of the file.

Physical characteristics

Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the first folio with 1, and terminates at the last folio with 323; 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 inconsistent foliation sequence is also present; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled.

Written in

English and French in Latin script

Type

Archival file

Access & Reference

Original held at

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.

Access conditions

Unrestricted

Archive reference

Mss Eur F112/287

History of this record

Date(s)

30 Jan 1919-15 Jan 1922 (CE, Gregorian)

Subjects

Anglo-Iraqi Treaty (1922)Mandates

Places

PalestineMesopotamia

People & organisations

Lord President of the CouncilColonial OfficeLeague of NationsForeign Office

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Cite this record in your research

Papers Relating to the League of Nations Mandates, British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F112/287, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100000001491.0x0002ba> [accessed 8 July 2024]

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