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'Foreign Office Memorandum on Arabian Policy.' [2v] (4/20)
The record is made up of 1 file (10 folios). It was created in c 1920. 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.
2
been generally recognised by other Powers th;it their interference in the territories of
these rulers would he regarded as an unfriendly act.
Out of the remaining four rulers in the list in paragraph 3, the territories of two,
namely, the Imam and the Tdrisi, are coterminous with the Aden protectorate, while
the territories of the other two, namely, Ibn Kashid and the Anazeh, are coterminous
with the British mandatory areas of Mesopotamia and Trans-Jordan. The only other
Power which cmu legitimately claim an interest in any of the ten areas defined in
paragraph 3 is France, since poruons of the Anazeh lie within tlie French mandatory
area. It is for this reason that it has been decided to make no attempt to deal with
the Anazeh as one confederation under one ri ler, but to legard the eastern section of
the trib j as dependent upon Mesopotamia.
Anoth r argument for the recognition of British interests in Arabia is the fact that
His Majesty's Government are already in treaty relations with all ot the ten areas
except the An izeh, Ibn Rashid and the Imam.
It is, perhaps, as well, in order t«) remove any misapprehensions as to the object of
the Arabian Treaty, which is now being negotiated, to point out that we are
endeavouring to obtain no new position in Arabia—at any rate, in so far as eight out
of the ten areas are concerned. His Majesty's Government are already regarded hy all
the riders, with the possible exceptions of the Imam and Ibn Hashid, as the only foreign
Power which has any real interest in the peninsu a. Other Powers are well aware of
this, and it is only the separation of Arabia from the Ottoman Empire which renders it
desirable to obtain official concurrence from the other Allies to a state of affairs which in
effect already exists. The object of the present discussion is merely to arm e at a
<50 ordinated policy, which will in future be f llowed by His Majesty's Government, and
to decide whether those areas and rulers with whom His Majesty's Government were
not intimately connected before the war should now be placed on the same footing
as those with whom they have h 'd dealings for many years past, or whether it is
necessary to revise the policy of fin ncial support and to withdraw it from those rulers
who ha\e been receiving it f >r so long
The urgent < eces-ity <»f having some instrument on paper defining the pos'tion of
His Majesty's Gove nment in Arabia may be seen from enquiries directed by the German
and American Governments as to the position of Bahrein
6. Although the Hedjaz and Aden are excluded from the peninsula as defined in
the draft treaty, neither area can be overlooked "in any discussion of the policy ot His
Majesty's Government in Arabia.
The independent Kingdom of the Hedjaz contains the Holv Places of Mecca
and Medina, which are venerated by Moslems throughout the world, and which are of
international importance owing to the yearh pilgrimage. As the Allied Power with
the greatest Mahommedan interests, and as the originator of the movement which
resulted in the independence of the Hedjaz and the kingship of King Hussein, His
Majesty's Government could not readily admit that any other Power is so intimately
connected with thp future of that country as herself. In view of its status as an
independent member of the League of Nations, it is impossible to include it in the area
in which His Majesty's Government are demanding a special position, but the fact that
it will be entirely surrounded by areas for which His Majesty's Government are
responsible,'or in which His Majesty's Government are, as a matter of fact, in a
predominant position already, must inevitably lead to the Hedj iz Government
regarding His Majesty's Government as more important to themselves than any other
P »wer. The areas bordering on the Hedjaz are the British mandatory areas of Palestine
and Trans-Jordan, and the territories of Ibn B.ashid, Ibn Sau<i and the Idrisi, two of
whom have agreed to accept the arbitration of His Majesty's Government on frontier
questions. King Hussein himself has also agreed to accept this arbitration. The
final definition of the frontiers of the Hedjaz could most suitably be embodied in
a treaty between King Hussein, on the one side, and His Majesty's Government,
as representing his immediate neighbours, on the other. Other Powers might
certainly object to tins, but, ever] if they hesitate to confirm in writing the
existing British position in Arabia, nothing can alter the fact ihat it is to His
Majesty's Govemment alone that all concerned look for a just and satisfactory
settlement, and, in whatever manner the boundaries may be ti.xed, British arbitra
tion alone will be appealed to in frontier disputes. Apart from the question of
boundaries, which may have to be fixed by a commission appointed by 'he League of
Nations, there appears to be no insuperable objection to His Majesty's Government
concluding a treaty with the independent Kingdom of the Hed'az, as eventually
defined, which may or may not include some provision for financial support, provided
About this item
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This printed memorandum deals with the question of the political and financial obligations that the British Government should in future incur in relation to Arabia, in view of the forthcoming negotiations in Paris between Britain, France and the other allied powers on the subject of Arabia [the Paris Peace Conference, 1919-20]. The memorandum is signed 'H. W. Y.' [Major Hubert Winthrop Young].
Arabia is defined in the memorandum as the area bounded on the north-west by the peninsula of Sinai and the British mandate of Palestine and Trans-Jordan; on the north-east by the British mandate of Mesopotamia; on the east by the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. ; on the south-east by the Indian Ocean; and the west by the Red Sea.
The memorandum includes draft treaty proposals of the British delegation to Paris (Appendix A, folios 4-5), and the main body of the document discusses the articles of the proposed treaty in relation to the various constituent parts of the Arabian peninsula, as defined by the British, including the Kingdom of the Hedjaz [Hejaz, al-Ḥijāz], Nejd [Najd], Yemen, and the Gulf littoral states. The memorandum asserts the right of the British Government to recognition of their special position in Arabia in view of Britain's longstanding relations with many of the region's rulers (folio 1). There are three further appendices: Appendix B (folios 5-6) contains transcriptions of relevant correspondence issued by the Foreign Office and 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. , dated 1919-20, relating to the sub-divisions into which Arabia had been divided for the purposes of the document; Appendix C (folios 7-8) contains minutes of a meeting held at the Foreign Office on 17 April [1920] to discuss the question of subsidies to Arab rulers; and Appendix D (folios 8-10) contains a Foreign Office memorandum dated 13 July 1920 concerning the question of the continuance of financial support by the British Government to King Hussein [Ḥusayn bin ‘Alī al-Hāshimī] of the Hejaz.
- Extent and format
- 1 file (10 folios)
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at 1 on the first folio and terminates at 10 on the last folio. The numbers are written in pencil, are enclosed in a circle, and appear in the top right hand corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. page of each folio. This is the system used to determine the order of pages.
Pagination: the file also contains an original printed pagination sequence, numbered 2-18. These numbers appear in the top centre of each page.
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- Reference
- IOR/L/PS/18/B367
- Title
- 'Foreign Office Memorandum on Arabian Policy.'
- Pages
- 1r:10v
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence