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Coll 6/43 'Pan Arab Congress 1933. Attitude of H.M.G. to a Pan Arab Movement' [98r] (196/1144)
The record is made up of 1 file (570 folios). It was created in 21 Dec 1932-5 Mar 1948. It was written in English and French. 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.
DOCUMENT IS THE PROPERTYJOEJHIS BRI TANIHC MAJESTY’S GOVERNMENT
^ JffiL
EASTERN (General).
CONFIDENTIAL.
[E 7213/41/65]
vo
VI
A
v;^
2 U i 4
/
A-
945
November 25, 1944.
Section 1.
Copy No.
Sir K. Cornwallis to Mr. Eden.—{Received 2bth November.)
Baa dad. bth November, 1944.
T eferred
(No. 517.)
Sir,
/• _ / / IN paragraph 11 of my despatch No. 510 nf the 31st October, I referred
briefly to the reception which had been accorded in Iraq to the decisions of the
Preliminary Conference on Arab Unity, which met in Alexandria between the
15th September and the 7th October. It may be of interest if I analyse those
reactions more fully.
2. Regarding most matters, it is not possible in this country to predicate
any one feeling or view as representing “public opinion ’; each community
tends to regard affairs, both internal and external, primarily from its own
sectional point of view and with an eye to its own advantage. The Shia leaders
are naturally not enthusiastic about the Alexandria Protocol. As good Arab
patriots, they must at least give it lip-service, but as sectaries they are disturbed
by the prospect of the Shias becoming a still smaller minority in a still larger
Sunni world. They well know that they cannot enlist the support of their
Persian co-religionists without appearing unpatriotic, and they are therefore
forced into uneasy acquiescence in the official policy. To the Kurds, any step
which strengthens, actually or potentially, their secular opponents, the Arabs, is
unwelcome; and the Arab tribes are on the whole quite indifferent to what they no
doubt regard as just another manoeuvre of their urban rulers. Nor can the
Christian and Jewish communities be expected to acclaim the protocol with
genuine satisfaction.
3. The general public (by which I mean .the politically-minded, newspaper-
reading townsmen), like all general publics, is primarily interested in gaining its
daily bread. But next to self-preservation there are few stronger stimuli than
national pride; and there is to my mind no doubt that the general public were
flattered and pleased by the success which the conference attained. It has made
them feel that it is something after all to be an Arab; and Arab Unity
undoubtedly appeals to the Iraqis very much as the reunion of Christendom
appeals to Christians, namely as an ideal which, if incapable of immediate
realisation, is nevertheless devoutedly to be. wished.
4. The fact that the Iraqi delegation was headed by the Prime Minister
and included the forceful, if erratic, personality of the Minister for Foreign
Affairs, and above all (contrary to the wishes of Nahas and Ibn Sand) General
Nuri-al-Said, who is the doyen of living exponents of Arab Unity, has naturally
made Iraqis feel, not without reason, that their own country is taking a
prominent, if not pre-eminent, part in the realisation of the ideal. Moreover, as
I have suggested in my despatch under reference, Iraq has a very practical
interest in Arab Unity, because she regards the
Levant
A geographical area corresponding to the region around the eastern Mediterranean Sea.
as her natural economic
corridor, and is much concerned to see that the exits for her pipe-lines and her
trade routes on the Mediterranean do not come under hostile, i.e., French or
Jewish, control.
5. In paragraph 4 of his letter No. 48 (2) of the 19th October to you, Lord
Moyne has mentioned that the aim of the conference seems to have been to unite
the Arab World in co-operation with Britain. I have every reason to endorse
this view. Both Nuri
Pasha
An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders.
and the Minister for Foreign Affairs have said
clearly and definitely that this was the aim of the conference, and that it was this
which lay behind the clause of the protocol guaranteeing the present Lebanon
frontiers. To me this is the most interesting and important aspect of the
conference, because it shows that the Arabs have responded whole-heartedly and
practially to the invitation which you, Sir, conveyed to them at the Mansion
House on the 29th May, 1941, when you said : —
“ The Arab World has made great strides since the settlement reached
at the end of the last war, and many Arab thinkers desire for the Arab
peoples a greater degree of unity than they now enjoy. In reaching out
[60—29]
Qy
130
About this item
- Content
This file concerns the British Government's response to the Pan-Arab movement during the 1930s and 1940s. Much of the correspondence refers to the prospect of an Arab federation, although the use of the word 'federation' is noted in some of the correspondence as being a mistranslation of the original Arabic expression, which would be more accurately represented by the words 'unification' or 'unity'.
Significant subjects of discussion include:
- Arab party politics in Palestine.
- Iraqi-Egyptian relations.
- Italian propaganda in the Middle East.
- The future of Palestine.
- Britain's post-war policy in the Middle East.
- Whether the Arab states should be induced to make a wartime declaration in favour of the democracies (i.e. the Allies).
- The formation of the Arab League (also referred to as the Arab Federation in the correspondence).
- Details of the Pact (also referred to as Covenant) of the Arab League, signed in Cairo on 22 March 1945.
- Whether representatives of the Arab League should be present at the Palestine Conference in London, in 1947, in addition to representatives of Arab states.
Notable correspondents include the following: the Political Resident A senior ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul General) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Residency. in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. ; the High Commissioner for Iraq; His Majesty's Ambassador in Baghdad; the High Commissioner for Egypt; His Majesty's Ambassador in Cairo; the High Commissioner for Palestine; His Majesty's Minister at Jedda; the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs; the Minister of State in the Middle East; officials of the Foreign Office, 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 Commonwealth Relations Office, and the Indian Political Service The branch of the British Government of India with responsibility for managing political relations between British-ruled India and its surrounding states, and by extension the Gulf, during the period 1937-47. 's External Affairs Department; Noury Said [Nūrī al-Sa‘īd], Prime Minister of Iraq; George Antonius, Lebanese-Egyptian author and diplomat.
Also included with the correspondence are the following:
- Extracts from Palestine police summaries dating from 1933 to 1936, produced by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in Jerusalem.
- A printed copy of a paper on Arab federation by the Foreign Research and Press Service, dated 20 June 1941.
- Copies of documents produced by the War Cabinet's Standing Official Sub-Committee for Questions Concerning the Middle East (also referred to as the Middle East (Official) Committee), including minutes of meetings (1941-1942) and a copy of a report on Arab Federation, dated January 1942.
- A copy (in French) of the Protocol of the Preparatory Committee for the Arab Congress, dated 7 October 1944.
- Copies of the Pact/Covenant of the recently formed Arab League (consisting of a printed copy in French, distributed by the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and an English translation of the full Arabic text, which includes a passage that was omitted from the French version).
The French material consists of the aforementioned Protocol and Arab League Pact, plus one item of correspondence and a copy of a newspaper extract.
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 (folios 2-3).
- Extent and format
- 1 file (570 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 for this description commences at the inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the last folio with 571; 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. Two previous foliation sequences, which are also circled, have been superseded and therefore crossed out.
- Written in
- English and French in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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Coll 6/43 'Pan Arab Congress 1933. Attitude of H.M.G. to a Pan Arab Movement' [98r] (196/1144), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/12/2110, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100047229909.0x0000c7> [accessed 17 July 2026]
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/L/PS/12/2110
- Title
- Coll 6/43 'Pan Arab Congress 1933. Attitude of H.M.G. to a Pan Arab Movement'
- Pages
- front, front-i, 2r:6v, 9r:24v, 27r:59v, 61r:62v, 73r:78v, 82r:93v, 95r:103v, 105r:106v, 111r:111v, 113r:115v, 118r:120v, 122r:132v, 134r:152v, 158r:199v, 201r:265v, 273r:354v, 356r:381v, 384r:394v, 398r:407v, 410r:516v, 518r:565v, 567r:571v, back
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence