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Coll 6/43 'Pan Arab Congress 1933. Attitude of H.M.G. to a Pan Arab Movement' [139r] (278/1144)
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.
7
ANNEX.
Schemes for Arab Federation.
A .—Political Federation.
The territories concerned are—
{a) The Kingdom of Egypt.
(b) The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; the Kingdom of the Yemen; the
Sheikhdom of Koweit; the Sheikhdom of Bahrein; the Sheikhdoms
of Qatr and
Trucial Oman
A name used by Britain from the nineteenth century to 1971 to refer to the present-day United Arab Emirates.
; the Sultanate of Muscat; the Colony of
Aden and the Aden Protectorate.
(c) The Kingdom of Iraq.
(d) The Republics of Syria and the Lebanon (each independent, but still
under French Mandate); the British Mandated territories ol
Palestine and Trans-Jordan.
As regards Egypt, Sir M. Lampson reminds us that she considers herself the
natural leader of the Arab world and would probably want to play some pai t in
schemes of Arab federation. The chance of Egypt being willing to limit her own
political independence by joining a confederation of Arab States seems, however,
to be so remote that it has not been thought necessary to pursue this suggestion
in further detail.
Scheme I .—Federal scheme on a comprehensive scale covering the whole
Arabian Peninsula, Iraq, Syria, Palestine, &c. (i.e., all the territories named in
(b), (c) and (d) above).
The constituent States would retain their independence of each other, and
could maintain their separate treaty and diplomatic relations with foreign
Powers, if desired. They would send delegates to a federal assembly. The
presidency
The name given to each of the three divisions of the territory of the East India Company, and later the British Raj, on the Indian subcontinent.
of the confederation might be held in rotation; or, preferably, Ibn
Saud might be president for life. The federal assembly would have power to deal
with certain specified questions, and federal laws would on these questions take
precedence of those of each individual State. The constituent States would have
a number of votes on the assembly, roughly in proportion to the size of their
population.
Each constituent State would remain responsible for keeping order m its
own territory. There would be federal machinery available for settling disputes
between the constituent States, but, if hostilities broke out, there would be no
obligation on other members of the confederation to join in the hostilities.
External aggression against one of the constituent States would, on the other
hand, be the concern of the federation as a whole. The confederation could not
stand alone, and would require a military guarantee from His Majesty’s
Government, who would in return require guarantees safeguarding British
interests and British strategic needs.
As part of the new arrangements, an endeavour should be made to secure
Arab and Jewish consent to a solution of the Palestine problem, involving the
abolition of the Mandate, new arrangements for Trans-Jordan, and for the Jewish
National Home.
A dvantages.
(1) Such a comprehensive scheme would show Arabs that we are taking
seriously their talk about “ unity. #
(2) It would show the world at large that His Majesty s Government were
taking a wide view of post-war settlements.
(3) An Arab organisation of this magnitude might be more prepared to make
concessions to the Jews on the Mediterranean seaboard.
Disadvantages.
(1) There is good reason to suppose that any such scheme would make no
appeal to the Arab rulers concerned, e.g., Ibn Saud, the King of the Yemen or the
Emir Abdullah of Trans-Jordan. Nor is there reason to believe that it would be
supported at present by any of the Arab States.
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' [139r] (278/1144), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/12/2110, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100047229910.0x000051> [accessed 14 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