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Coll 6/43 'Pan Arab Congress 1933. Attitude of H.M.G. to a Pan Arab Movement' [569r] (1138/1144)
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.
THIS DOCUMENT IS THE PROPERTY OF HIS BRITANNIC MAJESTY’S GOVERNMENT
EASTERN (Iraq).
CONFIDENTIAL.
| E 6888/4478/65]
Sir F. Humphrys to Sir John Simon.—{Received December 29.)
(No. 1164. Secret.) ^
Sir. Bagdad. December 21, 1932.
1 HAVE the honour to communicate the following record of a conversation
which I had with King Feisal on the morning of the 20th December :
2. His Majesty said that he wished to ask my opinion about the proposal
that an Arab Congress should be held in Bagdad. This proposal was an outcome
of the growing movement among the Arab intelligentsia towards a closer union
among all Arab peoples. Although for the next decade the chief task of the
Iraqi Government would be to develop the resources of the country and to raise
the standard of education and living of the people, he felt that, taking a long
view of Iraq’s future, the pan-Arab movement was not one which the Iraqi
Government should ignore. On the north and east Iraq was overshadowed by
powerful neighbours, whose growing nationalism might in the future constitute
a danger to Iraq’s independence. In Persia dreams of the old Sassanian Empire
were being revived, and in the schools children were taught to think of Ctesiphon
as the rightful capital of the Persian King of Kings. Turkey, for the moment,
was a safe neighbour, but no one could be sure that her old claims to the Mosul
Vilayet might not be revived again later on. On the west, too, there would
always be a threat to Iraq so long as the French remained in their piesent strong
position in Syria. They, too, had once coveted Mosul and its oil. Could one
be sure that they no longer dreamt of being masters of the Mosul oilfields?
3. It was true that, by virtue of her alliance with Great Britain. Iraq had
nothing to fear from her neighbours at present, but he was looking ahead, and
he thought that it would be unfair to Great Britain for Iraq to rely indefinitely
on her "for support. Bearing these considerations in mind. His Majesty felt
that it was necessary for Iraq to seek some means of reinforcing her position,
and to his mind the pan-Arab movement promised the best source of additional
strength. If Iraq could rely on the support of all the other Arab peoples, if,
more especially, she and the Arabs of Syria could stand firmly side by side, the
dangers which threatened Iraq s future integrity would be greatly diminished.
4. While, therefore, he believed it to be in Iraqi interests to give discreet
encouragement to the Arab Congress as a means of strengthening ideas of Arab
unity, he had some misgivings as to the attitude of His Majesty’s Government
towards both the pan-Arab movement and the Arab Congress. For this reason
he wished to ask my private opinion, firstly, as to whether I thought that His
Majesty’s Government still entertained the same sympathy towards the Arab
cause that they had shown during the war, and, secondly, whether it was likely
that His Majesty’s Government would regard with disfavour the holding of an
Arab Congress in Bagdad. .
5. I said that His Majesty's remarks and the two questions with which
thev had concluded raised very far-reaching considerations. I entirely agreed
with him that Iraq should not rely indefinitely on British support for her safety,
but I had some doubts as to whether the ideals of the movement for a clqsei
union of Arab peoples really offered the best means of strengthening her position.
Turkey, I feared, would view with misgivings any consolidation of the Arab
peoples on her southern frontier; Persia, whose outlet to the sea in the south
lay in an area predominantly inhabited by Arabs, would certainly be hostile to
such a movement, while France, though now evidently prepared to follow in Syria
the policy adopted by Great Britain in Iraq, was unlikely to relinquish her hold
over the eastern littoral of the Mediterranean and would certainly be opposed
to any movement aiming at the political unification of the Arabs and thereby
threatening the Lebanon from the east. It seemed to me, therefore, at first viewy
that a movement towards union with other Arab peoples, instead of strengthening
Iraq’s position, might very easily provoke active hostility against her among
her neighbours and accentuate the dangers wdiich His Majesty feared; dangers
[655 ff—1]
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' [569r] (1138/1144), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/12/2110, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100047229914.0x00008d> [accessed 18 July 2026]
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- 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