Coll 15/3(1) 'Egypt. Abolition of Capitulations in Montreux Conference and Convention 1937' [‎308v] (621/1220)

• ooiKip Hist motion between different categories of their
in refusing to ad mit any pos J d ^ proteges, but only sujets^
nationals, also accepted ll b ec ' fee ii ns between the Egyptians and the French
127. There was oonside n : n j 01 ” The United Kingdom delegation, in
as a result of this difference P ; ' position of having been unexpectedly
turn, found themselves »n the e mbarrassmg p^^^ ^ ^ concerned It wag ^
dragged into a fray m whi tney & the game line as H is Majesty’s Govern- T I
m^rhldtata^S communication to the Egyptian Government about the
matter before the l c . oni - ereI1 ‘;‘®: o tn N „v, as p a sha to say that in the circumstances
X28. I ^^“MulUes which had arisen appeared to be to delete the
the only way out of the vroV re was now, however, too much at stake to
paragraph in question jmourjrovre^ ^ and Makram Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. r epi ie d with
allow the Egyptian th United Kingdom delegation s basic
a formula which, while dmregardmg t ^ their difficulties though his
recommendation, made a serious eno a De
formula was not actually ac 1 d the evening of Tuesday, the 4th May,
129. The position, when I jetumed on of gtate as regards the
wTkorthe conference and to fulfil a previously arranged public engagement,
^ either AjS or ^e Sg^rSf ^ !
Egyptian delegates to attend ^Coronation be cance^e^. ^ ^ |
(2) The abaSdonU nS even e if this meant the failure of the conference, though
(3) find rZp^se and had begun to thinh
(4) His°MSeSyf Government desired the United Kingdom delegation to
assist in finding a suitable compromise.
130. We therefore prepared a text based P^rtlv on a French
put it first to the Egyptians who acc ®P Italians were P ready to accept it with
Italians and the Dutch The French a f d ^gry. Finally, the
slight amendments. The Dutch were a amended and improved text,
French, with some skill and ingenuity, p P ' meeting on Thursday after-
which, at the last moment before the final committee mee f, through Our
noon, they persuaded everyone else to accept, and the , de j e[ , a tion to the
part in the final negotiations fully restored the United Kingdom delegat.
Egyptian good graces. The final text is discussed in Part i V.
VI.— Miscellaneous Points.
( 1 ) Italian Credentials. ^
131. Embarrassment was caused by the fact that the ^ c f re ^f^g^a. The
Italian delegation referred to the King of Italy as Emper J Full Powers
first problem was to ensure that the Committee for the y. ellfi / • t K eir re p 0 rt on
should not create a difficult situation by referring to this poi persuaded
the various credentials. The Full Powers Committee was, s0 \^ W as the
without difficulty to pass over the point in silence. Eess e ) instrument
question whether the other Powers, by putting their names c a u vc; ci n ia thereby
in which the King of Italy was described as ? I PP er £, 1 ’ Kingdom and
recognised de jure Italian sovereignty over Abyssinia, i /} e o p nvprnnl ents.
the French delegations referred the point to their respecti\e ^
132. The view of the Foreign Office was that it would . t j D
convention should be signed without any reference ^ ein ? afterwards
which case His Majesty’s Government would take tne n P however-
necessary) that this signature did not imply any de jure recogm • ^ u n ited
the French delegation were instructed to take / i A i po .’ a tion wanted
Kingdom delegation should co-operate with them. The French S r ecogniti° D
a slight additional support for the view that the question ot 7 chairman 0 ]
had not been compromised, and, in conjunction with M. * 011 . ,1 v consider 60
the General Committee, they evolved a further P roce(iu r e , u^l^vention in tbese
would assist later in maintaining that the signature ot tne A u vss inia.
terms involved no form of recognition of the title of Emperoi o