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Papers of the War Cabinet's Eastern Committee [104r] (207/544)
The record is made up of 1 file (272 folios). It was created in 13 Mar 1918-7 Jan 1919. 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.
\0\ 1
/S> ^ (^) '
tThis Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty s Government.J
Printed for the War Cabinet. September 1918.
SECRET.
E.C. 29th Meeting.
4
WAR CABINET.
EASTERN COMMITTEE.
Minutes of a Meeting of the Eastern Committee held in the Secretary of State's Room
at the Foreign Office on Tuesday, September 3, 1918, at 4 p.m.
Present:
The Right Hon. Lord Robert Cecil, K.C., M.P., (m the Chair).
Lieut.-General the Right Hon. J. C. Smuts,
K.C.
The Right Hon. Lord Hardinoe of Pens-
hurst, K.G, G.C.B., G.C.S.I.,
G.C.M.G.
[Knight] Grand Cross of [the Order of] St Michael and St George (accolade).
,
G.C.I.E., G.C.V.O., I.S.O. (Permanent
Under-Secretary of State for Foreign
Affairs).
Sir Mark Sykes, Bt., M.P., Foreign
Office.
Mr. L. Oliphant, C.M.G., Foreign Office.
The Right Hon. E. S. Montagu, M.P.,
Secretary of State for India.
Sir Arthur Hirtzel, K.C.B.,
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.
.
Lieutenant-Colonel W. H. G ribbon,
C.M.G. (representing the Director of
Military Intelligence).
The following also attended :
Lieutenant-Colonel R. E. A. Hamilton (for Minute 1).
Major the Hon. W. Ormsby-Gore, M.P., {Acting Secretary).
IbnSaudaud King 1. THE Chairman drew attention to a telegram received from
Hussein. ° India regarding the suggested supply of 1,000 rifles and 100,000
rounds of ammunition to Ibn Saud.
Mr. Montagu explained that 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.
had made a mistake
on a previous occasion in submitting to the Eastern Committee a
request for the supply of 100 instead of 1,000 rifles. The latter
was the amount evidently regarded by the Mesopotamian authorities
as the irriducible minimum required to satisfy Ibn Sand.
The Chairman pointed out that it was unlikely in view of the
political situation in Arabia that the Committee would have
sanctioned so large a supply as 1,000 rifles. It was really a question
as to whether any rifles at all should be supplied to Ibn Saud at
present. However, as 100 had been authorised, he thought it was
impracticable to stop this small consignment.
It was decided that—
The previous decision of the Committee on this matter should
stand.
Lieutenant-Colonel Hamilton gave the following account of
Ibn Saud, having spent three weeks at the latter’s palace at Riadh
in December 1917 :—
Ibn Saud is a man of 42 years of age. He has an impressive
appearance, being 6 ft. 5 in. high and weighing between 15 and
16 stone. He is a line orator and is very keen on Arab inde-
pendendence. There seems little prospect of permanent peace
[365—28]
About this item
- Content
This file is composed of papers produced by the War Cabinet's Eastern Committee, which was chaired by George Curzon for most of its existence. The file contains a complete set of printed minutes, beginning with the committee's first meeting on 28 March 1918, and concluding with its final meeting on 7 January 1919 (ff 6-214 and ff 227-272).
The file begins with two copies of a memorandum by Curzon, dated 13 March 1918, proposing the formation of the Eastern Committee. This is followed by a memorandum by Arthur James Balfour, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, approving Curzon's proposal, and a copy of a procedure for the newly created committee, outlining arrangements for committee meetings and the dissemination of information to committee members.
Also included is a set of resolutions, passed by the committee in December 1918, in order to guide British representatives at the Paris Peace conference (ff 216-225). The resolutions cover the following: the Caucasus and Armenia; Syria; Palestine; Hejaz and Arabia; Mesopotamia, Mosul, Baghdad and Basra. They are preceded by a handwritten note written by Curzon 'some years later', which remarks on how they are a 'rather remarkable forecast of the bulk of the results since obtained.'
- Extent and format
- 1 file (272 folios)
- Arrangement
The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the front to the rear of the file.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the first folio with 1, and terminates at the last folio with 272; 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.
- Written in
- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- Mss Eur F112/274
- Title
- Papers of the War Cabinet's Eastern Committee
- Pages
- 1r:214v, 216r:272v
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence