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Papers of the War Cabinet's Eastern Committee [165v] (330/544)
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.
12
GENERAL SMUTS: Miss Bell has told us that the Nakib is hopeless, and that
il you have to have an outsider it would be better to have Hussein, as there was
not much known against him.
LORD CURZON: Miss Bell is a woman of the greatest ability, and has been
there two or three years, and knows the country very well.
LORD ROBERT CECIL: L think she would be a splendid adviser.
i
LORD CURZON: How soon has our case to be ready?
LORD ROBERT CECIL: In December.
LORD CURZON: We could not get Miss Bell here by that time.
LORD ROBERT CECIL: That will not apply to the actual Peace Conference.
MR. MONTAGU: I should like to ask you whether you would not still consider
the possibility, even at this late date, of sending out a Commission, or somebody,
for the purpose of investigating what it is the Arabs want? It might well be that
they might bring forward a proposal that they would like to have President Wilson.
Supposing you sent out somebody with the sole motive of discovering from the
population what they want?
LORD CURZON: Is there anybody capable of doing it? Miss Bell cannot be
here till the Conference. President Wilson comes about the middle of December.
We shajl be attending Allied Conferences at once. Our case for Mesopotamia may
have to be stated at any time after December 16th. If you send out a man to
Baghdad, it will be difficult to find a man of authority who is already familiar with
the country. In the East you do not get your “atmosphere ” for some weeks or
months. You might send a Cabinet Minister, or anybody you like, but I would not
attach any value to his opinion until he had been out there for some months.
MR. MONTAGU: The suggestion is that you should go to the Peace Conference
without having decided the question.
LORD ROBERT CECIL: You might well do that.
MR. MONTAGU: And say at the Peace Conference you are trying to discover
who is the right man to put there. We have had Colonel Lawrence and Sir Mark
Sykes, and Miss Bell is greater than all of them. What you want to find out is what
is in the minds of the Arabs, which you can get with the assistance of Miss Bell op
the spot, but Miss Bell could not give it to you in this room.
LORD ROBERT CECIL: The other course would be to ask Captain Wilson to
appoint a small Commission, for Miss Bell and somebody else to carry on these
investigations and let us know their views.
LORD CURZON: We have got Miss Bell s view.
LORD ROBERT CECIL: Yes, six months ago.
LORD CURZON: Is it possible, although Sir Percy Cox has gone, to put before
him the new situation and ask his view? He is serving in Persia, but it is inevitable
that he will go back to Mesopotamia, whether now or later. Could we not ask his
view? Supposing he has changed his mind, and says you may have a son of the
Sherif?
LORD ROBERT CECIL: I do not see any reason at all against asking him.
General Smuts thinks it would be a good thing to send Sir Percy Cox back
immediately. At the same time, I hope we shall not do that. He seems to be doing
his work in Persia very well, he is doing important things there, and is in the
process of making recommendations on a series of important questions. After all,
Mesopotamia is very important, and clearly it is quite possible that Persia might
be more important. 1 should have thought it would be a good plan to ask Sir Percy
Cox if he has any views. I should think the best plan would be to ask Captain
Wilson, either by himself or preferably with Miss Bell, to consult the Arabs in all
that area, and let us know their view as soon as possible.
GENERAL SMUTS: That would be the strongest case we could put forward
to the Peace Conference, and say “ This is what they desire.”
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.
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- 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