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Papers of the War Cabinet's Eastern Committee [166r] (331/544)
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.
13
LORD ROBERT CECIL: I would like to warn Captain Wilson not to give any
ground for suspicion. There are French people out there who are watching every
thing we do.
LORD CURZON: General Wilson, your views are very important, will you
give us the military aspect of the question?
GENERAL WILSON: In putting forward our case at Versailles presently,
everything will depend on the attitude of the Americans, and I understand General
Smuts to say that, in order to get a favourable verdict from the Americans we must
get the Arabs on our side. That is what it comes to?
LORI) ROBERT CECIL: That is what I said.
GENERAL SMUTS: That is the argument. I think we should build up our
case and carry the Americans with us, and I think we can only do that by pointing
to local self-determination, and we must try and find it out by the swiftest bond fide
machinery we can institute for the purpose.
LORD CURZON: Do you favour the lines of policy suggested to-day, General
Wilson?
GENERAL WILSON: Yes. They seem to be quite sound, as far as I am
concerned ; but how exactly we are to find out what the Arabs think without giving
the French reason to believe that we are encroaching on their preserves I do not know.
LORD CURZON: We are not encroaching, because we have no candidates of
our own to recommend. It might be said that we are exerting pressure, but we only
want the man the Arabs choose.
GENERAL WILSON: That is very strong, on the face of it.
GENERAL SMUTS: The enquiry should proceed on two points. The Arabs
should say in the first place whether they are in favour of an Arab State under
British tutelage. Secondly, do they want Abdullah as their ruler? If we could
have opinions ascertained on those points, that is the way to do it.
LORD ROBERT CECIL: Yes, and put definite questions. There is a third
point: Do you favour a single Arab Government in Mesopotamia, or a division
between Baghdad and Mosul?'
GENERAL WILSON: I suppose you could not associate a Frenchman with
this lady and Captain Wilson?
GENERAL SMUTS: I would rather take a man like D. . .
LORD ROBERT CECIL: An intelligent American would be a different thing.
The French would report as they wished whatever the facts were.
GENERAL SMUTS: If we knew what it was going to be after an enquiry,
we should know the grounds and could proceed.
GENERAL WILSON: There is a Major More, of General Marshall’s Staff,
who knows the country w r ell, and who happens to be at home at the present moment.
He might be worth consulting.
LORD ROBERT CECIL: Certainly.
LORD CURZON: General Macdonogh, you take a great interest in these
matters. Do your views incline in the same direction?
GENERAL MACDONOGH: Yes, entirely. In my Paper I suggested the only
way in which we could get out of the Sykes-Picot Agreement was by a combination
of President Wilson and the policy of self-determination. The thing you have to
do< is to find out what the Arabs think.
MR. MONTAGU: Before this discussion, I had a draft telegram I rather
wanted to send to Captain Wilson, which I think might be adapted to meet what
seems to be the sense of the Committee, if I may read it. It is in answer to Captain
Wilson’s fears about the Anglo-French Agreement.
“ The Anglo-French Declaration was intended primarily to clear up present
situation in Syria created by Arab suspicions of French intentions. Ultimate
status of all Arab provinces will be settled at Peace Conference, and this should
be understood by all concerned. Meanwhile, the Declaration lays
dow
A term adopted by British officials to refer to local sailing vessels in the western Indian Ocean.
r n that
it is the policy of His Majesty’s Government to aid in establishing native
[365—42] . E
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