Papers of the War Cabinet's Eastern Committee [‎198v] (396/544)

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/ 1 MR. BALFOUR : I am in favour of that.
MR. MONTAGU : Lord Curzon has spoken of Armenia and Caucasus, but if he
adds Arabia, Mesopotamia, and possibly Persia, that makes it all the worse. This is
the extraordinary part of it, that there is always some reason in all these countries
—and particularly where there is oil—why, unfortunately for us, there is nobody else
that can do it. The real reason why it is so necessary that it should be us is this
strategical danger to India. I should like to ask the General Staff, in pursuance of
what Mr. Balfour has said, what is the strategical danger to India supposing the worst
came to the worst. Supposing these people are not ready to misgovern themselves,
supposing we do not wish to go there, and supposing the French go there, what is the
danger of their holding it ? Assuming they have the strip of country from Armenia
stretching across to Baku, and assuming we keep command of the sea and have the
chance of doing anything we like in the Mediterranean, what is the actual danger of a
French occupation of that, from a military point of view ?
GENERAL \V 1LSON : As a hostile country ?
MR. MONTAGU : Yes.
GENERAL WILSON : As far as I know, this country in times of peace will
never keep a force of any size either in or outside of it. What Mr. Balfour has said
about India is true. It did not hurt the people of the country very much, although it
meant Irtiat their money w r as reduced, and the number of troops was reduced too.
Whether that was \\ise or not is another thing, but we certainly will not keep anv force
either in India or in Mesopotamia worth talking about. A hostile Power to stretch
from Alexandretta to Batum and to take in, as they could, the Caspian and Enzeli,
would ruin Mesopotamia to a great extent. 1 do not know wdiat the Admiralty would
say about the oil. I understand from the Admiralty papers which I have read that it
is their view r that the oil of Mesopotamia is going to be as important in the future as
the Welsh coalfields have been in the past. Do not think for a moment that you
would reduce your dangers, and therefore the number of troops you must keep, by
bringing the danger nearer to India. My opinion is, if we could go into these four
countries, keep them friendly (as I dare say we could) and then withdraw, that would be
the perfect thing to work for. Whether such a thing is possible I cannot tell. I do
not think anybody can tell what is going to be possible in the future. If that is the
best arrangement, as I think it is, it is the one we ought to work for.
LORD CURZON : Mr. Montagu, there is one small point. You ask why should
England do this ? Why should Great Britain push herself out in these directions ? Of
course, the answer is obvious—India. You may say we are going too far, but your
remedy is that others should be allowed to go farther. I put it to you, why should the
Caucasus be given to France? France has no interest, except a sentimental or a chau
vinistic one, in those parts of the world. She is going, as the result of a campaign to
which she only contributed 1,000 black men— l ' niggers,” as the Prime Minister called
them—to get the greater part of the coast of Syria and the Lebanon. She must be
given Armenia, because nobody else wants to have anything to do with that singularly
unattractive people ! Having got her into Armenia, you want to give her the Black
Sea, and not only the six vilayets but something more. Having given her that, vou
say we must be disinterested, everybody suspects us, and therefore you propose to clap
on to the French this area in which she is not interested, and to which she has no claim,
and which she may use to our disadvantage. She certainly would in the event of
hostilities, and in respect of oil she would be sure to reap very considerable profit in the
interim. I think that perhaps we are not drawing enough attention to the importance
of the oil and the pipeline. Mr. Balfour will say, “ Why not let the people cut their
own throats ? Why bother about them ? ” But l think Europe will be by no means
willing to leave the pipeline from Batum to Baku, which is a great international concern,
in the hands of small highland republics, whose people are engaged in these pursuits. I
think Europe will insist upon some sort of a control, and will call upon us or somebody
else to supply it.
MR. MONTAGU : Assuming France is there and we are in India. This country
is nearer to Armenia than India, and the only danger is that the French would use it
for some sinister purpose on India. I have listened to what General Wilson said.
This is a military proposition, and I will take his word. But I do not see what the
French troops in this country could do, cut off from France by our naval superiority.
If you tell me that, notwithstanding that, the French could seriously menace India, I