![Papers of the War Cabinet's Eastern Committee [‎209v] (418/544)](https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000001491.0x0002a8/Mss Eur F112_274_0418.jp2/full/!1200,1200/0/default.jpg "Papers of the War Cabinet's Eastern Committee [‎209v] (418/544)")
Papers of the War Cabinet's Eastern Committee [209v] (418/544)
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.
14
some time, and whether we could not withdraw Malleson’s force. What would be an
appropriate time to discuss that ?
LORD CURZON : To-day we are going on to Arabia as soon as we have passed
these resolutions, to the Hejaz and the various other Arab States. That will take
us the whole of this afternoon and perhaps more, and then I think it is rather desir
able that we should have a talk about Persia. Sir C. Marling will be there, and the
Foreign Office are going to put in a paper. We have a mission presently coming over
to Paris, and I have a good deal to say about what the former Regent of Persia has
told me. Through personal friends, he is still, I believe, in constant communication
with the Shah, and has strong ideas about the policy that we ought to adopt. I
think a discussion here about Persia will be valuable, and I thought of having it on
Wednesday. I am ready at any time after that for Transcaspia.
SYRIAN RESOLUTIONS.
LORD CURZON : We will now pass to Syria and Palestine. Syria, No. 1.
Then No. 2.
MR. BALFOUR : With regard to Beirut, Feisal came to see me the other day.
He was most vehemently anti-French; I have never heard anything like it. But he
seemed to think we had behaved rather badly. He referred to some assurance which
we had made to his father, the King of Hejaz, which he seemed to think we had
violated in connection with Beirut. Do you know what it was?
SIR LOUIS MALLET: The general statement of Arab independence.
LORD CURZON: There has been no specific statement about Beirut.
GENERAL SMUTS: It is the general statement, that the areas set free by
the Arabs should be independent. As a matter of fact, they were in Beirut before
we arrived, and they constituted a Government in front of us.
MR. BALFOUR: That is the point. Is there any substance in it ?
GENERAL SMUTS: No, I do not think so.
LORD CURZON: Do you object to giving Beirut to the French along with
the Lebanon ?
GENERAL SMUTS: They go naturally together.
LORD CURZON: We cannot separate them.
MR. BALFOUR: The Lebanon, I suppose, we must give them. So long as the
Lebanon remains independent we cannot withdraw it from French tutelage.
GENERAL SMUTS: The account Colonel Lawrence gave us was that Beirut
should go to Lebanon, but that from Tripoli, up to Arsus, should go to the Arab
States, that the Arabs should have from Tripoli in the south to Arsus in the north.
We are following that here.
GENERAL MACDONOGH: I do not know if there is any truth in the report
in the papers that General Lyautey is going to Syria. If he goes there, I feel
certain they will never tear up the Sykes-Picot Agreement. They will want more
than the Lebanon and Beirut.
SIR LOUIS MALLET: I have heard that they are sending him there.
MR. BALFOUR: By No. 3 they get Alexandretta and Cilicia.
\ 0: RD CURZON: Do you agree that* it is impossible to dissociate Beirut fr: r
Lebanon, Lord Robert Cecil ?
LORD ROBERT CECIL: Yes, I think that is quite right.
GENERAL SMUTS: It is a great pity that Alexandretta in the north should
go to them, but it cannot be avoided. The utmost we can do is to bargain that
Tripoli should go to the Arab State.
MR. BALFOUR: What will you do with the Italians ?
LORD CURZON: It is for you to find compensation for them somewhere else.
Nos. 2 and 3 are accepted. I think we next come to No. 4.
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
Use and share this item
- Share this item
Papers of the War Cabinet's Eastern Committee [209v] (418/544), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F112/274, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100069672679.0x000013> [accessed 18 June 2026]
https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100069672679.0x000013
Copy and paste the code below into your web page where you would like to embed the image.
<meta charset="utf-8"><a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100069672679.0x000013">Papers of the War Cabinet's Eastern Committee [‎209v] (418/544)</a> <a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100069672679.0x000013"> <img src="https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000001491.0x0002a8/Mss Eur F112_274_0418.jp2/full/!280,240/0/default.jpg" alt="" /> </a>
This record has a IIIF manifest available as follows. If you have a compatible viewer you can drag the icon to load it.https://www.qdl.qa/en/iiif/81055/vdc_100000001491.0x0002a8/manifestOpen in Universal viewerOpen in Mirador viewerMore options for embedding images
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