![Papers of the War Cabinet's Eastern Committee [‎272r] (543/544)](https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000001491.0x0002a8/Mss Eur F112_274_0543.jp2/full/!1200,1200/0/default.jpg "Papers of the War Cabinet's Eastern Committee [‎272r] (543/544)")
Papers of the War Cabinet's Eastern Committee [272r] (543/544)
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.
</
[This DoGmnent is the Property of His Britannic M^esty’s Government.]
Printed for the War Cabinet. January 1919.
SECRET.
E.C. 49th Minutes.
4
WAR CABINET.
EASTERN COMMITTEE.
Minutes of a Meeting of the Committee held in the Secretary of State's Room at the
Foreign Office, on Tuesday, January 7, 1919, at 1 p.m.
Present:
The Right Hon. the Earl Curzon of Kedleston, K.G., G.C.S.I., G.C.I.E.
(in the Chair).
The Right Hon. E. S. Montagu, M.P.,
Secretary of State for India.
The following also attended :
Mr. J. E. Shuckburgh, 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.
.
Lieut.-General Sir H. V. Cox, K.C.B.,
K.C.M.G., C.S.I., Military Secretary,
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.
.
Major-General W.Thwaites, C.B., Director
of Military Intelligence.
Lieutenant-Colonel L. Storr, C.B. (Secretary).
Future of the 1. THE Chairman said that he thought that the present was
Eastern Committee. a convenient moment for members to consider what recommenda
tions they should submit to the Cabinet in regard to the future of
the Committee. The Committee owed its origin to a decision of the
War Cabinet, taken at a meeting held on the 21st March, 1918
(W.C.-369, Minute 11), that the Eastern Committee should supersede
the functions of the Persia and Middle East Committees, and that
the constitution and scope of the new Committee should be as
outlined in a memorandum by himself (G.T.-3905). The circum
stances in which the Committee had come into being no longer
obtained. A new Ministry was in process of formation; of the
original members General Smuts had resigned, Mr. Balfour and
Lord Robert Cecil (who had taken Mr. Balfour’s place on the
Committee on his assuming the duties of Assistant Secretary of
State for Foreign Affairs) were in Paris, and he (Lord Curzon) had
been asked by the Prime Minister to take over the control of the
Foreign Department in their absence ; and, finally, hostilities
had ceased on the signing of the armistice, and would not, it was to
be hoped, be resumed. The Chairman suggested that two courses
were open to the Committee : (a) To recommend to the Cabinet
that the Committee should continue to function on the present lines,
a course to which there were various objections; and (6) to recom
mend that the Committee be dissolved and its functions in the future
[780]—33
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 [272r] (543/544), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F112/274, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100069672679.0x000090> [accessed 26 June 2026]
https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100069672679.0x000090
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_100069672679.0x000090">Papers of the War Cabinet's Eastern Committee [‎272r] (543/544)</a> <a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100069672679.0x000090"> <img src="https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000001491.0x0002a8/Mss Eur F112_274_0543.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