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Papers of the Interdepartmental Conference on Middle Eastern Affairs [55r] (109/290)
The record is made up of 1 file (145 folios). It was created in 7 Jan 1919-7 Dec 1920. 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.
11
Civil Servants in
Mesopotamia.
Future Constitution
of Iraq.
[987]—543
Colonel Wilson said in that case his suggestion was that His
Majesty’s Government should constitute a Commission to sit in
London, and should send for such officers as they required to give
evidence from Mesopotamia. This, in his opinion, would be more
satisfactory than a roving commission whose travels would delay the
whole question for perhaps another six months.
The Conference decided that if and when the appointment of
such a Commission was discussed the recommendation of
Colonel Wilson that it should sit in London should be
carefully considered.
9. Colonel Wilson said that he had received a letter from Sir T.
Holderness, asking if he considered it would be advisable to con
stitute a single service for Mesopotamia, Egypt, Sudan, Aden,
Cyprus, and Palestine. He felt he would prefer to postpone his
reply until he knew under what office Mesopotamia was to come.
If a new Middle East Department were contemplated, which would
control all these areas, there would be much to be said in favour
of a single service. But in no case did he think it practicable to
have a service that was absolutely interchangeable from top to
bottom. Local conditions were so different that he did not think
it would be possible to move junior officers out of their own areas,
but he thought it -would be quite possible to interchange the
seniors.
10 . The Conference decided that as Colonel Wilson had put up
proposals which were now before the
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.
the subject need
not be discussed here.
Foreign Office,
April 10, 1919.
E
5fc
About this item
- Content
This file is composed of papers produced by the Foreign Office's Interdepartmental Conference on Middle Eastern Affairs. It consists entirely of printed minutes of meetings of the conference, most of which are chaired by George Curzon.
Those attending include senior representatives of the Foreign Office, the 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. (most notably the Secretary of State for India), the War Office, the Admiralty, the Air Ministry, and the Treasury (including the Chancellor of the Exchequer). Other notable figures attending include Harry St John Bridger Philby and Gertrude Margaret Lowthian Bell.
The meetings concern British policy in the Middle East, and mainly cover the following geographical areas: Mesopotamia, Kurdistan, Trans-Caspia, Trans-Caucasia, the Caspian Sea, Palestine, Persia, Hejaz, and Afghanistan. Some of the meetings also touch on matters beyond the Middle East (e.g. wireless telegraphy in Tibet, ff 79-80).
Recurring topics of discussion include railways (chiefly in relation to Mesopotamia), Bolshevik influence in the Middle East (particularly in Persia and Trans-Caspia), and relations between King Hussein [Ḥusayn bin ‘Alī al-Hāshimī] and Ibn Saud [‘Abd al-‘Azīz bin ‘Abd al-Raḥmān bin Fayṣal Āl Sa‘ūd].
Several sets of minutes also contain related memoranda as appendices.
- Extent and format
- 1 file (145 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 145, 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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Papers of the Interdepartmental Conference on Middle Eastern Affairs [55r] (109/290), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F112/275, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100070539234.0x00006e> [accessed 19 June 2026]
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- Mss Eur F112/275
- Title
- Papers of the Interdepartmental Conference on Middle Eastern Affairs
- Pages
- front, front-i, 2r:144v, back-i, back
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence