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Middle East Committee and Eastern Committee [6r] (11/42)
The record is made up of 1 file (21 folios). It was created in 18 Jan 1918-31 Dec 1918. 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
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[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty s Government.]
Printed for the War Cabinet. February 1918.
SECRET.
M.E.C. 3rd Minutes.
(New Series.)
4
WAR CABINET.
MIDDLE EAST COMMITTEE.
Minutes of a Meeting of the Middle East Committee held in the Secretary of State s
Room at the Foreign Office on Saturday, February 2, 1918, at 11’30 a.m.
The Right Hon. Earl Curzon t of Kedleston, K.G., G.C.S.I., G.C.I.E.
(in the Chair).
The Right Hon. A. J. Balfour, O.M., M.P.
The Right Hon. Lord Hardinge of Penshurst, K.G., G.C.B., G.C.S.L,
G.C.M.G.
[Knight] Grand Cross of [the Order of] St Michael and St George (accolade).
, G.C.I.E., G.C.V.O., I.S.O.
The Right Hon. Lord Robert Cecil, K.C., M.P.
The Right Hon. Lord Islington,
G.C.M.G.
[Knight] Grand Cross of [the Order of] St Michael and St George (accolade).
, D.S.O.
Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Mark Sykes. Bart., M.P.
Lieutenant-Colonel W. H. Gribbon, War Office.
Mr. J. E. Shuckburgh,
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.
.
Captain the Hon. W. Ormsby-Gore, M.P. (Secretary).
Assurances to 1. THE Committee had before them two telegrams from
King Hussein. Sir Reginald Wingate, Nos. 154 and 19. ( ) (M.E.C.-37 and 54),
together with memoranda prepared by 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.
:—
(1.) M.E.C.-60, giving a summary of the pledges made by, or
on behalf of, the British Government to the Arabs and
to King Hussein.
(2.) Memorandum dated 31st January (M.E.C.-f>8, not pre
viously circulated) entitled “ The Future of Meso
potamia.”
It was pointed out that both Sir Percy Cox and the Govern
ment of India had expressed the hope that in any reassurances
to be given to King Hussein no further announcement should be
made with regard to the future of Irak ; further, the view was
submitted that it might be desirable to inform Sir Percy Cox
regarding the recent trend of political thought concerning the war
aims of the Entente Powers.
Lord Islington said that what he had in mind was not any idea
of requiring the Civil Commissioner and the officers under him to
abandon their policy of reconstruction in Mesopotamia, but rather
the desirability of explaining clearly to Sir Percy Cox the general
trend of events in Europe, the specific declarations of President
Wilson and the Prime Minister on the subject of Mesopotamia, &c.,
and the factors making for a peace based on the principles ot “ no
annexations” and “self-determination.” If Sir Percy Cox were
fully apprised of the tendencies now operating on the situation, and
[195—3]
About this item
- Content
This file relates to two War Cabinet committees: the Middle East Committee (originally named the Mesopotamian Administration Committee), and the Eastern Committee, both chaired by George Curzon.
The first half of the file consists almost entirely of printed minutes of meetings of the Middle East Committee, dated 19 January, 26 January, 2 February, and 18 February 1918 respectively (ff 2-9). The main topics of discussion in these minutes are British policy in Palestine and future British policy in Mesopotamia.
The second half of the file contains correspondence received by Curzon regarding the workings of the Eastern Committee, which inherited the responsibilities of the Middle East Committee (ff 10-21). The correspondents are as follows: Maurice Pascal Alers Hankey, War Cabinet; Edwin Samuel Montagu, Secretary of State for India; Robert Cecil, Foreign Office. The letters discuss the dissemination of the committee's minutes among military representatives, the frequency and attendees of committee meetings, and whether the committee should be severed from the War Cabinet and absorbed by the Foreign Office's recently created Middle East Department. One letter touches on Anglo-Persian relations.
Also included is a note by Curzon, dated 27 October 1918, regarding a memorandum from the advisory committee of the Foreign Office's Eastern Department (ff 17-18).
- Extent and format
- 1 file (21 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 final folio with 21; 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 F112/273
- Title
- Middle East Committee and Eastern Committee
- Pages
- 1r:21v
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence