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Middle East Committee and Eastern Committee [17r] (33/42)
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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NOTE BY LORD CURZON ON A MEMO FROM THE
ADVISORY COMMITTEE OF THE EASTERN DEPARTMENT,
Colonel Keyes very courteously sought an interview
with me concerning certain proposals emanating from the above
quarter for the organisation of propaganda in the East, not
only during, but after the War.
The proposal is to educate Mohammedan opinions in all
the countries between the Bosphorus and Central Asia
(elsewhere the Danube to China is mentioned as the intended
theatre) and from the Caucasus to the Soudan. Within this
area wnich contains populations of infinite diversity,
racial, religious and political, it is in contemplation to
create an
agency
An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent.
, which is to rest upon a satisfactory
financial basis and to have a permanent existence.
It is to relieve our administrative and diplomatic
agencies of the labour involved in representing British
policy in the East - a condition which fills me with con
sternation; and it is apparently to render a similar service
to the Government of India, which will, I am afraid, tremble
at the proffered assistance.
The association of Sir V. Chirol and Colonel Keyes
with such an undertaking is indeed a guarantee that great
discretion would, in the initial stages, be devoted to the
organisation and execution of the work.
But even with these safegaurds, which could not be
permanently maintained, I am compelled to say from a fairly
long experience of the East, both administrative and political,
that I view the creation of such an organisation with no
small misgiving, and that the activities of such a body,
with
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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Middle East Committee and Eastern Committee [17r] (33/42), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F112/273, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100071779101.0x000022> [accessed 5 June 2026]
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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