Papers written by Curzon on the Near and Middle East [‎34r] (67/348)

[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty’s Government.]
[1050 x—2]
EASTERN.
[October 21.]
CONFIDENTIAL.
Skction 2.
[144506] No. 1.
Earl Curzon to Earl Granville.
(No. 258.)
My Lord, Foreign Office, October 21, 1919.
M. YENIZELOS, in the course of his present visit to England, paid me a call at
the Foreign Office, and indulged in a long conversation about the views and aspirations
of his country.
He pleaded the cause of the Greeks as against the Turks or the Bulgarians in the
whole of Thrace, producing a long series of historical maps, which showed that only once
in bygone centuries had the Bulgarians occupied the territories in question, and placing
before me stacks of figures which demonstrated the numerical preponderance of the
Greek population. He felt deeply hurt b} r the attitude of the American Government
on this subject, and he pleaded earnestly for the support of Great Britain.
I did not venture any observations on a matter which still lay on the lap of the
Peace Conference, and contented myself with admiring the formidable argumentative
arsenal with which the Greek statesman had provided himself.
He then entered into a prolonged exposition of his views with regard to the
future of Constantinople, arguing that at all costs the Turk must be removed, both as a
symbol of his defeat and because his continued presence in Constantinople would be a
challenge and danger in the years to come. America, he said, was now, in consequence
of the illness of President Wilson, not in the least likely to take a mandate for the city.
Great Britain would decline to take a mandate. The Turks themselves would not
tolerate France as a mandatory. There remained only an international administration,
with a High Commissioner under the League of Nations.
I pointed out to him that, while there were many in this country who shared
these views and would use all their influence to carry them out, very powerful opinions
had been expressed on the other side in Paris and elsewhere by the spokesmen of India
and the Secretary of State for India. They had stated that the expulsion of the Turk
from Constantinople would be regarded as an intolerable insult to Islam, and would be
followed by disturbances and rebellions in all parts of the Eastern world. They had
even said that it would shake our position in India. Such views could not be
altogether ignored.
"M. Yenizelos retaliated by the observation that he believed, from such information
as he possessed, that these forebodings were far from being shared by Lord Hardinge
and myself, both of whom had been Viceroys, and that he did not see why the present
Government of India should be any more right than those who had so long presided
over the fortunes of that country.
I thought it only fair to remark that the situation had changed during the
progress of the war itself, and that sentiments had been aroused which, a decade ago,
had not existed.
Nevertheless, the Greek Prime Minister pooh-poohed the idea that any serious
trouble could possibly arise from the expulsion of the lurk, and he argued that the
war would be thrown away if the opportunity was lost to get rid of this running sore.
In his view, another reason for the setting up of an international administration
in Constantinople was that this was the only form of Government which could
successfully withstand, at some future date, the ambitions of a resuscitated Russia. If
either the British or the French were to assume the mandate, they would certainly find
themselves involved, some day or other, in a bitter conflict with the secular aspirations
of the Russian people. On the other hand, an international administration would be
in a position to resist Russian encroachment.
When I asked whether M. Yenizelos had considered the possibility of combining
with tlie institution of some such administration the retention of the bultan and his
court in Constantinople, he said that he had not the slightest objection to such a
solution. He thought the capital of Turkey ought to be removed to Brussa, on the
other side of the Straits ; but there was no reason why the Sultan should not retain
his palaces and buildings, and even reside from time to time in Constantinople, if he
cared to do so. It should be quite possible also to draw a ring round the principal