Papers written by Curzon on the Near and Middle East [‎42r] (83/348)

[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty s Government.}
EASTERN, [March 13.]
CONFIDENTIAL. Section 1.
[E 1595/2/44] No. 1.
Earl Curzon to the Earl of Derby.
(No. 901.)
My Lord, Foreign Office, March 13, 1920.
I HE French Ambassador called upon me this morning with reference to the news
that had come from Syria as to the proclamation of the Emir Feisal as King of Syria
by a Congress assembled two or three days ago at Damascus.
As soon as information had reached us a few days ago of the impending assemblage
and probable action of this Congress, the French Government, represented by
M. Benbelot, and 1 had discussed the matter and had sent an agreed telegram to
Lord Allenby urging the Emir Feisal to take no action that might compromise the
proper settlement of the question, which was in the hands of the Conierence' now
sitting in London, and inviting him to return to Europe to state his case before the
only tribunal by whom the future of those territories could be determined.
It now appeared that this communication from us either was too late or had been
ignored.
M. Cambon read to me a telegram from General Gouraud describing an interview
with the Emir, in which the latter had warned him that the Congress had decided to
meet. Speaking from recollection, I think the message went further and intimated
that it had already been held, one result being the proclamation of the Emir as King
of Syria.
Our own information was more precise. I informed the French Ambassador that
we had heard yesterday evening that this self-constituted Congress, of the composition,
authority or credentials of which we knew nothing, had been held ; had nominated the
Emir Feisal, not only as King of Syria, but as King of Syria, Palestine and Mosul;
and, further, that it had also appointed his brother, the Emir Abdullah, King of
Mesopotamia.
These operations, we agreed, were an unwarranted and intolerable exercise of
authority by this unknown body in Damascus, and they compelled the French and
British Governments to act in complete unison, as they had hitherto done, to repudiate
the intentions of the Congress, and to reaffirm the position that the future of those
territories could be determined only by the Allied Powers now assembled in London,
in whose hands lay the construction of the Peace Treaty with Turkey and the
settlement of the future of the areas belonging to the old Turkish Empire which it
had been decided to sever therefrom.
The Ambassador, who had received instructions from M. Millerand, was anxious
that a further identical telegram should go out from the British Government to
Lord Allenby, and from his own Government to General Gouraud, indicating that we
were united in the matter; that we declined to recognise the authority of the
Damascus Congress ; that we regarded its proceedings as null and void ; and that we
could not allow the settlement to be taken out of our hands.
I said that, for my part, I was quite willing to send such a telegram, and I read to
the Ambassador, and handed to him, a form of words which he readily accepted, and
which it was agreed that I should send out in the course of the day to Lord Allenby,
indicating the point of view and intentions of His Majesty’s Government.
M. Cambon, for his part, undertook to telegraph this draft to M. Millerand at
once, and he assured me that M. Millerand would, in the course of the day, send
identical, or at any rate analogous, instructions to General Gouraud, the text of which
he would communicate to me.
So far, therefore, as our immediate action was concerned, the two Governments
were in complete agreement, and no point of immediate importance remained to be
discussed between us.
On the other hand, I said to the Ambassador that, while I thought it vital that
we should stand together, and that there should be no shred of discord between us, I
felt bound to take advantage of the opportunity to point out to him that the present
situation had arisen, not from any action on the part of the British Government, but
solely, so far as I could see, from the proceedings of the French Government and their
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