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Papers on British policy and the Arab movement [97r] (197/380)
The record is made up of 1 file (187 folios). It was created in 1 Jul 1916-7 Dec 1918. It was written in English and French. 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 Docament is the Property of His Britannic Majesty^ GQvernaieflt]
EASTERN.
[November 5.]
CONFIDENTIAL.
Section 1 ,
[183342]
PAPERS RELATING TO KING RUSEIN’S VERSION OF HIS AGREEMENTS
WITH HIS MAJESTY’S GOVERNMENT.
(Secret.)
KING HUSEIN’S letter ot the 28th August, 1918, to Sir Reginald Wiugate
(Enclosure 1 in No. 1) has created a very serious situation.
The memorandum (Enclosure 2 in No. 1) which the King entitles a “ Translation
of the Agreement come to with the British Government regarding the (Arab) Rising
and its Foundation,” does not correspond to any document which has been assented to,
or even seen by, His Majesty’s Government. Our commitments to King Husein, unlike
those to the Idrisi and Bin Saud, were never embodied in a single statement signed by
both parties, but took the form of a correspondence between the King and Sir H.
McMahon, who was High Commissioner at Cairo at the time of these negotiations.
The commitments made in this correspondence on the part of His Majesty’s
Government are reviewed, together with those of later date, in a memorandum
(“Special,” 3) recently printed and circulated by the Political Intelligence Department
of the Foreign Office, which may be referred to here.
The version of these commitments set out in the King’s memorandum in no way
corresponds to the actual facts, but is simply a repetition, in more concise form, of the
demands originally made by the King when he opened negotiations in July 1915.
Some of these demands were accepted, and others rejected by His Majesty’s Govern
ment in the course of the negotiations.
It is not suggested that, in presenting this memorandum, the King is acting in bad
faith. Oriental diplomacy is seldom precise unless compelled to be so, and the method
by which the negotiations were conducted in 1915—6 left something to be desired in
this respect. It is more probable that the King genuinely believes his memorandum to
represent the sense of what was tacitly, if not explicitly, agreed to by His Majesty’s
Government, and there is little reason to doubt that he is in earnest in threatening to
abdicate, if his view of what was agreed upon is not adopted by us.
It must be noted that the first two documents printed here, with their enclosures,
were written before General Allenby's advance in Syria and the conclusion of an
armistice with Turkey. But No. 4 shows that the situation, as regards His Majesty’s
Government’s relations with King Husein, has been aggravated rather than relieved by
these events.
Eastern Department, Foreign Office, November 5, 1918.
No. 1.
Sir R. Wingate to Mr. Balfour.
(No. 219. Secret.)
Sir, t * Ramleh, September 21, 1918.
I HAVE the honour to forward herewith translation of a letter, dated at Mecca
on the 28th ultimo, and addressed to me by the King of the Hejaz. (Enclosure 1 in
No. 1.)
In this letter King Husein declares that the fundamental purpose of his movement
was to preserve the political state of Islam, which is threatened with decline by the
demolition of the Ottoman Empire; and that the justification of his revolt, and of His
Majesty’s Government’s support thereof, is contingent on the practical realisation of
this fundamental aim. In view of new circumstances and, he hints, of certain
disconcerting indications of a change^ policy, he deems it necessary to take stock of his
situation, and to ascertain precisely how far His Majesty’s Government still subscribe
to what he regards as the essential conditions of future success. To this end he sets
forth, in an enclosure with his letter (Enclosure 2 in No. 1), his conception of the terms
of his formal agreements with His Majesty’s Government; and affirms that any
[2837 e—1] B
About this item
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This file contains correspondence, memoranda, maps, manuscript notes, and other papers relating to the political and territorial settlement of parts of the Middle East following the First World War. Many of the papers were collected for the attention of the Middle East Committee (later named the Eastern Committee, following the mergence of the Foreign Office's Russia Committee and the interdepartmental Persia Committee) of the War Cabinet. Contributors include officials from the War Office, Foreign Office, Admiralty, and 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. , as well as indivduals such as Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas Edward Lawrence. Correspondence comes from representatives of the French and Italian governments as well as British officials in Cairo and other parts of the Middle East.
The papers deal with plans for the region presuming and following an Allied victory in the First World War and take into consideration the imperial ambitions of the victorious European Powers (France, Italy, Russia, Britain, and the United States) and the multitudinous commitments made by the British to various groups. The plans are based on evolving agreements rooted in the Sykes-Picot, or Asia Minor, Agreement between the British and French of 1916. Regions under consideration include the Hejaz (sometimes written Hedjaz), Syria, Northern Iraq, Southern Iraq, Palestine, Armenia, Turkey, the Idrisi state, Yemen, Persia, and Afghanistan. Various matters are covered in the file, but particular focus is given to plans for the Sherifian family of the Hejaz, led by King Husein [Ḥusayn bin ‘Alī al-Hāshimī], which impacted upon policy in Mesopotamia, Syria, Palestine, and the Arabian Peninsula. Other matters include the situation between Jews and Arabs in Palestine, wartime commitments to ruling shaikhs in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , the French position in the region, and desiderata of the Government of India for any peace settlement.
- Extent and format
- 1 file (187 folios)
- Arrangement
The file is arranged in chronological order from the front to the back.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front first page with 1, and terminates at the inside back last page with 187; 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 and French in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- Mss Eur F112/277
- Title
- Papers on British policy and the Arab movement
- Pages
- 1ar:1av, 1r:14r, 14r:14v, 14v, 22r:59v, 62r:98r, 99v:120v, 125r:133v, 136r:165r, 166r:167r, 167av, 168r:173r, 175r:176v, 178r:187v
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence