Papers on British policy and the Arab movement [‎151v] (306/380)

{A .)—Part One. Commitments.
It will be convenient to give, first, a schedule of the principal treaties, agreements,
and understandings in which these commitments are embodied, and then to analyse
their bearing both in general and in regard to different areas.
Under the Anglo-Turkish Conventions of the *29th July, 1913, and the
9th March, 1914, the Arabian Peninsula south and east of a line prolonging the frontier
of the Aden Protectorate north-eastward to latitude 20°, and thence running due north
to a point on the Arabian coast of the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. approximately south of Bahrein
Island, was recognised as a British sphere. Nearly all the independent Arab rulers in
this area had previously entered into permanent relations with His Majesty s
Government, and the remainder have done so subsequently. And since these relations
are altogether in the interests of Great Britain, and are most unlikely to be called in
question by any other Power, it seems superfluous to discuss them in this memorandum.
Our bipartite agreements with Turkey lapsed with the war, and bind neither her
nor us unless or until they are specifically renewed. Our agreements with Russia
regarding the war and the peace settlement lapsed either when there ceased to be a
Central Russian Government recognised by the Allies, or when the Bolshevik Govern
ment made peace with Germany. This leaves the following agreements to be taken
mto account:—
1. “ Reglement organique ” of the Lebanon vilayet, dated June 9, 1861.
2. “ Rkglement organique ” of the Lebanon vilayet, dated September 6, 1864.
3. Treaty of Berlin, dated July 13, 1878, article 61, relative to ameliorations and
reforms in the Ottoman provinces inhabited by Armenians.
4. Proclamation by the Government of India, dated November 2, 1914, regarding
the Moslem holy places. #
5. Assurance, dated November 3, 1914, made by the British Resident in the
Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. to the Sheikh of Koweit.
6. Assurance, dated November 22, 1914, made by the British Resident in the
Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. to the Sheikh of Mohammerah.f
7. Treaty, dated April 26, 1915, with Italy.
8. Treaty, dated April 30, 1915, and ratified November 6, 1915, with the Idrisi
Sayyid of Sabia (see Political Intelligence Department, Foreign Office,
“Special” 4).
9. Understanding with King Husein of the Hejaz. (Not embodied in any single
instrument, but see Political Intelligence Department, Foreign Office,
“ Special ” 3.)
10. Treaty, dated December 26, 1915, and ratified July 18, 1916, with Abdul-Aziz
Bin Saud, Amir of Nejd and A1 Hasa.
11. Agreement, dated May 16, 1916, with France.
12. Agreement, dated August 18, 1917, with Italy.J
13. Letter, dated November 2, 1917, from Mr. Balfour to Lord Rothschild, regarding
Jewish Zionist aspirations.
14. Joint Declaration, dated Novemoer 9, 1918, by His Majesty’s Government and
the French Government regarding the future of Syria and Mesopotamia.
* A briefer version of this proclamation was circulated to the Gulf Chiefs on the 3rd November, 1914.
f This Arab ruler and his tribesmen are nominally Persian subjects and their country Persian territory,
and strictly therefore they fall outside the scope of the present memorandum. But the future of Mohammerah
is bound to be considered in relation to that of Mesopotamia and the Arabian Peninsula.
J This agreement was made (a) “ subject to the consent of Russia,” which has never been given ; and
(6) in pursuance of article 9 of the treaty of the 26th April, 1915 (No. 7 above), which makes it in effect
conditional upon the execution of the Anglo-French Agreement of the 16th May, 1916, and of the parallel
agreements (now void) which France and Great Britain made with Russia, this contingent character being
also expressly laid down in article 8 of No. 12.
Technically, therefore. No. 12 is invalid, but Great Britain and France are bound by No. 7 to take
Italian claims into consideration if they ultimately obtain advantages in the Middle East for themselves.
The full text of Article 9 of No. 7 will be found on p. 17 of the present memorandum.