Papers on British policy and the Arab movement [‎153r] (309/380)

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v HI.— Commitments in the different Arab Countries (including Kurdistan).
1. The Arabian Peninsula, excluding the Hejaz.
(a.) We have treaties with the independent rulers enumerated above (Part I,
section 4), the standard of which has been set by the series concluded in the years 1820,
1839, 1853, and 1892 with the “ Trucial Chiefs ” of the Oman coast.
The fundamental points in a “ trucial treaty ” are the following :—
(1.) The native Governments agree to keep the peace, and to refer their disputes with one another
to the arbitration of His Majesty’s Government.
(2.) His Majesty’s Government undertake to arbitrate, to enforce their awards, and to watch over
the peace.
(3.) The native Governments undertake to abstain from relations with outside Powers other than
Great Britain, and not to receive representatives of such Powers without His Majesty’s Government’s
consent; further, that they will not alienate or lease territory to any outside Power except Great
Britain, nor grant concessions to any foreigners except British subjects.
(4.) His Majesty’s Government undertake to ptotect the native Governments against unprovoked
aggression by outside Powers.
It may be noted that it has been the practice of His Majesty’s Government to limit their
obligations to the keeping of the peace and defence against unprovoked aggression at sea, but that this
limitation has not been specified in the treaty concluded during the war with Bin Saud (No. 10).
This is an important departure from precedent.
Our treaty with the Idrisi (No. 8) is much looser than the “ trucial ” kind. We also made an
agreement in 1915 with the Sheikh of Mavia, who rules a district of great strategical importance
immediately beyond the frontier of the Aden Protectorate, but it has become void through his siding
with the Turks. We have no commitments to Imam Yahya of Sanaa (Yemen), or to Bin Kashid,
Amir of Jebel Shammar; and Bin Rashid’s recent act in acknowledging the overlordship of
King Husein probably precludes the establishment of direct relations hereafter between him and
His Majesty’s Government.
(b.) We have pledged ourselves to King Husein (No. 9) that the whole mainland
of the peninsula with the exception of the Aden Protectorate (within its pre-war
limits) shall be “ independent ” and “ Arab ” ; in other words, we have pledged ourselves
to the expulsion of the Turks, but in other respects to the status quo. We have
declared further, in a Foreign Office statement dated the 11th June, 1918, in reply to
a memorial from Syrians resident in Egypt, that, “ in regard to areas in Arabia which
were free and independent before the outbreak of war, and areas emancipated from
Turkish control by the action of the Arabs themselves during the present war. His
Majesty’s Government recognise the complete and sovereign independence of the Arabs
inhabiting these areas, and support them in their struggle for freedom.”
(c.) We are pledged to France and provisionally to Italy, and they to us (No. 11,
article 10, and No. 12, article 7), that we “will not ourselves acquire and will not
consent to a third Power acquiring territorial possessions in the Arabian Peninsula,
nor consent to a third Power installing a naval base either on the east coast, or on the
islands, of the Red Sea. This, however, shall not prevent such adjustment of the Aden
frontier as may be necessary in consequence of recent Turkish aggression.
In subsequent discussions the French Government have recognised that Great Britain has
“ special political interests ” in the Arabian Peninsula.
The three Powers are also pledged to consider measures regarding the arms traffic. No definite
arrangement has yet been agreed upon, but there have been discussions between French and British
representatives, in which the French proposed to leave it to the discretion of His Majesty’s Government
to take the necessary steps for stopping “ any trade capable of fomenting disturbances, such as the
arms trade, slave trade, &c.,” in the Arabian Peninsula.
2. The Hejaz.
The Hejaz is covered by our general commitments to France, Italy, King Husein,
and the Syrian memorialists regarding the independence of the Arabian Peninsula (see
above), and we were pledged specifically that the Holy Places, including Jeddah, should
be immune from attack during the war (No. 4).
We have also recognised Husein as an independent ruler with the style and title
of “ His Lordship the King of the Hejaz.”
Husein, on his part, has never accepted this title, and regards himself as “ His
Majesty the King of the Arabs ’ (the style and title under which he was crowned at
Mecca in 1916). Our understanding with him, in his capacity of local ruler, amounts
to little more than a recognition of independenc and a provisional arrangement for the
joint conduct of the war.