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Papers on British policy and the Arab movement [154v] (312/380)
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
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
8
the Ottoman Government declared, “ in accord with the representatives of the other
Powers,” that they maintained all the provisions of the Rhglement organique of the^
Lebanon, and ot the additional Act, of the 9th June, 1861. The text of the fteglement,
with certain modifications, was attached to the above protocol.
The lleglement defines the boundaries of the Lebanon vilayet, provides that it
shall be administered by a Christian Governor, calls into being an Administrative
Council, and lays down details of local government, justice, finance, and contributions to
the Ottoman Treasury.
Since the protocol to which this Reglement is attached is not a mere bipartite agree
ment between Great Britain and Turkey, it cannot be regarded as having simply lapsed
with the war. His Majesty’s Government are probably bound by it juridically as
regards, at any rate, the other parties to it who are at present their Allies, and morally
as regards the inhabitants of the Lebanon, in the sense that the specific rights of
autonomy secured to them under the Reglement ought not to suffer detriment through
the abolition of Ottoman suzerainty, but ought to be secured to them, if they so
desire, under whatever regime may be established in this and other adjoining terri
tories which Turkey will have to cede at the peace.
It may be noted that these obligations to the Lebanon might be incompatible
with the rights that have been accorded by His Majesty’s Government to France in
the Blue Area (see below), though this of course would depend upon the use France
3hcs> to make of them.
(6.) We are pledged to King Husein that Syria and Syrian Jezireh east and south
ot the boundary between the Blue Area and Area A shall be “ independent ” and
Arab,’’ so long as there is no detriment to the interests of France.
(c.) In that part of Syria which is covered by the Blue Area (be., in the Blue Area
south of the Alexandretta-Killis line) we have agreed that France shall establish such
direct or indirect administration or control as she desires and may think fit to arrange
with the Arab State or Confederation, and that she shall have political and economic
priority in Area A (which includes the whole of Syrian Jezireh and part of the Bedouin
country that depends on Syria).*
The French Government, on their part, are pledged to us to recognise and uphold
an independent Arab State or Confederation, under the suzerainty of an Arab chief, in
Area A ; not to cede their rights in the Blue Area to any third Power, except the Arab
State or Confederation, without the previous consent of Great Britain (JSo. 11, article 9);
and not to extend the Bagdad Railway southwards beyond Mosul, until a railway
connecting Bagdad with Aleppo, via the Euphrates Valley, has been completed.
Further, that, in the Blue Area and Area A, the existing Ottoman customs tariff is
to remain in force for twenty years, and that there are to be no internal customs barriers
between any of the “ coloured ” or lettered ” areas.
Moreover, the Trans-Jordan country, and part of the Bedouin country that depends
on Syria (that is, the districts along the Hejaz Railway from Deraa to Maan, and the
Ruweilah-Anazeh country round the Wady Sirhan), are included in Area B, in which
France has agreed that His Majesty’s Government shall have political and economic
priority, under the same conditions as France in Area A. Part of the Syrian Bedouin
country, again, lies south of Area B, and is presumably reckoned to the Arabian
Peninsula, in which the “ special political position ” of Great Britain has been recognised
by F ranee in subsequent discussions (see HI, 1 above).
Besides this, France has agreed (No. 11, article 5) that there shall be free railway
transit across the Blue Area from Alexandretta for British trade with Areas A and B
and the Red Area, and that His Majesty’s Government may carry a railway from Haifa
to Bagdad (see Palestine below) through Area A.
(d.) Our statement to the Syrian memorialists and our joint declaration with
France (No. 14) apply to the future of Syria as well as that of Mesopotamia (see above).
6. Palestine (west of Jordan).
(a.) We are pledged to King Husein that this territory shall be “Arab” and
“ independent.’’
(6.) France (No. 11, Article 4) and provisionally Italy (No. 12, Arjticle 4) have
“ accorded ” the ports of Akka and Haifa to Great Britain, but His Majesty’s Govern-
* That is, the countries of the Fedaan Anazeh (between Homs and the Euphrates), the Sibaa Anazeh
Oietween Damascus and Der-el-Zor), and a corner of the Wuld Ali and Ruweilah-Anazeh country, which is
mostly included in Area B and the Peninsula Area south of it.
About this item
- Content
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