Abstract: This printed memorandum, by Joseph Austen Chamberlain, contains a report of a lecture 'Germany and the Middle East', by Dr Paul Rohrbach given at the Hamberg Volksheim which was printed in
Hamburger Fremdenblatt, 3 December 1915.The report discusses Rohrbach's opinions on the current situation in Europe and how Germany now had an advantage following the opening up of routes to the Middle East and the Suez Canal through the provision of railways and money to Turkey. The lecture also focused on Germany's need for raw materials, how access to the Middle East can provide them with oil, minerals, cotton and wheat, and the potential future economic benefits posed by the war-time alliance of Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria and Turkey. The lecture concludes with the suggestion that as Germany cannot compete with Britain in its Naval strength it could use the Suez Canal as a point of pressure to try to secure access to the sea and its own position in the heart of Europe.Physical description: Foliation: The foliation commences and concludes on folio 6, as it is part of a larger physical volume. These numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. An additional former foliation sequence is also present in the volume; these numbers are also written in pencil, are not circled, and can be found in the same position as the main sequence.
Abstract: Memorandum, written by Sir Frederic Arthur Hirtzel, dated 25 May 1916, examining the implications of war with Turkey on Great Britain particularly the importance to Germany of a Turco-Ottoman alliance and the integrity of the Ottoman Empire, and the corresponding importance of its dissolution to Great Britain.The memorandum discusses Germany's need for raw materials and its realisation that supplies from Asiatic Turkey may take years to establish; the German threat to the Suez Canal and the Dardanelles; the threat to India from Mesopotamia; the dangers of Pan-islamism; the potential risks of waging war on a Moslem [Muslim] power, particularly given British relations in the Persian Gulf; and the possible outcomes of the war with Germany and the likely position of Turkey in relation to them.Enclosed with the memorandum are two appendices:Appendix I: Extract from an article by Dr Hans Delbrück in the
Schwäbische Merkur17 May 1916, summarising the German ideal of 'weltpolitik' (world policy);Appendix II: Extract memorandum by Sir Mark Sykes on "The problem of the Near East", dated 20 June 1916.Sir Frederic Arthur Hirtzel is not named on the memorandum as its author, however IOR/L/PS/18/B234 refers to him as its author.Physical description: Foliation: The foliation for this description commences at folio 51 and terminates at folio 54, as it is part of a larger physical volume; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. An additional foliation sequence is also present in the volume; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled, and can be found in the same position as the main sequence.
Abstract: The file contains a printed copy of a booklet containing two agreements: I.
Agreement between the United Kingdom and Italy, consisting of a Protocol with Annexes and Exchanges of Notes; and II.
Bon Voisinage Agreement and Exchanges of Notes between the United Kingdom and Italy, agreed in Rome on 16 April 1938. The booklet is labelled Treaty Series No. 31 (1938), and published by His Majesty’s Stationery Office, London, 1938. A cover slip (folio 2) indicates that the booklet was sent by the Secretary of the Political Department in the India Office, and that copies were also sent to India, Bushire, Koweit [Kuwait], and Muscat.Annex 3 is the one most pertinent to British officials in the Gulf, in that it relates to certain areas of the Middle East, namely: Saudi Arabia and Yemen. It concerns an agreement not to interfere in each other’s affairs and possessions in the Red Sea; those islands in the Red Sea to which Turkey had renounced its rights to; and Britain’s Aden protectorate. Other regions and places covered by the annexes include: the Mediterranean, the Suez Canal, East Africa, and Lake Tsana [Tana] in Ethiopia. It also covers the exchange of military information between the two countries, the use of propaganda, and Italian assurances on Spain and her possessions.Physical description: Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover, and terminates at the inside back cover; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. An additional foliation sequence is also present in parallel between ff 2-3; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled, and can be found in the same position as the main sequence.The copy of the agreement included in the file (ff 4-23) has its own printed pagination system running from 3 (f 5) to 39 (f 23), and a contents page which refers to this pagination on the verso of folio 4.
Abstract: The file comprises copies of correspondence related to enquiries from British naval authorities in the Persian Gulf and Suez Canal, asking after the availability of various marine resources (motorised and sailing dhows, divers, barges) for procurement by the naval authorities for military means. The principal correspondents in the file are: the Political Agent at Bahrain (Major Reginald George Evelin William Alban); the Senior Naval Officer in the Persian Gulf (SNOPG: Commodore Cosmo Moray Graham); the Customs and Port Director at Bahrain (Claud Cranbrook Lewis DeGrenier).The file includes:an enquiry made in February 1941 by the SNOPG as to whether the Ruler of Dubai would be prepared to sell or lease his motor launch; with a reply in June 1941 that the launch can be brought for 30,000 rupees, but is not for hire (ff 2-4, f 19-20);an enquiry made in March 1941 by the SNOPG to the Political Agents in the Persian Gulf, as to the availability of large ocean-going dhows (over one-hundred tons), urgently required for use in the Suez Canal. Correspondence includes the Political Agent in Bahrain’s enquiry to the Port Director at Bahrain, and his replies, which included a list of sailing dhows at Bahrain (not included in the file) and his recommendation that laid-up dhows at Bahrain be purchased and refurbished by the Admiralty (ff 6-8, ff 10-12, ff 15-18);a request, forwarded by the SNOPG from the Senior British Naval Officer (SBNO) Suez Canal, dated 9 March 1941, for native divers to work in the Suez Canal, searching for mines (ff 13-14);proposals made by the Political Agent at Bahrain, and sanctioned by the Political Resident, of a mine-watching organisation at the Sitrah anchorage in Bahrain, entailing the stationing of a company of Indian State troops (ff 26-30);an enquiry made in December 1941, forwarded from Britain’s Ambassador at Cairo, for bulk oil barges available for sale, with details of price, capacity and draught, for use in the Suez Canal. Replies from representatives of the Bahrain Petroleum Company (BAPCO) and the California-Arabian Standard Oil Company (CASOC) state that no such barges can be spared (ff 33-35).Physical description: Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 41; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. An additional foliation sequence is present in parallel between ff 2-38; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled, and are located in the same position as the main sequence.
Abstract: The file contains correspondence, memoranda, reports, and newspaper cuttings relating to the political situation in Egypt. The memoranda are written by officials at the War Office, Admiralty, Colonial Office, and Foreign Office and mostly concern military policy in Egypt and the defence of the Suez Canal. The Annual Report on Egypt for the year 1921, written by Field Marshall Edmund Henry Hynman Allenby, High Commissioner of Egypt, is also included. The report covers matters such as politics, finance, agriculture, public works, education, justice, and communications. Some correspondence from Ernest Scott, Acting High Commissioner in Egypt, to Lord Curzon can also be found within the file.Physical description: Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the first folio with 1, and terminates at the last folio with 88; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. An additional foliation sequence is present in parallel between ff 1-88; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled.Pagination: the file also contains an original printed pagination sequence.
Abstract: Enclosures to a despatch from the Government of Bombay Secret Department to the Secret Committee, Number 19 of 1846, dated 14 February 1846. The enclosures are dated and contain correspondence (in English and French) relating to transactions between East India Company authorities in Ottoman Egypt and the Bombay Steam Fund Committee, regarding leased accommodation and stabling for British passengers alighting along the desert banks of the Suez Canal. This item commences with an abstract of contents (folios 1-2).Physical description: 1 item (15 folios)
Abstract: Enclosures to a despatch from the Government of Bombay Secret Department to the Secret Committee, Number 30 of 1846, dated 14 March 1846. The enclosures are dated and contain correspondence relating to leased accommodation and stabling for British passengers alighting along the desert banks of the Suez Canal. This item commences with an abstract of contents (folio 320). Correspondence from the Secretary of the Committee of the Bombay Steam Fund addressed to the Government of Bombay.Physical description: 1 item (5 folios)
Abstract: This file consists of letters and telegrams between officials of the Foreign Office and the Commonwealth Relations Office, regarding the status of the Sinai Peninsula, following a letter from Wilfred Jennings Bramly. Jennings Bramly proposes establishing a permanent post in south Sinai, with a view to establishing British influence on the east side of the Suez Canal, in order to protect traffic passing through it to India and the Eastern territories. The file includes a report on the Sinai Question written by J Mervyn Jones on 8 July 1947.The file includes a divider which gives the subject number, the year the subject file was opened, the subject heading, and a list of correspondence references by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 10, these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.
Abstract: This item consists of copies of a General Despatch from the Government of India Foreign Department to the Secretary of State for India, dated 24 January 1873 and received by the India Office Political Department on 17 July 1873, forwarding a copy of a letter from HM Consul-General at Odessa, regarding the trade which has sprung up between India and Odessa consequent on the opening of the Suez Canal, and stating that Mr Abbott has been thanked for his Report, and told that any information which he may be able to send on the subject from time to time will be highly appreciated.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description (used for referencing) commences at f 182, and terminates at f 188, as it is part of a larger physical volume; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. The sequence contains one foliation anomaly: f 182a.
Abstract: The file comprises telegrams, despatches, correspondence and government printed papers. On the front of the file is written in red ink 'Secret Cupboard'.The correspondence concerns the general situation in Egypt in the periods 1931-1937 and 1945-1947. Correspondence also discusses the issues relating to the negotiation and conclusion of the Anglo-Egyptian Treaty 1936, including:negotiating pointsconcessionscapability of the Egyptian armylocation of British military facilitiesthe significance of the Suez Canal as an 'artery of communication' for the British empireThe main correspondents include: the Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs; the Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Australia; the Minister of External Affairs, Union of South Africa; and HBM High Commissioner to Egypt and the Sudan (Sir Miles Lampson).The file includes a divider which gives a list of correspondence references contained in the file by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the last folio with 246; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.