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1. ‘Policy in the Middle East. II. Select Reports and Telegrams from Sir Mark Sykes.’
- Description:
- Abstract: Secret report on British policy in the Middle East, divided into two sections (reports and telegrams) sent by Sir Mark Sykes during 1915, while on his tour of the Middle East, on behalf of the de Bunsen Committee.Report no. 4 (Secret), dated 12 June 1915 from Athens, reporting on an interview held with His Highness Sabah-ed-Din [Sabahaddin] (folio 107);Report no. 14 (Secret), dated 14 July 1915, from the Shepherds Hotel [sic] in Cairo, reporting on interviews held with the Sultan of Egypt [Hussein Kamel], Said Pasha Shucair, Dr Faris Nimr, editor of the Mokattam, M Bartevian, editor of the Houssaper, Mohid Din eh Kurdi of Al Azhar University, and the Pan-Arabist Reshid Rida. At the end of the letter are Sykes’s conclusions and proposals with regard to Syria, based on these interviews (folios 107-10);Report no. 17, dated 2 August 1915, from the Shepheard’s Hotel in Cairo. An analysis of intellectual currents evident in Islamic thought in the Near East. The report distinguishes between strands of ‘ancient’ and ‘modern’ thought, and further distinguishes different classes within each. The report is addressed at the end of the letter: Major-General EC Callwell, Director of Military Operations, War Office (folios 110-12);Report no. 19 (Secret), dated 10 August 1915, from Aden. Reporting on conversations held with Sa’ad P Zaglool [Saad Zaghloul], Shaykh Shakir, Secretary of the Al Azhar University, and the French-Dominican archaeologist Père [Antonin] Jaussen (folios 112-13);Telegram no. 18, dated 19 November 1915, to the Director of Military Operations, with recommendations on addressing the difficulties associated with a lack of confidence on the part of the Arab world in British power, and making arrangements with the Arab world that would be ‘inoffensive to French susceptibilities’;Telegram no. 19, dated 21 November, to the Director of Military Operations, discussing an interview with Faruki Bey, and proposals for possible Anglo-French territorial arrangements in the Middle East;Telegram no. 20, dated 21 November, to the Director of Military Operations, discussing in more detail the points raised in the previous telegram, on Anglo-French territorial arrangements in the Middle East;Telegram no. 21, undated, to the Director of Military Operations, on the possibility of a Turkish reoccupation of Syria, and the possibility of Germany and the Turkish Committee of Union and Progress coordinating a massacre of the Christian population in Syria;Telegram no. 22, dated 30 November 1914, to the Director of Military Operations, reporting on interviews held with Baird, Shaykh Mohidin Kurdi of the Azhar University, Faris Nirur, and the Sultan, and reiterating the threat posed by Turkish forces to the Christian population of Syria, should they reoccupy Syria.Physical description: Foliation: The foliation for this description commences at f 107, and terminates at f 115, 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 parallel between ff 107-115; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled, and won't be found in the same position as the main sequence.
2. ‘Policy in the Middle East. III. The Arab Movement.’
- Description:
- Abstract: Printed copy of a secret memorandum, dated 1915; a report by Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Mark Sykes, which is an overview of the human, religious and political dimensions of the Arab population in the Middle East. The report is divided into four sections, based on the four groups of Arab people identified by Sykes:The Arabs of Arabia, further subdivided into the Arabs of Hejaz, Nejd [Najd], the Gulf coast, Muscat, Yemen, and Hadhramaut [Ḥaḍramawt];The Arabs of Mesopotamia, further subdivided into five regions along the banks of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers;The Syrians, with brief explanation of the reasons underlying the complexity of the religious situation in Syria, including the historic interplay between Christians and Muslims, the French railways, Turkish influence;The Arabs of Northern Irak [Iraq] and Jazirah, divided into five main factors: Diarbekir-Urfa [Diyarbakır], North Jazirah, Mosul [Al-Mawṣil], Kerkuk [Kirkūk] and Baghdad.In his conclusion, Sykes lists the chief characteristics of the ‘Arab movement’, and in a final note, he draws attention to the contempt which Indians hold towards Arabs. The original memorandum included a map, with the regions populated by the four Arab groups indicated in green, yellow, red and blue.Physical description: Foliation: The foliation for this description commences at f 116, and terminates at f 118, 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 parallel between ff 116-118; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled, and won't be found in the same position as the main sequence.
3. ‘Policy in the Middle East. I. Memorandum by Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Mark Sykes.’
- Description:
- Abstract: Secret memorandum, prepared by Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Mark Sykes. The report is preceded by a letter from Sykes to Major-General Charles Edward Callwell, Director of Military Operations, War Office, London, dated 15 November 1915, which includes Sykes’s opinion on the occupation of Ahwaz, and an assessment of the Turkish forces outside Aden.The memorandum, dated 28 October 1915, is divided into the following sections:(i) military situation in Mesopotamia: the relative weakness of troop numbers in Mesopotamia; implications of taking and holding Baghdad; supply of gunboats and ammunition. The political situation in Mesopotamia: the opinions of the notables of Basra, and of the general population; future policy, particularly in relation to the connection between India and Mesopotamia; colonisation by Indians, and the risks associated with the ‘Indianisation’ of Mesopotamia;(ii) Indian Moslems [Muslims] and the War, including: Sykes’s assessment of the ‘extreme ignorance’ of Indian Muslims of Islamic theological doctrine; sympathy of Indian Muslims with the Turks and the Committee of Union and Progress; British educational policy towards Islam in India;(iii) General situation: the political situation in India, Persia, Egypt and Arabia, and three proposed lines of action in order to defeat the Ottoman Empire. Military situation, identifying the regions and fronts critical to the region. Final observation on ‘certain psychological idiosyncrasies’ of the Ottoman armies.Physical description: Foliation: The foliation for this description commences at f 100, and terminates at f 106, 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 parallel between ff 100-106; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled, and won't be found in the same position as the main sequence.