Abstract: This file relates to two War Cabinet committees: the Middle East Committee (originally named the Mesopotamian Administration Committee), and the Eastern Committee, both chaired by George Curzon.The first half of the file consists almost entirely of printed minutes of meetings of the Middle East Committee, dated 19 January, 26 January, 2 February, and 18 February 1918 respectively (ff 2-9). The main topics of discussion in these minutes are British policy in Palestine and future British policy in Mesopotamia.The second half of the file contains correspondence received by Curzon regarding the workings of the Eastern Committee, which inherited the responsibilities of the Middle East Committee (ff 10-21). The correspondents are as follows: Maurice Pascal Alers Hankey, War Cabinet; Edwin Samuel Montagu, Secretary of State for India; Robert Cecil, Foreign Office. The letters discuss the dissemination of the committee's minutes among military representatives, the frequency and attendees of committee meetings, and whether the committee should be severed from the War Cabinet and absorbed by the Foreign Office's recently created Middle East Department. One letter touches on Anglo-Persian relations.Also included is a note by Curzon, dated 27 October 1918, regarding a memorandum from the advisory committee of the Foreign Office's Eastern Department (ff 17-18).Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the first folio with 1, and terminates at the final folio with 21; 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 volume contains correspondence, reports, telegrams and minutes regarding negotiations and administration, largely between the India Office, Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Percy Cox, and the Government of India, after the occupation of Baghdad (Fall of Baghdad) on 10 March 1917. The negotiations concern the administrative organisation and political control of Mesopotamia, as well as the external and internal boundaries of Iraq (also spelled Irak in the volume).Related matters of discussion include the following: the text of the Baghdad proclamation; the future administration of the territory by the Foreign Office instead of the Government of India; the regulation of the new territory; the responsibilities of the Chief Political Officer in the new territory; the Turco-Persian frontiers. The correspondence in the volume is internal correspondence between British officials. The principal correspondents are as follows: Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Percy Cox; Lieutenant-General Sir Stanley Maude; the War Office; the Secretary of State for India; the Political Department, India Office; the Under-Secretary of State for India; the Viceroy of India; the Government of India’s Foreign and Political Department; the Foreign Office; the Government of India.In addition to this correspondence, the volume contains reports of the War Cabinet's Mesopotamia Administration Committee, as well as the following documents: memoranda on external frontiers and internal boundaries of Iraq (ff 17-18) (ff 20-25); a map of Arabia and the Persian Gulf (f 28);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 front of the correspondence.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 197; 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 3-195; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled.