Number of results to display per page
Search Results
25. 'Mosul Question, Lausanne 1922-1923 and after - Papers, despatches, speeches - Hotel de la Mer at Lausanne - Correspondence about oil'
- Description:
- Abstract: Letters and papers on the frontier between Iraq (also written as Irak in the file) and Turkey, with particular reference to Mosul and questions concerning oil. The file consists mainly of correspondence between Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs George Curzon, and officials in the Foreign Office, Air Ministry, Colonial Office and Ismet Pasha [Mustafa İsmet İnönü]. The contents of the file are as follows:Sir John Evelyn Shuckburgh to Curzon (15 November 1922). Letter enclosing paper setting out main arguments against evacuating IraqEric Graham Forbes Adam for Curzon (3 December 1922). Interview with Mukhtar Bey [Mukhtār Beg]; submission of draft telegrams to Foreign OfficeSir William Tyrrell to Foreign Office (Memo, 3 December 1922, circulated to the Cabinet); interview with Ismet Pasha, 28 November 1922Air Staff for Cabinet (5 December 1922). Note: on Sir John Salmond’s proposal for a Forward Policy in the event of Turkish invasion of Iraq or a Resumption of Hostilities with Turkey, 4 December 1922Curzon to Foreign Office (6 December 1922). Telegram, 5 December 1922Middle East Department (7 December 1922). Note: Mosul – on above telegramForeign Office to Curzon (8 December 1922). Telegram: MosulCurzon to Ismet Pasha (14 December 1922). Letter: enclosing Memo on Mosul Vilayet: reasons for refusing Turkish claimCurzon for Cabinet (26 December 1922). Curzon for Cabinet. Memo presented to Ismet Pasha on Mosul, 14 December 1922Curzon to Cabinet (27 December 1922). Letter: Ismet Pasha to Curzon enclosing reply to British memo, 23 December 1922Curzon for Cabinet (28 December 1922). Letter: Ismet Pasha enclosing counter reply, 26 December 1922Ismet Pasha (29 December 1922). Letter with annexed MemoCurzon for Cabinet (1 January 1923). Letter Ismet Pasha to CurzonSir Percy Cox to Colonial Office (30 December 1922)Sir Philip Lloyd-Greame to Sir Sydney Chapman (1 January 1923). Letter: possibility of settlement on basis of oil concessions to Turks and ItaliansEric Graham Forbes Adam for Curzon (4 January 1923). Memo: conversation with Reader William Bullard and three Turkish expertsSir E Crowe to Curzon (3 January 1923). Telegram: from Colonial Office: oilMr Lyndsay to Curzon (4 January 1923). Telegram: paraphrase of Colonial Office telegram to Bagdad [Baghdad], 2 JanuaryCurzon to Colonial Office (5 January 1923). Telegram: oilSir Ronald William Graham to Curzon (8 January 1923). Letter: (printed for Cabinet) to Curzon: Italian pressReader William Bullard to Curzon (9 January 1923). Note: MosulSir Auckland Geddes (12 January 1923) Telegram: American attitudeNotes by Curzon (16 January 1923). Handwritten: visit of Aga Petros to Ismet PashaShuckburgh to Forbes Adam (18 January 1923). Letter enclosing draft of telegram to CurzonForbes Adam for Curzon (18 January 1923). Note attaching statement of the history and position with regard to the Mandates in Syria and Iraq and the question of frontiersBritish Case for Northern Frontier of Iraq with Map (19 January 1923). Folder containing notes ‘mostly taken from the memoranda which you (i.e. Curzon) exchanged with Ismet Pasha’ – December 1922Forbes Adam for Curzon (20 January 1923). Note: Plebiscite and MosulForbes Adam for Curzon: ‘Note attaching detailed minute as to the oil in Iraq and the history and present position of the claim of the Turkish Petroleum Company’Mr Childs's Statement for the American representatives (23 January 1923)Daily Telegraphcutting on League of Nations and Mosul Problem (27 January 1923)Curzon for Cabinet (26 January 1923). Speech: reply to Ismet Pasha respecting Mosul, 23 January 1923Secretary of State for Colonies to Acting High Commissioner for Iraq (26 January 1923). Paraphrase: telegram: British proposal that question of Northern Frontier of Iraq should be referred to the League of NationsHigh Commissioner, Bagdad to Lord Crew (29 January 1923) Telegram: Enclosing telegram from Iraq Government to Lord Balfour for communication to League of NationsLord Crewe to Curzon (31 January 1923). Telegram: Iraq frontierTelegram to Ankara signed by Ismet Hassan [‘Iṣmat Ḥasan] and Rozor Nur [Riḍa Nūr]Oil engineering and finance (17 February 1923). Article: The Mesopotamian OilfieldsThe Graphic(17 February 1923). Article: The Mystic City of MosulColonel Francis Richard Maunsell for Cabinet (24 September 1923). Notes on the Mosul frontier questionSir James Edward Masterton-Smith to Foreign Office (3 November 1923). Printed for the information of Curzon, copy of a despatch from the High Commissioner for Iraq, on the subject of the delimitation of the Turco-Irak frontier.Following documents are undated:Lord Balfour to League of Nations. Speech: The frontier between Turkish territory and the territory of IraqThe President of the League of Nations. Reply: after Speech by BalfourTypewritten report: The question of MosulTypewritten report: The Question of MosulThe file also includes handwritten notes by Curzon on the Mosul vilayet and groups residing there.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 251; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.
26. 'Mesopotamia: boundaries and disturbances: Pt 2'
- Description:
- Abstract: Correspondence consists of telegrams and memoranda relating to boundaries and disturbance in Mesopotamia. Specific topics discussed include: military units deployed; actions of insurgents such as telegraph wires cut and telegraph poles removed; contacts with besieged garrisons.Correspondence also discusses use of aeroplanes to target insurgents in, for example, Samawah [As-Samāwah] and retaliation of tribes on two pilots forced to land (folio 56); also covered are experimental designs for a tank suitable for desert conditions (folio 119).The file includes two printed reports:'Mesopotamia: Preliminary Report on Causes of Unrest. Report No. II' (ff 41-45), prepared by Major Bray, Special Intelligence Officer, Mesopotamia'Mesopotamia: Causes of Unrest. Report No. II' (ff 12-20), prepared by Major Bray, Special Intelligence Officer, Mesopotamia.Correspondents include GHQ Mesopotamia; the War Office, London; the High Commissioner for Iraq; and the Special Intelligence Officer, Mesopotamia.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 224; 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 between ff 3-223; these numbers are written in coloured crayon.
27. Papers of the Mesopotamian Administration (later Middle East) Committee
- Description:
- Abstract: This file mostly consists of minutes of meetings of the War Cabinet's Mesopotamian Administration Committee (later renamed the Middle East Committee), chaired by George Curzon.The papers are chiefly concerned with current and future British policy in Mesopotamia, which during the period covered was under British military occupation. However, the minutes also discuss matters relating to the wider Middle Eastern region, as reflected in the change of name to Middle East Committee in August 1917.In addition to minutes, the file includes the following: a draft report by the committee, dated March 1917, containing recommendations regarding future British policy in Mesopotamia and the wider region (ff 1-2); a letter to George Curzon from Lieutenant-Colonel Mark Sykes, dated 2 July 1917, recommending that the committee be renamed, in order to define its scope and work (ff 24-25).Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the first folio with 1, and terminates at the last folio with 39; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.
28. The Anglo-Persian War: Anglo-Persian Relations
- Description:
- Abstract: This item comprises one enclosure to a despatch from the Government of Bombay [Mumbai] Secret Department to the Secret Committee [Bombay Secret Letter], No. 15 dated 27 January 1857. The enclosure is dated 27 January 1857.The enclosure comprises despatches, dated 9-23 December 1856, of Charles A Murray, HM Envoy in Persia [Iran] (located in Baghdad at this time), for the attention of the Earl of Clarendon, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs. A number of Murray’s despatches enclose translated extracts of the Tehran Gazette, 6 and 27 November, which Murray summarizes and provides his opinion on in his covering letters to Clarendon.The papers notably cover the following matters:The capture and occupation of Herat by Persian forces, including the Persian Government’s claims to have been preventing Dost Mahomed Khan [Dūst Muḥammad Khān Bārakzay] from taking the city in collusion with Colonel Esau Khan [Colonel ‘Īsá Khān, an Alakuzā'ī chief of Herat and nephew of Dost Mahomed], and proposing to give up Herat on condition that the three principalities – Candahar [Kandahar], Afghanistan and Herat - remain independent of each other and subservient to PersiaThe extensive power and ‘nepotism’ of the Persian Sedr Azim [Mīrzā Āqā Khān Nūrī, Ṣadr-i Aʿẓam, Eʿtemād al-Dawlah], including the appointment of his ‘21 or 22 years of age’ son as Persian Minister at War (ff 245-246)The lavish welcome receptions granted to the French minister Prosper Bourée at Tabreez [Tabriz], and to Count Arthur de Gobineau, French Chargé d’Affaires at TehranThe withdrawal from Persia of the British Consul in Tehran, Richard White Stevens, and Persian allegations of Stevens’s ‘duplicitous’ departure and the debts owed to Persian citizens by his brotherIntelligence forwarded by Murray from reports of unverified conversations of the Persian Consul in Baghdad, including claims that the Persian Government is sending large reinforcements to Mohamrah [Khorramshahr, formerly Mohammerah] and to Herat (to facilitate a march on Candahar), and claims that an agent of Russia is being sent to HeratA pro-Persian story published in a Belgian newspaper alleging that the Persian Government desires friendship with the British Government, and blaming the deterioration of relations between the two governments on the actions of British representatives in the region.Physical description: 1 item (26 folios)
29. File 1913/1920 'Mesopotamia and Palestine: rent of billets in occupation of military; liability of Mesopotamian state for cost of military forces'
- Description:
- Abstract: The item contains correspondence regarding the use of billets by British military forces and civil officials in Mesopotamia [Iraq] in the years following the end of the First World War. Topics discussed include:Efforts to vacate and release as many billets as possible as a way to appease anti-British feelings in MesopotamiaCriticism of the perceived inappropriate use of some billets, including those used as a bar, a cinema, a cooking school, and to house a visiting theatre companyConsideration of the methods used to determine the rent payable for property being used as billetsConsideration of the legal standing of billets, particularly after ratification of the peace treaty between the Ottoman Empire and the Allies [Treaty of Sèvres]Disagreements over whether the cost of billets in Mesopotamia should ultimately be covered by the India Office or the War Office.The primary correspondents are: the Civil Commissioner, Mesopotamia; General Headquarters, Mesopotamia; the Military Governor and Political Officer, Basrah [Basra]; the Judicial Secretary, Baghdad; the Foreign Office; the India Office; the War Office; and the High Commissioner, Palestine.The volume 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 first folio with 1 and terminates at the last folio with 126; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. The foliation sequence does not include the front and back covers, nor does it include the leading and ending flyleaves.
30. File 3467/1919 'MESOPOTAMIA POLICE REPORTS'
- Description:
- Abstract: The volume contains weekly police reports from the Assistant Commissioner of Police, Baghdad, covering events in Iraq [sometimes referred to in the volume as Mesopotamia] under British occupation in 1919-20, including during the Iraqi Revolt. The reports contain intelligence about the movements and activities of various individuals and groups known or believed to be opposed to the British occupation, and about opinions, rumours and activities among the general populace. They also contain copies of newspaper reports, pamphlets and posters covering the occupation, the Revolt and Iraqi independence.The reports are primarily focused on supporters of Iraqi independence and general anti-British feeling and activities. They also cover:Support for a united Arab state including Iraq, Syria, Palestine and Lebanon, and support for the same also including the Hejaz and YemenSupport for Iraq to return to Ottoman ruleActivities of Bolsheviks [Communists, also referred to as Bolshevists in the volume] in IraqAnti-British and pro-independence alliances between Shia and Sunni Muslims, and between Muslims, Christians and JewsReactions to the San Remo Conference, 19-26 April 1920, which determined League of Nations mandates over Iraq, Palestine and Syria.Much of the intelligence within the reports is unsubstantiated or based on rumour, and the volume also contains correspondence concerning the potential usefulness of the reports.As well as the Assistant Commissioner, the primary correspondents are: the Civil Commissioner, Mesopotamia; the Military Governor of Baghdad; the Foreign Office; and the India Office.The volume contains a single folio in Arabic, a poem by Ma’ruf al Risari [Maruf al Rusafi] (f 175).The volume 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 first folio with 1 and terminates at the last folio with 637; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. Multiple intermittent additional mixed foliation/pagination sequences are also present. The foliation sequence does not include the front and back covers, nor does it include the leading and ending flyleaves.
31. File 3540/1916 'MESOPOTAMIA 1919 PORTION (1)'
- Description:
- Abstract: This volume consists of printed reports, typed letters and other miscellaneous correspondence by British officials relating to the British occupation of Mesopotamia [Iraq] in the period February 1916 to August 1919 covering topics such as criminal procedure regulations, proclamations and notices, and financial department circulars. The papers notably cover and include the following:Agricultural developmentReports of political officersReports on some of the tribes in Arab and Kurdish areas of Mesopotamia.Notable items include the following:‘Baghdad Criminal Procedure Regulations’, a law promulgated by William Rayne Marshall, Commanding-in-Chief, Mesopotamian Expeditionary Force (ff 692-722)‘NOTE ON LAND LAW’ by H F Forbes, President, Baghdad Civil Court, (ff 689-690)‘Civil Department Orders’ issued by the Mesopotamia Expeditionary Force (ff 487-501)Guidance on the transliteration of Arabic into English (ff 475-477)Notes on kelek, a form of river transport (ff 469-474)Report on an expedition from Hamadan to Kavind [Qazvin] via Sennah [Sanandaj] by Gertrude Margaret Lowthian Bell‘Notification on the taking and reproduction of photographs, 1917-1918’, comprising rules on the restrictions relating to the taking and reproducing of photographs. Issued by Arnold Talbot Wilson, Officiating Civil Commissioner (ff 452-453)‘NOTE ON WHEAT EXPERIMENTS, MESOPOTAMIA, 1917-1918’ by Colin Campbell Garbett. Printed report on wheat experiments conducted in Mesopotamia with foreword by G Evans, Director of Agriculture, Mesopotamia Expeditionary Force (ff 419-429)A letter from the Director of the Arab Bureau, Cairo, forwarding three copies of Southern Nejd: journey to Kharj, Aflaj, Sulaiyyil, and Wadi Dawasir in 1918by Harry St John Bridger Philby (copies not included in volume) (f 328)Monthly reports of Political Officers, Baghdad Vilayet, November 1918 (ff 251-297)‘Proclamations and notices relating to the civil administration and inhabitants of the Baghdad Vilayet, 22 December 1916 to 1 July 1918’, compiled by the Office of the Civil CommissionerPolitical Office Diaries, July-August 1918 covering Badra [Badra], Hai [Al Hay], Kut [Al-Kut], Zobair [Az Zubayr], Suq esh-Sheyukh [Suq Al-Shuyukh], Nasiriyeh [Nasiriya], Shattra [Al-Shatra], Qilat Sikar [Qalat Sukkar] (ff 92-297)‘Administration Report on the Muntafik [Muntafiq] Division for 1918’ by Major Harold Richard Patrick Dickson (ff 93-244).Correspondents include: Chief of the General Staff, Mesopotamian Expeditionary Force; Office of the Civil Commissioner, Baghdad; Officiating Civil Commissioner (Arnold Talbot Wilson); Officer In Charge, Iraq Section, Arab Bureau (Gertrude Margaret Lowthian Bell); Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, London; Foreign Secretary to the Government of India in the Foreign and Political Department, Delhi; Political Secretary, India Office, London.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the first folio with 1, and terminates at the last folio with 741; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.
32. Ext 5000/41(2) 'Persia: general affairs, situation, etc, after the Allied occupation'
- Description:
- Abstract: The volume comprises telegrams, despatches, correspondence, memoranda, and notes, relating to the occupation of Iran following the British-Soviet invasion 25 August 1941.The discussion in the volume includes:consideration given to a restoration of the Qajar dynasty and possible candidates for the position of Shah (folio 297)the necessity of controlling Persia due to its vital importance for the defence of the Middle East and Indiathe vital importance of keeping German forces out of Persia which would threaten Indiaconcerns about Germans established in key posts throughout the countrythe logistics and specific measures relating to the expulsion or internment of German advisors to the ShahThe volume includes the minutes (ff 93-95) of a meeting of the War Committee chaired by the Prime Minister (Sir Winston Churchill) and the policy agreed to accept the Persian offer to intern the Germans if implemented promptly.The principal correspondents in the volume include the Viceroy; Secretary of State for India; the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (Anthony Eden); the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf; the War Cabinet; and HM Ambassador to Russia (Sir Stafford Cripps) .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 297; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.
33. Ext 5661/41 'Propaganda in Persia – economic incl. H.M.G.'s influence over Govt. formed in 1941.'
- Description:
- Abstract: This file relates to British propaganda (in the form of food packages, radio broadcasts and literature) in Persia [Iran] during the first few months of the British and Russian occupation of the country. It contains correspondence discussing the internal affairs of Persia from a British perspective, as relayed to the Foreign Office by His Majesty's Ambassador in Tehran (Sir Reader William Bullard). Other prominent correspondents include the Secretary of State for India (Leo Amery) and officials of the Foreign Office and the Government of India's External Affairs Department.Matters discussed include the following:Political affairs in Persia, including appointments, resignations, and Cabinet reshuffles.Food shortages in Persia and a proposed 'propaganda scheme', whereby the Government of India would supply Persia with around one ton of sugar, from which small boxes of sugar would be distributed to the poor.The administration of the ex-Shah's [Reza Shah Pahlavi] estates.Proposed subjects for British and Government of India propaganda directed towards Persia, such as the position of the new Shah and the benefits of abolishing conscription.Bullard's proposal that food packages sent to Persia by the British should include the statement '[s]upplied by the British Empire'.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 (folio 1).Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 71; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.
34. A Letter from Louis Mallet, India Office, to the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, regarding the Italian Occupation of Assab Bay
- Description:
- Abstract: A letter about the Italian occupation of Assab Bay, in which the author, Louis Mallet, India Office, suggests that a response to the Italian Ambassador be phrased only in general terms, as historical precedents have rendered the British position ambiguous. The author goes on to suggest that the British Government should now be content to let the matter rest.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description commences and terminates at folio 24, as it is part of a larger 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 present in parallel; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled.
35. PZ 2068/1941(2) 'IRAQ. Rebellion in: - 1941.'
- Description:
- Abstract: The file comprises telegrams, despatches, correspondence, memoranda, and notes, relating to the rebellion in Iraq 1941.The discussion in the file concerns measures to restore public order in Iraq following the British military occupation of the country which was instigated after a coup d'état by Rashid Ali Al-Gaylani in April 1941. It covers the following:further discussion surrounding the Kurdish rebel leader Shaikh Mahmoudsupport for the restored Iraqi government to enforce public ordermeasures to purge the Iraqi civil service of officials sympathetic to Rashid Ali Al-Gaylanijudicial process for the 'Golden Square' military officials who supported the coup d'etatIncluded in the file is a copy (folio 62) of a paper purporting to be the text of a secret treaty between Rashid Ali and the Axis powers.The principal correspondents in the volume include HM Ambassador to Iraq (Sir Kinahan Cornwallis) and HM Ambassador to the Republic of Turkey.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 main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 110; 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 80-83; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled
36. PZ 236/41 'Disturbances on the Trucial Coast.'
- Description:
- Abstract: The file contains correspondence from Major Tom Hickinbotham, Political Agent and HM Consul, Muscat, to Lieutenant Colonel Charles Geoffrey Prior, Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, which is forwarded to the Secretary of State for India.The correspondence relates that, on the pretext that certain of his adherents had been murdered, Mohammad bin Abdullah al Khalili, Imam of Inner Oman, had taken control of the fort at Ibri in the Dhahirah, formerly in the hands of the Sultan of Muscat and Oman. It is suggested that a more likely motivation for this action was to take control of the area in which Petroleum Concessions Ltd had been most interested.The Political Resident in the Gulf suggests that it would be a set-back for British interests if the Sultan were to lose ground in this area, and after a number of letters providing updates of the situation the correspondence ends with a letter from Major Hickinbotham informing that Saiyid Shahab bin Faisal, Regent and Minister for External Affairs, Muscat, had been contacted by Ali bin Said of Ainane, offering surrender of the strategically-important fort at Ainane to the Sultan on terms, in consequence of pressure from the Imam. The Regent proposed to discuss terms, an action which gained Major Hickinbotham's approval.The file includes a divider which gives a list of correspondence references contained in the file by year. This is placed at the front of the correspondence.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at the front cover with 1 and terminates at the inside back cover with 26; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located at the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.