IOR/L/PS/10/686

The volume comprises memoranda, notes, telegrams, correspondence and minutes, relating to the British Government’s policy on the future administration of Mesopotamia [Iraq]. Selected papers of the War Cabinet’s Mesopotamia Administration Committee, and its successors the Middle East Committee and Eastern Committee, are contained in the volume.

The papers notably cover:

• Recommendations of the Mesopotamia Administration Committee, 21 Mar 1917, for the administration of the Basra and Baghdad [also spelled Bagdad in this volume] Vilayets, (respectively: direct rule; and an Arab state under an Arab ruler, in reality an ‘Arab façade’ or British protectorate in all but name), and views of the Government of India, HM Government and Major-General Sir Percy Cox, Civil Commissioner in Baghdad, including Cox’s suggestion that a Commission be sent out from England in Autumn 1917 to examine on the spot the potential administrative problems
• The Government’s decision to postpone sending a Commission to Mesopotamia, due to uncertainties engendered by the War, future political and military outcomes, and possible Peace terms (mainly in view of US President Woodrow Wilson’s powerful advocacy of the doctrine of ‘self-determination’)
• The recall of Cox to London in February 1918 and his proposal to the Eastern Committee, entitled ‘The Future of Mesopotamia’, 22 April 1918 (ff 102-112, 93-95 and 87-90), suggesting the precise form of administration, available resources, potential local candidates for the ‘Arab façade’ (notably King Hussein, [Hussein bin Ali, Sharif of Mecca, King of the Hejaz], or the Naqib of Baghdad), and the means of consolidating British commercial influence
• Decision by Captain Arnold Talbot Wilson, Civil Commissioner in Baghdad/Chief Political Officer, 15 September 1918, to amend policy and run both Basra and Baghdad Vilayets under one centralized, uniform administration directly from the Headquarters of the Civil Commissioner, Baghdad (f 62)
• Request by Wilson, 27 September 1918, for a small Commission to be sent out from England in October or November 1918 to discuss political and administrative questions, notably: the transfer from military to civil administration (f 60); the India Office’s endorsement of Wilson’s proposals (ff 58-59 and 51-52); and draft instructions to the Commission (ff 36-39)
• Agreement by the Foreign Office, Government of India and HM Government to postpone sending out a small Commission, pending the international Peace negotiations
• Wilson’s withdrawal of his request for a Commission following the Anglo-French Declaration of 8 November 1918 (Anglo-French Joint Statement of Aims in Syria and Mesopotamia - to encourage and assist in the establishment of government and administrations freely adopted by the native populations), citing lack of staff resources to guide a Commission now that they are diverted towards ‘ascertaining [the] trend of responsible indigenous opinion in Mosul, Southern Kurdistan, the Baghdad and Basra vilayats’ (f 15)
• Wilson's request, 19 July 1919, for an ‘officer of reputation and experience’ to be deputed from England to provide expert advice notably regarding financial matters (f 12), and discussion about sending Sir Walter Roper Lawrence.

The volume also includes some correspondence, May-August 1918, between George Louis Beer, Lionel Curtis and Sir Malcolm C C Seton, India Office, concerning Beer's views on the position of India toward Mesopotamia, potential Indian immigration to German East Africa and South Africa, and the potential ‘civilizing’ role of the United States (ff 63-83).

The principle correspondents are: staff of the India Office, notably John Evelyn Schuckburgh, Sir Arthur Hirtzel, Under-Secretary of State, Sir Thomas W Holderness, Permanent Under-Secretary of State, and Lord Islington [John Dickson-Poynder, 1st Baron Islington], Under-Secretary of State for India; Lord Robert Cecil, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs; Lord Curzon, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs; Percy Cox; and Arnold Wilson.