IOR/L/PS/11/142, P 5259/1918

Memorandum representing India’s peace desiderata from the Political Department 4 Dec 1918, with associated administrative notes.

The documents, in order of their appearance, include:

(1) Note dated 5 Dec 1918 from John Evelyn Shuckburgh noting the memo on India’s peace desiderata will be in the hands of British delegates at the Inter-Allied Conference.

(2) Note dated 11 Dec 1918 from Louis James Kershaw requesting John Evelyn Shuckburgh provides another copy of the memo for his own use.

(3) Note dated 26 Nov 1918 from John Evelyn Shuckburgh regarding progress on writing the memo, with annotations by Thomas William Holderness and Arthur Hirtzel.

(4) Note dated 7 Dec 1918 from John Evelyn Shuckburgh asking how to circulate the memo to the Imperial War Cabinet, with a reply by Cecil Hermann Kisch.

(5) Note dated 5 Dec 1918 from John Evelyn Shuckburgh offering the Secretary of State a copy of the memo, with a reply by Cecil Hermann Kisch suggesting it should also be circulated to the Imperial War Cabinet.

(6) Memo (14 pages) dated 4 Dec 1918 “Indian desiderata for peace settlement” by John Evelyn Shuckburgh of the Political Department, India Office. Sections of the memo are as follows:

• Part I. Disposal of conquered territories: Mesopotamia; German East Africa; Abu Musa.
• Part II. Arrangements with Allied Powers: French possessions in India; Portuguese possessions in India; Afghanistan and Tibet; Persia; Arabia; China and Japan; Arms traffic.

(7) Note dated 21 Oct 1918 from Thomas William Holderness on the War Cabinet’s discussion on the disposal of conquered territories and requesting John Evelyn Shuckburgh to prepare a memo on the subject “so far as it touches Indian interests”, with annotations by John Evelyn Shuckburgh.

(8) Note dated 12 Nov 1918 from Thomas William Holderness asking R.H.A. Carter to chase up sections of the memo from other departments, with a reply from R.H.A. Carter dated 14 Nov 1918.

(9) Typescript note dated 21 Oct 1918 from Thomas William Holderness outlining the requirements for the memo.

(10) Note dated 12 Nov 1918 from Arthur Hirtzel to Thomas William Holderness proposing an addition to a paragraph in Shuckburgh’s memo, with a reply from Holderness dated 16 Nov 1918 saying the additional paragraph would not improve the memo.

(11) Note dated 9 Nov 1918 from John Evelyn Shuckburgh to Arthur Hirtzel, agreeing to Hirtzel’s proposed new paragraph and saying the language has been toned down in other places in the memo.

(12) Note dated 6 Nov 1918 from Thomas William Holderness to Arthur Hirtzel asking for comments on Shuckburgh’s memo and saying the tone of the draft memo seems exaggerated.

(13) Typescript note dated 29 Oct 1918 from Herbert Vaughan Cox to John Evelyn Shuckburgh suggesting his memo should contain “a more distinct insistence upon our occupation of and grip upon the Basra Vilayat”.

(14) Memo (3 pages) dated 4 Nov 1918 from Louis James Kershaw: “Memorandum on the assistance rendered by India in supplying commodities necessary for the prosecution of the war”.