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Artifacts, Primary Source Documents, and other files.
World War 1 Source Documents
Source Documents. CAUTION: Potential for propaganda if not classified. Eurocentric bias.
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Minutes of the Middle East Committee (British) Summary for Information No. 1 Week Ending January 18th 1918. Meeting Minutes Dated January 19th 1918.
1. Organization of Palestine and Hejaz Political Machinery
2. Palestine Administration
3. The functions and status of the Zionist Commission and question of a Liaison Officer thereto.
4. Observations of difficulties in managing uneasiness in Palestine and Egypt due to Zionism.
5. Noted that Zionist Commission should be clearly under control of the British Military and Political leadership in the area.
6. "Political Officer" to be assigned to lead Zionist Commission who reports directly to General Clayton.
7. General Allenby had not yet been informed of the Zionist Commission.
8. Meeting between Balfour and Chaim Weizmann.
9. Discussion of telegram regarding Ibn Saud.
10. Proposed campaign north of Baghdad to capture Hit.
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Minutes of the Middle East Committee (British) Meeting Minutes Dated January 26th 1918.
1. Proposal for Inclusion of French and Italian Officers in Administration.
2. Religious and International difficulties in Jerusalem.
3. Palestine Propaganda (for Irish Americans, Jews, and Anglicans)
4. Encouragement of Arab Forces.
5. Pan-Turanian propaganda among Russian Muslims.
6. Assurances to the King of Hijaz regarding British designs in the region.
7. Dealing with "pro Turkish" articles in British Newspapers (Morning Post)
8. Discussions with French Government over future of Near East.
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Minutes of the Middle East Committee (British) Meeting Minutes Dated February 2nd 1918.
1. Assurances to King Hussein regarding the British plans for Mesopotamia (Iraq) and attempts to convince him to cease pressure for his request to control Palestine West of the Jordan.
2. Considerations for maintaining British control in Mesopotamia in light of American President Woodrow Wilson's "no annexations" and "self determination". Discussion of how to make British connections "indispensable" to Mesopotamia by the end of the war towards that goal.
3. Discussion on sending or not sending Dr. Weizmann to America as he was needed in Palestine to control the Zionists there who were beginning to "complicate matters with their Arab neighbors". Sir Mark Sykes discuss with the British Zionist Commission the advisability of sending someone to Palestine quickly and get the Zionists in Palestine back under control.
4. French activities in Palestine.
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Minutes of the Middle East Committee (British) Meeting Minutes Dated February 18th 1918.
1. Discussion of the proposal by the Indian Office and Ministry of Foreign Affairs that Lord Inchcape be given a monopoly on navigation rights on the Tigres River, and the establishment of a British Bank in Baghdad after shutting down the Ottoman bank there.
2. Discussion of the Navigation and Bank monopolies as necessary due to preventing the JAPANESE and Germans from entering the region and establishing similar.*
3. Discussion of potential negative repercussions should it become public due to the perception that (a) it might convey the message that the war was fought for capitalistic reasons (b) it implied the British were not going to leave/give up control of Mesopotamia (later Iraq) (c) it would appear contradictory to US President and the British Prime Ministers public statements on war aims and post war paradigms (d) it would be difficult to justify a monopoly system in Mesopotamia to Parliament.
*Investigators Note: The Japanese in 1918 had a mutual defense treaty with the British at the time, AND were actively participating in the war on the British side. Japanese naval ships were guarding British merchant ships in the Mediterranean and Japanese sailors had died in the performance of that duty.
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