The Balfour Declaration: The Origins of the Arab-Israeli Conflict (72 page)

  8.
 “He is as clever …” Rumbold to Lord Newton, May 19, 1917, ibid., box 21.

  9.
 “My sole aim …” Parodi to Rumbold, April 27, 1918, ibid., box 24.

10.
 Swiss socialists were negotiating … C. French to Sykes, n.d., Hull University, Sykes Papers, DDSY/2/11/59.

11.
 “to be really a good …” Hardinge to Rumbold, April 2, 1918, OUNBL, Rumbold Papers, box 24.

12.
 “He is not of Syrian …” Rumbold to Ronald Campbell, April 5, 1918, ibid.

13.
 “practically a member …” For Mrs. Evans, see Rumbold to Campbell, February 27, 1917, ibid., box 21.

14.
 Anglo-Ottoman Society … 
New York Times
, May 6, 1899.

15.
 “a ‘sharper’ and of very shady …” For biographical material regarding Pilling, see Gilbert,
Sir Horace Rumbold
, 149, n1; October 17, 1917, NA, FO371/3057; and Hardinge to Lord Lansdowne, November 24, 1917, CUL, Lord Hardinge Papers, vol. 35.

16.
 “long intimate acquaintance …” Pilling to Balfour, November 8, 1917, NA, FO371/3057.

17.
 “formed rather a low …” Campbell to Rumbold, March 3, 1917, OUNBL, Rumbold Papers.

18.
 “The day following …” Pilling to Balfour, November 9, 1917, NA, FO371/3057.

19.
 “rather a muddle-headed …” Rumbold to Campbell, February 27, 1917, OUNBL, Rumbold Papers, box 21.

20.
 “Altogether it would seem …” Campbell to Rumbold, March 3, 1917, ibid.

21.
 
“made proposals to the …” Drummond to Balfour, October 19, 1917, NA, FO371/3057.

22.
 “no official status but …” DMI interview with Pilling, April 30, 1917, OUNBL, Rumbold Papers, box 21.

23.
 “These free lances are …” Rumbold to Campbell, February 27, 1917, ibid.

24.
 “I am afraid you have …” Campbell to Rumbold, March 22, 1917, ibid.

25.
 “so securing British interests …” Pilling to Mrs. Evans, May 12, 1917, NA, FO371/3057.

26.
 “my other many reports …” Pilling to Balfour, November 9, 1917, ibid.

27.
 When he approached … Hardinge, minute, November 9, 1917, ibid.

28.
 another trip to Switzerland … MacDonagh to Campbell, November 15, 1917, ibid. “I hear that Pilling has been worrying the American Embassy for the last four months, and is now trying to secure an interview with the Ambassador.”

29.
 “agreed in June last” … Pilling to Balfour, November 7, 1917, ibid.

30.
 “Pilling … has been unable …” MacDonagh to Campbell, November 15, 1917, ibid.

  1.
 Germany wanted her Ottoman … Rumbold to Cecil, May 23, 1917, NA, FO371/3050.

  2.
 speech delivered in Cincinnati … 
New York Times
, May 22, 1916.

  3.
 “Nothing could be …” Sykes to Gaster, May 22, 1916, CZA, Gaster Papers, A203/227/35.

  4.
 Morgenthau’s mission … See, for example, Stein,
Balfour Declaration
, 353–60; Friedman,
Question of Palestine
, 211–18; Sanders,
High Walls
, 551–56; Reinharz,
Weizmann
, 154–66; and Reinharz, “His Majesty’s Zionist Emissary,” 259–77. My account is based on these secondary sources, supplemented by primary sources as noted.

  5.
 The idea may have … Morgenthau and Secretary of State Robert Lansing discussed the matter on May 16. Twenty-four hours later Lansing reported on that discussion to the president. Nine days after that Morgenthau and Wilson reviewed the idea again, and the president agreed to it in principle. The two men met once more on June 7.

  6.
 “peculiarly cordial and …” Quoted in Reinharz, “His Majesty’s Zionist Emissary,” 261.

  7.
 Turks were “nibbling” … Quoted in Yale, “Morgenthau’s Special Mission,” 311.

  8.
 “If matters took …” Quoted in Friedman,
Question of Palestine
, 211.

  9.
 This was … Notes on the cover of the file by various Foreign Office figures, May 24, 1917, NA, FO371/3057.

10.
 About his main goal … “Lewin-Epstein went without knowing the political background of the business … Frankfurter … had no idea why they came.” Weizmann to Vera Weizmann, July 8, 1917, in Stein,
Letters
, letter no. 456, 7:469.

11.
 “someone in authority …” Mr. Barclay to Cecil, May 31, 1917, NA, FO371/3057.

12.
 “rumours here …” Malcolm to Nubar Pasha, June 22, 1917, ibid.

13.
 “Muslim Interests in Palestine” … Ormsby-Gore, report to Cecil on meeting with Malcolm and Weizmann, June 10, 1917, Hull University, Sykes Papers, DDSY/2/12/8.

14.
 Weizmann knew about … Weizmann to Lord Walter Rothschild, June 2, 1917, WI, “Arabs.”

15.
 “Dr. Weizmann, whom I …” Graham, minute, June 9, 1917, NA, FO371/3057.

16.
 “Both Mr. Malcolm …” Ormsby-Gore, report, “Secret and Confidential,” June 10, 1917, Hull University, Sykes Papers, DDSY/2/12/8.

17.
 On Tuesday, June 12 … Graham, first minute, June 13, 1917, NA, FO371/3057.

18.
 extremely indiscreet … Yale, “Morgenthau’s Special Mission,” 313.

19.
 “As condition of …” Graham, second minute, June 13, 1917, NA, FO371/3057.

20.
 “Will you be kind …” Graham to Rumbold, June 8, 1917, OUNBL, Rumbold Papers, box 22.

21.
 “I was to talk …” Weizmann,
Trial and Error
, 196.

22.
 eighteen trunks … Ibid., 197.

23.
 Rumford … Weizmann to Vera Weizmann, June 29, 1917, in Stein,
Letters
, letter no. 446, 7:455.

24.
 “either terribly ‘profound’ …” Weizmann to Vera Weizmann, July 2, 1917, ibid., letter no. 448, 7:457.

25.
 
“From the moment …” Weizmann to Vera Weizmann, July 3, 1917, in Stein,
Letters
, letter no. 449, 7:458.

26.
 Weizmann went out … He paid a call on Max Nordau, a venerable Zionist and native Austrian who had left Paris when the war began. He bumped into another Zionist in the street, Abraham S. Yahuda.

27.
 “I am not aware …” Weizmann to Sir Ronald Graham, July 6, 1917, in Stein,
Letters
, letter no. 453, 7:461. To Schmarvonian, Weizmann “took an instantaneous, cordial and enduring dislike.”

28.
 “Mr. Morgenthau had …” Weizmann,
Trial and Error
, 1:198.

29.
 “such conditions …” Weizmann to Sir Ronald Graham, July 6, 1917, in Stein,
Letters
, letter no. 453, 7:463.

30.
 “On no account …” Ibid.

31.
 “eminently successful” … Graham to Hardinge, July 13 and July 21, 1917, NA, FO371/3057.

32.
 “The Zionists in public …” Sacher to Simon, May 9, 1917, CZA, Sacher Papers, CZA/A289/114.

33.
 “The Zionist movement as such …” Sacher to Simon, n.d. (but May 1917 from internal evidence), ibid.

34.
 “I said that it was not …” Simon, diary entry, June 24, 1917, CZA, Simon Papers, CZA/AK2001.

35.
 “Assume [?] the peace …” Simon to Sacher, July 1, 1917, ibid.

36.
 “the centre of gravity …” Sacher to Weizmann, August 3, 1917, WI, Sacher letters.

37.
 “Chaim gave us an account …” Simon to Sacher, August 2, 1917, CZA, Simon Papers, CZA/AK2001.

38.
 “I think you were much …” Sacher to Weizmann, August 3, 1917, WI, Sacher letters.

39.
 “But think of tying …” Sacher to Simon, August 11, 1917, ibid.

40.
 “the general policy …” Sacher to Simon, August 17 and August 21, 1917, ibid.

41.
 “In politics one is …” Sacher to Weizmann, September 16, 1917, ibid.

  1.
 “He loved to dare …” Herbert,
Mons, Anzac & Kut
, 12. He died of blood poisoning after having all his teeth removed, which he had been told would cure his blindness.

  2.
 “He was the most …” Quoted in Fitzherbert,
Man Who Was Greenmantle
, 1.

  3.
 “the kind of man …” Herbert,
Mons, Anzac & Kut
, 14.

  4.
 “by the simple …” Auberon Waugh (Herbert’s grandson), “Aubrey Herbert,” in
New Dictionary of National Biography
.

  5.
 “It is only fair …”
Western Morning News
, October 16, 1914.

  6.
 “Oh Mark …” Herbert to Sykes, February 9, 1915, Somerset Record Office, Herbert Papers, DD/DRU/33.

  7.
 “an odd gnome …” Herbert, diary entry, January 11, 1915, ibid.

  8.
 “We have not gone …” Herbert to Sykes, February 9, 1915, ibid., DD/DRU/33.

  9.
 “If … at any time …” Cecil to Herbert, July 17, 1915, ibid.

10.
 “2 things were in …” Herbert, diary entry, February 27, 1916, ibid.

11.
 “passed down corridors …” December 8, 1915, ibid.

12.
 “we shall simply …” Herbert to Lloyd, May 14, 1917, Cambridge University, Churchill College, Lloyd Papers, GLLD9/1, 1917–18.

13.
 “‘Time’s up for you … ’” Herbert, diary entry, June 4, 1917, Somerset Record Office, Herbert Papers.

14.
 “dangerous pacifist …” Quoted in Fisher,
Gentleman Spies
, 18.

15.
 On July 4 … Before meeting Balfour, Herbert met with Milner. Herbert, diary entry, July 6, 1917, Somerset Record Office, Herbert Papers.

16.
 “We should free troops …” Herbert, memo, July 4, 1917, NA, FO800/18/226.

17.
 “the strongest point …” Eric Drummond to Balfour, July 7, 1917, NA, FO800/18/223.

18.
 During May, June … To give only a few examples: From the British ambassador in Petrograd,
Sir George Buchanan: “Minister for Foreign Affairs told me today that he had heard from Berne that Turkish Minister had stated that time had come for organizing a movement against young Turks and in favor of peace.” Buchanan to Balfour, May 23, 1917, NA, FO371/3050. From Rumbold in Berne on June 4: “Suraya Bey Vlera, a former Albanian official who has been at Vienna with Prince of Wied has just returned to Switzerland. He states Talaat Pasha recently told Germans at Berlin that having regard to present economic and military conditions in Turkey latter could no longer continue to fight and would be obliged to make a separate peace with Allies.” On June 17 Rumbold enclosed a long report from Parodi on the views of Turkish Liberals: They wished to overthrow the CUP and make peace, the peace to be based upon the retention of Constantinople, the opening of the straits under an international guarantee, autonomy for Armenia, Syria, Palestine, and Mesopotamia, independence for the various Arab emirs, including Sharif Hussein, and financial assistance from the Allies. Rumbold to Balfour, June 17, 1917, NA, FO371/2770. At the War Office, on June 19, MacDonagh interviewed Elkus, the former American envoy in Constantinople: “He believes that both Talaat and Djavid earnestly desire peace … Mr. Elkus suggests a M. Orosti Blocket Cie of Paris as a possibly suitable intermediary.”

19.
 Rechid Bey as … Rumbold to Balfour, July 1, 1917, NA, FO371/3057.

20.
 “I am taking steps …” Rumbold to Balfour, July 7, 1917, ibid. The important Turks included Fethy Bey, Ottoman minister at Sofia; Rifaat and Mutak Effendi, respectively president and secretary of the Ottoman senate; Hadji Adil Bey, president of the Ottoman Chamber of Deputies; and various Turkish army officers convalescing at Davos.

21.
 “a member of the Committee …” Rumbold to Grey, July 12, 1917, NA, FO371/3050.

22.
 “Next morning [I] was …” Herbert, diary entry, July 21, 1917, Somerset Record Office, Herbert Papers.

23.
 “He comes from one …” Herbert, memorandum, July 28, 1917, NA, FO371/3057.

24.
 “We then went …” Herbert, memorandum, July 22, 1917, NA, FO371/3057.

25.
 “I do not think …” Herbert, diary entry, July 24, 1917, Somerset Record Office, Herbert Papers.

26.
 “Talaat now convinced …” Binns to London, July 22, 1917, NA, FO371/3057.

27.
 “now knows that she …” Lord Curzon, memorandum, May 12, 1917, NA, CAB24/10/13.

28.
 The first did not … Arthur Ryan, memorandum, July 13, 1917, NA, FO800/18/237-241.

29.
 “It is not impossible …” Lewis Mallet, memorandum, July 14, 1917, NA, FO800/18/243-248.

30.
 “On my arrival I found …” Sykes to Clayton, July 22, 1917, Hull University, Sykes Papers, DDSY/2/4/69.

31.
 “The visit of a …” Sykes, note, n.d., ibid., DDSY/2/11/62.

32.
 “I find myself in …” “Minutes by Sir G. Clerk and Sir R. Graham,” July 31 and August 1, 1917, NA, FO371/3057.

33.
 “were not sufficient …” Herbert, diary entry, August 6, 1917, Somerset Record Office, Herbert Papers.

34.
 “Talaat has no intention …” Rumbold to Balfour, July 27, 1917, NA, FO371/3058.

35.
 “I told him that …” Hardinge note, August 28, 1917, NA, FO371/3057.

  1.
 “evil and imposing” … Quoted in Richard Davenport Hines, “Basil Zaharoff,” in
New Dictionary of National Biography
. See also Allfrey,
Man of Arms;
McCormick,
Pedlar of Death;
and Engelbrecht and Hanighen,
Merchants of Death
, 95–107.

  2.
 “All that is needed …” Zaharoff to Caillard, undated fragment, probably November 1915, NA, Caillard Papers, file 1.

  3.
 “I beg …” Asquith to Caillard, March 6, 1916, Zaharoff copy, ibid., file 4.

  4.
 “Mon cher Ami …” Zaharoff to Caillard, April 19, 1916, ibid., file 3.

  5.
 “This is not the moment …” Zaharoff to Caillard, June 29, 1916, ibid.

  6.
 
But one of his biographers … Hynes, in
New Dictionary of National Biography
.