| Summary: | The collection covers Middle Eastern history from 1839-1969; countries included are: Afghanistan, Egypt, Sudan, Persia, Suez Canal, Turkey, Jordan, Arabia, Iraq, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, and Syria. The series originated out of a need for the British Government to preserve all of the most important papers generated by the Foreign and Colonial Offices. Some of these were one page letters or telegrams -- others were large volumes or texts of treaties. All items marked 'Confidential Print' were circulated to leading officials in the Foreign Office, to the Cabinet, and to heads of British missions abroad.
The Confidential Print series, issued by the British Government between c. 1820 and 1970 consists of the most important internal papers generated by the Foreign and Colonial Offices (FCO). These range from single-page letters or telegrams to comprehensive dispatches, investigative reports and texts of treaties. All items marked 'Confidential Print' were printed and circulated immediately to leading officials in the Foreign Office, to the Cabinet and to heads of British missions abroad. The "Confidential Print: Middle East, 1839-1969" collection consists of the "Confidential Print" FCO documents for the countries of the Levant and the Arabian peninsula, Iran, Turkey, Egypt and Sudan. Beginning with the Egyptian reforms of Muhammad Ali Pasha in the 1830's, the documents trace the events of the following 150 years, including the Middle East Conference of 1921, the mandates for Palestine and Mesopotamia, the partition of Palestine, the 1956 Suez Crisis and post-Suez Western foreign policy, and the Arab-Israeli conflict.
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