Abstract
The clash between the Indian and Imperial governments over the direction of British policy in Aden and Somaliland before 1914 was dictated, to a large extent, by external factors, particularly the activities of Egypt, Turkey, Abyssinia, France and Italy. By the turn of the century, the political map of the region was settled: the troublesome and violent Somali protectorate was an Imperial charge; and the boundaries of the Aden Protectorate were established. The Welby commission had recognised the growing Imperial interest in Aden and the Treasury paid an annual subsidy towards the garrison. But this Edwardian financial solution to the problems regulating the intersecting spheres of Indian and Imperial interest could not cope with the challenge of the Great War. By 1917, the pressures of the conflict, and the need for a more co-ordinated British war strategy across the Middle East, compelled Delhi to accept the transfer of the political and military affairs of Aden and south-west Arabia to the Imperial government. A full transfer to the Colonial Office was scheduled for the end of the war, subject to an appropriate financial settlement between the two governments. Instead, the future control of Aden became the subject of a fractious twenty-year negotiation as a myriad of competing forces and burdensome details hindered progress until 1937.
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© 2003 Robert J. Blyth
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Blyth, R.J. (2003). ‘When One Comes to Details, Difficulties Bristle’: The Aden Transfer, c. 1917–1937. In: The Empire of the Raj. Cambridge Imperial and Post-Colonial Studies Series. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230599116_7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230599116_7
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-42308-8
Online ISBN: 978-0-230-59911-6
eBook Packages: Palgrave History CollectionHistory (R0)