“Permit me to remind you of the facts.
“1. Great Britain has no interests in Armenia except those based on humanitarian grounds. In this respect her position is precisely that of the United States.
“2. I have always urged whenever I had an opportunity that the United States should take its share in the burden of improving conditions in the pre-war territories of the Turkish Empire and in particular that it should become the mandatory in Armenia. Events over which Great Britain had no control have prevented this consummation and have delayed, with most unhappy results, the settlement of the Turkish peace.
“3. There appears to be great misconception as to the condition of affairs in Armenia. You make appeal in your first sentence to the principle of self-determination. If this is taken in its ordinary meaning as referring to the wishes of the majority actually inhabiting a district, it must be remembered that in vast regions of Greater Armenia the inhabitants are overwhelmingly Mussulman, and if allowed to vote would certainly vote against the Armenians.
“I do not think this conclusive; but it must not be forgotten. Whoever undertakes, in your own words, to aid Armenia during her formative period must, I fear, be prepared to use military force. Great Britain finds the utmost difficulty in carrying out the responsibilities she has already undertaken. She cannot add Armenia to their number. America with her vast population and undiminished resources, and no fresh responsibilities thrown upon her by the war, is much more fortunately situated. She has shown herself most generous towards these much oppressed people; but I greatly fear that even the most lavish charity, unsupported by political and military assistance, will prove quite insufficient to deal with the unhappy consequences of Turkish cruelty and misrule.
“If I am right in inferring from your telegram that my attitude on the question has been somewhat misunderstood in America, I should be grateful if you would give publicity to this reply.”
On February 28 Mr. Gerard telegraphed to Mr. Balfour that in referring to treaties made during Mr. Balfour’s period of office he had in mind the Sykes-Picot compact. After saying that “Great Britain and France could not be justified in requiring American aid to Armenia as a condition precedent to their doing justice to Armenia,” he declared that “Armenia’s plight since 1878 is not unrelated to a series of arrangements, well meant, no doubt, in which Great Britain played a directive rôle,” and he concluded in the following terms:
“Our faith in chivalry of Great Britain and France and our deliberate conviction in ultimate inexpediency of allowing Turkish threat to override concerted will of Western civilisation through further sacrifice of Armenia inspire us to plead with you to construe every disadvantage in favour of Armenia and ask you to plan to aid her toward fulfilment of her legitimate aspirations, meanwhile depending on us to assume our share in due time, bearing in mind imperative necessity of continued concord that must exist between our democracies for our respective benefit and for that of the world.”
Soon after, Lord Curzon said in the House of Lords: “It must be owned the Armenians during the last weeks did not behave like innocent little lambs, as some people imagine. The fact is they have indulged in a series of wild attacks, and proved blood-thirsty people.” The Times gave an account of these atrocities on March 19.
At the beginning of February, 1920, the British Armenia Committee of London had handed to Mr. Lloyd George a memorandum in which the essential claims of Armenia were set forth before the Turkish problem was definitely settled by the Allies.