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62 THE LEGAL STATUS OF THE ARABIAN GULF STATES

exploiting the latter’s national resources.1 Consequently, during the
nineteenth century, treaties of protection on those lines were made by
European Powers with a great number of African and Asian countries.
Such treaties were in fact a compromise between two courses, namely,
either destroying the independence of those countries by incorpora­
tion, or treating them on the basis of equality with European States,
a matter which was not acceptable to the latter owing to the funda­
mental differences between the civilisations of the parties concerned.2
The technical term for the above-mentioned concept of protection
came to be known later as ‘protectorate’. The word ‘protectorate’ was
used, in this sense, ‘to denote those eases in which a regular govern­
ment exercising a large measure of internal autonomy entrusts the
control of its foreign relations to the protecting power. To the extent
to which this is done the protected state is withdrawn from the direct
application of international law and must be regarded as identified
with the protecting state, even though it may form a distinct territory
from the point of view of constitutional law.’3
Nature and types of protectorates
In practice there have been many types and forms of protectorates.
It seems, therefore, difficult to deduce general principles applying to
them all without distinction. Generally speaking, however, it may be
possible to classify protectorates into two principal types. There are,
in the first place, the so-called ‘real’ or ‘bona fide’ protectorates. The
Ionian Islands may be cited as an example of these protectorates in
Europe. Those Islands were placed under British protection between
1815 and 1863 by virtue of treaties concluded by Great Britain with
Russia, Austria and Prussia respectively. Under a special constitution,
the Islands had a local legislature and a commercial flag of their own.
They were independent but the British Government assumed full
responsibility for their international affairs. The Ionian Protectorate
was abolished in 1863, when the Islands were incorporated into
Greece.4 Secondly, there are protectorates exercised over African and
Asian States with or without organised governments and these can be
subdivided into two divisions:
(a) Protectorates over Oriental States enjoying an advanced civilisa­
tion and organised governments under the authority of indigenous
1 Baty, B. Y.I.L., op. cit., p. 109.
1 It should be remembered, however, that a great number of African territories
:
were regarded by the expansionist Powers as barbarous territories possessing no
symbol of sovereignty whatsoever. Consequently, arrangements between the ex­
pansionist Powers and the tribal communities of these territories took the nature
of cession rather than protection. This was on the ground that those African
territories were not regarded as constituting States in the international sense to
which protection could be extended. See Westlake, pp. 123-4; Lindley, pp. 182-3.
• Smith, I., p. 67. * Lindley. pp. 181-4; Westlake, pp. 23-4.