War by Revolution. Germany and Great Britain in the Middle East in the Era of World War I

BRITAIN,GERMANY,ANDTHEMIDDLEEAST 15

Mesopotamia,Persia,andtheGulfregioneconomically,andpossi-

blythreatenIndia.>Britishfears forthesecurityofIndiahadtradi-

tionallycenteredonRussianexpansionintonearbyAfghanistanand

Persia,butin 1903theBaghdadrailroadalarmedGeorgeCurzon,the

BritishviceroyofIndia."Consequently,togaincontroloverthefi-

nal,southernmostsectionoftherailroad,inJanuary 1899 theGov-

ernmentofIndiaconcludedasecretagreementwiththeShaykhof

Kuwait,Mubarakas-Sabah,whoseprovincelayunderOttomanrule."

Thus,asthenewcenturydawned,Anglo-Germantensionshad
emergedclearlyintheMiddleEast.Butfarmoreseriousproblems
dividedthetwopowers.Theseincludedanintenseeconomicrivalry
andGermany'scontinuedconstructionofalargebattlefleet. How-
ever,buildingthefleet wastobringdisasterforGermany;itinvolved
thenationin amassiveandcostlyarmsracewithBritain,anditwould
completetheisolationoftheReichthathadstartedwiththeFranco-
RussianallianceOf1894-AlthoughAnglo-Frenchconflictsremained
acuteinAfricaandsoutheastAsia, asdidAnglo-Russiandifferences
in Persia,theDardanelles,andChina,intimesuchissuesnolonger
dominatedinternationalrelations.Instead,thefloweringofthe
"Anglo-Germanantagonism"prevailedincreasinglyontheEuropean
andworldstages."WhenWilhelmIIandhisadvisersrejectedduring
1899 and 1900 Britain'sfeelers for analliancewithGermany,London,
itsimperialpositionweakenedbytheBoer War,settleditscolonial
differenceswithFranceandRussia.Itconcludedanententecordiale
withFrancein April 1904andaformalagreementwithRussiain 1907,
thuscompletingtheTripleEntentethatenvelopedtheReichbefore
WorldWar1.ThisalliancedramaticallyheightenedGermany'spara-
noia,itsconvictionthatits rivals wereimposingonit ahostileen-
circlement,anironring.^58
Mostnotably,theententecordialeof 1904 representeda severe
blowfor Germandiplomacyin theMiddleEast,particularlyin
Egypt.France,byvirtuallyabandoningtheadministrationofEgypt
toBritain,madeobsoleteGermany'solddeviceofexploitingAnglo-
Frenchtensionover Egyptto acquirecolonialconcessionsfrom
BritainandotherwiseadvanceGermanpolicyintheOrient.Also,
withtheAnglo-FrenchententeBritain'soccupationofEgyptgained