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

MUSLIMUNRESTANDGERMANSUPPORT 35

YoungTurkLowtherwitha newrepresentativetothePorte,Sir Louis

Mallet.ButMallethadlittlesuccess,mainlybecauseRussianhostil-

itytowardTurkeycontinuedandthePorteresisted Britishattempts

topersuadeit tointroducereformsintheOttomanEmpirethatwould

satisfythegrievancesofoppressedminorities,liketheArmenians."

TheAnglo-Germanand Anglo-TurkishAgreementsof1913-1914
Despitethesepoliticalproblems,Britainsuccessfullysafeguardedits
strategicandeconomicinterestsintheOttomanEmpire.Thisheld
especiallytrueinMesopotamiaandthePersianGulf,whereBritish
concernrevolvedsignificantlyaroundtheissueoftheBaghdadrail-
road.Thelatterpresentedapotentialandwide-rangingthreatto
Britain'sinterestsinbothTurkeyandtheGulf,as well as inIndia.
TherailwayranthroughtheheartofMesopotamia,aregionwhere
Anglo-Indiantradehadlongbeenparamountandunrivalled;it also
passedthetownsofKarbalaandNajaf,wherestoodreligiousshrines
oftheShiitesect,visitedannuallybythousandsofAnglo-Indiansub-
jects.Further,LondonviewedthemineralrightsgrantedtoGermany
alongtherailroadas adangertoBritishaspirationsforacquiringoil
intheMosulandBaghdadprovinces.Finally,navigationprivileges
affordedtoGermanyontheTigrisRiveranditsportrightsatBaghdad
andBasrachallengedtheconcessionheldfor yearsonthemainlocal
waterwaysbytheBritish-ownedEuphratesandTigrisSteamNaviga-
tionCompany."
Anglo-GermanandAnglo-Turkishnegotiationsregardingtherail-
roaddraggedoninterminably.Theywereshapedinpartbythegen-
eralwindingdownoftensionafter 1910 betweenLondonandBerlin
onnumerousbroadercolonialandnavalissuesandinpartbythe
ever-presentapprehensionofseveral keyBritishleadersaboutpan-
Islamism.Althoughsomeofficialsdemandedaharshpolicyin deal-
ingwiththeYoungTurks,includingpartitioningtheOttomanEm-
pirewithBritainacquiringapartofMesopotamia,afeelingalso
existed,andwassharedby GreyandNicolson,thatBritainshould
adoptamoderatelineinthenegotiations.Forexample,attheendof
1910 boththeIndiaOfficeandtheBritishresidentinthePersianGulf
clamoredfortheuseofmilitaryforce tosecureBritain'spositionin