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

40 WARBYREVOLUTION

TheAnglo-GermannegotiationsontheBaghdadrailroadcontin-

uedduring 1913 andthefirstmonthsof1914.InMarch 1914 Britain

andGermanyreachedanagreementonoil inMesopotamia,bywhich

theGermansreceivedashareof 25 percentandBritaintheremain-

der.OnlyattheendofJulydidBerlin,apparentlyaspartofalast

attempttoacquireBritishneutralityinthecomingworldwar, agree

tosignaBaghdadrailwayagreement.»

Bythebeginningof1914,therefore,Britainhadprotectedandeven

consolidateditspositionintheOttomanEmpire.To besure,Lon-

donhadnotlessenedthepoliticalandeconomicinroadswhichGer-

manyhadmade.Nevertheless,thePortewasnowherenearbeingcon-

vertedintoasatelliteoftheReich,orevenintoitsreliableally.

Germany'stradewithTurkeyhadincreasedsignificantly,yetitstill

rankedbehindthatofBritain,France,andAustria-Hungary."Much

ofthishadbecomeapparenttotheGermans,particularlyregarding

theissueofoilrights.ByApril 1914 theGermanambassadorin Lon-

don,KarlvonLichnowsky,wasinformingBerlinofBritishestimates

ofthemajoroilsourcesontheMekrancoastoftheGulf. Twomonths

latertheGermanconsulinBaghdad,Hesse,emphasizedto his gov-

ernmenttheimportanceoftheAbadanoilrefinery.s'

Rejectionsby Britain andGermanyofArabApproaches
Britain'ssuccessinTurkeypleasedtheForeignOfficeandGrey.The
lattercontinuallysoughttoreassureBerlinandConstantinopleof
Britain'swishnottopartitiontheOttomanEmpire,buttoreformit
andconsolidateOttomanauthority.Greyhadnointentionofallow-
ingthissubjecttoundermineBritain'snegotiationsforagreements
withtheTurksregardingtheBaghdadrailwayandotherissues.
Intheforeignsecretary'sviewtheTurkishempirewasenfeebled
by itsinternalweaknessesandcorruptadministration.Butthisatti-
tudenotwithstanding,hebelievedthatTurkeycontinuedto offer
BritainabalanceofpowerintheMiddleEastandthebestprotection
for itsintereststhere,particularlyfromthethreatofRussianexpan-
sionintotheregion.Furthermore,partitionofTurkeyinevitably
impliedGermanpredominancein AsiaMinorandFrenchsupremacy
in Syria,thusmakingmoreacuteBritain'sweaknessinMesopotamia