"ملاحظات ميدانية: بلاد الرافدين. هيئة الأركان العامة في الهند. فبراير ١٩١٧". [و‎‎١‎٠] (٣٥٠/٢٦)

British position in the Gulf generally.
s
British interests are closely concerned with the regulation of
the Gulf in general. The following words defining the British
standpoint are quoted from a speech delivered by Viscount
Morley (Acting Secretary of State for India), in the House of
Lords, on 22nd March, 1911: —
‘ £ If by any chance in negotiation our position in the Gulf is
challenged this is the answer. That position has been described
as unique. Great Britain ‘ has not sought territorial acquisi
tion in these regions. She has for generations borne burdens
there which no other nation has ever undertaken anywhere
except in the capacity of Sovereign. She has had duty thrust
on her without dominion. She has kept the peace amongst
people who are not her subjects; has patrolled during upwards
of two centuries waters over which she has enjoyed no formal
lordship. She has kept in strange ports an open door, through
which traders of every nation may have as free access to distant
markets as her own. If Great Britain has become in any sense
arbiter and guardian of the Gulf, it has not been through any
restless ambition urging her on to the control of the waste places
of the earth, but in obedience to calls that have been made on
her in the past to enforce peace between warring tribes, to give a
free course to trade, and to hold back the arm of the marauder.’
That is our charter. It gives a true picture of our historical
position. It is owing to British enterprise, the expenditure of
British lives and treasure, that the Persian Gulf is at this
moment open to the navigation of the world, and to this cause
alone it may be said that the seaborne trade of these regions
owes its very existence.”
In 1914, when -war broke out, the- British and Turkish Gov
ernments were on the point of signing an agreement settling all
the disputed points regarding the status of Kuwait, the Baghdad
Railway and Navigation of the Shatt-al-’Arab. The terms of
the agreement had been unde# discussion for over a year, and
each subject had been patiently threshed out.
Outline of the operations of British Forces up to May 20th,
1916.
War with Turkey was declared on October 81st, 1914, at
which time the situation at the head of the Persian Gulf was as
follows:— There was a British force of a Brigade and two