'Memorandum by the Political Secretary, India Office, on German press opinion regarding the Middle East' [‎16v] (4/6)

contrary, would lie the death-sentence on Hamburg, Bremen, and
the >vhole future of Germany. .
Dr. Grothe’s remarks about, German as the commercial
language of Turkey refer to the new Turkish language law.
This is made the subject of a respectful protest in the Hamburger
NachHchten of 10th March. It would, of course, he much more
agreeable to Germany to associate in the Turkish language with a
strono- and purely Turkish Turkey than in French with a 1 renchihed
Turkey. But the Turks must keep within the limits of the possible,
and it is not possible to learn Turkish in one year ; nor is it possible
to conduct correspondence exclusively in Turkish. If the Turks
want German capital they must reconcile themselves to the idea of
so arranging matters as not to drive it away.
The Russian successes in Western Persia have caused the
German press to seek consolation in the supposed English anxiety
regarding Russia’s southward push and consequent claims in
Persia. This line of thought is also reflected in articles on the
subject of a separate peace with Turkey. Thus, G. Bernhard, in
the Vossische Zeitung of 27th March, sees no objection to such a
peace, if voluntarily sought by Turkey, because of the discord it
will sow between Russia and England, since the latter cmi hardly
be content that Russia should compensate herself in Persia and
Turkey for the territory she has lost in the West. To the Deutsche
Tageszeitung (26th March), on the other hand, a separate peace is
unthinkable. Germany requires a strong and independent Turkey,
and a separate peace would mean, to-morrow, if not to-day, its
partition into spheres of interest, the separation of Arabia, and the
loss of the Dardanelles. And in Bkeinisch- Westfdlische Zeitung
(25th March) Halil Halid Bey (formerly Turkish consul-general in
Bombay) in an article 0 explaining why the Oriental loves the
German, rather cruelly pricks the bubble of Anglo-Russian discord.
The idea, he says, is preposterous. “ Anglo-Russian rivalry in the
East is a thing of the past. Both power's are exerting them
selves to work hand - in - hand not only to hold the East in
subjection, to destroy the possibility of an Islamic renaissance,
and to throttle Turkey, but also to close the ring round Germany
by blocking the East to her.” Dr. Rohrbach, too, in the Deutsche
Tageszeitung (15th [March) insists that Russia must continue to
fight for the Dardanelles, and that the idea that she can be satisfied
with a harbour in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. is “ quite dilettante.”
Other articles of interest during the month were : “ Petrol and
the fighting in Persia,” by Dr. L. Sommermeier in the Kolnische
Zeitung of 12th March. He gives a good account of the distri
bution of the deposits (mentioning Kishm among other places),
and of the Anglo-Persian Oil Co.’s concession. He dwells on the
difficulty of getting the oil to the market, and points out that one
of the advantages of the Mesopotamian deposits is their proximity
to the Bagdad Railway—which makes it clear how important it is
in German interests that British influence should not be allowed *
to cover them also. The deposits in N.W. Persia are jealously
kept by Russia in order to give her a hold over the country, but
are not exploited by her because she prefers that Persia should be
supplied from Baku. So long as there are no railways running
N. and S. there can be no competition from Southern Persia.
“ But if in the future an efficient petrol industry, not controlled by
Russian influence, were to grow up in the north also, it would of
course eliminate the Russian oil imports.”
“ The Hejaz Railway,” reprinted from the Archiv fur Eisen-
bahnwesen in the Berliner Aktiondr of 25th March. A very
interesting and quite objective account of the system, emphasising
its importance to the Turkish colonisation policy in Syria and
Reprinted textually in Kolnische Zeitung (31st March).
*