'Memorandum by the Political Secretary, India Office, on German press opinion regarding the Middle East' [‎17r] (5/6)

Arabia,^ whieh has been pressed more vigorously since the loss of
lurkey s Itumelian and African possessions.
^77 £ he Railway,” by Dr. R. Hennig, in the Aachener
AHg. Zeitimg of 80th March. A highly subjective history of the
project and account of the negotiations of 1913-14.
Report of a lecture in Vienna by Prof. Musil on the Arab
Provinces (Neue Freie Presse, 19th March). They afford oppor
tunity for intensive cultivation on European lines. Grain on the
coastal plains of Palestine, the volcanic plain of the Hauran, and
the country between Aleppo and the Euphrates. Cotton and
tobacco can be extended 100 -fold. Afforestation, especially in the
Lebanon, Palmyra, and Damascus. Moral regeneration is also
necessary, and Western European influences must be excluded.
through long years of bloody civil wars the Arab provinces of
to-day possess no political independence, and indeed have no wish
for it. They desire a strong master, who shall, without scruple or
hesitation, make the rule of law an actuality, secure life and
labour, and increase the opportunities for obtaining wealth.”* The
N.F.P. claims for Austria-Hungary an important place after the
war in furthering the economic progress of Arabia.
In this connection may be mentioned an article in the
Kolnische Volkszeitung exhorting Austria-Hungary to strengthen
her Catholic missions in Turkey.
The Deutsche Tageszeitung of 30th March reprints, under
the heading “ The future of Persia,” long extracts from an article
in No. 4 of the organ of the Persian Nationalists appearing in Berlin.
It adds nothing of its own worth mentioning except that the
Russian occupation of Kermanshah and Ispahan is already felt by
the English as a threat to their interests in the neighbourhood of
the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. .
*
I he attention of the Arab Bureau has been called to this sentiment.