'HISTORY OF THE GREAT WAR BASED ON OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS. THE CAMPAIGN IN MESOPOTAMIA 1914-1918. VOLUME I.' [‎27r] (58/454)

THE TURKS IN MESOPOTAMIA
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Mesopotamia affords the most direct avenue of approach
from South or Central Europe and Turkey to South-Western
Asia. Lying between the desert plateau of Arabia on the one
hand and the intricate mountain ranges of Armenia, Kurdistan
and Persia on the other, it affords a natural covered way to
Persia and the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , immune throughout its length
from danger from the sea. The one marked natural gateway
through the flank is the depression in the Persian ranges near
Qasr-i-Shirin, about 110 miles north-east of Baghdad ; this
gives a route by which it is possible to outflank the Caucasus
and to enter North Persia and thence Afghanistan.
The main drawbacks, from a Turco-German point of view,
to the utilisation of Mesopotamia for military operations were
the great distances involved ; the indifferent land communi
cations, including the incomplete state of the Baghdad railway ;
the lack of local manufactures or supplies ; the difficulties of
navigation of the Euphrates and Tigris and the want of
adequate shipping; the climatic extremes; the want of a
sufficiently decisive objective to compensate for the detachment
of forces from a more important theatre of operations ; and
the vulnerability of Basra from the sea.
The advantages on the other hand were not negligible and
offered considerable possibilities of embarrassing Great Britain
and obliging her to retain forces in the East which would
otherwise be diverted to more important theatres of war.
The great distances involved would operate more to the
disadvantage of the British than of the Turks ; navigation
downstream was easier and required an inferior class of vessel
than navigation upstream and—in the absence of good land
communications—traffic of any volume was limited practically
to the waterways ; the inhabitants were for the most part
Moslems and their religious susceptibilities could, it was
expected, be turned against the infidel invaders; the lack of
communications, the shortage of local supplies, the climatic
difficulties, and the fact that Great Britain had not a large
army ready or available, would all tend to render unlikely
any but minor enterprises and these could be met and countered
by comparatively small Turkish forces* ; finally, Baghdad,
through which passed most routes to the East, formed an
ideal centre for German propaganda in Persia and Afghanistan.
The position of Great Britain in India—her main base in the
East—is only assailable by land, from the north or north-west,
through the deserts of Persia or the mountains of Afghanistan ;
( 6788 )
See Appendix VI, p. 352.
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