!['HISTORY OF THE GREAT WAR BASED ON OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS. THE CAMPAIGN IN MESOPOTAMIA 1914-1918. VOLUME I.' [‎33r] (70/454)](https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100025551844.0x000001/IOR_L_MIL_17_15_66_1_0072.jp2/full/!1200,1200/0/default.jpg "'HISTORY OF THE GREAT WAR BASED ON OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS. THE CAMPAIGN IN MESOPOTAMIA 1914-1918. VOLUME I.' [‎33r] (70/454)")
'HISTORY OF THE GREAT WAR BASED ON OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS. THE CAMPAIGN IN MESOPOTAMIA 1914-1918. VOLUME I.' [33r] (70/454)
The record is made up of 1 volume (223 folios). It was created in 1923. It was written in English. The original is part of the British Library: India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity. .
Transcription
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
BRITISH PRE-WAR POLICY
45
that the approaches to, and the upper reaches of, the river
have been charted and periodically surveyed and that for
over sixty years buoys have been maintained to mark the
channel. This was the situation with which we were faced :
a river of which the waterway was owned by Turkey ; where
Persia had freedom of navigation and ninety per cent of the
ocean-going vessels were British ; where Great Britain alone
had maintained order and thus rendered navigation possible
in the past and where she had great interests, not only on
account of her close and intimate relations with the Shaikh
of Mohammerah but also owing to her larger responsibility
for peace in the waters of the
Persian Gulf
The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran.
; a river of which
the importance must increase immeasurably with the advent
of the Baghdad Railway and the development of internal
trade and navigation; a river which presents exceptional
difficulties to the hydrographer and the engineer, where
unskilled intervention may effect great damage both to irri
gation and to navigation, and the technical works, undoubtedly
necessary to meet the requirements of modern shipping, can
only be executed by means of continual expert supervision
and at very substantial cost. This situation was also rectified
by a convention* with the Turkish Government for the estab
lishment of a “ Commission ” to improve the conditions of
navigation on the Shatt al Arab. Ihis Commission was to
consist of two members only, one of whom was to be of British
nationality nominated by the British Government.
The political relations of Great Britain with the Persian
Gulf date from the year 1622, when under an agreement with
the Shah of Persia the East India Company undertook “ to
keep two men-of-war constantly to defend the Gulf ” and at
the same time despatched a fleet to aid the Persians in expelling
the Portuguese, who had established and maintained a close
monopoly of trade. This undertaking to patrol the Gulf
became a permanent obligation which has been fulfilled for
three centuries.
At a very early date, the Arabs, who had shown a superiority
at sea over the Persians—who at all periods of their history
have abhorred that element—possessed themselves of the
harbours and islands of the Gulf and there maintained a rude
independence. Their aggressive character came into special
prominence at the end of the seventeenth and at the beginning
of the eighteenth centuries, when they spread their fleets over
the entire seas surrounding the peninsula of India causing great
See para. (/) on p. 43.
About this item
- Content
The volume is the first volume of an official government publication compiled at the request of the Government of India, and under the direction of the Historical Section of the Committee of Imperial Defence, by Brigadier-General Frederick James Moberly. The volume was printed and published at His Majesty's Stationery Office, London.
The contents provide a narrative of the operations of 1914-1918 in Mesopotamia, based mainly on official documents.
The volume is divided into two parts. The first part, entitled, 'Part I. Before the Outbreak of Hostilities', consists of the following five chapters:
- General Description of the Country
- The Turks in Mesopotamia
- British Pre-War Policy
- The Army in India and Pre-War Military Policy
- Inception of the Operations
The second part, entitled, 'Part II. The Campaign in Lower Mesopotamia', consists of the following seven chapters:
- The Landing in Mesopotamia of Force "D" and the Operations Leading to the Occupation of Basra
- The Occupation of Basra and the Capture of Qurna
- Commencement of the Turkish Counter-Offensive
- Development and Defeat of the Turkish Counter-Offensive
- Operations in Arabistan and the Capture of Amara
- Operations on the Euphrates and the Occupation of Nasiriya
- The battle of Kut and Occupation of Aziziya
The volume also includes nine maps, entitled:
- The Middle East
- Lower Mesopotamia
- Map 1 - To illustrate operations described in Chapter VI
- Map 2 - To illustrate fighting near Qurna
- Map 3 - To illustrate fighting round Shaiba
- Map 4 - To illustrate operations in Persian Arabistan
- Map 5 - To illustrate operations in the Akaika Channel 27th June to 5th July 1915
- Map 6 - To illustrate operations near Nasiriya 6th to 24th July 1915
- Map 7 - To illustrate the Battle of Kut 28th September 1915
- Extent and format
- 1 volume (223 folios)
- Arrangement
The volume contains a page of errata (folio 5), a list of contents (folios 6-8), a list of maps and illustrations (folio 9), appendices (folios 185v-192), an index (folios 192v-214v), and eight maps in a pocket attached to the inside back cover (folios 217-224).
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at the inside front cover with 1 and terminates at the inside back cover with 225; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio.
Pagination: the volume also contains an original printed pagination sequence.
- Written in
- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
Use and share this item
- Share this item
'HISTORY OF THE GREAT WAR BASED ON OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS. THE CAMPAIGN IN MESOPOTAMIA 1914-1918. VOLUME I.' [33r] (70/454), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/MIL/17/15/66/1, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100048172213.0x000047> [accessed 23 April 2024]
https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100048172213.0x000047
Copy and paste the code below into your web page where you would like to embed the image.
<meta charset="utf-8"><a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100048172213.0x000047">'HISTORY OF THE GREAT WAR BASED ON OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS. THE CAMPAIGN IN MESOPOTAMIA 1914-1918. VOLUME I.' [‎33r] (70/454)</a> <a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100048172213.0x000047"> <img src="https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100025551844.0x000001/IOR_L_MIL_17_15_66_1_0072.jp2/full/!280,240/0/default.jpg" alt="" /> </a>
This record has a IIIF manifest available as follows. If you have a compatible viewer you can drag the icon to load it.https://www.qdl.qa/en/iiif/81055/vdc_100025551844.0x000001/manifestOpen in Universal viewerOpen in Mirador viewerMore options for embedding images
Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/L/MIL/17/15/66/1
- Title
- 'HISTORY OF THE GREAT WAR BASED ON OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS. THE CAMPAIGN IN MESOPOTAMIA 1914-1918. VOLUME I.'
- Pages
- front, back, spine, edge, head, tail, front-i, 2r:3r, 4r:216v, back-i
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence