The Silk Roads: A New History of the World, by
Peter Frankopan.
This will be my last post in review of Frankopan’s
history.
The location is the Middle East, the story begins during The
Great War, and oil plays a part. A part, but not the part
– as this region was the target of many conquerors long before anyone knew of
or cared about the black gold under the ground.
Before the turn of the last century, William Knox D’Arcy made a
fortune in Australia in gold – the yellow kind, not the liquid
kind. Being, now, a man of extraordinary wealth and having moved to
London, he had his share of callers – those presenting all manners of
investment possibilities.
One of these callers was Antoine Kitabgi, a Catholic with a
Georgian background who happened to be a well-connected official in the Persian
administration. Kitabgi could sell access to oil; Kitabgi could open
doors to the Shah…for a price. The Shah knew how to extract a
price…and he knew the British would always pay.
In 1901, the Shah and D’Arcy had a deal for oil
exploration. The Russians were not pleased with the British taking
the lead in exploiting this neighbor. To shorten the story, D’Arcy
and Kitabgi founded what is today known as British Petroleum. They
finally struck oil, after almost giving up, on 28 May 1908.
Churchill grasped immediately the value of oil for the Royal
Navy – oil instead of coal. In the summer of 1914, just a few days
before Franz Ferdinand was shot, the British government bought a 51% stake in
the Persian concession.
And with this, the long story of installing and buying puppets
in the region and making promises that could never be kept truly took hold – a
story, as we know, that continues today.
Meanwhile, the war. Britain was concerned that the
war would come to an end too soon – this would not do for Britain’s plans to
have Russia expend itself in Europe such that Britain’s interests in the
regions of the Silk Roads could be kept secure. Talks were opened –
even before Turkey entered the war – between Russia and Britain, regarding the
future of Constantinople. This, perhaps more than any other
objective and because of the access to warm water, was of paramount importance
to Russia.
Then, the Sykes–Picot Agreement: the French would receive Syria
and Lebanon; the British would receive Mesopotamia, Palestine and the
Suez. This all decided well before the end of the war – at a time
when the British were publicly proclaiming that local people should be
“entitled to a recognition of their separate national conditions.”
The French were willing to agree to much, as long as Britain
would support the return of Alsace-Lorraine. Meanwhile, Mesopotamia
promised oil to the British (via a deal brokered by “Mr. Five Per-cent,”
Calouste Gulbenkian), and Palestine promised a buffer zone for the protection
of the vital Suez Canal. Palestine also offered an outlet – an
alternative to the significant Jewish immigration into England from
Russia.
Meanwhile, Russia faced its own internal revolution; in some
ways a distraction from the great game and in other ways opening new doors – an
alternative to those in the region who grew tired of capitalist (i.e. British)
exploitation. Afghanistan was one such battlefield – ideologically
and literally.
Not to be left out, the Americans moved into Northern Persia via
Standard Oil. And, eventually, the Americans became the main Anglo
actors on the stage.
Conclusion
We know the rest of the story: after World War Two, the Cold
War. Keep the Soviets surrounded; keep access to Gulf oil; install
puppets and remove democratically-elected leaders; continuous turmoil and
tension in the entire periphery of the world island – the region of Eurasia
anchored by the Soviet Union; the Iranian Revolution – embassy personnel held
hostage; continuous war for at least 25 years.
Epilogue
We are living it. The region surrounding the world island must
be controlled by the American Empire or placed in such turmoil that it cannot
be controlled by anyone; cooperation between Russia and Germany must be denied;
China must be distracted by turmoil along all its borders.
If the world island comes together, tied together by the new
Silk Roads of rail, highway and pipelines, and given the substantial
population, it has the chance to develop into the most prosperous region of the
world.
The American Empire is attempting to fight this at all
costs. For the sake of humanity, let’s pray that they do not go
quite that far.
