Coming to an Agreement: Analysis of Amalgamation Negotiations, 1913–14

Abstract

Against such a background of uncertainty, the amalgamation negotiations between the two main contenders for the Mesopotamian concession should have been speedy and determined. Instead, the conference of 5 June did no more than initiate ten months of bargaining over the terms of amalgamation. Broadly, the issues involved concerned the proportion of share capital each group was to have and, accordingly, its representation on the board of the new company. The size of the groups’ individual shareholdings was closely connected with the question of national allegiance, particularly the question of British predominance which was sought also through control of commercial policy and the marketing of the company’s products. Stipulations concerning the latter varied from territorial division of the concession to allocation by type of product, while the percentage of the total quantity of oil produced to be reserved to the respective governments was regarded as a national consideration.