Abstract
Fierce tribal loyalties, Islam and the extreme desiccation of the landscape convinced the British in the mid-Victorian era, as with the Persians and Romans before them, to turn down opportunities of an extensive formal empire in much of the Middle East and to prefer informal influence in the region. Yet the Middle East straddled the strategic and shortest route to India, and the Ottoman Empire — although considered the ‘Sick Man of Europe’ — managed, merely by holding together the disparate territories of North Africa, the Arabian Peninsula and Asia Minor, to block the expanse of Russia into the Mediterranean. The British much rather preferred to influence a pliable and weak Ottoman Empire than the expanding and much feared Russian Empire.1
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 2014 Gregory A. Barton
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Barton, G.A. (2014). Informal Empire and the Middle East. In: Informal Empire and the Rise of One World Culture. Cambridge Imperial and Post-Colonial Studies Series. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137315922_7
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137315922_7
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-31271-9
Online ISBN: 978-1-137-31592-2
eBook Packages: Palgrave History CollectionHistory (R0)