British Diplomatic Oil Crisis: Contemporary Anglo-Saxon Geopolitical Rivalries in the Persian Gulf: Drawing a Lesson? Or Sir Anthony Eden‘s Delusion of Grandeur.
Thomas Hobbes
in the Leviathan placed acquisition and acquisitiveness
as the first principal cause of conflict:
So that in the nature of man we
find three principal causes of quarrel.
First, competition; secondly, diffidence; thirdly, glory. The first maketh
man invade for gain; the second, for safety; and the third, for
reputation. 4
British interests consisted of
her world role, which meant political power
and influence. The huge and already established investment, trade, culture,
way of life and prestige of the empire were things on which Britain’s world
role largely rested. Last but not least, there were military and defence
interests. It was all related to one very important (if not all-important)
factor; this was the economic factor.
Britain and Iran
With the
consolidation of the British position in India, the commercial
hegemony of the East India Company over the Persian Gulf zone underwent a
gradual change into political supremacy over the region, which lasted until
nearly three quarters of the twentieth century. The initial factor was
Napoleonic activity in the Middle East. France, traditionally Britain’s
colonial rival, had already made an abortive attempt in the mid seventeenth
century to establish herself in the Persian Gulf area, with a view to
capturing India. Later when hostility broke out between Britain and
revolutionary France, the Paris government sent emissaries to the Middle
East to explore the possibility of an advance towards India. Against such a
perspective, Napoleon’s arrival in Egypt was interpreted in British circles
as a prelude to the invasion of India. The French threat led the Governor-
General of India, Lord Wellesley, to look beyond the frontiers of the Indian
Empire for its defence. The Governor-General of India sought to safeguard
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4. Ibid.
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