The decline and fall of the British Empire - University of Oregon

50
The Decline and Fall
How came it that the English
failed to realize their needs ? Surely
they might have guessed that the
Anglo-French entente in 1905 would
draw closer the bonds of sympathy
between Germany and Russia.
Surely they might have suspected
that, before the century was out,
some plot would have been con-
trived for their destruction. Surely
they might have guessed the possible
coercion or bribery of the Sultan*.
* The English were warned of this by an
anonymous letter from Alexandria, which appeared
in the Spectator as long ago as July 29th,
190^. The author of this letter, who had private
sources of information, pointed out the military
possibilities of the railway which was being built
by the Sultan from Damascus towards Hedjaz.
**The real originator of the scheme," he writes,
**was General von der Goltz, whose plans for
the defence of the Ottoman Empire included the
construction of great strategical lines, which
would enable the Turkish armies to be mobilised
and concentrated with great rapidity for the
purpose of defence against invasion or rebellion.
.... German hostility to Great Britain," he
continues, "is no new thing. With Turkey
hostile to the first Moslem Power in the World
(viz., England), German ambitions might contemplate
the possibility of using the Turkish