Sheikhdom of Kuwait In the early 20th century, Kuwait immensely declined in regional economic importance, mainly due to many trade blockades and the world economic depression. Before Mary Bruins Allison visited Kuwait in 1934, Kuwait lost its prominence in long distance trade. During World War I, the British Empire imposed a trade blockade against Kuwait because Kuwait's ruler (Salim Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah) supported the Ottoman Empire, who was in the Central Powers. The British economic blockade heavily damaged Kuwait's economy. The Great Depression negatively impacted Kuwait's economy starting in the late 1920s. International trading was one of Kuwait's main sources of income before oil.
Capitulations of the Ottoman Empire or more other states; a stipulation which became a most favored nation article. Around 1535 a capitulation was made by Suleiman the Magnificent regarding France. France signed its first treaty of "Capitulations" with the Mamluk Sultanate in Cairo in 1500, during the rule of Louis XII. After the Turks conquered Egypt in the Ottoman–Mamluk War (1516–1517), the Ottomans upheld the capitulations to the French and applied them to the entire empire. Capitulations signified that which was arranged under distinct headings; the Ottoman Turkish phrase was "ahid nameh", whereas a "treaty" was "mouahed". The latter did, and the former did not,