Anglo-Ottoman Convention of 1913 memorandum sent to the Ottoman Government. By this time, it seemed likely that the terminus for the German funded and engineered Baghdad Railway would be situated in Kuwait. Kuwait had been under Ottoman administration since 1871 and in 1875 was included in the Basra Vilayet, yet Ottoman rule was mainly nominal. Although the sheikhdom now fell under the Empire’s jurisdiction, no Ottoman official was stationed in Kuwait. Influence over Kuwait was crucial to British foreign policy in the Persian Gulf with regard to commerce and strategic interests concerning India. To the British, further extension of the railway line meant further
Anglo-Ottoman Convention of 1913 traffic and maritime peace, and also sought to formally establish its dominance in the Gulf. By 6 May 1913 Britain and the Ottoman Empire initialed the compromise and the Anglo-Ottoman Convention was signed on 29 July 1913, exactly two years after the first memorandum. The Anglo-Ottoman Convention was only part of a wider bargaining process and the complexities of the competing European commercial interests in the region prevented its ratification. Russia, France, and Germany (and later Italy) also had been pressing the Ottoman government for railway concessions. Ratification was further complicated by the fact that most of the Powers themselves