ABSTRACT
This chapter suggests that Mesopotamia, and, in particular, the Euphrates Valley, leading across to Alexandretta on the Mediterranean coast, the vital land route to India, had special significance for some British statesmen, strategists and civil servants, during and immediately after the First World War. It explores the discussion with reference to strategic developments in the Near East from the late 1820s. The chapter outlines unofficial and official interest in the Euphrates Valley before and after that time. It considers the ideas of key proponents as well as opponents of a Euphrates valley railway and notes the discussions of a select committee appointed to consider the issue in 1871. The chapter focuses on the continuing importance of the Euphrates Valley during the Eastern Crisis of 1875–1878, as well as dwindling efforts to construct a railway.
