ABSTRACT
Traditional British policy from Palmerston through Disraeli, practically until 1915-16, was the preservation of the Ottoman Empire. The vast lands of the empire served as bulwark against encroachment by other rival powers. Turkey-in-Asia served as a cordon sanitaire needed for the defense of the Suez Canal, the "jugular vein" of the British Empire. By protecting the Ottoman Empire, Britain earned the gratitude of Muslims all over the world for whom the Ottoman Empire was synonymous with Islam itself. Its territory symbolized the power of the sultan-caliph and therefore assumed a religious significance. Sir Theodore Morison, a keen observer and a pundit, testified that throughout Islam there was a furious agitation against the dismemberment of the Ottoman Empire. Strangely, during and even after the occupation, the Turks remained relatively quiescent. Only when the invading Greek army embarked on unexpected cruelties, burning of villages, massacres, rape of women, and murder of children did resistance became apparent.
