WI: Colonial power owns the Persian Gulf?

What would happen if one of the major European powers (Britain, France or Germany) took control of the Persian Gulf in the late 19th Century? With two thirds of the world's oil reserves, would that not make them insanely wealthy?
 
You mean how the British did exactly that? Oman, the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, and Kuwait were under British control until the mid-20th Century, and southern Iran was under a British sphere of influence.

Iranian oil did make the British a pretty penny.
 
What would happen if one of the major European powers (Britain, France or Germany) took control of the Persian Gulf in the late 19th Century? With two thirds of the world's oil reserves, would that not make them insanely wealthy?

Britain almost did, remember? They controlled Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Oman was a British puppet (this included the Omani cities in Persia and Pakistan(/India at the time), and they had a massive sphere of influence in Southeast Persia through which they asserted economic dominance in that area.

They also had Iraq as a mandate after WWI, and an alliance with Saudi Arabia (which worked out almost like a protectorate).

Edit: Ninja'd.
 
Well, technically speaking, the British did not have full control, as it was more like a puppet state system. The Brits kept the ruling families in charge in return for for letting the British keep bases there.
 
Did the British Exchequer manage to profit from the oil though? I was under the impression it did not, but I maybe wrong.
 
Maybe not directly but wouldn't they of taken their share of the profits of companies like the Anglo-Persian Oil Company? Considering how cheap indirect rule was I'd be surprised if they didn't break even or at least run at only a minor loss.
 

BlondieBC

Banned
Maybe not directly but wouldn't they of taken their share of the profits of companies like the Anglo-Persian Oil Company? Considering how cheap indirect rule was I'd be surprised if they didn't break even or at least run at only a minor loss.

The British took the profits from Anglo-Persian oil as almost free oil for the Royal Navy. I don't remember his name, but the Shah of Iran's Oil Minster has a rather good book on the subject. It is from the perspective of the Iranian, but provides a good bit of details on how the Brits operated.
 
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