In the Middle East, the Austrian army split into two forces and launched an offensive against the Ottoman Empire. One set out from the Sinai Peninsula, targeting Jerusalem; the other deployed by sea and struck directly at Kuwait.
Kuwait's natural conditions were harsh. It had a tropical desert climate, dry and rain-starved, with frequent sandstorms. The entire region was wilderness, unsuitable for agriculture.
Before oil was discovered, it drew little attention. It was not until 1871 that the Ottoman Empire established a county in Kuwait, and that was thanks to the Age of Exploration.
Kuwait possessed fine natural harbors. To develop the domestic economy, the Sultan Government had planned to build a railway that would allow direct access from the Persian Gulf to the Indian Ocean.
Yet a plan remained only a plan. The railway existed solely in ideals, for the Sultan Government lacked the ability to carry it out.
Limited by its natural conditions, Kuwait remained a poor, backward little patch of countryside. Even domestic transportation had not been solved, so overseas trade was something they longed for but lacked the means to pursue.
Now, the Sultan Government no longer needed to fret over these issues. The Austrians had made the choice for them. Faced with an enemy that had descended without warning, Kuwait's garrison collapsed in a daze.
It was not that they had failed to try; the gap in strength was simply too great. The Sultan Government had never anticipated that Kuwait would become a target of Austria's offensive, and the area possessed only an understrength garrison regiment.
Politically speaking, Kuwait held little strategic significance at present. But one look at the map made it clear: Austria was staking out territory.
By now, the world had largely been carved up. What remained was either hard bone to