First World War all about oil?

[michael mills]

A good source on this topic is the 1926 book by the American Jewish Bolshevik Louis Fischer, "Oil Imperialism: The International Struggle for Petroleum" (NewYork, International Publishers).

Fischer quotes a statement made at the end of the First World War by Sir Henry Deterding, Chairman of Royal Dutch-Shell, (nicknamed the "Napoleon of Oil") to the effect that at the beginning of the war Britain had controlled only a very small share of the World's supply of oil, whereas at is end it controlled more than 50%.

In 1918, Britain controlled the existing oilfields of Burma, Persia and (temporarily) the Russian Caucasus. It also controlled Mesopotamia, where oil was known to exist, although not yet tapped.

The Saudi oilfields were not discovered by the Americans until the 1930s.

[LWD]

A good source on this topic is the 1926 book by the American Jewish Bolshevik Louis Fischer, "Oil Imperialism: The International Struggle for Petroleum" (NewYork, International Publishers).
....

I'm not sure why you thought it necessary to refer to him as a "Jewish Bolshevik". I didn't see anything in a quick search that stated he was a ever a Bolshevik although he certainly was pro Communist for a time although anti Communist later in life. The above does seem to have been written during his Communist period but that would tend to raise questions about it's quality as a historical reference.

[Terry Duncan]

I must admit I couldnt see any point to mentioning either piece of information. If the book is really a reliable study it matters not one iota that the author was Jewish or Boshevik/Communist. If the book is not reliable, recommending it would seem pointless, making the author even more immaterial.

[michael mills]

Read the book and judge for yourselves.

Even a Jewish Bolshevik can sometimes be a useful source of information.