This Sea Ain’t Big Enough for the Both of Us: The Red Sea Blockade and Anglo-Italian Imperial Competition During the First World War

This paper examines the Red Sea as a crucial arena of Anglo-Italian rivalry during the First World War, focusing on how the British naval blockade shaped both wartime dynamics and long-term imperial competition. While officially directed against the Ottoman Empire, the blockade also functioned as a tool for Britain to contain Italian influence across the Arabian Peninsula. Drawing on the economic and political repercussions for Italy’s colony of Eritrea, the study highlights how trade restrictions disrupted regional networks and revealed the deep interconnection between maritime control and imperial policy. The Red Sea blockade became not only a mechanism of military strategy but also a manifestation of the broader clash of interests dividing London and Rome. Italian protests over the blockade and Britain’s persistent suspicion of Italian ambitions underscored the limits of wartime alliance and the emergence of post-war antagonism. Ultimately, the episode shows how the First World War redefined power balances in the Red Sea, turning it into a contested space that anticipated the geopolitical frictions of the interwar period.