Fighting over Fruit: Inter-imperial Rivalry and the Date Trade in Basra Inter-imperial rivalry is one of the more potent forces that spiraled the world into war in 1914. This rivalry played out in multiple locations within the Ottoman Empire. Due to the Berlin-Baghdad railway and encroaching German interests, historians frequently focus on Ottoman Iraq as a major hotspot of this rivalry. However, was this really the case for all aspects of the Ottoman Iraqi economy? In my paper I use my own original research and archival sources to examine the date trade in Basra. I take an historical approach to the data and contextualize my findings within the framework of globalization. I specifically evaluate the date trade in Basra as a case study to investigate these supposed inter-imperial rivalries. The date trade was a multinational competition between Ottomans, Americans, the British, and the Germans to procure the fruits at the lowest prices during the annual fall auction. Due to the peculiarities of geography, large steamships could only sail from Basra at high tides that occurred every two weeks. Once the dates were purchased, there was a frenzied rush to secure them, pack them and, then ship them. As dates were a seasonal treat in Europe and the US, associated with Christmas, the first boats to reach ports in November could secure the highest prices. A delay to shipping at the right tide could translate into a two week delay and the loss of considerable profits. Sabotage of all sorts occurred. This paper investigates whether these individuals and corporations were part of this inter-imperial rivalry. This paper will argue that it was more likely that merchants would indeed cooperate across national lines against common threats. This paper’s case study focuses on several incidents. One such example concerns how the American company, Hills Brothers of NY was so successful in previous years that German and British companies worked together against them in 1913.