Turkey, the Great Powers, and the Bagdad Railway: A study in imperialism

Many a glowing tale has been told of the great Commercial Revolution of the sixteenth century and of the consequent partial abandonment of the trans-Asiatic trade routes to Indi...

The reign of Sultan Abdul Hamid II (1876–1909) began with a disastrous foreign war; it terminated in the turmoil of revolution. And during the intervening three decades of his r...

[3] The texts of the various treaties of capitulation may be found in G. E. Noradounghian (ed.), _Recueil d’actes internationaux de l’Empire ottoman, 1300–1902_ (4 volumes, Pari...

During the summer of 1888 the Oriental Railways—from the Austrian frontier, across the Balkan Peninsula _via_ Belgrade, Nish, Sofia, and Adrianople, to Constantinople—were opene...

[4] _Bulletin de la Chambre de Commerce française de Constantinople_, August 31, 1888, p. 10; September 30, 1888, p. 31. _Cf._, also a prospectus issued by a banker, Mr. W. J. A...

[6] Helfferich, _op. cit._, Part V; A. P. Brüning, _Die Entwicklung des ausländischen, speciell des überseeischen deutschen Bankwesens_ (Berlin, 1907), pp. 14 _et seq._; _Report...

military mission—which was not in accord with his general Eastern policy—as a sort of insurance against the possibility that chauvinism, Pan-Slavism, and anti-German elements in...

[23] _Die grosse Politik der europäischen Kabinette, 1871–1914_ (Berlin, 1922 _et seq._), Volume VI, pp. 360–361. (A compilation of documents from the files of the Foreign Offic...

[33] It should be remarked here that the author is not unaware of the fallacy of speaking of “German trade” and “German industry.” He is cognizant of the fact that trade takes p...

During 1898 and 1899 the Ottoman Ministry of Public Works received many applications for permission to construct a railway to Bagdad. Whatever may have been thought later of the...

(Paris, 1883); A. J. Toynbee, _Nationality and the War_ (London, 1915), pp. 399–411, and _Turkey: a Past and a Future_ (New York, 1917); Tekin Alp, _Türkismus und Pantürkismus_...

The convention of March, 1903, marked the beginning, not the end, of the work of the promoters of the Bagdad Railway. Ahead of Dr. von Gwinner[1] and his associates lay all sort...

general complained that the Swiss in charge of the operation of the Railway was more interested in the commercial than in the strategic value of the line and did not coöperate w...

[12] _Société Impériale Ottomane du Chemin de fer de Bagdad—Convention Additionelle_ (Constantinople, 1908); _Parliamentary Papers_, No. Cd. 5636, Volume CIII (1911); _Report of...

additionelle à la convention du 5 Mars, 1903, relative au chemin de fer de Bagdad_ (Constantinople, 1911); _Parliamentary Debates, House of Commons_, fifth series, Volume 23 (19...

It was asserted times without number that the Bagdad Railway was an independent financial enterprise, unconnected with the political aims of the German Government in Turkey and...

[6] For an interesting discussion of this point see George von Siemens, “The National Importance of the Bourse,” in _The Nation_ (London), October 6, 1900. _Cf._, also, W. M. Sh...

[12] _Die Bagdadbahn_, p. 16. _Cf._, also, R. Henry, _Des Montes Bohèmes au Golfe Persique; l’Asie Turque et le Chemin de fer de Bagdad_ (Paris, 1908), p. 509 _et seq._; C. H. B...

[23] J. Richter, _A History of Protestant Missions in the Near East_ (New York, 1910), pp. 258–270, 416–419; L. M. Garnett, _Turkey of the Ottomans_ (London, 1911), Chapters VII...

[35] Karl Maximilan, sixth Prince, Lichnowsky (1860- ) had been a member of the German diplomatic service since his youth. He was attached to the embassy at London when he was b...

[39] Regarding the Emperor’s personal interest in the Bagdad Railway consider the following Reuter dispatch, published in _The Near East_, December 6, 1911, p. 143: “By desire o...

Russian objections to the Bagdad Railway were put forth as early as 1899, the year in which the Sultan announced his intention of awarding the concession to the _Deutsche Bank_....

port on the Caspian, to Teheran was completed in September, 1899. _Cf._ “Russia’s Tightening Grip on Persia,” in _The Globe_ (London), August 24, 1899; also “Russian Railways in...

[4] Quoted by Georges Mazel, _Le chemin de fer de Bagdad_ (Montpelier, 1911), p. 324. It should be remembered that Russia at this time was experiencing the Industrial Revolution...

[9] Rohrbach, _Die Bagdadbahn_, pp. 10–13; Imbert, _loc. cit._, p. 678. Enthusiastic Turks believed that, with adequate rail communications, Erzerum might be transformed into a...

The idea of a trans-Mesopotamian railway was not new to informed Englishmen. As early as 1831 a young British army officer, Francis R. Chesney, who had seen service in the Near...

[32] For the views of a typical British imperialist on the Persian situation, _cf._, Curzon, _Persia and the Persian Question_, Volume II, Chapter XXX; a later account is that o...

[34] Herr Scheidemann, in an eloquent speech to the Reichstag, March 30, 1911, pleaded with the German Government to be sympathetic with the position in which Great Britain foun...

[39] For the text of the Anglo-Russian Entente, _cf._ _British and Foreign State Papers_, Volume 100, pp. 555 _et seq._ Regarding the nature of the Anglo-Russian rivalry in the...

The Young Turk revolutions of 1908 and 1909, which ended the reign of Abdul Hamid in the Ottoman Empire, offered France and Great Britain an unprecedented opportunity to assume...

During the early days of November, 1910, William II entertained at the Potsdam palace his fellow sovereign Nicholas II, Tsar of all the Russias. He extended his royal hospitalit...

[18] It should be made clear that not all the terms of the Franco-German agreement were carried out before the beginning of the Great War. Because of the delay in the negotiatio...

[29] For the text of the agreement _cf._ E.M. Earle, “The Secret Anglo-German Convention of 1914 regarding Asiatic Turkey,” in the _Political Science Quarterly_ (New York), Volu...

The outbreak of the Great War precipitated a serious political crisis at Constantinople. Decisions of the utmost moment to the future of the Ottoman Empire had to be taken. Chie...

Moutran, _La Syrie de demain: France et Syrie_ (Paris, 1916); R. Hennig, _Der Kampf um den Suezkanal_ (Stuttgart, 1915); E. Serman, _Mit den Türken an der Front_ (Berlin, 1915);...

en Asie Mineure,” in _Revue politique et parlementaire_, Volume 86 (1916), pp. 19–44; R. Lane, “Turkey under Germany’s Tutelage,” in _Unpopular Review_, Volume 9 (1918), pp. 328...

The Great War has completely destroyed German influence in the Near East. In the way of any resumption of German enterprise in Turkey are formidable obstacles which are not like...

[46] The Chester concessions contain the usual provisions for the utilization of the railways by the gendarmerie and the military, both in time of peace and in time of war.

Anatolian Railway, 34, 53, 61, 63, 224, 248, 339; concession of 1888, 32; concession of 1893, 33; agreement with Smyrna-Cassaba Railway, 59–60; board of directors, 85; irrigatio...