Chapter 18 berlin-baghdad railway

In 1889, under the leadership of Deutsche Bank, a group of German industrialists and bankers obtained a concession from the Ottoman government to build a railway from the capital Constantinople across Anatolia in Asia Minor.This agreement lasted for ten years, and in 1899, the Ottoman government approved the construction of the second phase, which is known as the "Berlin-Baghdad Railway Project".The second agreement was the result of Kaiser Wilhelm II's visit to Constantinople in 1898.During this decade, German-Austrian relations became increasingly important. Germany decided to establish a solid economic alliance with Turkey starting in the 1890s and vigorously develop new markets for German industrial products exported to the East.The Berlin-Baghdad rail project is at the heart of this major and viable economic strategy.The ulterior purpose hidden behind this project is to obtain potential oil supplies. Of course, Britain will jump out to oppose it. From the 1990s to the present, the Middle East expressed its hatred of the West in a tragic form, and the seeds were planted in this period.

For more than 20 years, the construction of a modern railway linking continental Europe to Baghdad has been the focus of the German-British conflict.Deutsche Bank director Karl Helfrich believes that in the fifteen years before 1914, apart from the growing strength of the German naval fleet, no problem has caused further tension between London and Berlin than the construction of the Baghdad railway. up.Carr was in charge of negotiating the Baghdad rail project at the time. In 1888, Deutsche Bank spearheaded the formation of a company that was awarded a concession to build and maintain a railway line between Haida-Pasa and Angola, outside Constantinople.The company was named the Anatolian Railways, and its main shareholders were Austrians, Italians, and also had a small British stake.The pre-construction of the railway is progressing very smoothly and completed ahead of schedule, and the project will extend to the south of Konya.

In 1896, the railway from Berlin to Konya opened.This is a railway that goes deep into the interior of the Anatolian Highlands in Turkey, with a total length of about 1,000 kilometers.In a very economically isolated area, the construction period was less than eight years, which is really a great achievement in the history of engineering and construction.The ancient and rich Tigris and Euphrates valleys have since been linked together by a modern transport infrastructure.Prior to this, the railway facilities in the Middle East were all built by the British or the French. All these railways were very short and only connected several key port cities in Syria or other areas. Inland areas are connected with modern industrialized areas.

For the first time, the railway connected Constantinople and the Ottoman Empire's Asian hinterland with economically advanced and modern regions.Such a railway, once extended to Baghdad and then to Kuwait not far away, would establish a low-cost and fast transportation channel between Europe and the entire Indian subcontinent, which was also the highest-level world-class railway at that time. From the British point of view, this is the crux of the problem.Laffan, a senior British military adviser who was sent to the Serbian army at the time, warned: "If the Berlin-Baghdad railway is built, this huge inland territory that produces untold economic wealth and cannot be attacked by naval military power will be destroyed." united around Germany. Russia will be separated from its Western friends—Britain and France—by this barrier." Lafon added: "Our interests in Egypt are within the effective reach of the German and Turkish armies , and the armies of both countries can directly threaten India from the Persian Gulf. Soon, Alexandria and the Dardanelles will greatly strengthen Germany's naval power in the Mediterranean."

Lafon hinted that the British strategy was to destroy the Berlin-Baghdad railway. "A glance at the world map shows that from Berlin to Baghdad, the German Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Bulgaria, and Turkey line up. Only a small strip of land across this chain prevents the East and West from connecting , this is Serbia. Although Serbia is small, it is located between Germany and the big ports such as Constantinople and Thessaloniki. The geographical location of these ports is extremely important, guarding the gate of the East... Serbia is our East The first real line of defense for wealth. If Serbia is conquered, or lured into joining the Berlin-Baghdad system, our vast and undefended empire will soon feel the German sword thrusting towards the east."

It is not surprising, then, that the decade before 1914 was marked by turbulent wars in the Balkans, including the Turkish War, the Bulgarian War, and successive regional conflicts.Conflicts and wars greatly weakened the Berlin-Constantinople alliance and especially hindered the construction of the Berlin-Baghdad railway.Lafang repeatedly emphasized this point.But it would be wrong to see the Berlin-Baghdad railway construction project as a unilateral German confrontation against Britain.Germany has repeatedly sought cooperation from the UK on this project. In the 1890s, Germany and the Turkish government reached an agreement to build the last 2,500 kilometers of railways to what is today Kuwait.In order to complete this huge project, Deutsche Bank and the Berlin government have made countless efforts to seek the participation of the UK, hoping to provide financial support for this huge project together with the UK.

In November 1899, after Kaiser Wilhelm II visited Constantinople, he met Queen Victoria of England at Windsor Castle, interceded personally, and invited Britain to participate in the Baghdad project.The Germans are very clear that in order to defend the Communist India passage, Britain will definitely safeguard their interests in the Gulf and Suez.Without the active support of the United Kingdom, it is not positive, and it is obvious that this project will face great difficulties, not only political difficulties, but also financial difficulties.The construction scale of the last section of the railway far exceeds the capital allocation capabilities of German banks. Even with a big bank like Deutsche Bank, Germany alone cannot handle such a huge project financing task.

However, in the ensuing 15 years, the United Kingdom used various means and tricks to delay and obstruct the progress of the railway construction. At the same time, it always kept Germany in the hope of reaching a final agreement, making Germany uncertain.Such games continued until the outbreak of World War I in August 1914. The Queen of England played a winning card in the final stage of negotiations on the Baghdad Railway. She has close ties with the Sheikh of Kuwait. In 1901, the British warships parked in the waters of Kuwait ordered the Turkish government to consider the Gulf port in the lower reaches of the Shatt al-Arab. (then controlled by the Anazah tribe of Sheikh Mubarak-Sabah) as "British Territory".

At the time, Turkey was weak economically and militarily, and had little to do but weak protest against the de facto British occupation of this faraway part of the Ottoman Empire.Britain took control of Kuwait and successfully thwarted attempts to extend the Berlin-Baghdad railway to the waters of the Persian Gulf and beyond. Sheikh Mubarak-Sabah, a man of brutal nature, is said to have gained control of the region in 1896 by murdering his two half-brothers while they were sleeping in his palace. In 1907 Sheikh Mubarak-Sabah signed an agreement to permanently lease the land to the "Honorable British Imperial Government", co-signing this document was Major Major Knox, the British Imperial Government's representative in Kuwait.It is said that in order to make the chief happy when he signed the agreement, the British government played both soft and hard ways and gave him a lot of gold and weapons. In October 1913, Lieutenant Colonel Percy Cox received a letter from the chief who has always been generous. In the letter, the chief agreed: "Unless the British government nominates or recommends", the chief will not exploit the oil on this land authorized to anyone.

In 1902, the region ruled by the Ottoman Empire was called Mesopotamia, which is today's Iraq and Kuwait.This region is rich in oil resources, but there are great uncertainties about how much and how they will be exploited.The discovery of oil turned the region into a colossal arena for global economic and military control that continues to this day. In 1912, in the process of financing the Baghdad Railway, Deutsche Bank negotiated with the Ottoman Emperor, and the Baghdad Railway Company obtained all oil and mineral exploration rights within 20 kilometers on both sides of the railway.The railway line stretched all the way to Mosul in what is today Iraq.

In 1912, German industry and government had recognized that oil was the fuel of the future economy, equally important to future land and sea transportation.At that time, Germany was firmly controlled by the Rockefeller Standard Oil Company of the United States.Deutsche Petroleum Marketing, a subsidiary of Standard Oil, controls 91% of Germany's total oil sales.Deutsche Bank owns a 9% stake in Standard Oil's Deutsche Petroleum Marketing Company and is only a minority shareholder.In 1912, Germany had not yet established an independent and secure oil supply system. However, geologists have discovered oil between Mosul and Baghdad - the part of Mesopotamia (Iraq) through which the final leg of the under-construction Berlin-Baghdad railway passes , It is also believed that there must be a large amount of oil resources. In 1899, the British government and Kuwaiti Sheikh Mubarak-Sabah signed the famous text of the agreement. Since then, the United Kingdom has included Kuwait in the scope of its special interests in the Arabian Gulf. The Times of London (October 3, 1899) and the Financial News (October 6, 1899) revealed the strong geopolitical views of key figures in British foreign policy circles regarding the German railway project in Baghdad. From 1912 to 1913, the German Parliament has been working hard to legislate, hoping to establish its own state-owned company to develop and operate newly discovered oil resources independently of the joint venture with Rockefeller in the United States.But the effort remained slow, dragged on until the outbreak of World War I in August 1914, and had to be abandoned.Deutsche Bank's plan was to transport Mesopotamian oil by land via the Baghdad railway, avoiding British sea interception, so as to ensure that Germany's oil needs were met and achieved independence.