Since the armistice of 1918 events have not materially decreased the prestige which the War built up. “From Adrianople to Amritsar, and from Tiflis to Aden, America is considered a friend. It has become a tradition in the Near East to interpret every action of the European Powers as an attempt at political domination. America is the only power considered strong enough to provide the Orient with the capital and expert knowledge for its industrial development, without aiming at more than a legitimate profit. The Oriental feels that he needs coöperation with the West; but he is anxious to restrict that coöperation to the economic field. And he considers the United States the only power which would replace Europe’s political ambitions by a sound, matter-of-fact, and sincere economic policy.”[39]
During the Great War the economic situation of the United States underwent certain fundamental changes which seem to forecast increasing American interest in imperialism. Before the War, America was practically self-sufficient in raw materials; its export trade was composed very largely of foodstuffs and raw materials which found a ready market in the great industrial nations of Europe; financially, it was a debtor, not a creditor, nation. The enormous industrial expansion of the United States during the Great War, however, has changed these conditions. Raw materials have become an increasingly greater proportion of the nation’s import trade, and American business men are becoming concerned about foreign control of certain essential commodities such as rubber, nitrates, chrome, and petroleum. American export trade has experienced an unparalleled period of expansion, and American manufactured articles are competing in world markets which formerly were the exclusive preserves of European nations. Furthermore, the export of American capital has almost kept pace with the export of American goods, so that by 1920 the United States had taken its place alongside Great Britain and France as one of the great creditor nations of the world. As time goes on American business will be reaching out over the world for a fair share of the earth’s resources in raw materials, for new markets capable of development, and for opportunities for the profitable investment of capital.[40]
These new tendencies were quickly reflected in American relations with the Near East. As early as the spring of 1920 the Government of the United States was engaged in a lengthy correspondence with His Britannic Majesty’s Government regarding the right of American capital to participate in the exploitation of the oil resources of Mesopotamia.[41] About the same time the Guaranty Trust Company of New York—the second largest bank in the United States—established a branch in Constantinople and proceeded to inform American business men regarding the opportunities for commercial expansion in the Near East. In a booklet entitled Trading with the Near East—Present Conditions and Future Prospects, the bank had this to say:
“The establishing of a Constantinople branch of the Guaranty Trust Company of New York brings forcibly to mind the growing importance of the Near East to American foreign trade. Up to the present time American business in Constantinople has been seriously handicapped by the absence of American banking facilities. Our traders were forced to rely on British, French, or other foreign banks for their financial transactions. This was not only inconvenient, but it was devoid of that business secrecy which is so necessary in exploiting new fields.
“Before the war merchandise from the United States was a negligible factor in the business life of Constantinople, and a vessel flying the Stars and Stripes was a rare sight. Today one will find four or five American liners in the Golden Horn at all times.... Today a dozen important American corporations have permanent offices there, and many other American concerns are represented by local agents.
“The future possibilities of imports from and exports to the Eastern Mediterranean, the Sea of Marmora, and the Black Sea ports from the United States are of almost unbelievable proportions. These entire sections must be fed, clothed, and largely rehabilitated. Roads, ports, railways, and public works of all kinds are needed everywhere. The merchants of the Near East have valuable raw products to send us in exchange for the manufactured goods which they so urgently need.“
This estimate of the situation was confirmed by the American Chamber of Commerce for the Levant when, in urging upon the Department of State the vigorous defence of the “open door” in Turkey, it said: “The opportunities for the expansion of American interests in the Near East are practically unlimited, provided there is a fair field open for individual enterprise.... In fact, with the conclusion of peace, there is the economic structure of an empire to be developed.”[42]
The rapid development of American economic interests in Turkey can be most effectively presented by reference to the trade statistics. American exports to Turkey at the opening of the twentieth century amounted to only $50,000. In 1913 they had risen to $3,500,000. But between 1913 and 1920 they showed a phenomenal increase of over twelve hundred per cent, reaching the sum of $42,200,000. Nor was this trade one sided, for during the period 1913–1920, American imports from Turkey increased from $22,100,000 to $39,600,000.[43]
The Chester concessions are another important step in the development of a new American policy in the Near East. They provide for the construction by the Ottoman-American Development Company—a Turkish corporation owned and administered by Americans—of approximately 2800 miles of railways, of which the following are the most important:
1. An extension of the old Anatolian Railway from Angora to Sivas, with a branch to the port of Samsun, on the Black Sea.