Valuable assistance in the collection and preparation of material has been rendered, also, by the following persons, to whom the author expresses his grateful appreciation: Sir Charles P. Lucas, director, and Mr. Evans Lewin, librarian, of the Royal Colonial Institute; Sir John Cadman, director of His Majesty’s Petroleum Department; Professor George Young, of the University of London, formerly attaché of the British embassy at Constantinople; Mr. Charles V. Sheehan, sub-manager in London of the National City Bank of New York; Mr. M. Zekeria, chief of the Turkish Information Service in the United States; Mr. René A. Wormser, an American attorney who assisted the author in research work in Germany during the summer of 1922. Dr. Gottlieb Betz, of Columbia University, and Dr. John Mez, American correspondent of the Frankfurter Zeitung, have aided in the translation of important documents.
Professors Carlton J. H. Hayes and William R. Shepherd, of Columbia University, have been patient advisers and judicious critics of the author during the preparation of his manuscript. To them he owes much, as teachers who stimulated his interest in international relations, and as colleagues who cheerfully coöperate in any useful enterprise. Professor Parker Thomas Moon, of Columbia University, also has read the manuscript and offered many valuable suggestions.
EDWARD MEAD EARLE
Columbia University
June, 1923
CONTENTS
| CHAPTER | PAGE |
| I | An Ancient Trade Route is Revived | [1] |
| II | Backward Turkey Invites Economic Exploitation | [9] |
| Turkish Sovereignty is a Polite Formality | [9] | |
| The Natural Wealth of Asiatic Turkey Offers AlluringOpportunities | [13] | |
| Forces Are at Work for Regeneration | [17] | |
| III | Germans Become Interested in the Near East | [29] |
| The First Rails Are Laid | [29] | |
| The Traders Follow the Investors | [35] | |
| The German Government Becomes Interested | [38] | |
German Economic Interests Make for Near EasternImperialism | [45] | |
| IV | The Sultan Mortgages His Empire | [58] |
| The Germans Overcome Competition | [58] | |
| The Bagdad Railway Concession is Granted | [67] | |
| The Locomotive is to Supplant the Camel | [71] | |
| The Sultan Loosens the Purse-Strings | [75] | |
| Some Turkish Rights Are Safeguarded | [81] | |
| V | Peaceful Penetration Progresses | [92] |
| The Financiers Get Their First Profits | [92] | |
| The Bankers’ Interests Become More Extensive | [97] | |
| Broader Business Interests Develop | [101] | |
| Sea Communications Are Established | [107] | |
| VI | The Bagdad Railway Becomes an Imperial Enterprise | [120] |
| Political Interests Come to the Fore | [120] | |
| Religious and Cultural Interests Reënforce Politicaland Economic Motives | [131] | |
| Some Few Voices Are Raised in Protest | [137] | |
| VII | Russia Resists and France is Uncertain | [147] |
| Russia Voices Her Displeasure | [147] | |
| The French Government Hesitates | [153] | |
| French Interests Are Believed to be Menaced | [157] | |
| The Bagdad Railway Claims French Supporters | [165] | |
| VIII | Great Britain Blocks the Way | [176] |
| Early British Opinions Are Favorable | [176] | |
| The British Government Yields to Pressure | [180] | |
| Vested Interests Come to the Fore | [189] | |
| Imperial Defence Becomes the Primary Concern | [195] | |
| British Resistance is Stiffened by the Entente | [202] | |
| IX | The Young Turks Are Won Over | [217] |
| A Golden Opportunity Presents Itself to the EntentePowers | [217] | |
| The Germans Achieve a Diplomatic Triumph | [222] | |
| The German Railways Justify Their Existence | [229] | |
| The Young Turks Have Some Mental Reservations | [235] | |
| X | Bargains Are Struck | [239] |
| The Kaiser and the Tsar Agree at Potsdam | [239] | |
| French Capitalists Share in the Spoils | [244] | |
| The Young Turks Conciliate Great Britain | [252] | |
| British Imperial Interests Are Further Safeguarded | [258] | |
| Diplomatic Bargaining Fails to Preserve Peace | [266] | |
| XI | Turkey, Crushed to Earth, Rises Again | [275] |
| Nationalism and Militarism Triumph at Constantinople | [275] | |
| Asiatic Turkey Becomes One of the Stakes of theWar | [279] | |
| Germany Wins Temporary Domination of theNear East | [287] | |
| “Berlin to Bagdad” Becomes but a Memory | [292] | |
| To the Victors Belong the Spoils | [300] | |
| “The Ottoman Empire is Dead. Long LiveTurkey!” | [303] | |
| XII | The Struggle for the Bagdad Railway is Resumed | [314] |
| Germany is Eliminated and Russia Withdraws | [314] | |
| France Steals a March and is Accompanied byItaly | [318] | |
| British Interests Acquire a Claim to the BagdadRailway | [327] | |
| America Embarks on an Uncharted Sea | [336] | |
| Index | [355] | |