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

by Edward Mead Earle

[27] Staatsbürger Zeitung (Berlin), March 3, 1912.

[28] Compiled from the Statistisches Jahrbuch für das deutsche Reich, 1900–1914, as corrected for 1900–1905 according to the Statistisches Handbuch für das deutsche Reich, Volume 2, pp. 506–510. A remarkable increase of German exports to Turkey—an increase of 50%—is to be noted in the year 1904, during which the first section of the Bagdad Railway was constructed. Undoubtedly this increase is to be partially accounted for by the purchase in Germany of materials for right of way as well as rolling stock for the railway. This factor should not be over-estimated, however, as a glance at the following tables will show that imports into Turkey from other European countries during the same year likewise showed increases, without exception. The general falling off in trade during 1908 may be attributed, in part, at any rate, to the Young Turk Revolution of that year.

[29] Compiled from Diplomatic and Consular Reports, Nos. 2950 (1902), 3533 (1905), 4188 (1908), and 4835 (1910–1911).

[30] Supra, p. 36.

[31] Diplomatic and Consular Reports, No. 3533 (1905), p. 27; Turkey in Europe, pp. 86–87.

[32] Mesopotamia, pp. 99–101; Schaefer, op. cit., p. 22. Regarding British interests in the Persian Gulf, cf., a detailed statement by Lord Lansdowne to the House of Lords, May 5, 1903. Parliamentary Debates, House of Lords, fourth series, Volume 121 (1903), pp. 1347–1348.

[33] “Bagdad: Handelsbericht des kaiserlichen Konsulats für das Jahr 1908–1909,” in Deutsches Handels-Archiv, 1910, part 2, pp. 27–35; also, “Bericht über den Handel in Basra und Bagdad für das Jahr 1910,” ibid., 1912, part 2, pp. 263–270; Mesopotamia, p. 108.

[34] Cf. supra, pp. 59–60; Report of the Bagdad Railway Company, 1906, p. 4, 1908, pp. 7–8; Diplomatic and Consular Reports, No. 3533 (1905), p. 29. The Mersina-Adana line was formally incorporated in the Bagdad system in 1908. Cf. Deuxième convention additionelle à la convention du chemin de fer de Bagdad (Constantinople, 1910).

[35] Parliamentary Debates, House of Commons, fifth series, Volume 22 (1911), pp. 1284–1285.