BRITAIN,GERMANY,ANDTHEMIDDLEEAST 9tostrengthenhisruleoverdistantandrebelliousArabtribesnotonly
inMesopotamiaandthePersianGulfbutalso insouthernSyriaand
theHijazinwesternArabia. Inthisrespecttheproposedrailline-
andalsothelater(1901)Hijazrailroad,whichAbdul-Hamidwas de-
terminedshouldrunfromDamascustoMecca-resultedfromthe
pan-Islamicandpolitical-strategicinterestsoftheTurks.
Consequently,inawardingtheconcessionforthenewlyproposed
railroadtoBaghdadthesultanbelieveditessentialtochooseaGreat
Powerthatwouldsympathizewithpan-Islamism.HesettledonGer-
manybecause,unlikeBritain,France,andRussia,ithadpractically
noMuslimsubjectsandthereforelittlereasonto fearMuslimdis-
content."ThesultaneagerlywelcomedWilhelmIIandhislavishen-
tourage,atatimewhenno otherEuropeansovereignwouldeven
meetthedespoticAbdul-Hamid.Thelatter'snotorietyasthe"Red
[bloody]Sultan"resultedfromhisregime'sbrutality,andparticu-
larlythemurderoftheArmenians.Further,thesultanusedthevisit
toimpressonhisguestthedoctrineofpan-Islamismandhisown
claimtothecaliphate}!
WhileinDamascusthekaiserwrotehiscousin,NicholasII,the
czarofRussia,that"ourreceptionhereissimplyastounding[.]Never
has aChristian...Monarchbeensofetedandreceivedwithsuch
unboundedenthusiasm.It isbecauseIamafriendoftheirSultan
andKaliphandbecauseI alwayspursuedanopenandloyal Policy
towardhim.">Inreturnfor his festivewelcome,Wilhelmobligedthe
sultanbyassociatinghimselfcloselywithallMuslims.In aspeechin
Damascushemadethefamousannouncementthatparticularlyun-
settledBritainandFrance:"LetmeassureHisMajestytheSultan
andthethreehundredmillionsofMoslemswho,inwhatevercorner
oftheglobetheymaylive, revere inhimtheirKhalif,thattheGer-
manEmperorwill ever betheirfriend.?»
StoriesaboundedthatWilhelmIIwouldsoonconverttoIslam.
Althoughtheyhadnobasisin fact, noGermanofficial,includingthe
kaiser,deniedthem.>Thegovernmentdiditsbesttocounterstrong
criticismofthevisitintheforeignpressandtominimizenationalist
commentsinGermannewspapers.Theforeignministryspreadthe
viewthatWilhelmIIhadmadethevoyage solely forreligiouspur-
poses, toenablethekaisertomakeapilgrimagetotheHolyLand.