War by Revolution. Germany and Great Britain in the Middle East in the Era of World War I

14 WARBYREVOLUTION

anglophileministerFriedrichvonRosen,theministertoPortugal,

andthelaterambassadorinConstantinople,BaronHansvonWang-

enheim,warnedagainstusingpan-Islamismandincitingreligious

passionstofurtherGermanobjectivesagainsttheReich'sEuropean

rivals.PaulGrafWolff-MetternichzurGracht,althoughhehadac-

companiedthekaisertoTurkeyin 1898 andcarefullyprovided

WilhelmwithOppenheim'sreportsanddiscussedthemwiththe

emperor,emphasizedhowmuchGermanybenefitedfromgoodtrade

relationswiththeBritishEmpire.Sodidthecommercialdepartment

intheforeignministry."

Germany,Turkey, and theAnglo-FrenchEntente
Importantconsequencesflowedfromthekaiser'svisittoTurkey.In
December 1899 thePortegrantedapreliminaryconcessionfor rail-
roadconstructiontothegroupofGermanindustrialandfinancial
institutions,led bytheDeutscheBank,thathadbuilttheAnatolian
railroad.Theagreementprovidedfortheextensionoftherailroad
intoMesopotamiaandtowardBaghdad,terminatingintheOtto-
manprovinceofKuwaitonthePersianGulf.On 5 March1903,after
unsuccessfulattemptsbyGermanytoacquirefinancialassistance
fromFranceandBritainforconstructionoftherailroad,theOtto-
mansandGermanssignedtheBaghdadrailroadconvention.Along
withacquiringtherailroadconcessionGermanyincreaseditsarma-
mentstradewithTurkeyandfoundedtheDeutsche-PalastinaBank,
withbranchesinJerusalemandJaffa,andin 1906 theDeutsche
Orientbank."Moreover,astheBritishobserved,theReichsuddenly
expandeditsactivityinthePersianGulf.AlthoughonlysixGerman
citizenslived intheGulfregion,Berlinestablisheda viceconsulateat
Bushire,onthePersianside, inNovember1897;aprivateshipping
andpearl-tradingcompanyownedbyRobertWoenckhausbegan
doingbusinessatLingehontheGulfcoast.v
Thepotentialvalueoftherailroad,themostvisibleandcontro-
versialaspectofGermany'spenetrationpaciEqueofTurkey,waslost
onneithertheGermansnortheBritish.Whencompletedtherail-
roadwouldlinkConstantinople,andEuropeingeneral,withBagh-
dadandthePersianGulf,therebyallowingGermanyto enter