A map showing the route of the berlinbaghdad railway, june 19. Browse the amazon editors picks for the best books of 2019, featuring our favorite reads in more than a dozen categories. Files are available under licenses specified on their description page. The jubilant mood at railway stations like that in munich are precious yet fragile. Running through mcmeekins narrative is the story of that halfmad imperial enterprise, namely, the berlintobaghdad railway. Overall, the book proposed a vision of a revived middle east closely connected.
It is therefore important that englishmen should acquaint themselves with the past history of the scheme, and. As the first study to document the baghdad railway construction, rather than the rhetoric surrounding it, this work challenges nearly a century of scholarship on german imperialism and ottoman declinescholarship that has too often hinged on the alleged great. The real theme of this book is not the berlinbaghdad railway, which receives little attention after the first quarter of the book, but germanys hope to rouse the. Although the title addresses the railway the germans planned on building. Berlinbaghdad railway project gutenberg selfpublishing. The first railway in iraq opened in 1914 between baghdad and samarra, a distance of 120km. Imohr, new electric motor units built for the italian state railways fs and optimum size of large starter batteries obtained by varying the number of cells or the gear ratio by e. After decades of war, iraq adds fleet of new trains to its aging railway. Nowadays, longdistance and regional traffic on the nordbahn is routed at hohen neuendorf onto the berlin outer ring to the karower kreuz and on to berlin main station or berlinlichtenberg.
Iraqs stateowned railways company recently announced the completion of a new highspeed rail line between baghdad and basra which will connect iraqs central and southern provinces. Publication date 1917 topics baghdad railway, eastern question, world war, 19141918 causes, turkey publisher philadelphia. A railway that connected the ottoman city of baghdad to the european city of berlin. Berlin to baghdad railway, 1930s film 99504 youtube. The library of congress does not own rights to material in its collections. The ottoman empire and germanys bid for world power, 18981918 by sean mcmeekin. When completed, the railway would integrate the german and ottoman empires and counter the power of their respective rivals, britain and russia. Spurned by a handful of german agents in world war i this group sought to bring about a global jihad from north africa to afghanistan. This is the plotline of john buchans novel greenmantle, and of sean mcmeekins recent book about the berlinbaghdad railway seen, then, as an artery along which the blood of a new and. Full text is unavailable for this digitized archive article. And desperate attempts were made to finish the berlinbaghdad railway. Baghdad railway train travelling on the way to jerablus, near the present syrianturkish border, and the minor station name is revealed to be boulgourlou january 16th 1909 edition of the graphic reveals this to be the terminus station at the time. Promoter of german economic expansion and the berlinbaghdad railway.
The following titles in the series, murder at deviation junction and death on a branch. The berlinbaghdad express tells the fascinating story of how germany. After being invalided home from the trenches of ww1 france, captain stringer has a chance meeting with lieutenant colonel shepherd at the railway club in london. From the perspective of berlin, the railway was a way to bypass the suez canal. As soon as belgrade was captured, express trains from berlin began running on the european side of the line.
The berlintobaghdad railway is meant to be the imperial backbone of the german mitteleuropa project, a proposed new economic rearrangement of the world that has emerged as a primary german war aim. Railways of iraq news and information about railroads in. The ottoman empire and germanys bid for world power is a book by sean mcmeekin, first published in 2010. The baghdad railway club jim stringer andrew martin on. Baghdad railway article about baghdad railway by the. The bagdad line, as foreshadowed in the concession of 1893 to the german anatolian railway company, was to be a continuation of the angora branch, of the anatolian railway, through armenia, entering the euphrates valley from the north and avoiding much expensive mountain tunneling and grading.
The berlinbaghdad express tells the history of the orient express being built and how this transformed into a german bid to launch a pan arab jihad under the caphalite of the ottoman empire in constantinople. He became a prisoner of war in turkey and had to work. Baghdad railway, major rail line connecting istanbul with the persian gulf region. Sean mcmeekins book helps us understand how such a pearl of. Therefore, it does not license or charge permission fees for use of such material and cannot grant or deny permission to publish or otherwise distribute the material. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. In 1902 the ottoman government granted a german firm the concession to lay new track eastward from ankara to baghdad. This page was last edited on 5 october 2017, at 00. Industrialization, imperial germany and the middle east library of ottoman studies ozyuksel, murat on.
At first the baghdad railway was but the overland route to india. Railway expansion was the great industrial project of the late 19th century, and the great powers built railways at speed and reaped great commercial benefits. The construction of a railway line from berlin to baghdad was a cornerstone of germanys grab for world power in the years leading up to the first world war. First world war mystery the eighth installment in the jim skinner series finds the railway detective heads to iraq to gather evidence against a suspected traitor in the. I find andrew martins jim stringer books totally absorbing and by chapter 3, the baghdad railway club is no exception. The berlinbaghdad railway would have linked germany with her new african colonies, and the trade of goods and agricultural products would benefit from a port on the persian gulf. Berliner nordbahn is a 223kilometrelong main line route, that runs from berlin via neustrelitz and neubrandenburg to stralsund on the baltic sea coast. One was the famous, yet incomplete and therefore largely unusable, baghdad railway built by german capital, material and engineers. Overhead wire for high speed electric railway traction by ikuro kumezawa, cap type insulators made of toughened glass by g. Al diwaniyah al malqal al qaim aqaba armoured train baghdad baghdad central station baghdad metro bahrain basra bayji book bridge cement commuter trains dem2300 dem2500 dem2700 dem2800 des3100 dhl150 financial times haqlaniyah insurgency iran iraqs railways irr jaffa jerusalem jordan kirkuk kuwait locomotives model narrow gauge pc class photos. This in turn could provide direct access to middle east oil, and the new german railway. There are many signs that the german financiers interested in the baghdad railway are trying to launch their scheme afresh, and of course in a new form.
The berlin baghdad railway and the outbreak of world war. Highspeed baghdadbasra rail line complete embassy of. From iraqs checkered past into an uncertain future. Third in a book rich in antiheroes is abdul hamid ii, ottoman sultan from 1876 to. In 1889, a group of german industrialists and bankers, led by deutsche bank, secured a concession from the ottoman government to build a railway through anatolia. The ottoman empire and germanys bid for world power, 18981918 by mcmeekin, sean isbn. Had it had been completed earlier, the berlin baghdad and ultimately basra railway would have enabled transport and trade from germany through a port on the persian gulf, from which trade goods and supplies could be exchanged directly with the farthest of the german colonies, and the world. A map showing the route of the berlinbaghdad railway. The centrepiece of this endeavour was the famous berlinbaghdad railway, designed to connect the german capital with the ottoman provinces in. The railway was funded and built by the german empire, with the cooperation of the ottoman empire, to link berlin with the ottoman empire city of baghdad with a railway line passing through what are now turkey, syria and iraq. Germany had sought strong economic ties with the ottomans as a way to develop potentially vast new markets for exporting german industrial goods.
The line runs from istanbul, turkey, to basra, iraq. It looks at efforts made by imperial germany during the first world war to use its connections with the muslim world to defeat the british empire, including directing an islamic jihad against it. The greatest imperial dream of all was to connect the might of europe to the potential riches of the middle east and the ottoman. In 1892 germany made the triple alliance with austriahungary and italy, thus creating a centred territorial bloc in europe. The baghdad railway club you may know andrew martin as an expert on household husbandry. All structured data from the file and property namespaces is available under the creative commons cc0 license. The new line, known as the southern rail line, runs for about 600 kilometres, and will be used for the transport of passengers and goods. Work on the first phase of the railway, which involved an extension of an existing line between haidar pasha and ismid to ankara, was begun in 1888 by the ottoman empire with german financial assistance. Timesmachine is an exclusive benefit for home delivery and digital subscribers. The berlinbaghdad express, by sean mcmeekin the independent. As sean mcmeekin shows in his riveting new book based on a knowledge not.
But in the days of the siberian system and the cape to cairo scheme, the power in. It looks at efforts made by imperial germany during the first world war to use its connections with the muslim world to defeat. Industrialization, imperial germany and the middle east library of ottoman studies. Iraqi republic railways is the state company of iraqi railway is an economical establishment and symbol which contributed and contributed in the economical, civilization and social development of iraq. About the berlin baghdad railway and the ottoman empire. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. Its a line thats been of strategic importance since it was built as part of the baghdad railway in the. The baghdad railway, its completion delayed for 18 years by economic attacks, strugged to be a contributing factor to the turcogerman military forces in the region. Browse the amazon editors picks for the best books of 2019, featuring our. Try searching on jstor for other items related to this book. The ottoman empire and germanys bid for world power. Sean mcmeekins riveting book tells the tale of two dysfunctional undertakings of the first world war. The book is not as much about the berlinbaghdad railway as it is about germany forming a coalition with muslim ottomans to fight on the eastern front against. Throughout the war, track was laid and new spurs were planned.
The baghdad railway club by andrew martin deals with baghdad during the great war, and a case of espionage for detective jim stringer. The baghdad railway club is a historical thriller, set in 1917 in mesopotamia now iraq, the eighth book in the jim stringer series. Of the various issues which confronted europe at the outbreak of the war in 1914, some thought the bagdad railway was the largest single contributing factor. Baghdad railway, railroad of international importance linking europe with asia minor and the middle east. This was the first section in present day iraq of the much delayed baghdad railway, intended to connect that city with istanbul, and authorised by the ottoman government at the turn of the century.
The ottoman empire and germanys bid for world power mcmeekin, sean on. The berlinbaghdad railway and the ottoman empire by murat ozyuksel, 9781780768823, available at book depository with free delivery worldwide. His critically praised jim stringer series began withthe necropolis railway in 2002. Promoter of german economic expansion and the berlin. As we have seen, germanys connection to this crisis is unexpectedly profound but it is also entirely literala chain of buildings, rails, and human drama linking berlin and baghdad and all points between. The berlin baghdad railway runs like a thread through the whole.
The berlinbaghdad railway runs like a thread through the whole. Media in category baghdad railway station the following 9 files are in this category, out of 9 total. Subscribers may view the full text of this article in. The baghdad railway club books entertainment express. I so enjoy these books im tempted to give each one 4 or 5 stars but judging by the score this book has, i guess his gritty matteroffact style is not to everyones taste. The journey home to germany would have given german industry a direct supply of oil.