Was the Baghdad Railway Line a German Project?

In the Ottoman Empire, the first railways were built with some privileges given to British French companies in Rumelia. However, then statesmen decided to make the lines in Anatolia with a state treasury. The first attempt was made between Haydarpaşa and İzmit. With this experience, it was understood that railway construction was an expensive business and the new facilities could not be constructed with the facilities of the state. In this report, in the 1880, in the report of Grand vizier Hasan Fehmi Pasha, grand vizier of II.Abdülhamit, presented to the grand vizier. He stated that there is no drawback to give privilege to foreign companies for railway construction and that some measures and benefits will be increased.

The railway was the most important means of transport to connect provinces with provinces. The first railroads were provided by the cities that provided important poets for the development of the towns. The positive effects of the first experiences sent statesmen to larger railway projects. One of them was a railway project from Istanbul to Baghdad. This railway line would connect Anatolia and Iraq. The project would both contribute to the economy of the country and contribute to the establishment of public order in the region.

Two different road routes were considered for the line to be built between Istanbul and Baghdad. The first one will pass through İzmir -Afyonkarahisar - Eskişehir - Ankara - Sivas - Malatya - Diyarbakir - Mosul and reach Baghdad, and the other will reach Izmir - Eskişehir - Kütahya - Afyon - Konya - Adana - He would reach Baghdad by following the right bank of the Euphrates from Aleppo-Anbarlı. The first route was expensive and considered militarily inconvenient. The second way, on the other hand, was less inconvenient from the indirect military point of view, as it would be both cheap and far from the borders.

European states took great interest in this project, which had the political goal of connecting Anatolia with Baghdad and then Basra, which will also improve regional trade. Political struggles took place over this project. British, French, Russian and German companies competed with each other for this project. Sultan II. Abdülhamit, on the other hand, did not think of giving this project to the companies of these states, based on the fact that England and France followed a policy of disintegrating the state. The Russians should have been kept away from Anatolia anyway.