Valuable assistance in the collection and preparation of material has been rendered, also, by the following persons, to whom the author expresses his grateful appreciation: Sir Charles P. Lucas, director, and Mr. Evans Lewin, librarian, of the Royal Colonial Institute; Sir John Cadman, director of His Majesty’s Petroleum Department; Professor George Young, of the University of London, formerly attaché of the British embassy at Constantinople; Mr. Charles V. Sheehan, sub-manager in London of the National City Bank of New York; Mr. M. Zekeria, chief of the Turkish Information Service in the United States; Mr. René A. Wormser, an American attorney who assisted the author in research work in Germany during the summer of 1922. Dr. Gottlieb Betz, of Columbia University, and Dr. John Mez, American correspondent of the _Frankfurter Zeitung_, have aided in the translation of important documents. Professors Carlton J. H. Hayes and William R. Shepherd, of Columbia University, have been patient advisers and judicious critics of the author during the preparation of his manuscript. To them he owes much, as teachers who stimulated his interest in international relations, and as colleagues who cheerfully coöperate in any useful enterprise. Professor Parker Thomas Moon, of Columbia University, also has read the manuscript and offered many valuable suggestions. EDWARD MEAD EARLE Columbia University June, 1923 CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I AN ANCIENT TRADE ROUTE IS REVIVED 1 II BACKWARD TURKEY INVITES ECONOMIC EXPLOITATION 9 Turkish Sovereignty is a Polite Formality 9 The Natural Wealth of Asiatic Turkey Offers Alluring Opportunities 13 Forces Are at Work for Regeneration 17 III GERMANS BECOME INTERESTED IN THE NEAR EAST 29 The First Rails Are Laid 29 The Traders Follow the Investors 35 The German Government Becomes Interested 38 German Economic Interests Make for Near Eastern Imperialism 45 IV THE SULTAN MORTGAGES HIS EMPIRE 58 The Germans Overcome Competition 58 The Bagdad Railway Concession is Granted 67 The Locomotive is to Supplant the Camel 71 The Sultan Loosens the Purse-Strings 75 Some Turkish Rights Are Safeguarded 81 V PEACEFUL PENETRATION PROGRESSES 92 The Financiers Get Their First Profits 92 The Bankers’ Interests Become More Extensive 97 Broader Business Interests Develop 101