The London _Times_ of October 28, 1898, contained a significant review of the status of German enterprise in the Ottoman Empire during the decade immediately preceding. Whereas ten years before, the finance and trade of Turkey were practically monopolized by France and Great Britain, the Germans were now by far the most active group in Constantinople and in Asia Minor. Hundreds of German salesmen were traveling in Turkey, vigorously pushing their wares and studiously canvassing the markets to learn the wants of the people. The Krupp-owned Germania Shipbuilding Company was furnishing torpedoes to the Turkish navy; Ludwig Loewe and Company, of Berlin, was equipping the Sultan’s military machine with small arms; Krupp, of Essen, was sharing with Armstrong the orders for artillery. German bicycles were replacing American-made machines. There was a noticeable increase of German trade with Palestine and Syria. In 1899 a group of German financiers founded the _Deutsche Palästina Bank_, which proceeded to establish branches at Beirut, Damascus, Gaza, Haifa, Jaffa, Jerusalem, Nablus, Nazareth, and Tripoli-in-Syria. Promoters, bankers, traders, engineers, munitions manufacturers, ship-owners, and railway builders all were playing their parts in laying a substantial foundation for a further expansion of German economic interests in the Ottoman Empire.[15] THE GERMAN GOVERNMENT BECOMES INTERESTED In a sense, German diplomacy had paved the way for the Anatolian Railway concessions. For numerous reasons, which need not be discussed here, French and British influence at the Sublime Porte gradually declined during the decades of 1870–1890. British prestige, in particular, waned after the occupation of Egypt in 1882. The German ambassador at Constantinople during most of this period was Count Hatzfeld, an unusually shrewd diplomatist, who perceived the extraordinary opportunity which then existed to increase German prestige in the Near East. His place in the counsels of the Sultan became increasingly important, as he missed no chance to seize privileges surrendered by France or Great Britain.[16] An instance of Count Hatzfeld’s activity was the appointment of a German military mission to Turkey. Until 1870 there had been a French mission in Constantinople, with almost complete control over the training and equipment of the Ottoman army. At the outbreak of the Franco-German War, however, the mission was recalled because of the crying need for French officers at the front. After the termination of hostilities, and again after the collapse of the Turkish defence against Russia in 1877, the Sultan requested the reappointment of the mission, but the French Government politely declined the invitation. The German ambassador seized upon this neglected opportunity and, in 1883, persuaded Abdul Hamid to invite the Kaiser to designate a group of German officers to serve with the Ottoman General Staff.[17]