| Hysteria Part 2. Hidden Motives: Millions of Murders from the Orient Express |
One of the least publicized motives for the First World War arose with the planned construction of a
Baghdad to Berlin Railway in the dying Ottoman Empire in the late 19th and early 20th century. It
would connect the famed Orient Express with the Constantinople Baghdad line. Engineered in 1872
by Wilhelm von Pressel, it would have been largely under German control, and in 1888 Sultan Abdul
Hamid II. turned to Deutsche Bank, a leader in electrical development, for financing.
Baghdad to Berlin Railway in the dying Ottoman Empire in the late 19th and early 20th century. It
would connect the famed Orient Express with the Constantinople Baghdad line. Engineered in 1872
by Wilhelm von Pressel, it would have been largely under German control, and in 1888 Sultan Abdul
Hamid II. turned to Deutsche Bank, a leader in electrical development, for financing.
By 1888, Germany had received permission from the Turks to
begin work on the Anatolian Railway Company, and by 1896,
they had completed the railway line from Angora to Konya.
These lines were the first two sections of the anticipated
Baghdad Railway. The Germans then engineered other lines,
but at a very high cost.
begin work on the Anatolian Railway Company, and by 1896,
they had completed the railway line from Angora to Konya.
These lines were the first two sections of the anticipated
Baghdad Railway. The Germans then engineered other lines,
but at a very high cost.
In 1901, Germany reported on vast supplies of petroleum around the Tigris and Euphrates, and in
1902 the Ottoman government granted a German firm the concession to lay new track eastward from
Ankara to Baghdad. However, financial maneuvering and physical problems tunneling through the
Taurus Mountains made progress slow. The building of the line from Konya to Mosul and Baghdad
and Basra continued, but at 200 back-breaking, expensive kilometers at a time. When the Ottoman
Government gave permission to Germany for the railway line from Konya to Baghdad in 1903,
Russia, France, and Britain regarded a Baghdad to Berlin Railway a threat to their dominance.
1902 the Ottoman government granted a German firm the concession to lay new track eastward from
Ankara to Baghdad. However, financial maneuvering and physical problems tunneling through the
Taurus Mountains made progress slow. The building of the line from Konya to Mosul and Baghdad
and Basra continued, but at 200 back-breaking, expensive kilometers at a time. When the Ottoman
Government gave permission to Germany for the railway line from Konya to Baghdad in 1903,
Russia, France, and Britain regarded a Baghdad to Berlin Railway a threat to their dominance.
Russia, who had by then acquired major influence in Central Asia and half of Persia (Iran), would
have suffered economically from increased German trade into and beyond these areas. France,
having established a foothold in northern Africa as early as the 17th Century and an influence in
Algeria and Tunis in 1881, was determined to keep Germany, which she was still bent on revenge
with, out of the picture entirely. Britain had taken Napoleon's old domain of Egypt in 1882 and
through it found a way to rule Sudan in 1897. She held another portion of Persia and administered
Egypt, Cyprus, and Aden on the Red Sea, and had major influence in Afghanistan. Therefore, she
had already committed herself at a great cost to maintaining a choke hold on her possessions, and she
and her old rival, France, made a deal as early as 1904 which gave England a free hand in Egypt in
exchange for France maintaining authority in Morocco.
have suffered economically from increased German trade into and beyond these areas. France,
having established a foothold in northern Africa as early as the 17th Century and an influence in
Algeria and Tunis in 1881, was determined to keep Germany, which she was still bent on revenge
with, out of the picture entirely. Britain had taken Napoleon's old domain of Egypt in 1882 and
through it found a way to rule Sudan in 1897. She held another portion of Persia and administered
Egypt, Cyprus, and Aden on the Red Sea, and had major influence in Afghanistan. Therefore, she
had already committed herself at a great cost to maintaining a choke hold on her possessions, and she
and her old rival, France, made a deal as early as 1904 which gave England a free hand in Egypt in
exchange for France maintaining authority in Morocco.
While on the surface Great Britain initially supported the German railway, shrewdly watching as the
Germans poured money into the project and footed the bill for laying the rails, she was also keenly
aware that it would one day compete with British trade in Mesopotamia and bypass British tariffs in
the process. Therefore, Britain was eyeing eventual free access by sea to the oil fields of Persia and
fast access by rail along the Gulf coast. She was also picking up more investors in her interests.
Germans poured money into the project and footed the bill for laying the rails, she was also keenly
aware that it would one day compete with British trade in Mesopotamia and bypass British tariffs in
the process. Therefore, Britain was eyeing eventual free access by sea to the oil fields of Persia and
fast access by rail along the Gulf coast. She was also picking up more investors in her interests.
Meanwhile, Britain was bankrupt by January 1914, and when Bank of England notes consequently
became emergency legal tender, all gold was removed from circulation and England’s gold reserves
went to the Rothschild's Bank of England to use for upcoming profit-producing warfare.
became emergency legal tender, all gold was removed from circulation and England’s gold reserves
went to the Rothschild's Bank of England to use for upcoming profit-producing warfare.
While many contentious economic and colonial issues between the French, German and British
governments, such as the financing of the railway, appeared a"resolved" before the outbreak of war,
an undercurrent of major diplomatic tensions, scheming and plotting bubbled. The Baghdad railway
was soon disingenuously portrayed as a "threat of German domination" in Asia Minor at the same
time there was a wave of anti-British and pro-German feelings among the Egyptian middle class who
had developed passionate interests in German success. Kaiser Wilhelm became "Hacı Wilhelm" in
some circles and was thought of as a "great protector of Islam", while the Turks were guessing that
Moslems of India and Egypt were hopefully about to revolt and overthrow their English masters.
governments, such as the financing of the railway, appeared a"resolved" before the outbreak of war,
an undercurrent of major diplomatic tensions, scheming and plotting bubbled. The Baghdad railway
was soon disingenuously portrayed as a "threat of German domination" in Asia Minor at the same
time there was a wave of anti-British and pro-German feelings among the Egyptian middle class who
had developed passionate interests in German success. Kaiser Wilhelm became "Hacı Wilhelm" in
some circles and was thought of as a "great protector of Islam", while the Turks were guessing that
Moslems of India and Egypt were hopefully about to revolt and overthrow their English masters.
By 1915, the railway was in four sections and had big gaps of some 300
miles between the various railroad lines as well as incomplete tunnels.
The American ambassador in Constantinople from 1913 to 1919 was
none other than investor and businessman Henry Morgenthau who had
ties to the major banking houses involved in the project. He spread many
false and frightening claims, including the "fact" that the Turkish Sultan
had a plan of operation for the "assassination and extermination of all
Christians except those of German nationality." German interests in the
region were now presented as "imperialistic" and "expansionist" by the
entrenched imperialistic and expansionist powers who did not want
anybody having a "place in the sun" (or petroleum in the tank).....
but themselves.
miles between the various railroad lines as well as incomplete tunnels.
The American ambassador in Constantinople from 1913 to 1919 was
none other than investor and businessman Henry Morgenthau who had
ties to the major banking houses involved in the project. He spread many
false and frightening claims, including the "fact" that the Turkish Sultan
had a plan of operation for the "assassination and extermination of all
Christians except those of German nationality." German interests in the
region were now presented as "imperialistic" and "expansionist" by the
entrenched imperialistic and expansionist powers who did not want
anybody having a "place in the sun" (or petroleum in the tank).....
but themselves.
The tremendous growth of the German economy had been partially enabled by clever innovations of
German banking system, especially Deutsche Bank, who had formed finance and holding companies
which issued bonded loans and shares for the construction of power plants, electric railways, trams
and municipal lighting systems. By 1897, the bank had 750 power plants located across Germany, ,a
power plant in Argentina and investments in the Edison General Electric Company in the United
States. These banks not only controlled credit but also dominated the capital market.
German banking system, especially Deutsche Bank, who had formed finance and holding companies
which issued bonded loans and shares for the construction of power plants, electric railways, trams
and municipal lighting systems. By 1897, the bank had 750 power plants located across Germany, ,a
power plant in Argentina and investments in the Edison General Electric Company in the United
States. These banks not only controlled credit but also dominated the capital market.
Morgenthau was also a huge contributor to Woodrow Wilson's election campaign in 1912 and was
made financial chairman of the democratic party in 1912 and again in 1916. Morgenthau was also
the originator of one of the most celebrated anti-German propaganda myths of WWI, the fictitious
"Crown Council" story. Morgenthau told the media that he had proof that the Kaiser had called
together a "Crown Council" of leading German government officials, bankers and ambassadors on
July 5,1914, confiding to them that he planned to start a European war. The bankers responded by
demanding two weeks in which to call in loans and sell securities. The Kaiser then went on a cruise,
pretending nothing was up, so that England, France and Russia would be lulled into a "false sense of
security" and taken by surprise by the conniving Germans. This devious lie inflamed public opinion.
made financial chairman of the democratic party in 1912 and again in 1916. Morgenthau was also
the originator of one of the most celebrated anti-German propaganda myths of WWI, the fictitious
"Crown Council" story. Morgenthau told the media that he had proof that the Kaiser had called
together a "Crown Council" of leading German government officials, bankers and ambassadors on
July 5,1914, confiding to them that he planned to start a European war. The bankers responded by
demanding two weeks in which to call in loans and sell securities. The Kaiser then went on a cruise,
pretending nothing was up, so that England, France and Russia would be lulled into a "false sense of
security" and taken by surprise by the conniving Germans. This devious lie inflamed public opinion.
Germany did not wish to be a second or third rate power in this era, so it had to enlarge its sphere
and create a self-sufficient economy in order to ensure access to raw materials and protect exports.
This 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. This in turn could provide direct
access to Middle East oil, the same oil that now fueled a British Navy bloated from its relentless
colonialism. Worse for Britain, the new German railway would bypass the Suez Canal which opened
in 1869. This plan stepped on some big toes: an 1875 loan to the British from the Rothschild banking
family put the British in line for eventual major control of the Canal and all of its anticipated profits.
International bankers in both London and New York recognized the need for petroleum with the
advent of the internal combustion engines, and control over that necessary fuel would be key to great
profit and political power. The Berlin-Baghdad railway project, therefore symbolized the perceived
threats to Britain's oligarchical financial system, and British financial interests would go to great
lengths to protect British hegemony at a time when an economically successful Germany was
adopting more modern economic development systems and Britain was lagging behind in energy
sources, technology, agriculture and industry.
and create a self-sufficient economy in order to ensure access to raw materials and protect exports.
This 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. This in turn could provide direct
access to Middle East oil, the same oil that now fueled a British Navy bloated from its relentless
colonialism. Worse for Britain, the new German railway would bypass the Suez Canal which opened
in 1869. This plan stepped on some big toes: an 1875 loan to the British from the Rothschild banking
family put the British in line for eventual major control of the Canal and all of its anticipated profits.
International bankers in both London and New York recognized the need for petroleum with the
advent of the internal combustion engines, and control over that necessary fuel would be key to great
profit and political power. The Berlin-Baghdad railway project, therefore symbolized the perceived
threats to Britain's oligarchical financial system, and British financial interests would go to great
lengths to protect British hegemony at a time when an economically successful Germany was
adopting more modern economic development systems and Britain was lagging behind in energy
sources, technology, agriculture and industry.
Heinrich August Meissner, 1862-1940, to the right of Sultan Abdul Hamid II, above, was a Leipzig-
born engineer on the Baghdad Railroad, and later a railway farmer and a chair at the Technical
University of Istanbul for railway design. He became a pasha and died in Turkey.
born engineer on the Baghdad Railroad, and later a railway farmer and a chair at the Technical
University of Istanbul for railway design. He became a pasha and died in Turkey.
| The story about an exotic railroad, ambition and a rapidly expanding global oil economy |
| The Big Old Boys Play Dirty |
In 1911, the railway company proposed a branch line to Alexandretta from Aleppo which would
have spiked trade with Northern Syria and the Northern Mesopotamian valley. The Young Turkish
government, however, could not offer further railway concessions without raising customs duties by
at least a very small amount, from 11 to 14 percent. Such a raise required the agreement of all the
powers, and this gave Britain an excuse to pull the plug on the Germans. The German plan was
vetoed by Great Britain's vested financial interests. Sir Edward Grey summed it up in the House of
Commons: "If the money is to be used to promote railways which may be a source of doubtful
advantage to British trade ... I say it will be impossible for us to agree to that increase." The main
British commercial interest that the British Government was "protecting" was that of the James Lyle
Mackay (Baron Inchcape of Strathnaver) the foremost shipping magnate of the British Empire and a
director of the Anglo-Persian Oil Company and of the D'Arcy Exploration Company. A contract was
signed in London between Lord Inchcape and the Baghdad Railway Company.
have spiked trade with Northern Syria and the Northern Mesopotamian valley. The Young Turkish
government, however, could not offer further railway concessions without raising customs duties by
at least a very small amount, from 11 to 14 percent. Such a raise required the agreement of all the
powers, and this gave Britain an excuse to pull the plug on the Germans. The German plan was
vetoed by Great Britain's vested financial interests. Sir Edward Grey summed it up in the House of
Commons: "If the money is to be used to promote railways which may be a source of doubtful
advantage to British trade ... I say it will be impossible for us to agree to that increase." The main
British commercial interest that the British Government was "protecting" was that of the James Lyle
Mackay (Baron Inchcape of Strathnaver) the foremost shipping magnate of the British Empire and a
director of the Anglo-Persian Oil Company and of the D'Arcy Exploration Company. A contract was
signed in London between Lord Inchcape and the Baghdad Railway Company.
Turkey's magnificent neo-renaissance railway station, Haydarpasa, with its façade carved by German
and Italian stone masons, was designed by German architects Otto Ritter and Helmuth Cuno and
inaugurated August 19, 1908. It was a gift to the Sultan from Kaiser Wilhelm II and built by the
Anatolia-Baghdad Corporation between 1906 and 1908. Its foundation consists of 1100 wooden piles
which were driven almost 70 feet into the water bed by steam hammers. its German engineers and
workers established a small German neighborhood in the Yeldeğirmeni quarter of Kadıköy.
and Italian stone masons, was designed by German architects Otto Ritter and Helmuth Cuno and
inaugurated August 19, 1908. It was a gift to the Sultan from Kaiser Wilhelm II and built by the
Anatolia-Baghdad Corporation between 1906 and 1908. Its foundation consists of 1100 wooden piles
which were driven almost 70 feet into the water bed by steam hammers. its German engineers and
workers established a small German neighborhood in the Yeldeğirmeni quarter of Kadıköy.
Germany was the earliest country to make a practical application of electric traction to railway work.
As early as 1838, a Scottish inventor built a simple electric battery locomotive which succeeded in
slowly propelling along one of the early Scottish railways, but it was not until 1879 that the world
saw its first electric train using current from a conductor rail. This pioneer electric passenger train,
evolved by Siemens and Halske, carried people on a narrow-gauge line at a Berlin exhibition. Four
wheels carried the tiny electric locomotive and the motorman sat on it bicycle fashion. It actually
worked on a passenger-carrying railway. Thus, while England came up with the steam locomotive,
Germany responded with the electric locomotive. Later, the German railways were also among the
earliest to introduce radio telephony on trains on the Berlin-Hamburg line in the nineteen-twenties.
As early as 1838, a Scottish inventor built a simple electric battery locomotive which succeeded in
slowly propelling along one of the early Scottish railways, but it was not until 1879 that the world
saw its first electric train using current from a conductor rail. This pioneer electric passenger train,
evolved by Siemens and Halske, carried people on a narrow-gauge line at a Berlin exhibition. Four
wheels carried the tiny electric locomotive and the motorman sat on it bicycle fashion. It actually
worked on a passenger-carrying railway. Thus, while England came up with the steam locomotive,
Germany responded with the electric locomotive. Later, the German railways were also among the
earliest to introduce radio telephony on trains on the Berlin-Hamburg line in the nineteen-twenties.
First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill “anticipated” a future war using oil-powered ships,
and on June 17, 1914, he urged the British government to spend £2 million to buy a majority interest
of Anglo-Persian Oil Company, financed in part by his father's old friends at the Rothschild Bank.
The London Petroleum Review published a map on May 23, 1914 of Mesopotamia showing the oil
fields that Britain hoped to eventually obtain. The interests of Britain and the Anglo-Persian Oil
Company became inseparable, and British foreign policy and Rothschild foreign policy therefore
became one and the same. As war loomed, the military alliances, already forged to create a “balance
of power” tipped in Britain's favor, were based in good measure on banker’s loans and investments.
and on June 17, 1914, he urged the British government to spend £2 million to buy a majority interest
of Anglo-Persian Oil Company, financed in part by his father's old friends at the Rothschild Bank.
The London Petroleum Review published a map on May 23, 1914 of Mesopotamia showing the oil
fields that Britain hoped to eventually obtain. The interests of Britain and the Anglo-Persian Oil
Company became inseparable, and British foreign policy and Rothschild foreign policy therefore
became one and the same. As war loomed, the military alliances, already forged to create a “balance
of power” tipped in Britain's favor, were based in good measure on banker’s loans and investments.
In March, 1914, the German government was forced to concede that those areas would remain
exclusively under British financial control and was obliged to recognize southern Mesopotamia and
central and southern Persia as the exclusive field of operations of the Anglo-Persian Company. The
Germans, who had spent a fortune by now, perhaps in vain, were also required to have two British
members sit on the Baghdad Railway Company board and had to agree not to extend the railroad
past Basra or establish a port or railway terminus anywhere along the Gulf without British approval.
exclusively under British financial control and was obliged to recognize southern Mesopotamia and
central and southern Persia as the exclusive field of operations of the Anglo-Persian Company. The
Germans, who had spent a fortune by now, perhaps in vain, were also required to have two British
members sit on the Baghdad Railway Company board and had to agree not to extend the railroad
past Basra or establish a port or railway terminus anywhere along the Gulf without British approval.
In the end, Germany would end up with nothing for her work on the Berlin-Baghdad Railway.
Coincidentally, he and Josephine Sykes were the parents of rabid German-hater Henry Morgenthau,
Jr., who would later draw up the World War Two genocidal plan which would have sterilized,
starved, robbed, murdered and enslaved Germans.
Jr., who would later draw up the World War Two genocidal plan which would have sterilized,
starved, robbed, murdered and enslaved Germans.
British books such as "Twenty Years In Baghdad and Syria Showing Germany's Bid for the Mastery
of the East" written by English Canon JT Parfit ("Chaplain of Jerusalem") started to appear and
spread dark anti-German propaganda, as seen by the titles of his chapters: 'Turkey & the Turks' -
'Baghdad Railway' - 'Britain on the Alert' - 'Prowling of the Prussians' - 'British Achievements in
Asiatic Turkey' - 'Germany's Alliance with the "40 Thieves"' - 'Germany's Darkest Plot' - 'Britain's
Greatest Triumph'. On the eve of the First World War, the eccentric JT Parfit called Mesopotamia
"the key to the future". Of course he meant the British future.
of the East" written by English Canon JT Parfit ("Chaplain of Jerusalem") started to appear and
spread dark anti-German propaganda, as seen by the titles of his chapters: 'Turkey & the Turks' -
'Baghdad Railway' - 'Britain on the Alert' - 'Prowling of the Prussians' - 'British Achievements in
Asiatic Turkey' - 'Germany's Alliance with the "40 Thieves"' - 'Germany's Darkest Plot' - 'Britain's
Greatest Triumph'. On the eve of the First World War, the eccentric JT Parfit called Mesopotamia
"the key to the future". Of course he meant the British future.
