. Modern and contemporary European history (1815-1921). son Mesopotamia, in Asiatic Turkey, a fertile region at onetime the seat of a flourishing civilization, but now falleninto decay. Mesopotamia was to be the scene of a new kindof expansion; there Germany hoped to build a great eco-nomic empire that would furnish an outlet for her trade andcapital. To accomplish this it was necessary to gain adominant influence over the Turkish Government. Howthis was done has already been In modern times the exploitation of an undeveloped re-gion begins with the building of railways. As soon as
. Modern and contemporary European history (1815-1921). son Mesopotamia, in Asiatic Turkey, a fertile region at onetime the seat of a flourishing civilization, but now falleninto decay. Mesopotamia was to be the scene of a new kindof expansion; there Germany hoped to build a great eco-nomic empire that would furnish an outlet for her trade andcapital. To accomplish this it was necessary to gain adominant influence over the Turkish Government. Howthis was done has already been In modern times the exploitation of an undeveloped re-gion begins with the building of railways. As soon as rapidFunction of means of communication and transportation arerailways m established, connecting isolated with civilized undeveloped < ° lands regions, the pulse of commerce begins to beat more rapidly; factories are built, cities grow, and even agri-culture is stimulated by the prospect of new and bettermarkets. German financiers determined to build a greatrailway from the Bosphorus to the Persian Gulf. They 1 See p. 642, INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS. believed that under German tutelage Asia Minor couldonce more become a flourishing region, and they were pre-pared to invest heavily to exploit this region in order toreap the fruits of its future prosperity. The Anatolian Railway from Ismid, a point on the Bos-phorus, to Konia, in Anatolia, which was constructed byGerman and British capitalists, was completed in 1896. 704 MODERN AND CONTEMPORARY EUROPE Following the second visit of Emperor William to Constan-The Bagdad tinople, the Sultan granted a concession in 1899Railway to a grQup of German capitalists backed by theDeutsche Bank, the greatest financial institution in Ger-many, to continue the railway to Bagdad, and from thenceto a point on the Persian Gulf. This was the beginning ofthe peaceful penetration of Asiatic Turkey. The pro-jected (Berlin-Byzantium-Bagdad), as the Bag-dad railway was called, aroused the greatest enthusiasmin Germany. A masterly and far-seei
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