Baghdad Railway
The German financed railway from Konya toward Baghdad, a symbol of imperial rivalry before the First World War.
Overview
The Ottoman Empire granted a concession to the Deutsche Bank backed Baghdad Railway Company in 1903 to extend the Anatolian line through the Taurus and Amanus mountains to Mesopotamia and the Persian Gulf. Britain, Russia and France saw it as a German route to the Middle East and India, and it became a major irritant in pre-war diplomacy. Difficult tunnels left gaps during the war, which hampered Ottoman logistics. The line was finally completed through to Baghdad in 1940, long after the empires that planned it had fallen. Sections still form part of the rail links between Turkey, Syria and Iraq.
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