Berlin-Baghdad Express

[Martin Bennitt]

Came across this review today. Looks interesting and wondering if anyone had read the book yet.

cheers Martin B

[JoMH]

I too would be interested to hear if anyone has read the book - and their thoughts.

Meanwhile, here are two more reviews: The Independent and The Guardian

Joanna

[centurion]

The route was covered by existing railways as far as Damascus (Berlin - Munich - Vienna - Budapest - Bucharest - Constantinope - Damascus). A bridge across the Hellespont would be needed and a new line from Damascus to Baghdad. This last section was covered by a bus service and as late as the 1950s Brits wishing to get home would take the (air conditioned) bus to Damascus and then a train (possibly changing at Jerusalem) to Alexandria or Cairo. Even in the 1930s if they had the money they could then get a plane (HP Hercules from Cairo, Short Empire Class from Alexandria).

[Gibbo]

I've recently finished reading a library copy and enjoyed it. The story is of the strategy of the Central Powers, so concentrates on them, but the Allied response is not neglected. Russian, British, US and French archives have been used as well as Turkish, German, Austrian ones. An Epilogue discusses the impact of German wartime actions on the modern Middle East.

The title is a little misleading, as it's the story of German attempts to raise a Jihad against the Allies in the Middle East; the book has a 3 star review on Amazon from somebody who bought it expecting to read largely about the construction of the railway. That is part of it, but a long way from being the whole story. The second part of the title of The Berlin-Baghdad Express: The Ottoman Empire and Germany's Bid for World Poweris more accurate; perhaps The Kaiser's Holy War or Germany's Jihad would have been a better title.

McMeekin manages to combine the telling of an exciting story with archival research. The number of characters can be hard to follow, but they are well drawn. He points out that German and Ottoman relations were often poor, and that their aims sometimes conflicted, especially in the Caucasus in 1918.

The Germans thought that that could use the power of Islam to bring down the British Empire. In fact, many Muslim leaders took German gold but did little in return, and often tried to play off Germany against Britain. Logistics were a major problem for the Germans, who could not supply enough arms to their potential Muslim allies. The two main Ottoman victories over the British Empire, Gallipoli and Kut-al-Amara, resulted from German discipline and Turkish tenacity, not Islam. There isn't a great deal on the main military campaigns.

The number of quotes from John Buchan's novelGreenmantle are a bit strange in a non-fiction work. The author comments on the historiography of the Armenian massacres, but does not take a clear stance; he teaches at Bilkent University in Ankara, so may be constrained in what he can say. These are minor criticisms.

The three reviews linked above are all fair.

[JoMH]

Thanks for your review, Martin. After reading it, I am even more intrigued to read the book.

Joanna

[Martin Bennitt]

thanks for that, Martin

I shall see if the American Library in Paris has a copy, for s start

cheers Martin B

[truthergw]

Thank you, Martin. Sounds like I will be adding to the pile soon.

[Martin Bennitt]

Just read this now and found it fascinating and well-researched. It delves into aspects of the war which may seem obscure to people living further west, such as the fighting on Turkey's Russian front, the

Senussi revolt in Libya and the intrepid adventures of Germany's Arab specialists like Oskar von Niedermayer, who actually got as far as Kabul, Curt Prüfer and the man behind the jihad policy, Max von

Oppenheim. The policy failed, according to McMeekin, because Germany and Turkey backed the wrong horses, a weakened Turkey had lost the respect of the Muslim world, and the Baghdad railway couldn't do its

intended job, either because the Romanians blocked the passage of military matériel from Germany for much of the time, construction problems were immense, and later on because use of the line was monopolised by

Turkey's operations to crush of the Armenians.

A very good read

cheers Martin B

[bob lembke]

In December I had a two hour layover in Heathrow, on my way to Switzerland, and I got caught in that snow nonsense and wasn't able to leave Heathrow for 13 days. (Many comments deleted - - - - !)

On an excursion to Windsor I saw the book and bought it, to have something to read, and liked it a lot. I have to run, just saw the thread, will return and discuss some things.

The "Armenian Question" has been mentioned a couple of times, and the impression made that the author did not get into it. On the contrary, the author refers to and used an extraordinarily important new source on this topic. I will comment on it later. However, I think we must be very careful indeed with that particular can of worms.

Bob Lembke

[Philip Wilson]

The Berlin-Baghdad Express by Sean McMeekin

First published in 2010 by Allen Lane and re-published by Penguin Books in 2011 paperback version ISBN 978 0 141 04765 2.

461 pages, well illustrated, with six useful maps:

1.'Mitteleuropa': from Hamburg to the Persian Gulf

2. The Red Sea Region

3. The new Great Game 'Playing Field'

4. The Baghdad Railway in 1914, with gaps and projected development

5. The Sanussi War, 1915-16

6, Brest-Litovsk and the German vision of Empire, 1918.

The book commences with a prologue: The View from Haydarpasha, the railway station built almost 100 years ago at (Constantinople) now Istanbul's railroad gateway to Asiatic Turkey and the East – a remarkable feat of German engineering.

There are 19 chapters covering the Ottoman Empire with an extensive bibliography. The book reveals the Kaiser's dream for world domination and the bid by the Germans to destroy the British Empire by harnessing the power of Islam, spreading jihad with guns and bribes. The railway being the weapon that could have won the war. The book concludes with a fairly controversial epilogue: The Strange Death of German Zionism and the Nazi-Muslim Connection.

It's a thought provoking book and so far I have read the first eleven chapters twice over in five nights, for in that way the gravity of what is being revealed sinks in.

Here is an interesting observation from page 168 compounding the linguist confusion, Kress von Kressentein later recalled were the misunderstandings wrought by 'Oriental politeness', which forbade Turks or Arabs from admitting to superiors that they did not understand what was being told them.

[bushfighter]

I think that this book is well-worth reading if you are interested in the Middle East theatre.

However I bought the paper-back edition which was a mistake, as the print is small and paragraphs are tightly packed.

I would advise waiting until a hard-back copy is available at an economical price.

But do read it!

Harry