Great-power rivalry over the declining Ottoman Empire shaped Middle East geopolitics

Evidence

In the late nineteenth century Europeans continued to wage a struggle to fill the power vacuum being left by the continuous decline of the Ottoman Empire. Britain was concerned with maintaining a continuous sphere of influence from the Mediterranean to India. It was threatened by Russian efforts to reach the Mediterranean. The Germans challenged Britain, too, with the railway concession they wrung out of Istanbul, linking Berlin with Baghdad and the Persian Gulf. In addition to the well-heeled passengers of the Orient Express, this concession made it possible to transport freight that would otherwise have to travel via the British-controlled Suez Canal. — Ivan Davidson Kalmar, Derek Penslar, Orientalism and the Jews, 138

Categorization

• CANDY: The Berlin-Baghdad railway outflanking the Suez Canal is a neat anticolonial chess move worth sharing.