Germany’s Dream of World-Dominion Dispelled: How The British Are Blockading The Berlin-Baghdad Railway

“Now or never must the Mailed Fist smash its way through the small nationalities to the Eastern seas and worldwide Empire.” This striking topographic presentation of Europe, North Africa, and western Asia was illustrated by G.F. Morrell and published in the February 24, 1917 issue of London’s The Graphic. The aerial perspective was carefully chosen to best illustrate the continent-spanning route of the Baghdad-Berlin Railway, an effort by Germany in the early 20th century to establish a viable colonial port on the Persian Gulf. Great Britain, enjoying maritime supremacy via the Red Sea, was not very keen on the massive construction operation, and the railway may have been one of several factors exacerbating the imperial rivalry that contributed to the outbreak of World War I. Work was ongoing during the war, though several incomplete sections (as shown in the image) meant its usefulness for Ottoman reinforcements during the Mesopotamian Campaign. Text at the bottom of the page offers further political context, showing “that the German railway schemes constitute a very real menace to our sea route to India and the East.” Many of the thousands of Armenian workers who helped to build the Berlin-Baghdad Railway were annihilated in the Armenian genocide, with some of the lines actually used to transport victims to their ultimate fate in the desert.