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File 2764/1904 Pt 1 'Baghdad Railway: general negotiations 1904-07.' [‎84v] (177/818)

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The record is made up of 1 volume (405 folios). It was created in 1903-1907. It was written in English and French. The original is part of the British Library: India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity. .

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(/.) The Company has the right to establish ports at Baghdad, Basra, and the
terminus on the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. .
(g.) The Ottoman Government has the right f “‘^“"or^s
Sis 0 S ^HftheSSS
ments of military posts considered necessary by the Ottoman Minister
War.
(h.) No section of the line between Baghdad and Basra to be worked before the
completion of the line from Konia to Baghdad.
4 A loan of 54,000,000 fr. having been negotiated, work on the first section to
Eregli was completed in October last. Apparently it is intended to proceed wit t
Section as P soon as possible, and there is no reason ^J^lgh it rnffin be
aloof the eventual completion of the line would be prevented, though it might
delayed.
5. No place on the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. is specified in the Convention as the terminus of
the line, and nothing has yet been decided in this respect. Koweit Pm kasi, am
Kadima have been mentioned, and of these the two former appear to be the most
favourably situated. A British officer who last year reconnoitred the route the railway
will follow reported that Urn Kasr was preferable to koweit, and other information
tends to show that if we prevented Koweit from becoming the terminus Pm Kasr,
now occupied by the Turks, would be selected. The facilities offered by the two
places respectively as a terminus and for the establishment of a naval base aie
described in the “Memorandum on the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. prepared by the A aval
Intelligence Department, and dated the 4th March, 1904.
6 . If we participate in the further construction of the railway, and can obtain a
share equal to that of any other Power in respect of construction and management,
more especially of that portion of the line extending from Baghdad to the I ersian
Gulf, with a preponderating influence as regards the control of the terminus, the rail
way would not, as far as can be foreseen, exercise any detrimental effect, fiom a
military point of view, either on our relations with Persia or on the defence of Tndia.
7. If we do not participate in the scheme, we must expect to see a diminution in
those political rights and commercial interests which we have in the past two centuries
secured in the valley of the Tigris and Shatt-el-Arab, and on the Persian and Arabian
shores of the Gulf.' It must also be remembered that the country between the Tigris
and Euphrates was once the most fertile district in the world, and there is no reason
why its former prosperity should not return. Moreover, the terminus on the Gulf,
being the point of distribution and transhipment, will eventually become a great focus
of trade, and therefore of great strategical value, and as it is doubtful whether Turkey
will be able to give the commercial and military security which the situation will
require, the duty of controlling the terminus may, of necessity, devolve in course of
time on one of the other Powers.
8 . Should this control devolve on Germany, as the principal participant, she
might, taking advantage of Turkey’s alleged inability to give the requisite security,
and, by a skilful twisting of the conditions mentioned in ( 7 ) of paragraph 3 above,
succeed in gradually converting the port into a naval base, notwithstanding promises
and agreements to the contrary. We know that she cannot carry out her scheme of
expansion without the possession of naval ports on her lines of communications, and at
present she has none outside Europe with the exception of Kiao-chau. This disadvantage
would be seriously felt by her in a war with France or England, and it would clearly
be diminished by the establishment of a naval base in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , although the
north-western extremity of the Gulf might not be an ideal position. Such a base, com
bined with the use of the railway leading to it, would furnish Germany with more
rapid means of communication with her Colonies in the Pacific and East Africa, and
with Kiao-chau, and would enable her to keep a fleet in eastern waters, independent of
the Mediterranean route, for protecting her maritime trade and for attacking that of
the enemy. Should she not enjoy the free use of the railway, the naval base would be
of less value to her, but its existence would nevertheless be incompatible with our
predominance in the Gulf.

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Content

The volume comprises telegrams, despatches, correspondence, memoranda, newspaper cuttings, maps and notes, relating to negotiations over the proposed Berlin to Baghdad Railway in the period 1903-1907.

The discussion in the volume relates to the economic, commercial, political and military considerations impinging on British strategy for the international negotiations over the development of a railway to Baghdad in particular as formulated in the Baghdad Railway Convention (1903) and the financial viability of the railway. The terms of possible British, French, Russian, Ottoman and German participation are debated including the Baghdad Railway Convention. Also discussed are the terms of loans made to the Persian Government and the desirability of ensuring that any extension from Baghdad to a terminus on the shores of the Gulf was controlled by Britain.

Further discussion surrounds the motivations and strategies of British competitors in the area. The volume features a copy (ff 385-396) of the text of the 'Baghdad Railway: Board of Trade Memorandum', a number of newspaper cuttings from German and British media, as well as seven maps.

The principal correspondents in the volume include the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (Henry Charles Keith Petty-Fitzmaurice, 5th Marquess of Lansdowne; Sir Edward Grey), His Majesty's Ambassador at Constantinople (Sir Nicholas O'Connor), the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (Sir Charles Hardinge, Sir Thomas Henry Sanderson), the Under-Secretary of State for India (Earl Percy, Sir Arthur Godley), the Viceroy of India (Lord Curzon of Keddleston), the Secretary to the Political and Secret Department of the India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. (Sir Richmond Richie) and the London Manager of the Imperial Bank of Persia (George Newell).

Each part includes a divider which gives the subject and part numbers, the year the subject file was opened, the subject heading, and a list of correspondence references contained in that part by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence.

Extent and format
1 volume (405 folios)
Arrangement

The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the rear to the front of the volume.

The subject 2764 (Bagdad Railway) consists of five volumes, IOR/L/PS/10/56-60. The volumes are divided into five parts with each part comprising one volume.

Physical characteristics

Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the inside front cover with 1 and terminates at the inside back cover with 405; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio. A previous foliation sequence, which is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.

Written in
English and French in Latin script
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File 2764/1904 Pt 1 'Baghdad Railway: general negotiations 1904-07.' [‎84v] (177/818), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/10/56, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100045055808.0x0000b2> [accessed 29 March 2024]

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