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File 2764/1904 Pt 3 'Baghdad Railway: general negotiations 1910-1912.' [‎239r] (488/544)

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The record is made up of 1 volume (268 folios). It was created in 1910-1912. It was written in English. 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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[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty’s Government]
BAGDAD RAILWAY.
SECRET.
[26453]
Memorandum by Mr. Parker.
[July 21.]
Section 1,
MR. A. J.. BARR1 called on the 18th July, and explained to me in some detail
the piesent position respecting the Turkish railway projects in which he is interested.
He had been in informal communication with M. Huguenin, of the Anatolian and
Bagdad Railwa } 7 Companies, and he had also had various conferences with M. Tardieu
at Paris respecting French financial interests.
Mr. Barry began by recalling as follows the outlines of the scheme originally put
forward:—
(1.) A Turkish subject, Youssouf Said Bey, had addressed to the Ottoman Govern
ment a request for a concession for a railway from the Mediterranean to the Persian
Gulf, passing via Homs, Deir, Bagdad, and Bussorah. This person had entered into
an agreement with Mr. Barry not to develop the concession (if he should obtain it)
except in accordance with Mr. Barry’s wishes.
(2.) In deference to the wishes of the Foreign Office, Mr. Barry had at first allowed
the project to remain in suspense in so far as it related to the Bagdad-Gulf section.
(3.) With regard to the section from Homs to Bagdad, various proposals for Anglo-
French co-operation had been under consideration in the earlier stages, and these had
from time to time been brought to the notice of the Foreign Office.
Mr. Barry then passed to the present position of affairs.
* It appeared that the last loan issued for the Bagdad Railway Company had not
been a success, and was largely taken up by the underwriters. This had made the
Germans more anxious for French financial aid, and, from the language of
M. Huguenin, Mr. Barry was led to conclude that the Bagdad Railway Company (or at
any rate German financiers if not German politicians) would be glad to arrange an
agreement with the promoters of the Homs-Bagdad project, since it would open the
French money market to German railway promoters. Besides, M. Tardieu had been in
communication at Paris with the German charge d’affaires, who had promised to say
what he could in favour of such an agreement.
The agreement in question would provide—
(a.) That the French, with British participation up to 40 per cent., would build a line from
Homs to Deir on the Euphrates.
(b.) That the Germans should divert the trarj of the Bagdad Bailway to the south so that it
would pass via Aleppo to Deir, and from Deir, after the junction of the Homs Bailway at that point,
the Germans would build the continuation to Bagdad, and the working over this section (Deir to
Bagdad) would be international.
(c.) The Germans might be induced, in return for a cash payment, to waive their concession
from Bagdad to the Gulf to a British syndicate.
Mr. Barry, I understood, said that the French would agree to such a scheme, but
they would like to have some minor participation in the Bagdad-Gulf section.
~ He said that M. Huguenin, of the Anatolian Railway, would welcome such an
arrangement so far as he individually was concerned, but as the Bagdad Railway
Company has already begun building the line along the original trace, any decision in
the sense of the proposed agreement must be reached speedily before the work of
building had proceeded much further.
As to the Turks, Mr. Barry argued that they would welcome clause (b) of the
proposed agreement on account of the diminution it would bring about in the burdens
on the Turkish Exchequer, since the proposed alignment would be much shorter than
the existing trace of the Bagdad Railway, and he further argued that the Turkish
objections to clause (c) might be overcome if a British syndicate were to negotiate with
the Porte, not directly, but through his friend, Youssouf Said Bey, a Turkish subject.
Mr. Barry wanted to know how such a settlement would be regarded by the
Foreign Office, and whether, if it were brought about, the consent of His Majesty s
Government to the 4 per cent, customs increase would be given.
[2825 x—l]

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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 1910-1912.

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.

Further discussion surrounds the motivations and strategies of British competitors in the area; included in the volume is a copy of the Russo-German agreement.

The principal correspondents in the volume include Sir Edward Grey, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and Sir Gerard Augustus Lowther, Ambassador to Constantinople.

Extent and format
1 volume (268 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 first folio with 1 and terminates at the inside back cover with 269; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of 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. Pagination: a pagination sequence in red crayon is present between ff 244-252.

Written in
English in Latin script
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File 2764/1904 Pt 3 'Baghdad Railway: general negotiations 1910-1912.' [‎239r] (488/544), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/10/58, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100064831520.0x000059> [accessed 29 March 2024]

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