Berlin-Baghdad Express: The Ottoman Empire and Germany's Bid for World Power - Softcover

McMeekin, Assistant Professor Of International Relations Sean

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0674064321 ISBN 13: 9780674064324

Publisher: Belknap Press, 2012

Synopsis

The modern Middle East was forged in the crucible of the First World War, but few know the full story of how war actually came to the region. As Sean McMeekin reveals in this startling reinterpretation of the war, it was neither the British nor the French but rather a small clique of Germans and Turks who thrust the Islamic world into the conflict for their own political, economic, and military ends.

The Berlin-Baghdad Express tells the fascinating story of how Germany exploited Ottoman pan-Islamism in order to destroy the British Empire, then the largest Islamic power in the world. Meanwhile the Young Turks harnessed themselves to German military might to avenge Turkey's hereditary enemy, Russia. Told from the perspective of the key decision-makers on the Turco-German side, many of the most consequential events of World War I--Turkey's entry into the war, Gallipoli, the Armenian massacres, the Arab revolt, and the Russian Revolution--are illuminated as never before.

Drawing on a wealth of new sources, McMeekin forces us to re-examine Western interference in the Middle East and its lamentable results. It is an epic tragicomedy of unintended consequences, as Turkish nationalists give Russia the war it desperately wants, jihad begets an Islamic insurrection in Mecca, German sabotage plots upend the Tsar delivering Turkey from Russia's yoke, and German Zionism midwifes the Balfour Declaration. All along, the story is interwoven with the drama surrounding German efforts to complete the Berlin to Baghdad railway, the weapon designed to win the war and assure German hegemony over the Middle East.

About this title

Review:

In this excellent, well-researched, and fascinating book, Sean McMeekin has given us a welcome and stimulating perspective on a highly important but neglected aspect of the First World War... A tale of high adventure, ambition and political chicanery with a cast of colourful, brave and sometimes ruthless characters.--Lawrence James "Literary Review "

A riveting account.--Brendan Simms "The Independent "

An exciting new book by a talented young historian, Sean McMeekin, who is one of the few to have penetrated the notoriously difficult Ottoman archives, despite the crucial importance of Turkey in the first world war.--Niall Ferguson "The Observer "

McMeekin has written a powerful, overdue book that for many will open up a whole new side to the first world war, while forcing us to be less reticent in confronting indelicate matters, such as the origins of Nazi-Islamist links.--George Walden"The Guardian" (07/18/2010)

Sean McMeekin shows how the ambitious plan to build a railroad from Central Europe to Mesopotamia was the key to some of the most crucial episodes in the First World War, including the Armenian genocide and the Arab Revolt.--Adam Kirsch"Barnes and Noble Review" (09/20/2010)

Sean McMeekin has written a classic of First World War history... superb and original.--Norman Stone, author of World War One: A Short History

A seminal work that demonstrates for the first time that Imperial Germany's jihad strategy in World War I-- exploiting pan-Islamism in the Middle East to stoke the fire of native Muslim revolts against the British and against Russia-- played a crucial role in German plans to win the war. Now students of the 'Great War' will no longer be able to dismiss the German 'holy war' strategy as merely peripheral. There is much to be learned in this superb work about the recent past and today in the Middle East.--Donald M. McKale, author of War By Revolution: Germany and Great Britain in the Middle East in the Era of World War I

A terrific book...McMeekin's learned story of death-defying secret agents, intrepid archeologists, and double-dealing sheikhs makes for wonderful entertainment.--The Sunday Times

In addition to bringing to life a fascinating episode in early 20th-century history, The Berlin-Baghdad Express contains several timely lessons and cautionary tales. Purchased loyalty is worthless. Western countries may possess superior military force, but they are outwitted time and again by diplomacy as practiced by Muslim leaders. Lastly, there is no such thing as global Islamic solidarity--jihad is an expedient, not a belief system.-- (08/23/2010)

Germany saw the ambitious Berlin-to-Baghdad railway as a powerful tool to win World War I. But the doomed project wasn't completed until 1940. The railway debacle provides a colorful backdrop for historian McMeekin's look at the Great War from the German-Turk perspective; as a cast of ruthless characters illustrate Germany's attempt to topple what was then the largest Middle East power: the British Empire.-- (09/11/2010)

About the Author:

Sean McMeekin is Assistant Professor of International Relations at Bilkent University in Turkey.

About this edition

• Publisher: Belknap Press
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 0674064321
• ISBN 13: 9780674064324
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 496