Chapter 655 Baghdad Railway Project
"Many newspapers have already followed up on your statement on the Ottoman Migration Order. As for the current results?" Brown looked at his boss and said nothing.
Sheffield came out of his flirty state with Mary Pickford and said without any surprise, "It should not be just a cold reaction. I guess they all think I am an idiot for singing praises for the Ottoman Empire. There is nothing surprising. In this world today, even a small European country, no matter how poor it is and how insignificant it is compared to the United States, has a mysterious sense of superiority. When they evaluate the United States, they always put themselves in the shoes of the British or the French. It is completely unreasonable."
Brown did not speak, but everyone could see that he acquiesced to his boss's words. Sheffield continued, "I published this article only to state our position. Whether the Europeans listen to it or not is their business. Anyway, they dare not do anything to us. Why should we be afraid of them?"
It is not that the slave owner felt that the United States before World War I was definitely on par with the European powers. He really did not mean that. As long as you look at the group photo of scientists participating in the Solvay Conference in 1927, you will know that in the field of science and technology, European technology after World War I was still ahead of the United States, and the heavyweight scientists were all Europeans.
The United States surpassed Britain and France only after World War II, with the Suez Canal Crisis as a landmark event. The United States and the Soviet Union also helped to kick Britain and France out of the game.
If history had continued, the United States would have been forced to feed Britain and France for another twenty years. It would have to cooperate for another twenty years before it would officially become the leader of European and American capitalist countries.
But now the United States can be said to be more than capable of protecting itself. There were so many powerful countries in the world at the beginning of the 20th century, and their strength was not much different from each other. Sheffield certainly dared to criticize the British for no reason. Anyway, the Germans are now more ambitious than the United States, so what is he afraid of?
"I can even scare the British, for example, by spreading the word that I will help the Germans build the Baghdad Railway. I want to see how the British will react then." Even though he was criticized by public opinion in a bunch of European countries, Sheffield did not take public opinion seriously. He had his own League of Nations and he knew too well the simple truth that you can't kill someone by scolding him.
As a slave owner, what shameless things has he not done? Is he afraid of being scolded by foreign dung collectors?
"Baghdad Railway?" Although Brown was a very good instructor, Sheffield was an entrepreneur, not a king. All his subordinates in the United Company thought about problems from a business perspective and had no political experience. Therefore, they had only heard of the competition between Britain and Germany on the Baghdad Railway.
"That's right, it's the Baghdad Railway that makes the British sentimental." Sheffield said with a sarcastic smile, "In recent years, the British have been shouting in their dreams, 'Germans, no!'"
The Baghdad Railway was built by Germany in order to fight for world hegemony, implement the Eastward Policy, and extend its influence into the Near East. Germany tried to build a railway to connect with the European railway, and become a large railway from Hamburg, Berlin, Constantinople and Baghdad to the Persian Gulf. This railway not only enabled Germany to control Turkey, but also seriously threatened the Caucasus, Persia and British India. Therefore, it was opposed and obstructed by Russia, France, and especially Britain.
To be honest, slave owners think that one railway is not enough to change the current situation of various countries. I really don’t know what the British are worried about. Can the Germans offset the land power advantage brought by the huge territory of the Russian Empire with one more railway? As for the threat to British India, it is purely the British’s own paranoia.
Although Sheffield thought so, he also knew that the world's hegemonic countries were sensitive and suspicious. The United States would have the same idea a hundred years later. Regardless of whether it could be done or not, the fact that there was such a trend was enough to make the vested interests tremble with fear.
Because apart from the core land of the Ottoman Empire, that is, the area where the Turks live, the remaining lands are similar to Iraq, Syria, and part of Saudi Arabia in later generations. To use a phrase from a textbook in the previous life, it is called a semi-colonial state.
The remaining territory of the Ottoman Empire is still not small, but apart from the land of the Turks, it has been heavily infiltrated by Britain and France. Even in Basra Province, which has been assigned to Sheffield, there are consulates of Britain, France and other countries.
So why did this land fall into the hands of slave owners? Since it was already on the verge of losing control, Constantinople thought it would be better to bring in someone to resist the infiltration of Britain and France. Similarly, the Germans were also a card brought in by the Ottoman Empire to resist the infiltration of Britain and France.
The Ottoman Empire first wanted to kill three people with two peaches, and secondly, the Sheffield family had been on good terms with the Ottoman Empire for a long time, helping to deal with disobedient ethnic groups and fattening up a group of Ottoman bureaucrats. In the end, they got Kuwait, a land of insignificant area, where no oil was found and it was all yellow sand. But Kuwait's geographical location is very important, which makes the British in the Persian Gulf very disgusted.
During the Italo-Turkish War, Sheffield legally took over Basra Province. No matter how Britain and France objected, it was he, the richest man in the United States, who paid for the assembly of mercenaries. Although the Arab region was a semi-colonial state, it was still nominally under the jurisdiction of Constantinople. The top leaders of the Ottoman Empire had the right to reward Basra to William Pasha.
"The Germans and the British have been deadlocked over the Baghdad Railway for who knows how many years. I can help the Germans on this issue." Sheffield put his hands in his pockets, pointed at Brown and hesitated for a moment before saying, "Who is the head of the Junker Officer Corps that is training the Ottoman Army now?"
After the Balkan War, Germany sent a corps of officers from Germany to reorganize the Ottoman Army. Sheffield knew about this, but he didn't know who was in charge.
It's time to show the attitude of a senior German fan. As the Pasha of Kuwait, it is normal for Sheffield to want to build a railway in his territory. Just build the section from Basra to Kuwait. Leave the rest to the Germans.
In the following days, Sheffield was criticized by the European public opinion. Many newspapers believed that the richest man in the United States was naive like an idiot. He actually believed that a backward country like the Ottoman Empire was more tolerant than the European countries, the center of world civilization.
In the context of the early 20th century, such accusations against European countries were unacceptable. Even in the United States, there was a lot of public opinion that was dissatisfied with Sheffield for speaking for a country like the Ottoman Empire.
The slave owner added fuel to the fire and refuted the accusations against him in an arrogant tone, "Just because you speak loudly doesn't mean you are right. The fact is that during the Balkan War, peaceful Christians in the Balkans were deprived of their property and expelled to Asia. These peaceful Christians were very angry with the local Christians. The Ottoman Empire issued an emigration order to separate Christians and peaceful Christians. It may not be a good idea, but it is much better than some countries that think they are civilized but only kill people without burying them."
This report specifically refuting the issue did not appear in newspapers in the United States. The slave owners vigorously promoted white supremacy and would never slap themselves in the face in their own country. This report appeared in newspapers in Constantinople, which was for the Ottomans to see.
But the effect was very good. Sheffield, no, William Pasha clearly stood from the perspective of the Ottoman Empire and analyzed how to make the ethnic groups in the Ottoman Empire more united. He won the unanimous favor of the Ottoman nobles and civilians. In particular, he took a sympathetic attitude towards the peace refugees from the Balkans who arrived in Asia, making these poor people feel the same.
This is what happens when a country is in adversity. Just a word of comfort and encouragement can make people grateful. At the same time, Sheffield once formed mercenaries to help the Ottoman Empire resist the attacks of European countries on Ottoman territory, which was also known to more people in this country.
"I can't believe this is you. You seem to have special feelings for the people of the Ottoman Empire." Natalia is not as easy to fool as Mary Pickford. She knows her man very well. He is not the kind of good man that the Ottomans have created. "You have never expressed kindness like this in your country."
"It's so funny. Would a ruler worry so much about a place where his rule is stable? For merchants like us who do international trade, the impression of foreigners is far more important than how our own people see us. Merchants are born to be licking the hands of other countries' governments." Sheffield laughed. "Kuwait is different. This is my territory. The residents here are definitely worth more attention than citizens of the United States."
Now Sheffield, the richest man in the United States, has a very complicated image in Europe. First of all, Sheffield has helped backward countries resist the invasion of countries that think they are civilized. At any time, guarding peace and stopping wars is a very politically correct issue. Even if many Europeans know that doing so is beneficial to the country, it is not good to sing praises for the war of aggression directly.
But European nationalism is also very strong at the end of this year, and the voices from this part will be even louder. They are not polite to this American richest man who has nothing to do.
By the way, he also made a rant against the United States across the ocean, mocking a country bumpkin who was actually going to teach the gentlemen how to view the world? But would what these common people think affect the slave owners?
"As long as you can figure out the route to Baghdad, I can build the remaining railway line that will carry buses to the Persian Gulf myself, and then connect it with this railway. Then the Baghdad railway plan will be completed, right?" Sheffield said to the diplomat sent by Major General Otto von Sanders in the Pasha's Palace in Kowell City.
(End of this chapter)
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