4

THE BERLIN-BAGDAD RAILROAD

The year 1914 found Europe already divided into two powerful camps. One was the Triple Entente, composed of England, France and Russia; the other was the Triple Alliance, composed of Germany, the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy and Italy. Each camp had a special interest to guard. The Triple Entente guarded the British interests, so that international finance and the overseas international commerce of the world would remain under British control. The Triple Alliance was safeguarding the completion and successful operation of the Berlin-Bagdad Railway system, which was planned to run from Berlin, Germany, through Austria, Hungary, Serbia, Bulgaria, across the Dardanelles into Turkey, terminating at Bagdad. If completed and successfully operated, that transcontinental railroad system would have tapped an unlimited quantity of natural resources and would have started in Europe and Asia Minor an industrial and commercial boom, a like of which Europe and Asia Minor had never experienced.

No one can readily understand the background of and the underlying reasons and motives for the World War and the reasons for the present world chaos, unless one knows the history of the Berlin-Bagdad Railway system and the international problems, difficulties, struggles and intrigues that arose from it. The members of the human family, it seems, are divided into two main groups: one group is composed of creators and builders, while the other group is composed of leeches and parasites that live on the sweat and blood of the former group. Between these two groups there is a constant struggle, and this struggle sometimes is calm and unnoticeable, while at other times it is fierce, bloody and deadly. You can see this struggle every day, read of it every day and dream of it every night. At one time the builders and creators are feverishly at work to create the necessities of life for the use and enjoyment of their fellow men, while the leeches and parasites are patiently biding their time and preparing to pounce upon the creators to take away from them the results of their labor. The farmers arduously till the soil and, cooperating with the very God of Creation, raise crops and food in abundance, so that their fellow men may eat, live and be happy; and when the crops are harvested and the life-giving food is stored, the leeches and parasites appear and deprive the farmers of the fruits of their labor. At other times, when their own stomachs are full and their coffers replete, the leeches and parasites conspire against God and man, and they pay the farmers charity or "relief" money for not plowing and for not raising crops, and, as a result, their fellow men do not have sufficient food to eat; expectant mothers do not have enough nourishment for their unborn children; children already born lack adequate nourishment; and millions of men, women and children virtually suffer from starvation.

At other times builders of industries, manufacturers of food, clothing, furniture and other necessities of life patiently work to supply their fellow men with their needs, so that they may have food, clothing, shelter and other conveniences of life; and then the leeches and parasites appear, reverse the gears of industry and throw an entire country and even the entire world into economic and political chaos, so that men, women and children may suffer want, privation and starvation.

You see evidence of this every day right here in our own country. The American farmers, if they were permitted, would be able to raise enough food to feed the people of one-half of the world; yet one-half of the 125,000,000 American people are virtually hungry, not because God is not good to us, not because God has refused to send us rain and sunshine, not because God through the American farmers is unwilling to create, but because the leeches and parasites have decreed that one-half of the American people must suffer or starve. American labor, -- and there is none better in the world, -- is willing and able to create all the necessities of life for the American people, and even much more; but the leeches and parasites have decreed that the American factories must be shut down and kept idle, so that production may be curtailed and the American people be deprived of their necessities of life. The leeches and parasites and their hirelings shout and lie that there is "over production" of everything, when the fact is that more than one-half of the American people are either ill-supplied or not supplied at all with the most immediate necessities of life. The result is that the needy and the hungry men, women and children are fighting sometimes, unfortunately, their own kind, their fellow builders and creators, their industrialists and local bankers who are also handicapped by the same leeches and parasites.

The struggle between the creators and builders and the leeches and parasites is as old as man. God has always been and still is on the side of the creators and builders, because He Himself is a creator and a builder. God has spoken at various times and in various ways against the attempt to cheat Him and men and He has, at times, meted out dire punishments to those who were bent upon crucifying mankind upon the cross of greed, need and hunger. When offerings of decaying food, lame and sick lambs were brought to the Lord, when men, women and children were condemned to want, suffering and starvation, the Lord God of hosts spoke the words that today are preached, (if they are not, they should be preached), from every pulpit. He said that man must give the best there is in him, so that he may have. He warned that the conspiracy against God and men will have dire consequences: Elijah will come, heralding the great and dreadful day of the Lord. Open your Bible to the Book of Malachi in the Old Testament and in the quiet of your home spend a few minutes with the Lord; converse with Him as a son would converse with a father; learn from the words of the Lord how He wants us, his children, to live by giving, creating and building, so that "the Sun of righteousness may arise with healing in His wings" and "the hearts of the fathers may turn to their children and the hearts of the children may turn to their fathers." In other words, we should attempt to live so that the kingdom of God may be actually realized on this earth. Read the Book of Malachi, Chapter 3. The Lord God of hosts speaks:

7. "Return unto me, and I will return unto you, said the Lord God of hosts. But ye said, Wherein shall we return?

8. "Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings.

9. "Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation.

10. "Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, said the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.

11. "And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the Lord of hosts."

The Lord did not say that He wants the farmers to plow under the crop which they and the Lord have brought forth, did He? The Lord did not say that the farmers should kill the little piggies, so that there would be less pork for God's children, did He? The Lord did not say that the factories should be closed down, kept idle and men thrown out of work, the machinery should rust so that there may be less food, clothing, shelter and conveniences of life for the use and enjoyment of God's children, did He? The Lord did not say that He loves those leeches and parasites who create shortage of food and other necessities of life, did He? The Lord did not say that He wants for Himself the fruit of the labor of his children, did He? The Lord did not say that He wants his children to suffer want or starvation on this earth, did He?

Just keep your Bible open yet a little while and harken to the Lord, as He speaks. He tells you that when He is robbed, "even this whole nation" is robbed. He wants food, clothing and other necessities of life on this earth, not for Himself but for his children. He tells the creators and builders, in Chapter 4, verse 9:

"Ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet."

The struggle of the creators and builders thus continues against the leeches and parasites, under the divine injunction of the Lord Creator; and it shall continue until "the sun of righteousness arises with healing in his wings," when there shall be sufficient food, clothing and necessities of life for God's children on this earth below.

The history of the Berlin-Bagdad Railroad reveals clearly this struggle between the group in Europe, that wanted and still wants to open up the vast natural resources of Europe and Asia Minor for the use and benefit of mankind, and the group that wants to rob God and deprive his children of the very things He has created and provided for them. I do not recite the entire history of the great project and, therefore, suggest that you read Earle's interesting and instructive book, "Turkey, the Great Powers and the Bagdad Railway"; Professor G. R. Usher's "Pan-Germanism"; Professor E. R. Turner's "Europe Since 1870"; and F. Neilson's "How Diplomats Make War."

The rapid and successive events transpiring in Europe all revolve around the Berlin-Bagdad Railroad; and it is no longer a prohibited secret and you should know that American industry, labor, commerce and people are all affected by the unsettled problems of the Berlin-Bagdad Railroad. You hear charges and counter charges against this and that nation; you hear the leeches and parasites and their agents shouting for war and blood; you may be called upon to march onto a foreign battlefield, to fight, bleed and die; you may be called upon to sacrifice your sons and daughters in a bloody and devastating war; and, if and when this happens, you will know why you are offering the supreme sacrifice.

The history of the Berlin-Bagdad Railroad system briefly is this: The English and French governments, in cooperation with English and French financiers, worked out a plan for a transcontinental railroad system in Europe, which would run from Berlin, Germany, through Austria, Hungary, Serbia, Bulgaria, across the Dardanelles into and through Turkey, ending at Bagdad. A railroad line running from Paris would connect with the Berlin-Bagdad Railroad system at Vienna, Austria. The English and French governments tried to interest the German government in the plan, but Chancellor Bismarck of Germany, at first, refused to interest the German government in the plan. Bismarck, no doubt, saw clearly in advance the international struggle and complications that would follow, when the plan of the railroad would be put into operation.

The main trunk line of the railroad would connect the local lines of the railroads of virtually every country in continental Europe, in Turkey and Asia Minor, and it would open up an enormous quantity of the natural resources in Europe, Turkey and Asia Minor. Its successful operation would, no doubt, start an industrial and commercial boom in Europe and Asia Minor on an unprecedently large scale in that part of the world. The main difficulty with the plan, as Bismarck must have foreseen and as it has so gruesomely come to pass, was that the main trunk line had to run through a number of countries, some of them friendly and some of them unfriendly. Financiers who were interested in steamship lines and other modes of transportation certainly would attack the Berlin-Bagdad Railroad plan, incite the people of the countries, through which it was planned to run, and thus make traveling and shipments unsafe on that railroad. To assure the safe and unmolested operation of that railroad, it was necessary to solidify into one block and under one central control all the countries that were to be traversed by it.

You may recall how the American railroad builders had to struggle, before they succeeded in building up an American transcontinental railroad system that could operate safely and profitably. And, although the American railroads traversed not a foot of foreign territory, we had to have the slogan, "The mail must go through!" In some of the states even clergymen preached against it and called it the instrument of the Devil, as if the Devil had ever created anything useful and beneficial to mankind! You no doubt remember how some of the clergymen branded the automobile, when it made its first appearance, as a vehicle of the very Devil himself, though at the present time the same clergymen make use of it, if they can afford it, because it is a gift of God for the use and enjoyment of his children. If this happened in this country, what might be expected in the less civilized Balkan countries, which the Berlin-Bagdad Railroad was intended to traverse?

The English and French governments later abandoned the plan of the Berlin-Bagdad Railway system, whereupon German financiers, with some encouragement given by the German government, undertook to complete it. The agents of English and French steamship companies then began to agitate against the railroad plan. Politics, race hatred and even religion were brought into the fight. To alienate the Turkish people from the Germans, it was authoritatively stated that only French missionaries were ordained by God to save the souls of the Turks and that the heathen Turks would surely find themselves in hot water, if they would permit German missionaries to save their souls. The Balkan countries were transformed into a veritable madhouse of propaganda, intrigues and crime. And all this, because a main railroad trunk line was to run across Europe and start the people of that continent on the road to economic development, prosperity, happiness and contentment.

The government of England and the international financiers, parking in England and operating under the English flag, developed a stiff opposition to the Berlin-Bagdad Railway system. It was feared by England that the completion and successful operation of that railroad system would jeopardize the English control of international finance and overseas world commerce. The French government joined the English government in its opposition to the railroad, and these two governments formed an alliance against Germany and agreed to dispute every inch of ground which that railroad was to traverse. So there was Germany with the English and French plan for the railroad on her hand, now facing the opposition of the combined forces of England and France.

Another potent and dangerous opposition developed against the railroad plan from Russia. Russia is spread over a much larger territory than that of the United States of America, yet she had no seaport that would be open throughout the year. Although Russia is bordered by a large expanse of water, yet she woefully lacks good harbors. Archangel, the principal port of the White Sea, from which there is an outlet into the North Sea, is icebound for nine months, and the Baltic ports are also icebound four or five months of each year. Russia tried to obtain an all-year-round ice-free port in the Far East; but in the Russo-Japanese War her effort was defeated. The Black Sea could be used for a convenient Russian seaport, if the Dardanelles, which connects the Black Sea with the Mediterranean Sea, could be available for passage of Russian ships to the Mediterranean Sea; and Russia was determined to obtain control of the Dardanelles which was in the possession and control of Turkey. The Berlin-Bagdad Railroad was planned to cross the Dardanelles at Constantinople, which coincidence brought Russia into the English and French alliance, forming the Triple Entente against Germany.

Here was a situation, wherein Russia, a country covering an area larger than all the other European countries together and occupying about one-sixth of the land upon the globe, did not possess a single suitable seaport; and at the same time Germany was trying to put through a transcontinental railroad in Europe. The Russian plan, if realized, would have aided tremendously the economic development of Russia; the Berlin-Bagdad Railroad would have started Europe on the road to an industrial and commercial boom; and both plans would have been mutually beneficial to Russia and Europe, if not the entire world. Yet the intersection of these two plans became and has remained to this day the most dangerous plague of Europe and the world. If you draw a line from the Black Sea through the middle of the Dardanelles straight to the Mediterranean Sea and another line across the Dardanelles at Constantinople, you will have the point of intersection of the two lines. That point of intersection was in 1914 and still is the most dangerous spot in Europe, if not in the world.

It is not a secret that England and France had vigorously opposed the Russian plan to obtain control of the Dardanelles, because it was feared that the Russian fleet and commerce on the high seas would endanger British and French international financial and commercial interests; yet England and France had succeeded in inveigling Russia into the English-French camp against Germany.

Germany had no specific desire to prevent Russia from having an all-year-round open seaport and the Czar of Russia had no specific desire to prevent the Berlin-Bagdad Railroad from going through and crossing the Dardanelles. This is evidenced by the fact that, in November of 1910, the Emperor of Germany and the Czar of Russia met at Potsdam, had breakfast together, and quietly discussed this vexing problem. The two rulers agreed that both plans would be beneficial to both Russia and Europe, and, therefore, both should go through. It was, therefore, decided that Russia abandon her plan of obtaining control of the Dardanelles, so that the Berlin-Bagdad Railroad could go through without any interference on the part of Russia; and that Russia could have a "sphere of influence" in Persia and run a railroad through that country to the Persian Gulf and the Arabian Sea, thus solving Russia's problem for a convenient seaport. The two monarchs went back home, feeling that they had solved the two most vexatious problems of Europe without spilling a single drop of blood, and, as a result, Russia and Europe were on the verge of an economic and commercial boom.

But England, France and some of the high politicians and diplomats of Russia vigorously opposed this plan. An intensive and terrifying campaign of anti-German agitation was started under the name and pretext of "Pan-Slavism." Throughout Europe the Slavs were urged to unite under the benign protecting wing of the "little father," the Czar of Russia; that all the Slavs should unite into one great empire; but in reality the purpose in that proposed union and the reason behind the agitation was to bring under the control of Russia all the Balkan countries bordering on the Black Sea, the Dardanelles and the countries through which the Berlin-Bagdad Railroad was planned to pass. The ultimate aim in the agitation, of course, was to force Germany into a war with Russia, France and England, in which Germany was expected to be defeated and the plan of the Berlin-Bagdad Railroad definitely discarded.

The method used by Russia, France and England to force Germany into a general European war was similar to the method you see in operation almost every day of your life. If your vile enemies want to get you into trouble, they try to "get you" through your wife. If your wife is wise and does not fall for the intrigue of your enemies, then they try to accomplish their purpose by embarrassing you through your children. If they fail in this, then they try to trick you into trouble by attacking your best friends. We shall show further on how Russia, France and England planned to force Germany into a general European war by first attacking Austria-Hungary who were the allies of Germany; therefore, with this view in mind, the "heat" was turned on Austria and Hungary to force them into a war.

An unrestrained agitation was carried on in Poland, Roumania and Serbia against Austria-Hungary, the agitated countries bordering on Austria and Hungary. Later on in a more virulent form the agitation was carried straight into the territory of Austria-Hungary, and it was continued there in the form of terror. The people especially in Hungary were terrorized and the situation became so bad that life and property were not safe in Hungary. In a package transmitted through the mail a timed bomb was sent to one of the leading Catholic Bishops in Hungary, which when unwrapped, exploded, killing and maiming several persons. This campaign of terror was a serious interference in the internal affairs of Austria-Hungary and it violated every principle of international friendship and decency. The directors of the campaign of terror knew what they were doing and well informed persons knew that war in the Balkans was inevitable. You may overlook the prank of your neighbor who throws rubber balls into your home through the window; but when he insists upon throwing firebrands, liquid fire and dynamite into your sitting room, sooner or later you will show resentment by going out and by some means restraining your mischievous neighbor from destroying your home, together with the members of your family. Countries usually do the same thing. When the United States battleship, the "Maine," was blown up, we sent our Atlantic fleet and army to Cuba and "cleaned up" the mess there. When the Mexican bandit, Pancho Villa, sallied into United States territory, robbed and killed American soldiers and citizens, we sent an American army into Mexico in pursuit. When the Mexican government refused to salute the American flag, we sent the American marines to Vera Cruz and told them to stay there, until the American flag was saluted by the Mexican government. What the directors of the terror that was carried into Hungary wanted was to force Austria-Hungary to strike back at the countries from which the terror was directed.

It was known then and we know now that the campaign of terror directed against Austria-Hungary was financed by Russia and France, acquiesced in by England, and was directed from Serbia, where the Black Hand society had its headquarters. We know now and shall produce ample evidence later on in this book to show that Raymond Poincaré, the Prime Minister of France, was in a conspiracy with Izvolski, the Russian Ambassador to France, to force the outbreak of a general European war and to force Germany into it. In November of 1912 Poincaré told the Russian government that it could go to the limit in the Balkans and that, if war should break out, France would come to the aid of Russia. Encouraged by the promise of Poincaré, the Russian government urged the Serbian leaders to more feverish activity to keep alive the intrigue against Austria-Hungary.{1}

It was definitely agreed upon and decided by Poincaré and Izvolski that the Balkans should be the scene of the desired war. Money was poured into Balkan countries to keep the cauldron of intrigues boiling and to intensify race prejudice and international hatred. Large sums of Russian money were thrown into France to bribe the French press to adulterate the truth and to print such news and editorials as would mislead the French people as to the actual condition then existing in Balkan countries. Bribe money was distributed to French newspapers by Poincaré and his right-hand men, Tardieu, Berthelot and others; so the fact was that these leaders of the French government used Russian money for the purpose of prostituting the newspapers of France to mislead the very people who had elected them to their high offices.{2} The reason Poincaré, his fellow members of the French government, and Izvolski, the Russian Ambassador, bribed and corrupted the French press was that they did not dare to provoke and precipitate a war until French public opinion was poisoned sufficiently to become favorable to a Balkan war.

The diabolical plot of Poincaré and Izvolski finally succeeded and in 1912 the Balkan war actually broke out; but it was localized and consequently petered out, because public opinion in France was not favorable for a Balkan war and public opinion in England definitely opposed it. French and Russian political leaders got cold feet; neither Austria-Hungary nor Germany was drawn into the conflict; and the infernal plot of Poincaré and Izvolski had failed for the time being.{3}

The failure of the Balkan war to develop into a general European war did not discourage Poincaré and Izvolski; they determined to continue their plans until it succeeded to provoke and precipitate a general European war. Poincaré decided to resign his office of Prime Minister and to have himself elected President of France, so that he might have full control of the foreign policies of France. He told the French people that he wanted to take Alsace-Lorraine away from Germany and that life was not worth living, unless Alsace-Lorraine was returned to France. At the same time he accepted large sums of money from the Russian government for the purpose of bribing French newspapers and corrupting members of the French government and Parliament, in order to secure his election to the French presidency. He believed that as President, with the aid of the bribed press, he would be in a better and more commanding position to mould French public opinion so that it might become more favorable toward a war; and that in the high office of President he would be better able to swing the English government to support France and Russia in a general European war, in which Germany was expected to be defeated, the Berlin-Bagdad Railroad destroyed, and the Dardanelles taken away from Turkey and given to Russia.

In order to attain the office of the presidency of France and to enjoy the emoluments thereof, Poincaré became the briber and corrupter of the French press and politicians, the betrayer of his own people, and the grave digger of European peace. In return for the bribe money given him by the Russian government, he conspired with Russian officials to provoke and precipitate the World War to defeat Germany and Austria-Hungary and to prevent the completion and successful operation of the Berlin-Bagdad Railroad. It is no wonder that on the 6th of October, 1922, Vaillant Couturier, one of the members of the French Parliament, rose from his seat and, pointing his accusing fingers toward Poincaré, quoting the words of the French critical historian, Renauld, said:

"Mr. Poincaré, it is you and your politics we have to thank for the fact that the French soil to the extent of 600 kilometers has been converted into one huge cemetery. You may therefore claim the renown of being Europe's paramount grave digger."{4}

And Georges Louis, the French Ambassador to Russia, who well knew Poincaré, said to Ernest Judet:

"This man, Poincaré, is the blackest scoundrel and the greatest criminal of the century."{5}

In the next chapter you will learn how the French press, members of the government and Parliament and politicians were bribed and corrupted to secure the election of Poincaré to the French presidency and to prepare French public opinion for the World War.

1 H. E. Barnes' "The Genesis of the World War," p. 80; M. Bogitschevich's "The Cause of the War"; E. Durham's "The Serajevo Crime."

2 "The Genesis of the World War," pp. 84-85; Morel's "Secret History of the Great Betrayal."

3 "Genesis of the World War," pp. 1-150; Stieve's "Der Diplomatische Schriftwechsel Izvolakis," 1911-1914; Roger's "The French President" in "Foreign Affairs," in "Political Science Quarterly," December, 1925; Barthélemy's "The Government of France," Chaps. VI, VIII; "Le President Poincaré"; Earl's "Turkey, the Great Powers and the Bagdad Railway," p. 266 et seq; Stieve's "Izvolski im Weltkriege," p. 213.

4 "Corruption of the French Press by Russian Bribes," by "Fichte Association" (Fichte Bund), p. 2.

5 "Izvolski and Poincaré, Provokers of the Great War," Ibid. p. 1.