Page:Turkey, the great powers, and the Bagdad Railway.djvu/27

 by the Bagdad Railway is one of the most important in the world.

Turkey-in-Asia, furthermore, was wealthy. It possessed vast resources of some of the most essential materials of modern industry: minerals, fuel, lubricants, abrasives. Its deposits of oil alone were enough to arouse the cupidity of the Great Powers. Irrigation, it was believed, would accomplish wonders in the revival of the ancient fertility of Mesopotamia. By the development of the country's latent agricultural wealth and the utilization of its industrial potentialities, it was anticipated that the Ottoman Empire would prove a valuable source of essential raw materials, a satisfactory market for finished products, and a rich field for the investment of capital. Economically, the territory served by the Bagdad Railway was one of the most important undeveloped regions of the world.

Neither the geographical position nor the economic wealth of the Ottoman Empire, however, need have been a cause for its exploitation by foreigners. Had the Sultan's Government been strong—powerful enough to present determined resistance to domestic rebellion and foreign intrigue—Turkey would not have been an imperial problem. But Abdul Hamid and his successors, the Young Turks, showed themselves incapable of governing a vast empire and a heterogeneous population. They were unable to resist the encroachments of foreigners on the administrative independence of their country or to defend its borders against foreign invasion. That the Ottoman Empire, under these circumstances, should fall a prey to the imperialism of the Western nations was to be expected. Its strategic importance was a "problem" of military and naval experts. Its wealth was an irresistible lure to investors. Its political instability was the excuse offered by European nations for intervening in the affairs of the empire on behalf of the financial interests of the