Page:Turkey, the great powers, and the Bagdad Railway.djvu/279

 with the scheme. We believe that if some such solution is adopted, a fertile source of international misunderstanding will disappear. It is a solution which should receive the approval of France and Russia and should give gratification to Germany. It appears to leave no room for subsequent differences of opinion, while it wipes out a whole series of obscure disputes. It will be a further demonstration of that spirit of coöperation among the Great Powers which has done so much of late to preserve the peace of Europe. It should convince Germany that Great Britain does not oppose the essential elements of the Bagdad Railway scheme provided her own special interests are protected. Above all, it will relieve the financial disabilities of Turkey and will enable her to press forward the great task of binding with bonds of steel the great Asiatic territories in which her future chiefly lies." Other press opinion was in accord with Sir Edward Grey that the agreement "justifies us in saying that it is no longer in British interests to oppose the line."[26]

In Germany, likewise, the Anglo-Turkish agreement was favorably received. The Berliner Tageblatt of December 29, 1913, hailed it as a triumph of German diplomacy. "For years," it said, "this undertaking has threatened to become a bone of contention between Russia, England, and Germany. The German Government has now, through its cleverness and tenacity, succeeded in removing all differences and in bringing the line altogether into German possession." In the Reichstag, as well, the general tenor of the comments was favorable, although Herr Bassermann and other National Liberals were somewhat vociferous about the great "sacrifices" which Germany had made to propitiate Great Britain. Among the Social Democrats and the Centrists, however, the sentiment was obviously in accord with one member who