the public debt in European hands.
Ironically, the central government accepted these provisions in return for economic and military assistance. Although the government sought to balance the interests of the European powers, certain powers were favored while others were disfavored. Germany, under Bismarck, initially showed little interest in currying favor with the "sick man of Europe," as the Ottoman Empire was referred to, preferring instead to establish its power in Europe proper. After the dismissal of Bismarck, however, Kaiser Wilhelm II began looking eastward, in pursuit of Germany's "destiny." Thus, a new policy began of establishing Asiatic Turkey as a major sphere of German influence in strategic and economic fields; the Kaiser particularly wished to link Germany with the Persian Gulf, via the proposed Baghdad railway. This plan was received enthusiastically by the Sultan, who wished to begin centralizing control of the empire through the construction of railroads.
The plans for the Baghdad Railway were blocked, however, by both the British and the Russians. The British did not wish to concede control of the Gulf to any other power, while the Russians were concerned that the railroad would serve as a Turkish weapon against Russia in the Caucasus. This latter conflict illustrated the traditional antipathy between the Turks and the Russians, who had fought for centuries over control of certain areas which formed the border between the two empires. In addition, the Turks effectively controlled the Straits between the Aegean and Black Seas, which was Russia's only warm-water outlet to the open sea. Free passage through the Straits was absolutely vital to Russia's economic survival. This relationship would color both empires' actions in the months which preceded the First World War.
By the beginning of the Twentieth Century, the only European territory which remained under Ottoman control was Macedonia, and this ar...