[George W. Bush]

Too smooth to be coincidental, but keeps lingering in my mind as a suspicion that we were suckered into joining the Germans.

Not really. Germany had aspirations to found a neocolonial empire but was a late starter compared to other European powers. Germany went to some considerable lengths to attempt to build railroads and other improvements throughout Arabia. They committed vast sums of money and made many diplomatic deals with other European powers to do this. World War I Germany was truly a friend to Turkey. There is some interesting economic history of this in Carrol Quigley's history text, Tragedy and Hope.

Let's be careful to distinguish WW I Germany from Nazi Germany. The two were very different creatures in their means and aspirations. And you need to understand that WW I Europe, outside of Germany, were all enemies of Turkey and worked to prevent anyone from helping Turkey to develop economically. WW I Germany was Turkey's only friend and benefactor, although not entirely disinterested of course. But Germany never made any real money off their assistance to Turkey.

If you're interested in the matter, I could perhaps type in some of Quigley's text. Quigley's focus on economic history is very valuable in understanding the era and the intrigues of the European colonial powers.

[a_Turk]

I'll look up the book "Carrol Quigley's history text, Tragedy and Hope."

I am aware of the German "Drang nach Osten" and the Berlin to Baghdad Railroad, the last leg of which was never finished in time.