Cartoons of the Baghdad Railway: A Media Hype in German, French and British Journals

Abstract

Starting around the turn of the twentieth century and abruptly declining with the First World War, public discussions on the Baghdad Railway made international headlines and cartoons captured widespread interest as a medium of communication. Pictorial representations where illustrators were able to simplify and exaggerate themes attracted much attention and enabled the fears and expectations regarding the construction project to be articulated in an unfiltered way. The European public debates appearing in satirical magazines in caricature format presented here chronologically allowed the audience to follow the heated discussions in Europe on the construction of initially the Anatolian and thereafter the Baghdad Railway.