Editing Eastern question (section)

==Germany and the Ottoman Empire==
{{Further|Berlin–Baghdad railway}}
Germany drew away from Russia and became closer to Austria-Hungary, with whom it concluded the [[Dual Alliance (1879)|Dual Alliance]] in 1879. Germany also closely allied with the Ottoman Empire. The German government took over the re-organisation of the Ottoman military and financial system; in return, it received several commercial concessions, including permission to build the [[Baghdad Railway]], which secured for them access to several important economic markets and opened the potential for German entry into the Persian Gulf area, then controlled by Britain. German interest was driven not only by commercial interests, but also by a burgeoning rivalry with Britain and France. Meanwhile, Britain agreed to the [[Entente Cordiale]] with France in 1904, thereby resolving differences between the two countries over international affairs. Britain also reconciled with Russia in 1907 with the [[Anglo-Russian Entente]].<ref>Sean McMeekin, ''The Berlin-Baghdad Express: The Ottoman Empire and Germany's Bid for World Power'' (2012) [https://www.amazon.com/Berlin-Baghdad-Express-Ottoman-Empire-Germanys/dp/0674064321/  excerpt and text search]</ref>

For the German historian [[Leopold von Ranke]] Christianity was morally most superior and could not be improved upon. When Ranke wrote ''Zur orientalischen Frage. Gutachten'' at the behest of the kaiser he framed the Eastern Question as primarily religious in nature; the civil rights of Christians against Muslims in the Ottoman Empire could only be secured by the intervention of the Christian European nations.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hodkinson |first1=James R. |last2=Walker |first2=John |last3=Feichtinger |first3=J0hannes |title=Deploying Orientalism in Culture and History: From Germany to Central and Eastern Europe |date=2013 |publisher=Boydell & Brewer |isbn=9781571135759 |page=105}}</ref> He was considered a leading authority in the field of [[Orientalism]] in his time.<ref>{{cite book |title=Companion to Historiography |editor-first=Michael |editor-last=Bentley |first=Ulrike |last=Freitag |chapter=The Critique of Orientalism |publisher=Routledge |date=2006 |isbn=9781134970247 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JWqIAgAAQBAJ}}</ref>