ABSTRACT
Trumpener describes the focus of Germany's Middle East policy before the war as the ongoing "search for markets, raw materials, and lucrative investment opportunities", and as "practically the only constant in Germany's pre-war activities" in the region. The foreign policy of Germany during the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century was shaped by four competing themes: reestablishing a German Holy Roman Empire in Central Europe; pan-German nationalism; imperial expansion and colonization; and industrialization and militarization. Under the stewardship of Otto von Bismarck, the Iron Chancellor under the Prussian King Wilhelm, Germany had followed a policy of focusing on building a strong continental Germany under Prussian leadership. Germany was a continental power; it had no territorial or maritime connections with the Muslim world, such as had Russia, Austria-Hungary on land, and Britain at sea. However, Germany could only take advantage of that opportunity if Russia, France, and Britain could be beaten in a major war.
