A story of economic independence: One More Inch of Railway

November 16, 1858, British newspaper The Times:

The British Ambassador to Istanbul (Constantinople), Lord Stratford de Redcliffe, lays the foundation stone for the Punta (Alsancak) train station in İzmir and speaks. He says: “Western civilization has arrived at the gates of the Levant (Near East) and stands there. I want everyone to know that if these gates, which we have not managed to pass through until now, are not opened wide, we possess the power, and even more, to force these gates open in line with our own interests.”

These lines are from the book Bir Karış Fazla Şimendifer (One More Inch of Railway) by my dear friend, economic historian Dr. Serdar Şahinkaya. Prof. Dr. Bilsay Kuruç, a doyen of our economic world who wrote the foreword to the book, evaluates this speech as follows: “Who could explain more clearly how the railway was an imperial asset and nothing else, if not its owner?”

The railway concessions granted to the British and Germans are also important for understanding imperialism's gains on Ottoman lands, as well as the conflicts of interest among the imperial powers themselves.

Şahinkaya begins his book by summarizing the story of the semi-colonial type of railroading during the Ottoman period and the entry of imperialism into the Anatolian geography. Immediately afterward, he describes the Republican railroading that became one of the main pillars of economic independence and development.

Republican Railroading is the most important pillar of economic independence and economic development. “It is the transition from technical independence and one more inch of railway to iron networks.”

In the book, we are also reminded of the magic formula of the Republican Economy.

Statism = Railways + Industrialization

Three months have passed since the proclamation of the Republic. The subject is the construction of the railway that will extend to Kayseri and Sivas. Prime Minister İsmet Pasha speaks in Parliament on January 28, 1924: “Our economic policy is one more inch of railway. If foreign companies accept our conditions and come, we will have them build it. If they do not come, I will build it myself; there is no time, immediately.”

President Gazi Mustafa Kemal Pasha makes the same emphasis in his opening speech to Parliament on March 1, 1924. “One more inch of railway by any means.” On the same day, the parliament passes the railway law. Let us remember that two days later, on March 3, 1924, the parliament passed three important revolutionary laws that abolished the caliphate, ended the Ministry of Sharia and Foundations, and ensured unity in education. On one hand, the Enlightenment Reforms, and on the other, the moves for economic independence and development continue with great determination.

The speech delivered by Prime Minister İsmet Pasha upon the completion of the Sivas railway (İsmet Pasha’s August 30, 1930 Sivas Address) served as the inspiration for Dr. Serdar Şahinkaya for this book. The messages in this address and the exchanges between İsmet Pasha and Fethi Bey (Okyar), who opposed railway investments at that time, shed light on the railway debates still taking place today.

Dr. Serdar Şahinkaya’s book Bir Karış Fazla Şimendifer is an important resource for understanding economic independence and the economic development movement in the early years of the Republic. (Telgrafhane Publications/Ankara April 2005)