Journal of Political Knowledge
A comparative study of the "Reuter" railway concession in the period of Naser al-Din Shah Qajar with the "Izmir-Aydin" railway concession in the period of Ottoman Sultan Abdulmejid
Document Type : Science - Research (Iranian Political issues)
Authors
1 Associate Professor of Political Science at Imam Sadiq University, Tehran
2 Ph.D. Student of Political Science- Iran Issues, Imam Sadiq University, Tehran
Abstract
Adopting right approaches to the economic advancements plays a crucial role in the prospects of a country. The "Caspian-Persian Gulf Railway" concession was the first and largest development project of Iran, which was granted to Baron Julius de Reuter by Naser al-Din Shah Qajar about 150 years ago. There is a difference of opinion among historians about the nature of Reuter's concession, but most analysts strongly criticize it because of the exploitative nature of Reuter's contract. However, there is insufficient information in historical books to give the researchers the possibility to examine and evaluate the exploitative nature of the concessionary contracts signed then. Therefore, this research attempts to clarify the nature of Reuter's concession using a descriptive-analytical approach that compares the first Iranian railway contract with the Izmir-Aydin Ottoman railway concession, which was signed almost simultaneously with the British. The research tries to answer this question “What factors contributed to the success of Wilkin's concession in Turkey and what factors brought about the failure of Reuter's concession in Iran?” The findings indicate that 4 factors affected the structure of contracts and the implementation of industrial development initially requires a series of structural and institutional reforms and the development process should be gradual, part by part, and proportionate to the capacity of the country’s natural resources and labor force; The concessions needed to be granted according to the requirements and the development process. The Ottoman government applied a positive and intelligent approach to implement its developmental plans gradually in different phases granting limited concessions as small-scale projects. On the other hand, due to their gullibility and disregard to the necessary requirements of development, the Qajar government sought to implement their huge development project by handing over the natural resources of the country to foreigners as exclusive and unlimited concessions in a hasty manner. Nevertheless, because of the size of the project and the exploitative nature of the concession, it was challenged and consequently abolished.
Keywords
- Iran
- Izmir-Aydin Railway Concession
- Naser al-Din Shah Qajar
- Ottoman
- Reuter's Concession
- Sultan Abdulmejid
Main Subjects
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Volume 21, Issue 2 - Serial Number 42
ESSAYSeptember 2026Pages 357-386
- Receive Date: 02 March 2024
- Revise Date: 21 April 2024
- Accept Date: 13 July 2024