On the day when Austria declared war on Serbia, the Orient Express, figurehead of the Belle Époque, also came to a standstill. Germany and its allies started running their own luxury train to Constantinople in 1916.
For Germany, the Balkanzug was more than a train. It was a way of settling a score with the French Wagons-Lits, a strategic link to its allies and an effective propaganda tool. And it allowed the Germans to increase their influence in the Balkans and Middle East.
This edition of retours is a prerelease of the informative iPad app Orient Express History that will be available in early October.
by Arjan den Boer
Genesis
As a new colonial power, Germany attempted to gain influence in the Ottoman Empire from 1890 onwards. The Deutsche Bank was financing the Baghdad Railway, for example. The Germans also provided military support for strategic reasons. At the outbreak of World War I, Germany and Turkey formed an alliance. The Balkanzug became a figurehead for this.
The Prussians in particular had a strong aversion against the largely French Wagons-Lits. The war provided an opportunity to oust Wagons-Lits not only from Germany and Austria, but also from the Balkans. The French sphere of influence had to be constrained. Therefore a Central European sleeping and dining car company was founded: Mitropa.
Propaganda train
The first Balkanzug left Berlin in early January 1916 with prominent guests and under great public interest. Along the route, arranged groups of school children were waving at the train. The German press reported extensively on the 'victory train', while the French press initially denied the existence of any Balkanzug.
The train was composed of sleeping and dining cars of the German-controlled Wagons-Lits and the Prussian State Railways. The latter also provided 1st and 2nd class day coaches. The diverse carriages were fitted with large signs with Balkanzug inscriptions.
First of all, the Balkan Express does exist, as I have travelled by it myself. It is one of the most perfectly-organised railway services I have ever seen, and I have seen many.
The Balkan Express is the show train of the world. Never has there been a train with such grave responsibilities. It might well be called ‘the Publicity Train’, for its object at present is to advertise German victory and German thoroughness.
Its name is blazoned in three-foot letters on each wagon. Engine and carriages are decorated with flags and flowers, and every passenger wears in his buttonhole a German flag on which appear the words 'Balkan-Zug' and the date.
The Balkan-Zug is photographed and described in countless journals, and it appears on myriads of post-cards. I have never seen such enthusiasm in England except in connection with some famous football player.
[J.M. de Beaufort], My Secret Service: By the Man Who Dined with the Kaiser, 1916
Book
Eagle, double eagle and crescent: 1916 book about the Balkanzug by Ernst Wiesener.
Board game
This German game let its players make the journey of the Balkanzug by throwing dice.
Postcards
Between 1916 and 1918 dozens of German propaganda postcards of the Balkanzug were published.
Cigar box
Companies also picked up on the Balkanzug. Kunst-anstalt Jillert & Ewald designed a cigar box.
Three branches
While Germany was looking for expansion and prestige during the war, Austria-Hungary was only aspiring to maintain its territories. Accordingly, the propagandist Balkanzug was mainly a German project. However, the Hungarian State Railways were put in charge of the 12 railway companies involved.
The Balkanzug had three branches. The first one ran from Berlin (Stadbahn) via Wroclaw to Budapest. The second one led from Berlin's Anhalter Bahnhof through Prague to Vienna. There it was combined with the third branch coming from Strasbourg and Munich — the old Orient Express route. From Hungary onwards they continued as one train to Belgrade, Sofia and Constantinople, a journey of more than three days.
Serbia and Bulgaria
The Balkanzug could not start until the Balkans were controlled by the Central Powers. In 1915 Bulgaria joined the alliance. Serbia as a common enemy was the deciding factor for the Bulgarians, despite their difficult relations with Turkey. With help from Bulgaria the Mittelmächte could finally beat Serbia.
Warfare had severely damaged Serbian railways; bridges and tracks first had to be restored by the German army. During the occupation, Serbian railways were under the control of the Militär-Eisenbahndirektion Nisch. Because there still was a danger of attacks, the route was secured with military guardposts and reinforcements.
German military and officials stay behind in Bulgaria: 'Laß die nach Berlin fahren, wir stehen hier unsern Mann', according to the caption in a private photo album.
Banquet
In January 1916, the arrival of the first Balkanzug from Constantinople to Berlin was celebrated in Serbian Niš with a grand banquet.
Among the guests were the Bulgarian Tsar and the German emperor. Upon arrival of the train the German, Austrian and Bulgarian national anthems were played.
The Balkan-Zug was late. Night was upon us before it drew into Nish station, an impressive affair consisting of four sleeping cars, one dining-car, and one ordinary first and second class car.
As it steamed into the station the German, Bulgarian, and Austrian National Anthems were played, and King Ferdinand and his two unprepossessing sons entered before the rest of the passengers.
This was an interesting event also for the passengers from Constantinople, who leaned out of the windows, keenly interested.
The Kaiser had disappeared immediately after the Banquet, just as the Kaiser always does disappear, suddenly and mysteriously, no one knowing why or whither.
[J.M. de Beaufort], My Secret Service: By the Man Who Dined with the Kaiser, 1916
Connection
The Balkanzug was supposed to be the cultural and economic link between the German and Turkish 'brother nations'.
In reality, the train, which ran twice a week, was almost exclusively used by senior military and diplomats. Ordinary passengers had to go through a complicated approval procedure.
The 'Ausweis' for admission to the Balkanzug was in four languages: German, Hungarian, Bulgarian and Turkish.
Kaiser and Sultan
In October 1917 Emperor Wilhelm II paid his third visit to Constantinople. He traveled in a special version of the Balkanzug. Apart from a meeting with the powerful Ottoman war minister, the visit was quite peaceful. Wilhelm visited mosques and palaces and sailed over the Bosphorus. He wore by turns a Pickelhaube and a fez.
A year later, the situation was totally different. In October 1918, Bulgaria was defeated by the Allies and the Balkanzug was discontinued. Shortly afterward Turkey and Germany surrendered. Wilhelm II was deposed, Mehmet V had died earlier.
Sultan Mehmet V welcomed the emperor at the Constantinople station while the German anthem was being played.
On arrival, the emperor presented one of the parlor cars to the Sultan as a symbol of good relations.
Armistice
On November 11, 1918 the German capitulation was signed near the French town of Compiègne. Significantly, this took place in a Wagons-Lits dining car which served as a mobile office to Marshal Foch during the war. After the Armistice (cease-fire) it took another six months to negotiate a peace treaty.
In the Treaty of Versailles, the map of Europe was redrawn. Germany, Austria and Hungary lost a lot of territory. New countries such as Poland, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia were created. In the aftermath, Turkey lost the Middle East to Britain and France.
Simplon Orient Express
Under the Treaty of Versailles, no direct train was allowed to connect Germany with Turkey. A link between the defeated allies would be undesirable. A new Orient Express was to be introduced on a route that stayed outside Germany and Austria: the Simplon OrientExpress.
Mitropa, founded during the war as a Wagons-Lits counterpart, remained in existence in a restricted form.
Balkanzug, propaganda vehicle during WW I
This edition of retours is a prerelease of the informative iPad app Orient Express History that will be available in early October.
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