Proposed Frontiers · Confidential

January 1916

Britain, France and Russia are secretly negotiating the fate of the Ottoman Empire after the war; promises have been made to allies and tribes, but promises mean nothing.

You are a British officer drawing the map that His Majesty's Government will take to an international conference.

A settlement for the Near East

PROPOSED FRONTIERS

The old order is passing. Draw the frontiers of what comes next.
London · January 1916
Working tracing No. 3
Anatolian Railway: Haydarpaşa–Angora · In use · January 1916. Haydarpaşa is on the Asian shore. No railway bridge across the Bosphorus existed.Anatolian Railway: Eskişehir–Konya · In use · January 1916. Baghdad Railway: Konya–Belemedik · In use · January 1916. Belemedik was then called Karapınar; this is the northern Taurus railhead.Taurus crossing: unfinished · Unfinished · January 1916. No through rail service in January 1916; goods required transshipment.Cilician section: Durak–Mamure · In use · January 1916. Mersin–Tarsus–Yenice · In use · January 1916. Amanus crossing: unfinished · Unfinished · January 1916. The Amanus tunnels were not yet a working through route.Alexandretta branch: interrupted · Interrupted · January 1916. Track built before the war but interrupted after the December 1914 naval attack; not treated as operational port access.Baghdad Railway: İslahiye–Aleppo · In use · January 1916. Baghdad Railway: Muslimiye–Ras al-Ayn · In use · January 1916. Ras al-Ayn reached in 1915. No continuous line onward to Mosul or Samarra.Baghdad–Samarra: isolated section · In use · January 1916. Opened in 1914; isolated from the northern Baghdad Railway.Syrian railway: Aleppo–Rayak · In use · January 1916. Through traffic towards Damascus changed gauge at Rayak.Beirut–Rayak–Damascus · In use · January 1916. Hejaz Railway: Damascus–Medina · In use · January 1916. Medina was the terminus. No railway to Mecca or Jeddah existed.Haifa–Daraa branch · In use · January 1916. Wartime railway: Afula–Beersheba · In use · January 1916. Beersheba reached in October 1915. The extension towards Auja and Sinai was not yet open.Wadi Surar–Jerusalem · In use · January 1916. Mas’udiya–Nablus · In use · January 1916. Smyrna–Cassaba railway to Afyon · In use · January 1916. Manisa–Soma–Bandırma · In use · January 1916. Smyrna–Aydın–Eğirdir · In use · January 1916. Goncalı–Denizli · In use · January 1916. Torbalı–Tire · In use · January 1916. Çatal–Ödemiş · In use · January 1916. Ortaklar–Söke · In use · January 1916. Mudanya–Bursa · In use · January 1916. Rumelian Railway: Sirkeci–old Edirne · In use · January 1916. Historical approach via Uzunköprü and Pythio to Karaağaç, not the modern direct Edirne cutoff; some track was under Bulgarian administration.Alpullu–Kırklareli · In use · January 1916. Opened in 1912.ANATOLIANEJDSYRIAN DESERTAN NAFUDRUB’ AL-KHALIMEDITERRANEANBLACK SEARED SEAARABIAN SEAPERSIAN GULFConstantinopleSmyrnaAngoraKonyaVanDiyarbekirErbilNajafAleppoBeirutDamascusJerusalemAqabaMa’anMosulKirkukBaghdadBasraKuwaitHa’ilMedinaJeddahMeccaRiyadhSana’aHodeidaAdenMukallaMuscatNizwaManamaDohaCairoErzurumTrebizondHaifaTaifYanbuGREECEEGYPTPERSIARUSSIAN EMPIRECYPRUSANGLO-EGYPTIAN SUDANABYSSINIALIBYAADEN PROTECTORATEBAHRAINQATARAbu DhabiDubaiSharjahMUSCAT &OMANAL-HASATRUCIALSTATESAjmanUmm al-QaiwainRas al-KhaimahCASPIAN SEABRITISH SOMALILANDITALIAN SOMALILANDFRENCH SOMALILANDBRITISH EAST AFRICAGULF OF ADENINDIAN OCEANDjiboutiBerberaMogadishuAddis AbabaAsmaraYEMEN
Map intelligence
Railway in use · Jan. 1916
Unfinished or interrupted line
Principal lines; schematic alignment.
◆ Pilgrimage centre   □ Port   TownRivers & railways remain visible
Drag across land to paint. Paint the negotiating area. Grey territories are protected and cannot be painted.
Your proposal is complete

The ink is dry.
What happens next?

Every province has a future. Follow your frontiers through wars, revolutions and the peace that survives.