many Europeans thought the Turks lazy, Pressel argued that their lack of productivity stemmed from lack of external transport, thus no outside market for goods. The railway would increase productivity by allowing Anatolian farmers to increase their harvest and export some of it. Beginnings of the Baghdad Railway Between 1883 and 1887, Pressel had accumulated enough capital to support the railroad, but the sultan rejected it because the capital came from too many sources. Soon, though, Pressel met Alfred von Kaulla, the director of the private Wurttemburger Vereinsbank, who introduced him to Georg von Siemens, director of the Deutsche Bank. Although Bismarck officially rejected the "Pressel Project" on behalf of the German government (although he personally approved of it), Kaulla and Siemens submitted their own bid to the sultan, who accepted. Pressel, though, felt that he had been betrayed and shunted off when Kaulla and Siemens took over; Siemens in particular hated Pressel for his humanitarian nature. Later life Pressel decided to live out his days in Turkey, arguing for the complete Ottoman takeover of the project, writing: "I have decided to fight for my project against the superior strength of my opponents as long as God gives me the strength, until my last breath, like a lioness for her cubs. Because I have the right to call the Anatolian Railway my child." The official German dispatch refused to give him an obituary, and his opponents continued to slander him. References Bibliography External links German people in rail transport Turkish people in rail transport 1821 births Engineers from Stuttgart 1902 deaths People from Stuttgart German emigrants to Turkey