It was a bold and masterful scheme, and it was steadily pursued during the years before the war.  Austro-Hungary was easily influenced.  The ascendancy of her ruling races—­nay, the very existence of her composite anti-national empire—­was threatened by the nationalist movements among her subject-peoples, who, cruelly oppressed at home, were more and more beginning to turn towards their free brothers over the border, in Serbia and Rumania; and behind these loomed Russia, the traditional protector of the Slav peoples and of the Orthodox faith.  Austro-Hungary, therefore, leant upon the support of Germany, and her dominant races would be very willing to join in a war which should remove the Russian menace and give them a chance of subjugating the Serbs.  This latter aim suited the programme of Germany as well as it suited that of Austria, since the railways to Constantinople and Salonika ran through Serbia.  Serbia, therefore, was doomed; she stood right in the path of the Juggernaut car.

The acquisition of influence in Turkey was also comparatively easy.  Constantinople is a city where lavish corruption can work wonders.  Moreover Turkey was, in the last years of the nineteenth century, in bad odour with Europe; and Germany was able to earn in 1897 the lasting gratitude of the infamous Sultan Abdul Hamid by standing between him and the other European powers, who were trying to interfere with his indulgence in the pastime of massacring the Armenians.  Turkey had had many protectors among the European powers.  She had never before had one so complaisant about the murder of Christians.  From that date Germany was all-powerful in Turkey.  The Turkish army was reorganised under her direction, and practically passed under her control.  Most of the Turkish railways were acquired and managed by German companies.  And presently the great scheme of the Bagdad railway began to be carried through.  The Young Turk revolution in 1908 and the fall of Abdul Hamid gave, indeed, a shock to the German ascendancy; but only for a moment.  The Young Turks were as amenable to corruption as their predecessors; and under the guidance of Enver Bey Turkey relapsed into German suzerainty.  Thus the most important parts of the great scheme were in a fair way of success by 1910.  One of the merits of this scheme was that as the Sultan of Turkey was the head of the Mahomedan religion, the German protectorate over Turkey gave a useful mode of appealing to the religious sentiments of Mahomedans everywhere.  Twice over, in 1898 and in 1904, the Kaiser had declared that he was the protector of all Mahomedans throughout the world.  Most of the Mahomedans were subjects either of Britain, France, or Russia—­the three rival empires that were to be overthrown.  As General Bernhardi put it, Germany in her struggle for Weltmacht must supplement her material weapons with spiritual weapons.