In search of a railway Europe : transnational railway developments in interwar Europe Citation for published version (APA): Anastasiadou, E. (2009). In search of a railway Europe : transnational railway developments in interwar Europe. Technische Universiteit Eindhoven. https://doi.org/10.6100/IR658478 DOI: 10.6100/IR658478 Document status and date: Published: 01/01/2009 Document Version: Publisher’s PDF, also known as Version of Record (includes final page, issue and volume numbers) Please check the document version of this publication: • A submitted manuscript is the version of the article upon submission and before peer-review. There can be important differences between the submitted version and the official published version of record. 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Schot Copromotor: dr.ing. G.P.A. Mom This research has been made possible by: Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) ISBN 9789073192331 4 To my parents 5 Acknowledgements I would like to thank all those who helped me to write and publish this thesis, in particular my supervisors Johan Schot and Gijs Mom who patiently followed my progress and with whom I shared many ideas. Aristotle Tympas, under whose supervision I made my first steps into the field of history of technology. Together with him I developed many of the ideas on the Greek case discussed in the last chapter of this thesis. The other PhD students of the TIE group (Sorinela Ciobica, Vincent Lagendijk, Suzanna Lommers, Frank Schipper), with whom I shared many moments of anxiety and hard work as well as pleasant moments of laughs. The two post doc researchers that worked on the project Transnational Infrastructures and the Rise of Contemporary Europe, Erik van der Vleuten and Alec Badenoch for their useful commentaries on many of my chapters. A special thanks to Alec Badenoch who patiently copy-edited my thesis, rendering it a more pleasant experience for the reader. The members of my doctorate committee Colin Dival, Eda Kranakis and Harry Lintsen who read an earlier version of my thesis and provided me with useful comments. Relatedly, I would also like to thank the Foundation for the History of Technology for financing the copy-editing. Finally my brother in law Andrew Kerrigan who made some final adjustments to my English. Spending 5 years away from family and old friends has been a difficult and challenging experience. I may not have been able to go through these years without the help of a few people who happened to be in Eindhoven and who supported me and helped me go through this process. A special thanks therefore goes to Apostolos Doris, Efie Kesidou, Dick Van de Brick, Joost Mangnus, Ariana Martinelli, Frank Schipper and Maria Vlasiou. Last but not least, warm thanks to my mother and sister who, even though far away, closely shared my worries and concerns, difficulties and happy moments on this trajectory, providing an infinite source of support and encouragement. Eindhoven, November 3, 2008 7 Table of contents Acknowledgements 7 Abbreviations 13 Chapter 1 Introduction: International Railway Travel in Interwar Europe 15 The Railway Historiography: Internationalization of Railways 16 Internationalization of infrastructures and European Integration 21 Research Strategy 24 Thesis Outline 28 Chapter 2 Revising the European Railways: Proposals for the Construction of International Railway Arteries in Interwar Europe 31 Introduction: The German Railway Dominance before the War 31 Developments after the Outbreak of the War 34 The Establishment of the International Committee "Suisse-Océan" 37 The Line of the 45th Parallel 42 The Establishment of the League of the 45th Parallel 48 The 45th Parallel as an Anti-Germanic Barrier 49 Italian Appropriation of the Project 52 Developments after the End of the War, the Establishment of the Simplon Orient Express 54 Building Railways from Paris to Dakar 61 Building a Railway Europe: Proposals for a European Railway in the Years of the Depression 67 The context 67 A Proposal for a Railway Paneurope 69 Conclusions 76 Chapter 3 International Railway Regime in Interwar Europe 79 Introduction: International Railway Regime in the 19th century 79 The Peace Conference: Building an Allied Railway Europe 82 Railway Problems after the War 88 Problems in Central Europe 89 The First Attempts to Re-establish a Railway Regime in Europe 92 The LoN and its Vision of Universality in Relation to Railways 97 The Establishment of the LoN 97 Questions of Communications and Transit within the LoN; The Establishment of the OCT 98 Railways and the OCT 100 The First Conference on Communications and Transit (Barcelona, 1921); the First Attempt for the Establishment of a Convention on the International Regime of Railways 101 9 The Sub-Committee on Transport by Rail 104 Second General Conference on Communications and Transit (Geneva 1923) 106 The Importance of the Convention 107 LoN and railway issues after the Geneva Conference 109 A New Railway Regime in Europe: Regional Alliances in Interwar Europe. 111 The Establishment of the International Union of Railways (UIC) 111 Appeals for Regional Grouping 114 Conclusions 121 Chapter 4 The Internationalisation of Railways in the Inter-war Years 125 Introduction: 125 Railway Traffic in the Inter-war Years 125 Limitations of the Effort for the Establishment of Technical Interoperability in the Railway Networks of Europe. 136 The Case of Electrification 137 Electrification at the Barcelona Conference 137 The Importance of Electrification for Railways of International Concern 140 Towards the Establishment of a Committee on the Cession of Electric power 143 The Issue of Automatic Couplers: Early Action for the Implementation of Automatic Couplers 145 Developments after WWI 147 The appointment of a Committee on Automatic Coupling 151 The Establishment of an International Fund 156 Conclusion 159 Chapter 5 The Co-construction of the European and the National in the Case of the Greek railways 165 Introduction: Internationalism within the Nation state 165 Periodization 166 The Years from 1830 to WWI: National versus International Considerations in the Shape of the Greek railways 167 The Context: Transport conditions in the newly established Greek state 167 Railway Construction in the Balkans 167 International Aspect of the First Proposals for Railways in Greece (1830- 1869) 168 Discussions on the gauge of the Greek railways (1881-2) 172 The Greek Efforts for the Connection to the Continental Railways: Greece as a Railway Island (1890-1914) 175 The Establishment of a Connection 179 Developments After the End of WWI: A New Railway Era for Greece 182 A Different Railway Regime after WWI 182 The Belgian Contract 183 The Line Athens to the Northern Borders 192 10 Conclusion 195 Chapter 6 Conclusion: In Search of a Railway Europe 197 Patterns of Internationalization of the Railways in Interwar Europe 197 Factors/Motivations that Influenced International Railway Developments 198 Was there a European Approach to Railways? 201 Suggestions for Further Research 204 Bibliography 205 Archival Sources 205 League of Nations Archives, Geneva (LoN) 205 International Labour Organization Archives, Geneva (ILO) 205 National Archive of Rome 205 Journals 205 Published Documentation 206 League of Nations 206 International Labour Office 206 Other Printed Sources 207 Scholarly Books, Articles and Dissertations 209 Summary 219 Curriculum Vitae 221 11 Abbreviations ΒΒΕ Βιομηχανική και Βιοτεχνική Επιθεώρησις, εκδιδóμενη υπό του Συνδέσμου των Ελλήνων Βιομηχάνων και βιοτεχνών (Industrial and Manufacturing Review) BCC Bureau Central