War by Revolution. Germany and Great Britain in the Middle East in the Era of World War I

THETHICKENINGPLOTANDHOLYWAR 83

Abadanandwouldsoonincreasetheforceto fifteenhundred.v
OppenheimdiscussedthematterwithRobertWoenckhausandAlbert
Ballin,thelattertheowneroftheHamburg-Amerikashippingline,
whichlikeWoenckhaushaddonebusinessintheGulfandstillhad
shipsatBasra.Fromthemeetings,whichinvolvedneithertheGen-
eral Staffnoradmiralty,Oppenheimproducedaplanwherebyif
TurkeyjoinedGermanyinthewar, asteamshipatBasraownedby
Ballin,theBkbetane,andaTurkishgunboatwouldsail downthe
Shattal-Arab,obstructtheriverbelowAbadan,andsettheoiltanks
andrefineryafire.
WoenckhausandBallin,however,afteraddressingtheissuewith
Holtzendorff,thedirectoroftheHamburg-Amerikaline,disagreed
withOppenheim'sproposal.Ballinurgedtheforeignministrynotto
destroytheAbadanoilinstallationbutrathertocaptureit, bysend-
ing(withTurkishcooperation)aGermanexpeditionthere.Accord-
ingto Ballin,Germanycouldacquire"anoilsourceofunending
wealth"that"wouldbeofthegreatestvaluefortheReichnavalof-
fice."6o
Meanwhile,theforeignministryhadnotifiedWangenheimand
EnverPashaoftheplantoblocktheriveranddestroytherefinery.
Enverfavoredtheproject,andby 17 OctoberNiedermayer,theleader
oftheGermanexpeditiontoAfghanistan,hadreadiedhimselfto leave
fromConstantinopleforBasrato supervisetheoperation."Buta
meetingintheforeignministryofJagow,Holtzendorff,Ballin,
Woenckhaus,Oppenheim,LangwerthvonSimmern,andrepresen-
tativesfromtheGeneralStaffandadmiraltydecidedagainstthe
EkbeteneschemeandinfavorofsendingalargedetachmentofGer-
mantroops,togetherwithTurkishforces, tooccupyAbadanandthe
entireoil-richKarunregion.
AccordingtoJagow,therevisedoperationwouldnotonlybenefit
theGermannavybutdenythevaluableoilfieldstotheBritish,force
themtosendseveralthousandtroopsto theGulfto protecttheir
interests,andembarrasstheminIndia.Several dayslatertheforeign
ministryorderedNiedermayernotto leaveConstantinoplefor the
Gulf;on 4 NovembertheGeneralStaffandministrynamedCaptain
FritzKlein, aformermilitaryattacheinTeheran,toleadtheexpedi-
tionoftroopstotheKarunregion."