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

86 WARBYREVOLUTION

Withina few weekstheTurksbegananinvasionoftheCaucasus
andRussia.EnverPasha'span-Turanismproducedaparticular,per-
sonalinterestinthiscampaignandinpursuingitaslongas neces-
sary to seizetheregionfromtheRussians.TheCaucasuscampaign,
however,tookawaytroopsandarmamentsfromtheplannedattack
onEgypt,preparationsforwhichthePortenowincreased:inmid-
NovembertheYoungTurksappointedoneoftheirownasthenew
commanderoftheFourthArmyinDamascuspreparingtheexpedi-
tion.Thiswas]emalPasha,apronouncedpan-Islamistwholikewise
heldthepositionsofnavalministerandgovernorofSyria. 69
BerlinreceivedthenewsofTurkey'sentryintothewarwithde-
lightandsatisfaction.Zimmermann,the"strongman"in thefor-
eignministrywhowishedtoprosecurethebattleagainstBritainto
thebitterend,particularlywelcomednotonlyTurkey'smilitaryforces
butalsowhathe saw as itsmoralpowertofanaticizetheIslamic
peoplesoftheworldbyproclaimingaholywar.Partlybecauseofhis
concerntoretainOttomanassistanceagainstBritain,Zimmermann
(alongwithhischief,]agow)playedamajorroleattheendof 1914 in
helpingtheGermanGeneralStaffscuttleaproposalbychancellor
BethmannHollwegthattheReichconcludeaseparatepeacewith
Russia."InConstantinopletoo,someGermanofficialsexpectedthe
holywarandensuingTurkishassaultonEgypttodestroyBritain's
globalempire.OnlyWangenheimdisagreedandexpressedmisgiv-
ingsaboutthejihad,predictingthattheholywarwouldlikely "coax
onlya fewMuslimsfrombehindthewarmsrove.""
InBerlinpartoftheeuphoriaoverthesultan-caliph'sproclama-
tionresultedfromtheattitude,popularamongZimmermannand
theforeignministry,thattheholywarwouldbenefitsignificantly
theReich'sstrugglingeffortsto raiseMuslimrebellionsagainstBrit-
aininEgyptandelsewhereintheMiddleEast.TheGermansnow
intensifiedpan-IslamicpropagandaaimedatEgypt.DuringDecem-
bertheiragentsin Syria smuggledtovariousnotablesinEgypta
stronglywordedmanifestoappealingtotheirloyaltytothecaliph
andkhedive,andurgingtheEgyptians,inthenameofIslam,to re-
voltagainsttheinfidelandoccupying power."
However,atalmostthesamemomentthatnews ofthejihad
reachedGermany,OppenheimcomplainedtoZimmermannthatthe