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

88 WARBYREVOLUTION

theembassyregardingthemanydifferentGermanexpeditionsand
agentsbesiegingTurkey.Hedoubtedwhetheranyofthemwould
succeed,andheurgedtheestablishmentofacentralofficeatthe
embassytocoordinateeverythingwithTurkishofficialsandprotect
against"errorsandalsotreason."?
TheMannesmannmission,sentinAugusttoTripolibytheGen-
eralStaff,providedaclassicexampleofthediplomaticblunders
wroughtbyGermany'sMiddleEasternpolicyduringthewar'sfirst
months.Mannesmann'scontactwiththeinfluentialSanussiprince
inCyrenaica,theSayyidAhmadal-Sharif,andthearrivalinthelatter's
campattheendofOctoberofSulaymanal-Barani(anemissaryfrom
TurkeyandformerOttomanparliamentmemberfromTripoli)and
severalTurkishofficershadalienatedtheItalians.Fearsintensified
inRomethatGermanandTurkishplansfor anattackonEgyptwould
spilloverintoLibyaandincitetheSanussisevenmoreintheirguer-
rillastruggleagainsttheItalians.Austria-Hungary,furthermore,urged
theGermansandTurksnottopushtheItaliansintotheAlliedcamp
byangeringthemoverLibya."
Theforeignministry,andparticularlyJagow,continuedtodiscount
Italianconcerns.TheybelievedarrogantlythatItalyhadlittlechoice
buttoremainfriendlywithGermanyandTurkeytoprotectitsposi-
tionin Libya.Nonetheless,andalthoughbothWangenheimand
EnverPashatriedtoassuretheItaliansthatthePortedidnotwish
forMuslimunresttospreadintoLibya,theItaliansrefusedto per-
mitGermanytosendto Libya aretiredPrussianarmyofficer,Baron
vonBentheim."
Berlin'srelationswithItalyslowlydeteriorated.Atthebeginning
ofNovemberRomeprotestedthatithaddiscoveredArabsin
CyrenaicausingGermanmoney,anditimpliedthattheReich'sagents
hadintervenedin Libya bybribingtheArabs.TheItalianprimemin-
ister,AntonioSalandra,askedJohannesvonFlotow,theGerman
ambassadorinRome,abouttheaffair;theambassadorrepliedthat
noGermanagentshadspentmoneyin Libyaand"thatrealemissar-
ieswouldscarcelyhaveproceededsoclumsily.r"
Simultaneously,EnverPasha,whoenvisionedTurkey'seventual
recaptureofLibyafromItaly,discussedwiththeGermannaval
attache,Humann,thewarminister'splantosendhisyoungerbrother,