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

THETHICKENINGPLOTANDHOLYWAR 95

ishintelligenceconcluded,however,thathisinclinationswereanti-

Ottoman.WI

Amidthisinformation,theBritishextendedtheirinfluencein

southwesternArabia.As early asSeptembertheBritishagentinAden

andIndia'svoice intheRed Sea,LieutenantColonelH.F.]acob,had

proposedtobeginnegotiationswiththeSayyidal-Idrisi,theArab

rulerofAsir.Threemonthslater,withtheblessingoftheForeign

OfficeandCheetham,]acobbegandiscussionsinAdenwithanemis-

saryofal-IdrisionanalliancebetweenBritainandtheArab chief.'?'

Thus,bytheendof1914Britain'sleadersin Egypt,theSudan,India,
andthePersianGulfshowedincreasingconcernfortheholywarpro-
claimedinNovemberbyTurkeyandsupportedbyGermany.These
officials,althoughtheyoccasionallyrealizedthecontradictionsin a
jihadfoughtpartlyforoneChristianpoweragainstothers,exagger-
atedthestrengthofreligionin thewar intheMiddleEast-more
specificallyofpan-Islamism,inwhichtheTurks,backedbyGerman
arms,would unitetheIslamicworldin afanaticalandviolentrevolt
againstBritain.
It isunclearhowmuchinfluence,ifany,thissituationexertedon
thefuriousdebatethataroseduringthefallof 1914 inLondonover
Britain'smilitarystrategy.Kitchener,theforcefulwarminister,had
longworriedaboutthedangerto Britain'spositionintheMiddle
EastposedbyanOttoman-sponsoredpan-Islamisrnbolsteredby
Germanpower.Heandotherso-called"Easterners"inLondonad-
vancedtheideathatin viewofthedeadlyandcostlystalemateonthe
frontinFrance,theFrencharmiesshouldholdtheWesternFront
whileBritaindevotedits newlyraisedarmiestoattackingtheenemy
in somemorevulnerablespot,preferablyin theMiddleEast.The
planseemedbrilliant;itaimedatforcingTurkeyoutofthewar, re-
lievingtheSerbiansandRussians,exertingpressureontheAustro-
Hungarianarmies,andendingthedeadlockinFrance."?
Alreadyon 3 November 1914 theadmiralty,withoutconsulting
theBritishcabinet,hadorderedabriefnavalbombardmentofthe
OttomanfortsintheDardanelles.Buttheattackprovedaserious
mistake.'?'ItalertedtheTurks,whoimmediatelypaidmoreatten-
tiontotheadviceofLimanvonSandersandtheGermanmilitary