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

PREFACE XI

occupationwiththedefenseofIndia,helddeeplyengrainedattitudes
thatlinkedeventsgeopoliticallythroughouttheMiddleEast,"As ten-
sionsmountedamongtheEuropeanpowersafter1905,andparticu-
larlybetweenBritainandaGermanyexpandingitspresenceinTur-
key, sodidanxietyamongsomeBritishleadersaboutpan-Islamism,
specificallyaboutafanaticalMuslim"holywar"(jihad)directed
againstBritain'sruleinIndiaandintheotherlargeMuslimpartsof
theBritishEmpire."
Theriseafter 1908 oftheYoungTurkregimeinConstantinople
(which,ironically,initiallydownplayedpan-Islamisminfavorofpan-
Turanism)didlittleto allayBritishunease.KeyofficialsinbothLon-
donandCairourgedthatBritaincounterthepossibilityofananti-
BritishjihadbyexploitingthenascentArabnationalisminSyriaand
elsewhere,andconcludinganAnglo-AraballianceagainstTurkey.
Onlyin1913-1914didstrategicandotherinterestsresultin anAnglo-
GermanrapprochementinTurkey-whichtheoutbreakofWorld
WarIdestroyed."
Duringthewar, fearofpan-Islamismandassociationofitwith
Germanpower,coupledwithAlliedmilitarydefeatsatGallipoliand
inMesopotamia,causedBritishleaderstopanic.Theynearlyalways
believed,erroneously,thatGermanycontrolleditsOttomanally. To
forestallwhattheBritishperceivedwas aseriousthreattothefuture
existenceoftheirempireinIndiaandEgypt,theyalliedthemselves
withtheArabsandatthewar'sendpurposelydestroyedtheTurkish
empireanddivideditsformerlandsamongBritain,France,andthe
Arabs.ImmensefrustrationresultedamongArabs,whoresponded
withviolencetotheAllies'failuretoprovidethemtheindependence
andlandtheybelievedtheBritishhadpromisedthemduringthe
worldwar.Britain'swartimepledgetoestablisha"NationalHome"
for Jews inPalestinewas afurthercatalysttoviolenceintheMiddle
East. By 1922 theAllieshadfashionedthere"apeacetoendallpeace.'?"
What,specifically,didGermanydo topromptsuchanextreme
responsebyBritaintothe"MiddleEasternquestion"?TheReich,in
additiontoassistingtheOttomansmilitarilyinthewar,sought,like
Britain,toinciterevolutionamongthenativepeoplesofitsenemies'
empires.IIOncetheOttomanshadjoinedGermanyinthewarin1914,
theGermanspersuadedthesultan-caliphtodeclareajihadofall
MuslimsagainstBritain,Russia,andFrance.ThisTurkish-German