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

98 WARBYREVOLUTION

men,invadedEgypt-leavingBeershebatocrosstheSinaideserrto
attacktheSuezCanal-thecorps'sofficerspossessedlittlecorrectin-
formationonthecanal'sdefenses!
KressvonKressensteinlateracknowledgedthefailuretoconstruct
aneffectiveintelligencenetwork.Indeed,thepaucityofinformation,
combinedwiththeconvictionofGermanleadersthatBritaincould
beattackedmostproductivelyintheMiddleEast,contributedsig-
nificantlytothedecisionbytheTurksandGermanstolaunchthe
assaultonthecanalatall.TheyignoredtheVIIICorps'ssevere defi-
cienciesintroops,modernweapons,supplies(especiallywater),and
transporrationacrosstheSinaidesert.Kress,Prufer,andotherGer-
manofficerswiththecorpsrealizedsuchproblemsandfearedfor
theoutcomeoftheoperation,whichtheGermanscountedonfor
settingthejihadtrulyaflame.'
Furtheruncertaintiesabouttheholywarresultedfromthemeet-
ingofPruferandseveralotherGermanofficerswiththeSharifof
Mecca'sson,Abdullah,onIIjanuaryastheGermansleftPalestine
withthecorps.TheyvisitedwiththeamirinatentnearHebron,and
Pruferseemstohavebeenuneasyaboutwhathesawandheard.Re-
gardingAbdullah,herecordedinhisdiarythattheArabchief"gos-
sipedmuchandemphasizedto excess hisfriendshipfor theOtto-
mans."!
TheapprehensionofsomeGermansabouttheArabs,jihad,and
theattackonEgyptwasnotmisplaced.Oppenheim,whilehevisited
theex-khediveinVienna,seemedhorrifiedatthepossibleconse-
quencesofafailureoftheTurkishattackonthecanal.'TheBritish
would,heprophesied,use thenewEgyptiansultanto marchinto
SyriaandontoMeccaandMedina."TheTurkishVIIICorps,com-
mandedbyJemalPashaandcomposedofbothOttomanandArab
divisionsas well asanauxiliaryunitofBedouins,deparredforthe
SinaiPeninsulatoattackEgypt,havingreceivednosupportfromthe
principaltribalchiefsofArabia."
BritaintoobytheendofJanuaryhadlearned,throughtheGov-
ernmentofIndia,ofthelackofArabenthusiasmfortheholywar
proclaimedby theTurks.Delhihadsentanemissary,Captain
Shakespear,tothecentralArabianprince,IbnSaud,toencouragehis
friendshipfor Britainandutilizehim, alongwiththeshaykhsof