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

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FAILEDEXPECTATIONSONBOTHSIDES 99

KuwaitandMuhammarah,inhelpingAnglo-Indianforces in Meso-

potamiafighttheTurks.ShakespearreportedthatthePortehadmade

repeatedrequeststothechiefsofArabiatoproclaimajihadagainst

theBritish."TheTurkshadassignedIbnSaudtodefendBasraand

BaghdadfromaBritishadvanceinsouthernMesopotamia;IbnRashid

was tojointheTurkishassaultontheSinaiPeninsulaandEgypt;

andtheSharifofMecca,theImamYahyaofYemen,andtheSayyid

al-IdrisiofAsir were tosecuretheholycitiesintheHijazandalsothe

Red Seacoastandports.

Buttheplanhadmiscarried,ShakespearinformedSir Percy Cox,

Delhi'spoliticalagentinthePersianGulf,

forthesamereasonsthattheattempttoprovokea"Jihad"hasfailed-

theOttomangovernmentfailedtotakeintoaccounttheirritationits

policyforthelastfive years hasproducedinArabia,failedto foresee

thatcombinedactionbetweenthetribeswouldbeimpossiblewithout

somemoreorlesslastingcompositionoftheirfeuds,enmitiesand

jealousies,andfailed to realizethatreligiousenthusiasmcouldnotbe

invokedontheflimsypretextsit advances.?

Consequently,Shakespearcontinued,theArabchiefshadconsulted
oneanotheraftertheYoungTurksapproachedthemandconcluded
thattheywouldawaiteventsratherthanjointheOttomans.IbnSaud
hadinformedthePortethatbecauseofhiscontinuingfeudwithIbn
Rashidhecouldnotuse hisarmiestoprotectMesopotamia,leaving
Najdopentoattack,unlessIbnRashid'sforcesmovedagainstEgypr."
Two weekslaterShakespeartoldCoxthathehaddiscussedwith
IbnSaudthereplacementoftheOttomancaliphateby an Arabone,
withtheprobabilitythatthenew officewouldbeheldbytheSharif
ofMecca.ShakespearalsoassistedIbnSaudinwritingthesharifto
urgehimtotemporizeshouldhe receivefurtherTurkishrequeststo
jointhejihad.Inthepoliticalofficer'sview,IbnSaudwasdoingall in
hispower,shortofanopenrupturewiththeTurks,tofurtherBrit-
ishinterests;theArabprince,he believed,deserveda closeandbind-
ingunderstanding-specificallyatreaty-withBritain."Butonthe
morningofzaIanuary,beforehecouldcompletetheagreementwith
theamir,Shakespeardied,onacentralArabianplaincalled]arrab