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

FAILEDEXPECTATIONSONBOTHSIDES 105

Also,WilhelmSolf,thecolonalsecretary,discussedsendinga spe-
cialreconnaissanceunittoTurkeyandtheSinaiPeninsulatoinves-
tigatethepossibilityofutilizingArabiaandEgyptasbasesfor a mili-
tarycampaignagainstBritishcolonialpossessionsincentralAfrica.
SolfagreedwithnumerousotherGermanleadersthatoneoftheir
nation'sprimaryaimsinthewarshouldbetoincreaseitscolonial
possessionsandcreateacentralAfricanempire."
However,onlyoneGermanagentdispatchedto Africa evenreached
itscoast.LeoFrobenius'slong-delayedexpeditiontoAbyssiniaand
theSudanleftDamascusatthebeginningofjanuary1915,withor-
derstofomentamongSudanesetribesajihadagainsttheirBritish
rulers.WithOttomanassistancehetraveleddowntheRed Seacoast,
passingthroughYanboandJiddatoKunfidha.Fromtherethemis-
sioncrossedthesea in adhowsouthwesttoMassawa,onthecoastof
Italian-controlledEritrea.ButwhenFrobeniusarrivedinEritreathe
Italianauthorities,hopingnottoalienatetheBritish,whoworried
abouthispresenceinAbyssinia,refusedtoallowhimpassage.
Nevertheless,thepro-Islamicandpro-Germanheirtothethrone
inAbyssinia,Lij Iyasu, gaveFrobeniuspermissiontoenterhiscoun-
try.?Moreover,Frobeniusrecruitedagentsandsentthemto the
Sudan.Heattemptedas welltocontactAliDinar,theanti-British
sultanintheDarfurregionofwesternSudan.ButdespiteFrobenius's
lengthynegotiationswiththeItalians,duringwhichtheGermans
informedRomethatthemissionhad"nomilitarycharacter,"the
ItaliansandBritishcollaboratedinremovinghimfromEritrea.At
thebeginningofApril theyreturnedhimtoEuropeandsentthe
otherexpeditionmembersbacktoSyria."
Frobenius'smissionoccurredataninopportunetimeforGerman
diplomacy.AtthatmomentBerlinstillhopedto keepItalyfromen-
teringthewaronthesideoftheAllies; yetwithregardtoEritreaand
LibyaGermanypursuedaconfusedandfumblingpolicythatcould
onlyhaveencouragedtheItalianstoacceptthesecretofferstheyre-
ceivedfromBritainandFrancefor awartimealliance.Romefeared,
withsomejustification,GermanandTurkishincitementofAbyssinia
toattackEritrea.Moreover,GermanandTurkishattemptsin Libya
topersuadetheSanussistoinvadeEgyptseemedlikely tocausethe