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

FAILEDEXPECTATIONSONBOTHSIDES 107

to devisemeasures,inassociationwithEnverPashaandAloisMusil,
"fortheenergeticcombattingofEnglishinfluenceinArabia.':"
BerlinplacedhighhopesonMusil,theAustrianOrientalist,who
hadbeeninnorthernArabiasinceJanuary,dressedlikeanAraband
accompaniedby anassistantandseveralservants.Hisorderswere to
producepeaceamongIbnRashidandIbnSaudandpersuadethem
tojointhejihad.At first,Germanwishesseemedto berealized.At
thebeginningofAprilEnverPasha,whohadoriginallydisapproved
ofMusil'smissionbutwhonowwishedtoassertfullTurkishsu-
premacyin Arabaffairs,informedtheGermansthattheholywar
wassucceedinginArabia.AsproofthewarministertoldHumann
thatIbnRashidandIbnSaudhadconcludedpeaceandthatthelat-
terhaddeclaredhiswillingnessto place himselfunderacourtof
mediationofthesultan."
ButMusil,whohadmetwithIbnRashidinthedesertandarrived
inBaghdadon 20 April,portrayedtheoppositeto Hesse,theGer-
manconsul.TheAustriantravelerreportedtotheembassythathe
hadlearnedinArabiaof"thecompleteindifferenceofthetribesto-
wardtheholywarandpan-Islamicideas.t'<Musilstunnedboththe
TurksandGermansbyplacingmuchoftheblameforthefeuding
andcivil war innorth-centralArabianotonthepro-BritishIbnSaud
butontheallegedlypro-TurkishIbnRashidandthelatter'schief
minister,SaudibnSubhan."
UponreturningtoConstantinopleinJune1915,hemetwithEnver
PashaandtheYoungTurkinteriorminister,TalaatPasha.His de-
nunciationofIbnRashidas atraitorto theTurksangeredEnver,
whosetraditionalbackingofIbnRashidwas wellknown."Also, his
reportbewilderedtheGermans;theembassyinConstantinopleand
thenewlyappointedconsulinDamascus,JuliusLoyrvedHardegg,
doubtedthereliabilityofMusil'sjudgmentofIbnRashid,butWesen-
donkinBerlinbelievedthattheOrientalistportrayedcorrectlythe
often-confusingArabrelationships."

TheOppenheimMission

Meanwhile,thenear-completelackofresponsetothejihadamong
theArabsoftheOttomanEmpireworriedBerlin.On 2 March 1915