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

110 WARBYREVOLUTION

presenttheevidencetothePorteandaskforredress.Simultaneously,
athisfather'sdirective,Faysalmadecontactswiththenationalistsin
Syria to assesstheirstrength.
FaysalarrivedinDamascuson 26 Marchandspentnearlyfour
weekswiththenationalistleaders.HethenmovedontoConstan-
tinople,wherethePortegavehimonlylimitedsatisfactionfor his
family'sgrievance,mainlyWahibBey'sdismissalasgovernorofthe
Hijaz.TheTurkishleadersheldoutthepossibilityofredressingthe
situationforthesharififhejoinedthejihad.Faysal,ontheonehand,
assuredtheTurksofhisfamily'sloyaltyandpromisedtoleada force
ofHijaziArabsintheplannedsecondTurkishattackontheSuez
Canal.Ontheotherhand,heconcluded,partlybecauseofhis mis-
placedfaithinthethen-expandingBritishattackontheDardanelles,
thatconditionsfavoredan Arabrevolutionto freeandseparateArabia
fromTurkey."
OppenheimmetFaysalatthebeginningofMay.Howmuchthe
ArabhadlearnedbythenfromthePorteregardinghisfamily'ssitu-
ationisunclear;Oppenheimlatersummarizedtheirconversationin
amemorandum.Duringthemeeting,inwhichanagentoftheex-
khediveandacquaintanceofFaysal,AhmadSheffikPasha,partici-
pated,FaysalassuredOppenheimthatevenifthePortedidnotgive
hisfatheravoteofconfidence,thesharif"would,as always,remain
loyal tothegovernment.t'"
TheonlyreasonthesharifwouldnegotiatewiththeEnglish,Faysal
claimed,was"ifhe wasconvincedthattheTurkshaddecidedto re-
movehim."Oppenheim,inturn,emphasizedtoFaysalthatGermany
soughtinthewaronlytostrengthentheTurkishgovernmentand
sultan-caliph.Faysalagreedonbehalfofhisfatherthatthelatter
wouldassumeresponsibilityforGermanandTurkish"propaganda
intheentireIslamicworldas well as forprovidingregularreports
fromMecca"fortheTurks."
TheArabalsoexplainedtotheGermanthathisfatherhadsent
himtoConstantinopletoascertainwhetherthesharif'senemiesat
thePorteintendedtoreplacehimandtodefendhimagainstthein-
trigue.ButFaysalnaturallysaidnothingaboutmeetinginDamascus
withmembersofthesecretArabsocieties;inthisregard,Oppenheim
apparentlyhadnoideaofFaysal'sactivity.It isunclearwhetherthe