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

112 WARBYREVOLUTION

bypreachinghatredforChristians,especiallytheBritish.Herevealed

anamazinginsensitivitytoTurkishandArabcultures,byemphasiz-

ingmonogamy,abandonmentofthefez(thenationalheaddressof

theTurks),andpracticeinusingarmsforthejihadagainsttheAllies.

Suchexhortationsdidnotimpressthosewhoheardthem,nordid

thefactthatOppenheimhadoncebeenJewishandthathe repre-

sentedaChristianstate.He alsometwithlittlesuccessinestablish-

inganetworkofinformationcentersinthemajorcities; it was to be

undertheConstantinopleembassy'sbranchofficeoftheInforma-

tionService fortheEast,staffedbylocalTurksandArabs,andpro-

videdwithpan-IslamicandGermanwarpropaganda."Whiletravel-

ing, hefocusedonsendingpropagandaintoEgyptandalso,despite

hisrecentagreementwiththeSharifofMecca, toArabia.v

Germany'sRelationswithOttomanJews,Armenians,and thePorte

Similarly,anattemptbyOppenheimandPrufertosendJewsfrom
Palestineas spiestoEgyptproducedsmallresults.Manyoftheeighty-
fivethousandJews inPalestineby 1914 hadcomefromRussia,fleeing
persecutionbytheczaristgovernment;somewereZionist,others
orthodoxandassimilationist.Thewar'simpactontradehadimpov-
erishedtheJews inPalestine;thePorteclassifiedtheroughlyfifty
thousandJewswhoheldRussiancitizenshipasenemyaliens;and
thevirulentlyanti-Jewishandanti-ZionistJemalPasha,theYoung
TurkgovernorofSyria,persecutedthem.TheGermangovernment,
whoseofficials wereeitherapatheticaboutorprejudicedagainstJews,
neverthelessfearedthattheTurkishactionwouldalienatepublic
opinionabroad,especiallyAmericanJews,whoseinfluenceBerlin
believedsignificantinworldfinance.Consequently,attheurgingof
ZionistleadersGermanycooperatedin 1914 and 1915 withtheUnited
StatesandItalyinpersuadingtheTurkstomoderatetheirpolicy.v
As early asFebruary1915,WangenheimhadsuggestedtoBethmann
HollwegthattheReich seektoexploitthehatredoftheRussianJews
inPalestinefortheczar's regime. AmonthlaterPruferoutlinedan
elaborateschemeforcreatingespionagenetworksofPalestineJews in
Egypt.Duringtheensuingmonths,andwithOppenheim'sapproval,
PrufersentatleastthreeJewsonmissionstoEgypt: twoJewish-