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

FAILEDEXPECTATIONSONBOTHSIDES 115

theSharifofMeccawithlargesumsofmoneyandwarnedtheGer-
manembassynotto raisethematteragain."
Germanrelationsto]emalPashaalsodeclinedsteadily.Thefail-
ureofhis forces tomountaneffectiveattackontheSuezCanalhad
intensifiedthealreadycausticdisagreementsbetweenhimselfand
KressvonKressenstein,hisprincipalGermanmilitaryadviser.]emal,
furthermore,angeredBerlinwhenherepeatedlyfrustratedeffortsby
theGermanconsulateinDamascustoarrangefortheOttomansto
providetheforcesofIbnRashidwithmoneyandmunitionsforthe
latter'sarmedconflictincentralArabiawithIbnSaud.Theforeign
ministryalsocharged]emalwithhavingpermittedAnglo-Frenchdip-
lomatstoremaintoolonginDamascusafterthebeginningofthe
war. AsdocumentsseizedintheFrenchconsulaterevealed,thedip-
lomatshadengagedinanti-TurkishactivitieswithlocalArabsand
others."
On5]uneWangenheimpresentedthelistofGermancriticismsof
]emalto EnverPasha.Thelatterrepliedthathefollowed]emal'swork
carefully,thathebelievedtheSyriangovernordidnotalwaysactin
Turkey'sinterest,andthat]emalhadnotbeensuitabletoleadthe
expeditionagainstEgypt. However,Envertoldtheambassador,al-
thoughthePortewouldfindtheremovalofJemaldifficult,particu-
larlyfordomesticpoliticalreasons,suchamovemightbeworthcon-
sidering."
ButtwomonthslaterbothOppenheimandKressvonKressenstein,
inoppositiontootherGermanpoliticalofficialsandofficersinTur-
key,includingthoseattheGermanembassy,judged]emalPasha"re-
liable"andpro-German.Theyrecommendedthathecontinueaschief
oftheFourthArmyplanningasecondattackontheSuezCanal,and
concludedthathehadnoambitionstomakehimselfthenewkhedive
ofEgypt."
Bythen,however,]emalhadbeguntosuspectananti-Turkishcon-
spiracyamongArabnationalistsin Syria. Hechangedhispolicyto-
wardthemfromoneofconciliationandappeasementtorepression.
However,insteadofactingagainsttreasonousArabofficersinthe
Ottomanarmy,hearrestedandexecutedArabsknownindeedas na-
tionalistsbutwhowerenotinvolvedintraitorousbehavior.As for
Arabmilitaryunitsin Syria, heremovedthemfromtheprovinceand