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

116 WARBYREVOLUTION

replacedthemwithTurkishforces."Howmuch,ifany,theGerman

criticismofhispreviousArabpolicyinfluencedhis newcampaignof

terrorisunclear.ItseemslikelythatneithertheGermansnorTurks

knewofJemal'ssecretapproachestotheAlliesbeginninginOcto-

ber."

Theseandtheother,morenotorious,Ottoman-Germanconflicts

mayexplainwhy in May 1915 Wangenheimurgedtheforeignminis-

trynottonegotiatewithAziz Alial-Masri,theEgyptianfounderof

an Arabnationalistsocietyin Syria,whenhecontactedtheGermans

andofferedtoworkfortheminArabia.Wangenheimrecommended

thatGermanyignoreal-Masri,becauseof"mistrustagainstAziz

amongtheleadingpersonalitiesoftheTurkishgovernment."S2

Whetherornotal-Masri'sapproachtotheGermanswasserious

andcouldhavebeenexploitedbyBerlinisuncertain.Possiblythe

timingwasright:althoughhehadbeeninsecretcontactwiththe

BritishinCairosinceAugust1914,he wasanopponentofBritishrule

inEgypt,pro-German,andasupporteroftheTurkishgovernment,

objectingmainlyto itsfailuretoappointArabs tohighoffices.Only

a fewmonthslaterheandotherArab nationalists,fearingJemal

Pasha'scampaignofterrorismagainstthem,presentedtheBritish

withthenationalists'ultimatum.ThelattertoldtheBritisheitherto

supportanindependentArabstate,astheSharifofMeccaoutlined

toMcMahonin Cairo, or facetheprospectoftheArabmovement

backingGermanyandTurkey."

TheEx-KhediveinEurope

AnEgyptiannationalistwhoreceived evenmoreattentionduring
1915 fromboththeBritishandGermansides wasAbbasHilmi,the
ex-khedive.TheCentralPowershopedtopersuadehimtoreconcile
withtheYoungTurks.However,fromhisresidenceinViennatheex-
khedivecontinuedtointrigueagainstthePorte,evenseekingto sow
suspicionbetweentheCentralPowersandYoungTurks."
He alsopressuredthePorte,throughthegovernmentsinBerlin
andVienna,notonlytopermithimtoleadtheEgyptianexpedition
butalso toaffirmhimpubliclyaskhedive."TheAustro-Hungarian
governmenttreatedAbbasHilmias aheadofstate,grantinghiman