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

FAILEDEXPECTATIONSONBOTHSIDES 119

sitelineswiththeKhediveandLotfullah,neitherofwhominspires
confidence."?"Nevertheless,McMahonurgedaneventualsettlement
withAbbasHilmi,tolessenproblemsinEgypt.IO IButonlyafterthe
ArabrevolthadstartedinJune 1916 didtheBritishre-enternegotia-
tionswithAbbasHilmi.
Althoughnewsabouttheex-khedive'scontactswiththeBritish
reachedtheGermans,BaronGisbertvonRomberg,theGermanmin-
isterin Bern,onthebasisofaninvestigationbytheagentJacoby
termedtheinformationemptytalkandmaliciousintrigue.Jacoby
andhissmallnetworkofspiesalsokeptwatchonlocalTurkswho
opposedtheregimeinConstantinople,onexiledIndians,andonlead-
ingEgyptiannationalistsinGeneva.'?'Jacobyalsoreportedtohis
superiorstherecentarrivalinSwitzerlandofWilliamSomerset
Maugham,"awriterofbooks"who"cametowatchme,straightfrom
England."Jacoby'ssuspicionswerecorrect;Maughamhadarrivedin
Genevainthefall, tohelpbolsteracollapsingBritishspynetwork
whoseincompetencehadcompromisedsomeofitsagents,includ-
ingBritishdiplomats,withtheSwissauthorities.v'