TheGerman
Threatonthe
Periphery, 1915
Britain'sgrowingfeelingofvulnerabilityaboutitspositioninthe
MiddleEastalsoresultedfromitsenemies'policiestowardIndiaand
areasthatborderedonthesubcontinent.'Thischaptersurveysthe
GermanandTurkishactivitiesduring 1915 inIndia,Persia,Afghani-
stan,andLibya.Theretoo,as inArabiaandEgypt,Germanyencoun-
teredsignificantproblemsandevenfailure.TheBritishandtheiral-
liesknewofsomeofthesetroubles,andtheGermanandOttoman
operationseastofTurkeydidnotseriouslythreatenBritain'srulein
India;nevertheless,theyaddedtotheperceptionamongtheBritish
thattheCentralPowersposedsuchadanger.The Activities AimedatIndia
MuchoftheGermancampaigntoinciteananti-Britishrevoltin In-
diafocusedonIndiansintheUnitedStates.Duringthefirstmonths
of1915,Indianrevolutionaryexiles,mostlyfromAmerica,arrivedin
Berlin,Switzerland,andConstantinople.TheGermanforeignmin-
istry,InformationService for theEast,anddiplomaticmissionsin
Americaandelsewhereassistedthemintheirtravels,withmoneyand
falsepassports.
MaulviBarkatullah,theGhadrleaderfromtheUnitedStates,ar-
rived inBerlinon 9 January 1915 aftervisitingwithHarDayaland
Chattopadhyayain Geneva.Barkatullahandothermembersofthe
IndianIndependenceCommitteeheadquarteredinBerlindiscussed
withtheirGermanpatronsschemesforsmugglingrevolutionaries,
weapons,andexplosivesintoIndiaandpersuadingBritishIndian
troopsintheMiddleEasttodesertormutiny.'
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