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

132 WARBYREVOLUTION

otherhand,onceinBaghdadKleinandhisgroupjoinedthelogisti-
calunitofthelocalOttomanarmyforces,commandedbySulayman
Askeri,fightingtheAnglo-Indianarmy,theIEF0,advancinginto
southernMesopotamiafromthePersianGulf.Askerirefusedto al-
low KleintocarryouthisprincipalassignmentfromtheGerman
GeneralStaff: toentersouthernPersiaand,withthehelpoflocal,
allegedlyanti-Britishtribes,capturethelightlyguardedBritish
oilfieldsintheKarunRiverregionandtherefineryatAbadan."
InplaceofKlein'sgroup,twoTurkishregiments,alongwithsuch
pro-TurkishArabtribesfromsouthernMesopotamiaastheBani Lam,
crossedtheborderintoPersianArabistan,wheretheyurged,with
somesuccess,localArabstojointhejihadandattacktheBritishfrom
theeast.On 5 FebruarytribesincitedbytheTurkscuttheBritish
pipelinesinseveral places.Theoilfields,however,wereneverin seri-
ousdanger,becausethepro-BritishPersiantribe,theBakhtiari,as
well asBritain'sally,theShaykhofMuhammarah,andasmallAnglo-
Indianforceprotectedthem.ButfollowingfurtherTurkishandArab
agitationnearAhwazandeastoftheKarunRiver,theBritishquickly
sentreinforcementstotheregion.Simultaneously,Askeri'stroops
begananoffensiveagainsttheBritishIEF DinsouthernMesopo-
tamia."
InBerlin,NadolnydemandedthatGermanyparticipateingain-
ingcontroloftheKarunoilfieldsbysendingKlein'sexpeditionthere
toassisttheOttomanattack. 42 Consequently,severalmembersofthe
expedition,ledbyLieutenantHansLuhrs,reachedtheKarunRiver
andon 22 Marchandagainin Aprildynamitedthepipelinenear
Ahwaz.Groupsofpro-TurkishArabs,whomLuhrshadcontacted,
alsodestroyedthelineatseveralpoints."
InthefightingalongtheTurkish-Persianborder,however,British
machinegunsandartilleryprovedtoomuchfortheArabsas well as
forAskeri'sTurkishforces.On 13 AprilAskericommittedsuicideaf-
tertheAnglo-IndiandefeatofhistroopsnearBasra.fSupportfor
thejihadamonglocalArabswanedquickly,notonlybecauseofBrit-
ishpredominanceinfirepowerbutalsobecauseoftheextremeheat,
lackofwater,andBritishbriberyofArabshaykhs.Theattacksonthe
Karunpipelinekeptitfromoperatinguntil]une,whenBritaincon-
cludedrepairs."Theslow,butsteady,advanceoftheIEF0,which