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

THEGERMANTHREATONTHEPERIPHERY 147

thatGermanywouldsupporttheexpansionofthechief'srule
southwardintoFrench-ownedChadandWadai,andintothe
Sudan."
Meanwhile,duringthespringOf1915,Italy'sangerattheGerman
andTurkishactivitiesmounted,astheSanussisattackedandrouted
ItaliantroopsintheSyrteDesert,aninhospitableareaalongthecoast
oftheGulfofSidra.Thedefeatmarkedtheendofanysemblanceof
ItaliancontrolovertheLibyanhinterland.ItalsoprovidedGerman
andTurkishvessels,includingsubmarinesoperatingfromAustrian
navalbasesatCattaroandPolaintheAdriaticSea, a place toland
armsandmoneyfortheBedouins."A few weekslater,Italyentered
theworldwarontheAllied side.
TheItaliansjoinedtheBritishdespiteBritain'ssteadyrefusal
throughoutmostof 1915 to assistRomeagainsttheSanussis.
McMahon,theBritishHighCommissionerinCairo,urgedagainst
joiningwiththeItaliansintheSanussiquestion.Above all, he em-
phasizedtoGrey,"itmustberememberedthathostilitiesundertaken
against[Shaykhal-Sanussi]byGreatBritainwouldprobablyhave
farreachingeffectsonMoslemfeeling, notonlyinEgyptandthe
SudanbutinArabiaandpossiblyeven inIndia."?"
TheForeignOfficedirectedMcMahonto doeverythingpossible
tocooperatewiththeItalians,particularlyifItalyjoinedtheAllies,
butCairomistrustedtheItalians.MaxwellsuggestedtoKitchener
thatItalysoughttoassistitscausebyencouraginghostilitiesbetween
theSanussisandBritish.wNotevenItalianreportsofGermanand
TurkisharmsshipmentsarrivingfortheSanussisbyboatonthecoast
ofCyrenaicaandwesternEgyptcouldpersuadeBritaintochangeits
policy.On 3 JuneMcMahonadvisedtheForeignOfficenottopress
theShaykhal-SanussitoconcludepeacewithItaly"untilanissueis
reachedattheDardanelles.?"?
InpartMcMahon'spolicyrestedonamicablenegotiationsbetween
Cairoandtheshaykh,conductedfortheBritishbyMajorL.V. Royle
andLieutenant-ColonelC.L.Snow,bothEgyptiancoastguardoffic-
ers at al-Sallum.'?'TheirintimateacquaintancewiththelocalBedouins
enabledthemtoprevent,inlargemeasure,enemy-inspiredintrigues
inEgyptandsimultaneouslytopreservetherespectoftheShaykhal-
SanussiforBritishauthorityintheregion.