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

ASENSEOFCRISISONBOTHSIDES 155

BritainshouldestablishinEgyptitsmajorlineofdefenseoradopta
tacticsuggestedpreviouslybyKitcheneroflaunchinganoffensive
againsttheTurksin SyriaatAlexandretta.KitchenerandMaxwell
emphasizedtoAsquith"theGermanandTurkishmenaceintheEast"
andopposedwithdrawingto a heavilyfortifiedpositionattheSuez
Canal.Suchastrategy,Kitchenerargued,whencombinedwiththe
evacuationofGalli poli,would"havefar-reachingresultbythrowing
theArabsintoGermanhandsandthusunitingthemagainstus;
Frenchas well asBritishpossessionswouldbeendangered."
AlthoughtheGermansandTurkswere infactmakingplansto
attackEgyptanew,theycouldnotimplementthemuntilthesum-
merof1916.9Nevertheless,thediscussionsamongBritishleaderspro-
ducedimportantdecisions.Foronething,theAlexandrettascheme
fell bythewayside,becauseofthepotentialreactionofFrance,which
covetedSyria as afutureterritorialacquisition,andbecausetheBrit-
ishGeneralStaffbelievedtheoperationwouldnotweakenGermany.IO
However,during 1916 theBritishpushedtheirdefensesintotheSinai
Peninsula,preparingfor apossibledrivelater,inconjunctionwith
theplannedArabrevolt,againsttheTurksinPalestineandSyria.
Butan AraballianceseemedallthemoreattractivetotheBritish
becauseduringOctoberandNovemberpoliticalcrisesinspiredby
GermanandTurkishagentspeakedonthebordersofbothEgypt
andIndia.TheattackbytheShaykhal-SanussionBritishoutposts
inwesternEgyptcoincidedwiththearrivalofGermanofficialsin
Afghanistanandwiththezenithofagitationin Persia.FromKabul
reportsreachedDelhiandCairothatHentigandNiedermayersought
toconvincetheamir,Habibullah,todeclareholywarontheBritish
inneighboringIndia;inTeherantheGermansnearlypersuadedthe
governmenttosignatreatywithBerlin,despitePersianhatredfor
theTurks;andinsouthernandwesternPersiatheywereincitingtribes
toattacktheBritishandRussians."
RegardingwhatheviewedastheseriousnessofGermanactivi-
tiesamongMuslims,McMahonsentawarningto Greyon 24 Octo-
ber,theday hedispatchedhiscrucialmessagetotheSharifofMecca.
"Germanofficialsandprivateindividuals,"hesaid,"haveinmany
casessupportedthepreachingofthe]ehadandactivelypromoted
ananti-ChristianspiritamongMoslems.'?'Moreover,saidthe