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

156 WARBYREVOLUTION

commissioner,Germanagentsin Syria,Mesopotamia,andLibyahad

createdtheimpressionthattheGermanemperorhadconvertedto

Islam."

TheGrowingGermanInfluence in Abyssinia
Meanwhile,reportsofsimilarenemyactivityinAbyssiniaandthe
SudanhadreachedtheCairoandKhartoumintelligenceoffices.When
WorldWarIbegan,Abyssiniawasruledby LijIyasu(apolitically
inexperienced,nineteen-year-oldprinceandheir-designateto the
imperialthroneofhisrecentlydeceasedChristiangrandfather,
Menilek)andby aregencycouncilcomposedofIyasu'sminisrers.«
Since19II,whenthecouncildeclaredIyasuoldenoughtoactforhim-
selfwithitsguidance,thepowerofthecentralgovernmentinAddis
Ababahaddeteriorated,in favorofprovincialtriballeaders.
WiththeoutbreakoftheworldwarIyasubeganaflirtationwith
Islam,inpartbecausehisfather,RasMikail,was aformerMuslim.
Also, Iyasustrengthenedhisalreadyclose ties totheGermanlega-
tioninAddisAbabaanditsminister,vonSyburg.Throughout 1915
theGermanGeneralStaffandforeignministryattemptedtoreach
AbyssiniabysendingemissariessentthroughTurkey,Arabia,theRed
Sea,andItalianSomaliland.AtfirstBerlinintendedto usethecoun-
try as a basefromwhichto enterneighboringSudantoinciteits
tribesagainsttheBritish.
ButinMarchtheItaliansfoiledtheFrobeniusexpedition."The
GeneralStaffthendispatchedanothermissiontotheRed Seaand
thencetoAddisAbaba,thisoneled bySalomonHall, aSyrian-Ger-
man.HallcarriedlettersfromBerlintoSyburg,directinghimto
convinceAbyssiniatojointheCentralPowersinthewarandattack
theItaliansintheirneighboringcolonies,EritreaandSomalia.The
ItaliansarrestedHalloffthecoastofItalianSomalilandwhenhis
smallboatsankintheRed Sea,andhismissionnever reachedits
destination;theGermanforeignministryfinallycontactedSyburg
throughitslegationin Greece, sendinghimthesamelettersHall
hadcarried."
Syburg,despitetheproblemshisgovernmenthadtransmittingpo-
liticalorderstohim,spreadamongtheAbyssiniansBerlin'spopular,