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butfalse,claimofmajorGermanvictoriesinEurope.He alsoprom-
isedAbyssiniathatitwouldreceivelandfromneighboringcountries
inthepostwarpeacesettlementifitjoinedtheReich inthewar.The
GermanlegationnegotiatedwithLijIyasufor aGerman-Abyssinian
alliance.Further,GermanandTurkishagentssoughttostirMuslim
triballeadersinnorthernAbyssiniatoattackacrossthefrontierinto
theSudan."
Bythelastmonthsof 1915 suchactivitieshadproducedlimited,
yetnoticeable,results.Theanti-Italianpolicyespeciallyappealedto
Iyasu, whobelievedthatthedefeatoftheAlliesmightallowAbyssinia
topushItalyoutofneighboringEritreaandItalianSomaliland.Iyasu
thereforesoughtanalliancewiththeSomalichieftain,theSayyid
MuhammadAbdullah-knownasthe"MadMullah"-wholonghad
pursuedananti-colonialistwar. Since,however,thesayyidfollowed
inSomalilandananti-Abyssinianline,manyAbyssiniansthought
Iyasu'spolicytreasonous.Moreover,thecountry'sleadingofficials
viewedwithextremedispleasureIyasu'seffortstocourtaneighbor-
ingMuslimleaderandto integrateMuslimsintotheadministra-
tion."
As early asMarchtheveteranBritishministerinAddisAbaba,
WilfriedG.Thesiger,hadreportedtotheForeignOfficeIyasu'sin-
triguewiththemullahandthelocalTurkishconsulgeneral,Mazhar
Bey, as well asthebuddingcriticismofIyasu'spro-Muslimpolicies.
Iyasuvisitedtheminister,whofoundtheprinceconfusedbythedif-
ferentviews he washearingas tothelikelyoutcomesofthewar.On
theonehand,theGermanshadtoldhimtheywouldseizetheSudan
andFrenchSomalilandandleaveEgypttotheTurks.Thesiger,on
theotherhand,stressedtoIyasuthataGermantriumphwouldmean
theendofhiscountry'sindependence,whereasGreatBritainhadno
needforterritorialexpansionattheexpenseofAbyssinia.'?
BythesummerbothThesigerandBritishintelligenceagentsat
KhartoumwerewarningofthegrowinginfluenceofTurkishand
GermanpropagandaonIyasuandofcultivationofIslamto serve his
politicalambitions.'?TheBritishbecameincreasinglyjitteryabout
thesituation;theColonialOffice inLondonevenreported,errone-
ously,thatFrobeniushadenteredAbyssinia.Thesiger'sreportsde-
scribedcontinuedweakeningofIyasu'sauthority,theprince'slong