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

160 WARBYREVOLUTION

relationshipwiththesharif.Hehadtraveledtowithina fewmilesof

MedinaandsomeofIslam'smostholyplacesbeforeHusaynforced

himto leave.Informationaboutwhathadhappenedcameto the

BritishthroughAbdullah,Husayn'sson;Clayton,Cairo'sintelligence

chief,reportedtheincidenton 12 NovembertoLondon.Helinked

Abdullah'smessageaboutOppenheim'sexpulsionfromMedinato

thereadinessandintentionoftheArabs tobeginhostilitiesagainst

theTurks.>

AlsofromCairo,SykesemphasizedtotheWar OfficethatOppen-

heim'sactivityformedpartofaGermanandTurkishpolicy"worked

byhighlyefficientagentsonawell-coordinatedplan."The"plan,"

explainedSykes, wasnothinglessthantodestroytheBritishEmpire

by"fomenting"inIndia,Persia,Egypt,andArabiaanti-British"Mos-

lemdiscontentandfanaticism.""Todefeattheenemy," heconcluded,

"thedestructionoftheOttomanEmpirewouldbe a decisivestep."

Accordingto Sykes,Britainshould"backArabicspeakingpeoples

againsttheTurkishGovernment,"dismantlingtheOttomanstate

andmakingtheArabsoftheMiddleEasttheprincipalsafeguardof

Britain'simperialinterestsintheregion."

Thus,bytheendof 1915 Oppenheim'sactivityandthethreatper-

ceived bytheBritishinpan-IslarnismwasgivingofficialsinCairoa

furtherweapontohelpthempersuadetheLondongovernment,over

theobjectionsparticularlyoftheGovernmentofIndiaandevensome

ForeignandWar Officeofficials,to commititselftotheSharifof

Mecca.On 21 November,theWar Officeconcluded:

TheGermandreamis,andhasbeenfor alongtime,toarouseall Mo-

hammedansin everypartoftheworldagainsttheiroccupyingpowers.

VonOppenheimin Syriaatthepresentmoment,andcreatureslike

himelsewhere,aresendingPan-Islamistpropagandawithall theforst

andguileofwhichtheyarecapable....[I]f weremainsupine,anddo

notseizetheadvantagewe have, werungrave risks,notonlyoflosing

theassistanceofthe ArabsagainsttheTurks,butoffindingthemalien-

atedentirelyandfightingagainstus."

Furthermore,Cairo'sArab policy, as SirReginaldWingate,the
Governor-GeneraloftheSudan,informedClayton,wasdictatedby