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

ASENSEOFCRISISONBOTHSIDES 165

toremaininTurkeyfor severalmonthsafterthelatterhadentered
thewar.
AlthoughsomeGermanagentsin Syria,includingOppenheim
andPrufer,believedhimtrustworthy,JemaldislikedOppenheim's
presencein Syriaandaskedthathe bereturnedtoGermany.The
GermanforeignministryandGeneralStaff,whichwerenowmak-
ingplansfor asecondattackontheSuezCanalby forcesfromJemal's
army,refusedto recallOppenheim;instead,Zimmermanndirected
himtoremaininTurkeytokeepJemalundersurveillance,"espe-
ciallyconsideringtheinformationfromthereabout[his]dubious
reliabiliry.t'v
TheGerman-Turkishfrictionalsoboreuponanotherobstaclethat
existedto any newGermanventureintheMiddleEastandEastAf-
rica:theArabquestion.AstheGermanshadlearnedpreviously,with-
outArabsupporttheycouldundertakelittleofpoliticalormilitary
valueinthepivotalregionofMesopotamia,Arabia,andtheRed Sea.
ButGermanleaders,whoalwaysfoundtheiroptionsconstrainedon
thisissuebyGermany'salliancewiththePorte,disagreedintheir
assessmentsoftheArabsandonpolicytowardthem.Thisresulted
inmuchconfusionandinGermany'sfailuretourgethePorteener-
geticallytoensurethesupportofArableaders.DuringAugust 1915
newsarrivedintheConstantinopleembassyfromBaghdadthatthe
BritishvictoriesinsouthernMesopotamiaover theTurkshadre-
sultedfromamassdefectionofArabtribestotheenemy."
Also,duringthefinal monthsof 1915 Germanleadersdiffered
sharplyovertheirappraisaloftheSharifofMeccaandwhattheir
policyshouldbetowardhim.RathernaivelytheGermanshadex-
pectedthemissionofOppenheimtoTurkeyinMay 1915 andhis
agreementwithHusayn'sson,Faysal, toimprovetherelationshipof
theshariftothePorteanditsallies."TheAustro-Hungarians,even
beforeOppenheim'smeetingwithFaysal,believedthattheSharifof
Meccahadchangedto apro-Turkishattitude."Prufer,aGerman
agentin SyriaandclosefriendofOppenheim's,seemedtodiscount
theArabs as afactor;hehadtraveledthroughoutPalestineandSyria,
disguisedin Arabdress,surveyinglocalopinionforJemalPasha.
Prufer'sreporttotheTurkishgovernordeprecatedtheinfluenceof
Arabnationalismandrevolutionaryfervoramongthepopulation.