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

166 WARBYREVOLUTION

An Arabuprising,hedeclared,hadlittlechanceofsuccessbecause
ofthe"cowardiceandfrivolousnessofthepopularion.v"
ReportsalsoarrivedattheGermanembassyinConstantinople,
however,warningofthesharif'spro-Britishsympathies;duringthe
fall,HusaynhadforcedOppenheim'sremovalfromMedina.>In Ber-
lintheforeignministrydoubtedthesharif'sloyaltytotheYoung
TurksandviewedIbnSaud,therulerofNajd,aswhollyintheBritish
camp.vSimilardifferencesandconfusionregardingtheArabschar-
acterizedtheConstantinopleembassyanditsrelationshipontheis-
sue to EnverPasha.ThenewlyappointedWolff-Metternichtriedto
persuadeEnver topermittheGermansto attempttolureHusayn
awayfromEnglishinfluencewithlargesumsofmoney.ButEnver,
whoalreadyhadnumerousdisagreementswithWolff-Metternich,
rejectedtheproposal."
TheambassadorquicklydroppedtheideaofapproachingtheAr-
abs.Thedragomanattheembassy,Dr.FritzSchoenberg,onwhose
advicetheambassadorandKonstantinvonNeurath,thecharge
d'affaires,reliedheavilyfortheirviewsonthesubject,alsodiscour-
agedtryingtorecruitthesharif.Schoenberg(whoarguedthatGer-
manywouldsoonknockRussiaoutofthewar,enablingtheReich to
seizeandexploitmuchofRussia'sEuropeanterritory)saw apossi-
bilityofrelievingthetraditionalRussianpressureontheBlack Sea
straitsandtheBalkans,andalsoofpittingtheRussiansagainstthe
BritishonthefrontierofIndia.To achievebothhesuggestedthat
RussiabepermittedarailroadconnectiontothePersianGulfand
ArabianSea.^57
Consequently,bytheendof 1915 theembassywaspushingthe
Turksto offernothingtotheArabsthatmightlaterunderminea
GermanagreementwithRussia.Wolff-Metternich,whohadno first-
handexperienceinMiddleEasternaffairs,hadlittleburcontempt
for Arabnationalism.HedismissedHusaynasaninsignificantleader
ofabandofrobbers,toofanaticaltoworkwiththeinfidelBritish
andeasilyremovedbyassassinationifhebecamedifficult."
DespitetheproblemswiththeArabs,Turks,andwiththelogistics
ofreachingtheMiddleEastandAfricawithnavalandotherarmed
support,Germanplannerspushedconfidentlyaheadwiththeir
schemesfortheOrient.TheywishednotonlytoexpandtheReich's