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

BRITAINASWARTIME"REVOLUTIONARY" 173

Germansheldthegrandioseideathatthemissionwouldremovethe
pressurefromGermany'sbeleagueredforces inEastAfricabyincit-
inganti-BritishrevoltsintheSudanandEgypt.^13
TheGermansandTurksremaineduncertainabouttheloyaltyof
theArabs,particularlythatofthesharif,anddisagreedonpolicyto-
wardthem.Inmid-JanuaryHumann,thenavalattache,theGerman
officialinConstantinopleclosesttoEnverPasha,informedBerlinof
newevidencethatpointedtoHusayn'stie totheBritish.Accusations
ofthesharif'streasoncamefromanAfghannotable,Muhammad
AnimBeyibnHassanKhan,whohadarrivedin Damascusfroma
pilgrimagetoMeccaanddiscussedhis viewswiththeGermancon-
sul,LoytvedHardegg,andPrufer.Thisandotherreportsfrompeople
arrivinginDamascusfromMeccaclaimedthatthesharifintended
to useBedouintroops,whichhe wasrecruitingintheHijaz,notin
theserviceoftheTurksbutagainstthem."
ButbothHumannandtheambassador,Wolff-Metternich,down-
playedthepotentialdangerofthesharifandhisrelationstoBritain.
ThePorte,HumannassuredBerlinonr6January,"ispreciselyin-
structedonthepoliticaleventsinArabia."TheTurks,theattache
continued,believedthattheirgovernorintheHijaz, Ali GaliPasha,
couldcontrolthesharif;ifthegovernorcouldnotdo so,Husayn
wouldplacehimselfinopenoppositiontothegovernment,anda
small"punishmentsquad"ofTurkswould"immediatelymurderthe
GrandSharif.?"Furthermore,claimedHumann,thePortehadse-
curedtheloyaltyoftherulerofYemen,theImamYahya,whomthe
TurkscoulduseagainstHusayn.Finally,thePorteallegedthatthe
sharif'stie to Britaindependednotonpoliticalissuesbutonthe
BritishprovisioningtheHijazwithfoodandontheattemptbythe
sharif'sEgyptianwife tosecuretheincomefromherpropertiesin
Egypt."AletterfromWolff-MetternichtoBerlinof 22 Januaryreiter-
atedthesepoints."
ThesmallimportanceplacedbytheTurksontheArabquestion
mayhavemadeeasiertheiracquiescencein theGermanplansfor
utilizingwesternArabia,anareatraditionallyofflimitstonon-Mus-
lims,andtheRed Sea to penetrateeasternAfrica."Regardingthe
Stotzingenmission,atthebeginningofJanuaryBerlinworked
throughtheTurkishministerinSwitzerland,FuadSelim,tokindle