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

176 WARBYREVOLUTION

neededBritishsuccessandtherebyaddingencouragementto revolt.
TheBritishhadstruggledtogaincontrolofthesituationin Libya,
butinthefirstweeksoftheyear,usingarmoredcarsandairplanes,
theyinflicteda decisivemilitarydefeatontheShaykhal-Sanussi,the
SayyidAhmad,andhisBedouinforces.Theshaykh,hismenhope-
lesslydefeatedandconfused,retiredsouthwithasmallbodyguard
tothewesternEgyptianoasisofSiwaandthenfurthertoal-Dakhla.>
McMahontoldthesharifthattheSanussishad"fallenvictimstothe
wilesoftheTurkishandGermanintriguers."However,headded,
withthedefeatoftheSanussis"theeyesoftheArabsarenowbecom-
ingopentothedeceitwhichhasbeenpractiseduponthem.'?'
AlthoughMcMahonemphasizedtheArabnatureoftheeventsin
LibyaandthefailedattemptbytheYoungTurksto usetheBedouins
tounderminetheBritishpositionin Egypt,theLibyanrevolthad
notinfactbeenArabatall,butIslamic.Inoneofthewar'sironies,
whiletheBritishcapitalizedonArabhatredofTurkishruleinthe
east,theOttomans-withsomeGermanassistance-hadpersuaded
theircoreligionistsin Libya tocooperateagainsttheChristianoccu-
piersofEgyptY
TheBritishalsoattemptedtomovethesharifto act bydiscredit-
ingtheGermans.InAprilBritishforces seized, intheGermanEast
AfricanvillageofMoshi,a 1913 proclamationsignedbyHeinrich
Schnee,theGermangovernorofthecolony.InitSchneehadan-
nouncedaregulationprohibitingIslam."AttheendofMay,Storrs
(theOrientalsecretaryattheBritishresidencyin Cairo)delivered
copiesoftheanti-IslamicMoshidocumenttoAbdullah,thesharif's
son.>'
HowmuchtheseBritishactionsinfluencedthesharifisunclear.
Theimmediatecausesofhisrevoltinvolvedthecollapseofhis nego-
tiationswiththeTurksandthearrivalintheHijazoftheStotzingen
mission,accompaniedby alargecontingentofTurkishtroops.These
eventssuddenlypushedforwardthedateonwhichHusaynmeantto
act.
HisdiscussionwiththeTurkssoonended,thefinalbreakarising
ultimatelyfromamessagefromEnverPashadirectingthesharifim-
mediatelytoprovidevolunteersfortheSinaifront.Husaynagreedto
do so,butonlyonconditionthatthePortegrantanamnestyto Arab