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

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BRITAINASWARTIME"REVOLUTIONARY" 179

mattered,becauseBerlinintendedto useTurkeytofacilitateitsfu-

tureeconomicandpoliticalambitionsintheregion.Thisprecluded

anysupportbyGermanyofHusaynandArabnarionalism.v

TheGermanResponseandSecondTurkishAttackon Egypt

Thesharif'suprisingstunnedtheTurksandGermans,despitethe
manysignswarningthemofHusayn'sdisaffectionandofhisfriend-
shipwithBritain.On 9 JuneLoytvedHardegginformedtheembassy
ofallegationsthatBedouinsledbyFaysalhadseveredthetelegraph
linenorthofMedina.Even astherevoltbegan,however,theconsul
seemeduncertainaboutwhathadcausedit. "Istilldonotknow,"he
toldtheembassy,"whethertheTurkishgovernmentprovokedconflict
withtheGrandSharif,inordertoconquerbeyondSyriaonceandfor
all,includingtheHijaz,orwhethertheGrandSharifhasbegunan
openstruggleagainstTurkeyatBritain'sinstigarion.t'"
Foreleven daysfollowingtheoutbreaktheforeignministryand
otheragenciesinBerlinreceivedlittleinformationonwhathadhap-
pened,mainlybecauseofpoorcommunicationbetweenthem,the
Constantinopleembassy,andtheDamascusconsulate.Newsofthe
revoltcausedastuporintheTurkishgovernment,andit wasscreened
fromthepublicforseveralweeks.Onlyon 21 JunedidtheGerman
ambassador,Wolff-Metternich,relay even totheforeignministryin
Berlinthenoteof 5 Junefromtheconsulaterelatingtheoutbreakof
fightingbetweenArabsandTurkssouthofMedina."Aslateasthe
endofthemonththeDamascusconsulateheldoutthehopethat
therewasnoArabrevolt.On 25 JuneLoytvedHardegginformedthe
embassythatjemalPashabelievedthesharifwoulddonothingagainst
theTurks."
Thisbadlymisplacedcombinationofnaiveteandoptimismsoon
dissipated.Wolff-Metternich,intwomessagesto Berlin,reportedhav-
inglearnedthatas early asmid-1915theTurkishgovernoroftheHijaz,
WahibBey,hadinformedEnverPashaofHusayn'streasonousactiv-
ityandeventhreatenedtomurderthesharif.Theambassadorhad
nowalsodiscoveredthataslateasthebeginningofJune 1916 the
sharifhadtoldjemalPashathatHusaynhadorganizedanarmed
unitfortheupcomingTurkishexpeditionagainstEgypt.Jemalhad