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

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cessfullydefendedGallipoli,judgedtherevoltto be"muchmorese-
riousthanithasappearedfor usGermans"andexpressedthefear
thatit"couldevenendangertheexistenceofthepresent[Turkish]
government.?"InConstantinoplemembersoftheGermanmilitary
missionworriedabouttherevolt'seffectontheplannedTurkishat-
tackonEgypt. InGermanyFalkenhayn,thechiefofthearmy'shigh
command,declaredthattherevoltthreatenedtounderminethevalue
oftheTurkishalliance;heaskedtheReichtreasuryoffice toprovide
fiftythousandTurkishpoundsin goldpermonthtocombatthe
uprising.v
TheTurks,reflectingtheirviewoftheArabs asinconsequential
andtheirdislikeofGermaninvolvementin theArabquestion,
downplayedtherevolt.EnverPashaemphasizedtoHumannthatthe
rebellionhadnotsurprisedtheTurks.Theattache,visitingBerlinon
rzjuly,toldhissuperiorsattheReichnavalofficethatbasedonwhat
EnverandothersatthePortehadtoldhim,theTurkshadnotonly
plannedwhatoccurredbuthaditunderconrrol!'?Duringthefallof
1916 EnvercontinuedtoprovidetheGermanswithsimilarfavorable
reports."
OtherGermanofficialsworriedthattheTurkswouldbungletheir
attemptto suppresstherevolt.LoytvedHardeggparticularlyheld
thisview, inpartbecauseofastreamofreportsfromJemalPasha
portrayingthesituationin theHijazasrosy."Inmid-September
Stotzingen,whohadreturnedtoJerusalemfromhisill-fatedmis-
siontoArabia,senttheGeneralStaffandforeignministryareport
thataccusedtheTurksofpurposelykeepingeventsintheHijazse-
crettohidetheunpleasanttruthaboutthemfromtheGermans.In
Syria, headded,seriousdeficienciesoffoodas well asothereconomic
problemsembitteredthepeopleevenagainsttheGermansandthreat-
enedtodeliverthemtothesharif'scause."
ThoughtheanxietyofmostGermanofficialsabouttheeffectof
therevoltontheMuslimworldwasprobablywarranted,atleastini-
tiallynoGermanleaderattemptedtopersuadethePortetostopthe
uprisingbyengaginginseriousnegotiationswiththesharif.From
MesopotamiatheconsulateinBaghdadinformedtheembassyon
22 August,"Thedefectionofthesharifhasincreasedthealreadyres-
tiveattitudeoftheArabs.t'"Duringthenextweekstheconsulate