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

190 WARBYREVOLUTION

Dr. C.K.ChakravartytotheUnitedStatestoreplaceHerambaLal

GuptaasheadoftheIndianrevolutionarymovementinAmerica.

AlthoughWashingtonrefusedtoactagainsttheIndo-Germanagents,

on 19 AprilAmericanauthoritiesraidedanofficeinNew York occu-

piedbytheGermanconsul,WolfWalterFranzvonIgel.Theyseized

incriminatingpapersthattheywoulduse a yearlaterinatrialinSan

FranciscoofnumerousGermansandIndiansforusingtheUnited

Statesas abaseforschemestopromotearebellionagainstBritish

ruleinIndia."

Libya,Darfur,andAbyssinia
TheBritishalsoworriedabouttheimpactoftheArabrevoltontheir
continuingeffortstopacifytheSanussisin Libyaandcheckthecri-
ses,promotedbythepan-IslamicagitationofTurkishandGerman
agents,inAbyssiniaandtheSudaneseprovinceofDarfur.Muchto
Cairo'srelief,eventsinLibyahadproceededfavorablysincethespring
of 1916 for theBritishandItalians;theyhadcontributed,together
withtheArabrebellion,tounderminingthepositioninAbyssiniaof
thepro-Turkishandpro-Germanheirtotheimperialthrone,LijIyasu.
In Libya,intheaftermathofthedefeatoftheShaykhal-Sanussi,
theSayyidAhmad,theBritishandItaliansnegotiatedwithhiscousin,
MuhammadIdris,forthelattertoreplacethesayyidasShaykhal-
Sanussi.TheBritisheventuallypersuadedIdristoassumetheSanussi
order'sleadership,mainlybyforciblyremovingtheremnantsofSayyid
Ahmad'stroops,whosufferedfromexhaustionandlackoffood,from
theirEgyptianoasestoTripolitania."ThisendedBritain'sextensive
militarycommitmentsinthewesternEgyptiandesert,whichhadtied
downfor monthsnearlythirty-fivethousandimperialtroopsand
causedprodigiousexpenses.w
TheBritishbyallyingwithMuhammadIdrisourmaneuveredthe
Germans,whohadalsotriedtoapproachIdris.Followingthedefeat
ofAhmad'sforcesinFebruary 1916 theGermanandTurkishinflu-
enceontheSanussiswanedsignificantly.TheGermanforeignmin-
istryandGeneralStafffailedtopersuadethehard-pressedGerman
navy todispatchtotheshaykhafreighterwithfoodandweapons,
accompaniedby asubmarine.'?"