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

194 WARBYREVOLUTION

Serenli,onthenorthernfrontierofBritishEastAfrica.Theassault
killedadistrictcommissionerandsixty-fiveborderguards.1I4Asthe
crisissharpened,theBritishandItalianministersinAddisAbaba,
ThesigerandCountCollirespectively,intriguedwiththemanydis-
appointedandunhappynativepoliticians,mostofthemChristian,
whodespisedIyasu'spro-Islamiccourseandwhowerelivingouttheir
frustrationinthecapital.On 16 May,whenanarmedgunmanat-
tackedtheItalianlegationandwoundedColli,Thesigerblamedthe
Germans,recallingtheirsimilarpolicyinPersia.NonethelesstheBrit-
ishrebuffedItaliandemandsthattheAlliessendtroopsintoAbyssinia
torestoreorderandpartitionthecountryamongthem.lIS
WhentheItaliansseizedmorelettersfromIyasuto the"Mad
Mullah"andotherSomalichieftains,Britishfearsincreasedofpos-
sibleraidsbyOgadenSomalisacrosstheborderintoBritishSomali-
land.ByIJuneThesigerandhis fellow Alliedministershaduncov-
eredIyasu'splantoestablishanIslamicempireinEastAfrica,an
empirethatwouldincludethe"MadMullah"andSomalisthenun-
derItalian,British,andFrenchrule.Theyalsoreceivedevidencethat
theprincehadshippedmorearmstothemullah.
ThesigerwarnedtheForeignOfficethatmatterswerebecoming
intolerableandthattheAlliesshouldsoonissueajointpublicpro-
test"todenounceLij Yasuandtorangeourselvesonthesideofthe
AbyssinianChurchandofthosechiefs,andtheyformalargemajor-
ity,whohatethisMosleminfluence.":"Thusitwashardlysurprising
thatwhentheArabrevoltbegan,theBritishattemptedto useitto
undermineIyasu.On 21 JuneThesigermetwiththeprinceandin-
formedhimof

thefactthattheSherifhadaskedforandacceptedmilitaryassistance

fromGreatBritain,pointingoutthatoncetheprincipaldescendant

oftheProphetandtheguardianoftheholycityhadaskedforour

assistanceagainsttheTurks,thelattercouldnolongerpretendthat

theywereengagedin aholywarorclaimtospeakinthenameofthe

Moslemworld."?

Iyasu,however,seemedlittleimpressedwiththeArab revolt; he
continuedhispro-Turkishandpro-Germanpoliciesandhisship-