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

BRITAINASWARTIME"REVOLUTIONARY" 197

latterhadworkedforsultanAbdul-Hamid'sregimeandnowformed
apartyhostiletotheYoungTurkgovernrnent.v-
Inasmuchas itfearedthatGermanyintendedafterthewarto cre-
ateavassalstateofTurkey,thepartytriedto tieitselftoFranceand
Britain.Throughoutmuchof 1916 Germandiplomatsandspiesin
SwitzerlandallegedtotheforeignministryrepeatedFrenchattempts
to usethepartytoestablishaseparateFranco-Turkishpeace. Espe-
ciallyduringMay(whenpro-peacefeelingssurfacedbrieflyinFrance
andaprominentFrenchpoliticiancontactedtheGermanminister
inBernaboutaFranco-Germanpeace)theGermanscarefullymoni-
toreddiscussionsbetweenFuadSelim,theTurkishministerin Swit-
zerland,andanemissaryofSabaheddin.t"
GermanintelligenceoperativesinGenevaalsoreportedincreased
contactbytheAllies,specificallyformerFrenchandRussiandrago-
men,withtheTurkishoppositionparty.In]ulyemissariesfromTalaat
Pasha,thePorte'sinteriorminister,arrivedinSwitzerland;theirtask
allegedlyincludedpersuadingthepartytoactasanintermediaryfor
concludinga peace. However,theBritishgovernmentordereditsmin-
isterin Bern todiscourageallsuchproposals,absentevidencethat
theyoriginatedfromfullyaccreditedrepresentativesofthePorte."?
DuringAugusta keyGermanspyandmemberoftheconsulatein
Geneva,F.Marum,observedasubstantialincreaseinthenumberof
Frenchagentsinthecity. Also,Zimmermannandtheforeignminis-
try discussedreportedAlliedpeacefeelers throughSabaheddinto
theTurkishfinanceminister,]avidBey,whowasthenvisitingBerlin.
Meanwhile,otherGermanreportsclaimedthattheTurkishpartyin
Switzerland,assistedbyFrenchmoney,soughttoorganizearevolt
intheTurkisharmy.'?
ItisapparentfromtheGermanandBritisharchivesthattheEn-
tentehadnoseriousintentionsofusingmembersoftheopposition
partytofacilitateaseparatepeace.InsteadtheAlliescultivatedparty
memberstogatherbitsofinformationabouttheenemyor tocreate
unease.TheTurkishoppositionists,fortheirpart,hopedbyclaim-
ingtorepresenttheAllies toinflatetheirimportance,ingratiatethem-
selveswithbothsides,andreceivefinancialsubsidiesfromeach.!"
DespiteSwissneutrality,GermanandAlliedspiesbothworked
extensivelyto keep theOrientalsinSwitzerlandundersurveillance