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

BRITAINASWARTIME"REVOLUTIONARY" 199

leashingtherevolt.ButAbbasHilmi,full offearanddislikeofthe
Turks,refusedto go toTurkey,whichinturnfueledthemistrustof
thePorteandBerlintowardhim.t"
DuringOctober,theex-khedive'sproblemsmounted.Swiss au-
thorities,oninformationsuppliedby aBritishspynamed"Bernard"
whomAbbasHilmihadunwittinglyhired,arrestedhisfinancialagent
andcousin,MuhammadYeghenPasha.TheSwiss discoveredat
Yeghen'shousedocumentsimplicatingtheex-khediveinespionage
andpropagandaactivitiesduring 1915 fortheCentralPowers.Fora
few weeks,untilYeghen'srelease,theex-khedivefearedthepossibil-
ityofhisownarrestordeportationfromSwitzerlandforviolating
itsneutralitylaws.'>
Althoughheescapedthisembarrassment,theaffairundermined
furtherhispositionwithboththeGermansandTurksononehand,
andBritainontheother.Hischancesfor asettlementwithBritain
thatwouldprovidehimbadlyneededmoneyfromhisEgyptianprop-
erties,haddiminishedsignificantlybytheendof1916,becausethe
militarysituationintheMiddleEasthadturnedinBritain'sfavor.
TheEEF waspreparingforanoffensiveintoPalestine,whilein
MesopotamiaareinforcedAnglo-Indianarmyadvancednorthalong
theTigrisRiver,withthegoalofcapturingBaghdad.:"
Furthermore,BritainsteadfastlyrefusedAbbasHilmi'sdemand
thatitnameAbdal-Moneim,his youngestson,to succeedto the
Egyptianthrone.SirHoraceRumbold,thenewBritishministerin
Bern,whoconductedBritain'snegotiationswithAbbasHilmi,learned
thattheex-khedivewaslikewisenegotiatingwiththelocalTurkish
andGermanlegations.MuchoftheinformationcametotheBritish
fromoneoftheirprincipalagents,theArab"Maurice,"whomthe
BritishhadsenttoSwitzerlandtohelpthemkeepAbbasHilmiun-
dersurveillance.WhenBritain'sdiscussionswiththeex-khedivestalled
attheendofDecember,theForeignOfficegavehimuntilmid-July
1917 torenouncehisthroneandacceptafinancialsettlementonhis
Egyptianproperties.w