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

TOWARDANALLIEDVICTORY 201

eleventhousandGermansoldiersandofficers.Moreover,for service
underYilderimandFalkenhaynthePorteagreedtoforma newTurk-
isharmy,theSeventh,andreequiptheSixthArmy,whichhadfought
inMesopotamia.'
ThedecisiontorecaptureBaghdadinsteadoffortifyingPalestine
andSyriaagainstBritishandsharifianattackrestedsignificantlyon
achangeinleadershipatthePorte.DuringFebruarytheYoungTurk
factionaroundEnverPashaandTalaatPashaincreaseditspower
whenTalaatreplacedSaidHalimasgrandvizier.FollowingtheArab
revolt,SaidHalimhadcriticizedGermanoperationsinTurkey.Both
EnverandTalaatheldextremepan-Turanianideas;theseemphasized
unitingunderOttomanrulethemanyTurkishpeoplesofsouthern
andcentralRussiaandnorthwestPersia.
ThelossofBaghdad,whichlayonthemainrouteto Persia,had
deliveredaseriousblowtosuchaspirations.Now,however,withthe
progressiveRussiancollapseleavingBritainasTurkey'ssoleserious
opponentintheMiddleEast,YoungTurkdreamsofcreatingapan-
Turanianempireintensified.Thefailedpan-Islamistcampaign,which
theArabrevoltsymbolized,helpedshifttheCUPleaders'attention
evenmoretowardcentralAsia.'TheGermansfortheirpartagreedto
thenewoffensiveinMesopotamiabecauseoftheReich'slong-held
ambitiontocompletetheBaghdadrailroadandmakeTurkeyabase
forextendingGermany'seconomicinfluenceintoAsia as well asinto
theMiddleEastandAfrica.'
Theimpetusandplanningformuchoftheeconomiccampaign
developedintheGermanforeignministry,particularlywith
Oppenheim.At itsdirectiontheembassyinConstantinoplearranged
for anagencyofGermanheavyindustrytoactas afrontorganiza-
tiontodistributeeconomicpropagandainTurkey.Theagency, how-
ever,hadlittlesuccess; itspropagandaarousedfurtherTurkishsus-
piciontowardGermaninterestsinTurkeyandcontributedtothe
Porte'sincreasingcensorship.'Prufer,theheadoftheembassy'sin-
telligencebureau,proposedthatGermanychangeitspropaganda,
whichportrayedGermansassuperiorwarriorsandindustrialists,to
emphasizetheirpeace-lovingnatureandconcernwithOttomancul-
ture." HisideaofmoderatingGermannationalismreceivedlittleat-
tentioninBerlin,"