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

TOWARDANALLIEDVICTORY 203

DespiteGermany'sdeferencetotheOttomansontheeventsin
theHijaz,theGermansfearedtherevoltandgaveitcarefulatten-
tion.On 5 JanuaryLoytvedHardegg,theconsulinDamascus,added
to alengthyreporttotheforeignministryaconclusionmixinghope
andpessimism.Emphasizingtheformer,heallegedthatIbnSaud,
theleadingArabprinceineasternandcentralArabiahavingclose
ties toBritain,hadrecentlysentadelegationtotheOttomansat
MedinaandmightsoonjoinTurkeyinthewaragainstthesharif.
Thedownside,hepredicted,wasthatsoonHusayn'sforceswould
open"apassionateoffensivewiththeassistanceofEngland.?"
Theforecastprovedremarkablyaccurate.Threeweekslater,Arab
troopsunderFaysalandaccompaniedby T. E.Lawrencearrivedat
theRed Seaportofal-Wejh, a dayafterthetownhadbeentaken.The
captureofal-Wejhopeneda newphaseintheArabcampaign.The
Arabsusedit as abasefromwhichtolaunchguerrillaattacksalonga
substantialsectionofthesouthernHijazrailroadandtomakeit
harderfortheTurkstoattempttorecaptureMecca."
Meanwhile,Kuhlmanndescribedtotheforeignministrythecon-
fusionintheTurkishgovernment'spolicytowardtheArabques-
tion.Ononehand,Constantinoplesoughttoexpandthewaragainst
thesharif.ThePortestillencouragedeffortstoreconcileIbnSaud
andIbnRashidandto persuadethemto enterthewaragainst
Husayn.Ontheotherhand,theTurksdispatchedtoMeccaa close
friendofthesharif,IbrahimBey,thepresidentoftheOttomancoun-
cilofstate,topresentHusaynanofferexpandingtheauthorityof
theHijazamirateandmakingithereditary.Theemissaryalso car-
riedthepromiseofalargefinancialsubsidyforHusayn.Nonethe-
less,accordingtoKuhlmann,innercirclesintheCUPconsidered
IbrahimBey's missionafailurebeforeitstarted."Rumorsalso
aboundedinConstantinoplethattoimplementthenewArabpolicy
successfullytheOttomanswouldreplacetheanti-ArabjemalPasha
asgovernorofSyria. Yet,Kuhlmanncautioned,thatcouldbackfire
ifthesharifandhisfollowerssensedTurkishweaknessinJemal's
removal."
TheGermansthemselvesseemedconfusedanddividedoverwhat
to dowiththeArabquestion.KuhlmannandotherGermanofficials
didlittletoencourageeitheranOttomanrapprochementwiththe