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

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powerfulMuntafiqchief. Atthebeginningof1916,forexample,the
GermancommanderinMesopotamia,vonderGoltz,hadmetwith
Ajaimi to enlisthis forces in aplannedOttomanandGermanad-
vanceonBasra. InAugust 1917 theGermansdiscussedmakingAjaimi
theamirofMesopotamiaandacquiringfromhimlandonwhichto
extendtheBaghdadrailroadtoBasra."
WhentheYilderimarmywasformedduringthesummerandfall,
itsmaincontactwiththeMuntafiqandotherArabsalongthe
EuphratesRiver laywithaspecialGermanintelligencegroupcalled
theMuntafiqMission(orMissmont).Organizedin Aleppoand
headedbyConradPreusserthearchaeologist,Missmonthadarrived
on 24 SeptemberatHit,atownonthewesternbankoftheEuphrates.
Missmontcollectedintelligenceinformation,muchofitfromArab
spiespaidtojourneyintoBritish-heldareas.Thegroupdisseminated
propagandaaimedatincitinglocaltribesagainsttheAnglo-Indian
armyandpersuadingthemtoattackbehindits lines.Missmontalso
issuedhundredsofrifles toshaykhsandlavishlyspentmoneyonthe
latter.f
However,attheendofSeptemberavictorybytheAnglo-Indian
forces overTurkishandGermantroopsatnearbyRamadibrokethe
powerofbothAjaimiandtheGermans.HenceforthAjaiminowaimed
primarilyatextortingmoremoneyfromMissmont.Preusser,who
believedthatthemainTurkishandGermanmilitaryoffensivewould
occurinMesopotamia,foundhisworkunderminedfurtherwhen
YilderimandtheTurkishSeventhArmyweresentfromMesopotamia
tothePalestinefront.Moreover,localTurkishofficialsdeliberately
madeitdifficultfortheGermanstocontacttheArabsdirectly.Even-
tuallytheYilderimleadership,onordersfromthePorte,demanded
thatMissmontsever allrelationswiththeArabs."
TheGermanpolicyinMesopotamiafailedalsobecauseofexten-
siveBritishactivitiesamongthelocal Arabs.SinceJanuarySir Percy
Cox,theGovernmentofIndia'srepresentativeinthePersianGulf,
hadtriedunsuccessfullytopersuadeAjaimiandtheMuntafiqtojoin
theBritishside.TheAnglo-Indianarmyhadevenprovidedoneofits
agents,ColonelGerardLeachman,withmotorizedvehiclesto cap-
turetheMuntafiqchief.>Thefeverishhuntfor Ajaimicontinuedto
theendoftheyear,butincreasingnumbersofothershaykhs,many