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

214 WARBYREVOLUTION

settlement.JemalaccusedHusaynofsubjectiontotheenemiesof

Islam,whointended,astheagreementrevealed, todismemberthe

empire.He alsodenouncedtheGermans,callingthema "savage race,"

worsethantheBritish,betweenwhomandtheTurkstherecouldbe

nothingbuthatred.Turkey,hedeclared,hadenteredthewar torid

itselfofinterferencebyEuropeansbutinsteadhadhandeditselfover

toGermany.wThreedayslaterJerusalemfell toAllenbyandtheEEF.

ThelossofthesecondofthethreeholycitiesofIslamdestroyedmuch

ofwhatremainedoftheaweoncefelt byOttomanArabs forTurkey.

Libya, Abyssinia,andIndia
AsourceofBritain'sconcernduring 1917 topreserveArabloyaltywas
apatternofcontinuedGermaneffortsin Libya,Abyssinia,andelse-
wheretoinfluenceeventsintheMiddleEastandIndia.In Libyathe
threatto AlliedinterestshadshiftedwestwardtoTripolitania,where
theGermansandTurksincitedArabsagainsttheItalians.On 14 and
17 AprilboththeBritishandItaliansconcludedpeaceandtradeagree-
mentswiththenewSanussileader,SayyidMuhammadIdris."Con-
sequently,a newGermanexpedition,headedbyTodenwarth,deliv-
eredweaponsandmunitionsbysubmarinetotheArabchiefand
Sanussirival,Ramadanal-Suwayhli,andtotheTurkishagentin Tri-
poli,al-Barani.TheirattacksontheItaliansinOctober,however,pro-
ducedlittle."ThroughoutthefalltheBritishwatchedcarefullythe
continuedGermanactivityinTripoli.»
EventsinAbyssiniaalsocontinuedto receiveBritain'sattention.
TheretheGermanlegationaimedbothatallyingoncemorewiththe
deposedprince,LijIyasu(who nowlivedwiththeremnantsofhis
armedfollowersintheeasternprovinceofWelo),andatproviding
access forGermansinAfricatotheRed SeaandArabia.Forsome
timeGermanyhadcovetedsuchanoutletfor itscolonialforces in
nearbyGermanEastAfrica,whichremainedheavilyoutnumberedin
andisolatedbytheirwarwithBritishimperialrroops.v
In May,Syburg,theReich'sministertoAbyssinia,dispatcheda
GermanfromAddisAbaba,ArnoldHolz,anAustrianaccomplice,
andnativeservantsandguardstodestroytherailroadlinethatran
fromtheAbyssiniancapitaltojibuti,themainportofFrench