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

TOWARDANALLIEDVICTORY 215

Somaliland.TheGermansintendedthedestructionoftherailroad
to be asignalforanti-Frenchtribesalongtheline,includingthe
DanakilsandthesultanofTadjura,to seizethesmallFrenchcolony."
HolzandhisfollowersreachedFrenchSomalilandinJuneandfor
atimethrewthelocalcolonialauthoritiesandneighboringBritish
Somalilandintodisarray.Alongthewaytheconspiratorsattracted
severalhundredtribalfollowers.TheBritishtightenednavalpatrols
alongtheSomalicoasttoassisttheFrenchbypreventingHolzfrom
escapingacrosstheRed Sea toArabia."ButHolzlackedfoodand
weapons,whichlosthimthebackingoffurthersupporters.Atthe
beginningofSeptemberFrenchforcesnorthof]ibuticapturedhim,
alongwithnumerousdocumentsimplicatingtheGermanlegation
intheplotandshowingthatHolzultimatelyintendedto reach
Yemen.v
Althoughbyyear'sendHolzhadalreadybeenconvictedas a spy
andreceivedadeathsentence,complicationsfromhisadventureper-
sistedfortheBritish.Duringthecrisis,Thesiger,theBritishminis-
ter,pressedEmpressZawditu'sregentandco-ruler,RasTafari,to
expeltheGermanandTurkishdiplomatsfromAbyssinia.Whenthe
empresslearnedofthenegotiations,tensionsbetweenherandTafari
overthisandotherissuesledher,muchtothechagrinoftheBritish,
toallowSyburgandtheotherGermansatthelegationtoremainin
Abyssinia."
During 1917 theGermanscontinuedtoincitetheanti-Britishna-
tionalistmovementinIndia.InGermanyimperialistpan-Germanslike
ErnstvonReventlow,as well asindustrialistsandthegovernment's
navalandcolonialoffices,demandedthedestructionofBritishrulein
IndiaandtheReich'sannexationofnavalandotherstrategicbasesin
theIndianOcean.This,theyargued,wouldsafeguardthepostwar
GermaneconomicdominancetheyplannedfortheMiddleEast,the
PersianGulf,andAsia,'?GermanintriguedirectedatIndia,however,
sufferedfromitsusualproblems;forexample,bitterconflictsexisted
betweentheBerlinIndiancommittee,whosemembersweremainly
Muslims,anditsbranchinConstantinople,dominatedbyHindus."
Consequentlyit failed, aspreviously,tothreatenBritishrule.
Also,theBerlincommitteehaddisagreementswiththeGermans
overavarietyofissues.Germanborderofficialsoftenharassed