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TOWARDANALLIEDVICTORY 217

trayedtotheBritishsecretpapersgivenhimbyGermany'schiefSwiss

agent,]acoby,andintendedforotherprincesinIndia."TheGermans,

moreover,competedwiththeBritishconsulateinGenevaforinflu-

enceamonglocalIndiannationalists.ThelattersuspectedGermany

ofwantingtoreplaceBritishruleinIndiawithitsown.Onorders

fromtheGermanforeignministry,]acobyandanotherGermanspy,

GeraldGifford(anIrishwriterwhoonceworkedinEgyptfor The

TimesofLondon),triedtoconvincetheIndiansoftheReich'santi-

imperialistintentionstowardIndia."

Butbytheyear'sendtheBerlinIndiancommitteelearnedthat

Germanpolicywasinfactquitedifferent.Thecommitteerequested

apublicstatementfromtheReichthatitsupportedIndia'sindepen-

dence;B. N.Datta,thecommittee'ssecretary,alludedtotheAllied

calls forthefreeingofBelgium,Rumania,andSerbiaandfor the

autonomousdevelopmentofthesubjectpeoplesofTurkey,"Thetime

hasarrived,"heinsisted,"fortheGermangovernment,as acounter-

weightagainsttheenemy'sdemands,todeclareitswishthatthena-

tionalityprinciplebeappliedtoIndiaandothernationsunderBrit-

ishdomination."?Berlinrefusedtoissuesuchadeclaration,however,

whichrevealedtheGermangovernment's(andespeciallythearmy's)

imperialistambitionsinAsia."Therejectionalsodisillusionedthe

IndiannationalistsinBerlinandStockholm.Theysoonturnedin-

creasinglyforhelpto anewquarter-BolshevikRussia.

PeaceOvertures
Bythesummerandfallof 1917 severalfactorsconvincedBritainto
consideranegotiatedpeace,firstwithGermanyandthenwithTut-
key.Theseincludedthewar-wearinessofFranceandItaly,therevo-
lutioninRussiaandfurtherweakeningofthatnation'swareffort,
andtheintensificationofGermany'ssubmarinewar. Aflurryofpeace
resolutionsandfeelers appearedfrombothsidesas well asfrom
neutralsliketheVatican."
SomeBritishleadersinLondon,particularlyLloydGeorge,believed
thatBritain'ssuccessagainstTurkeywouldforce it tosignaseparate
peaceandleaveitskeyterritories-Mesopotamia,Palestine,and
Arabia-subjecttoBritain'sdirectruleordominantinfluence."At