Epilogue
The War's
End, /9/8
Duringthelastmonthsofthewarthefortunesofbothsidesebbed
backandforthuntilinSeptemberandOctober 1918 thesuperior
militaryresourcesoftheAnglo-FrenchandAmericansprevailed.
Notwithstanding,as 1918 began,optimismdominatedGermanmili-
taryandpoliticalcircles. InMarchthenewBolshevikregimein Rus-
siasurrendered,andtheGermanarmybeganamassivenewoffen-
sive inFrance.Incontrast,however,intheMiddleEastthefortunes
ofGermanyandTurkeydeclinedsteadily.DuringFebruaryAllenby's
EEFpushedfurtherintoPalestine,capturingJerichoandthewest
bankoftheJordanRiver.Arabforces alliedto Britainliberated
TransjordanandlaterjoinedtheEEF tocompletethefreeingofPal-
estineandthenSyriafromTurkishrule.Germany,stungsinceJune
1916 bytheArabrevoltbutstillattemptingto wage war byinciting
nativerevoltsintheMiddleEastandIndiaagainsttheBritish,hoped
theTurkswouldsoonreconcilethemselveswiththeArabs.
"AMovementofRevoltThatGrows More and MoreMenacing"
Notsurprising,therefore,discussionsincreasedbetweentheGermans
andTurksandamongtheTurksthemselvesoverwhatto doabout
thegrowingArabinfluenceinthewar. InJanuary 1918 TalaatPasha
voiceddoubtstoBernstorffthattheTurkscouldsuppresstheArab
revoltmilitarily.He also spokeoftheneedforTurkeytoofferau-
tonomytotheArabs.But,theambassadorreportedtotheforeign
ministry,someYoungTurks,includingJemalPasha,wouldnotgive
theArabseventheslightestconcession.'
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