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

THEWAR'SEND 225

inMarchofthenotoriousGermanagentPreusserhadlessenedmuch

oftheanti-BritishagitationamonglocalArabs.Mostimportantfor

Britain'ssuccess,however,theOttomanarmyfacingtheBritishre-

mainedwhollyinadequateinnumbersoftroopsandweapons."

TheRemnantsofWeltpolitikinDefeat
Even asTurkeyintheMiddleEast,andGermanyinFrance,collapsed
militarily,theGermanarmy, navy,colonialministry,andmanyother
reactionarygroups,includingthepan-GermansandnewFatherland
party,stilldreamedoffinalvictoryandglobalpower."AmongGer-
manofficialsinTurkey,suchasBernstorffandanembassysubordi-
nate,WernerOttovonHentig,rumorscirculatedaboutaBritishpeace
offertodividetheMiddleEastwithGermanyandTurkey.Atleast
oneotherGermanofficialinTurkey,Prufer,suggestedthatGermany
gainfromthewar intheMiddleEastbyendingitsalliancewithTur-
keyanddividingthatstatewithBritain."
Similarly,atthewar'sendanauraofunrealityandzealotryinsup-
portofGermanexpansionismcharacterizedGermany'sfeverishsearch
forMuslimsupportinEgyptandLibyaandforrevolutionaryinflu-
ence inIndia.Berlinstillviewedtheex-khedive,AbbasHilmi,as its
futureally inEgyptoncetheReichhaddefeatedandoustedBritain.
BoththeTurksandGermanshadagreedtoreturnhimtotheEgyp-
tianthroneoncethewarendedinvictory.On 31 July 1918 WilhelmII
metwithAbbasHilmiatSpainthehopeofensuringhisloyaltyto
Germanyafterthewar."
An airoffantasylikewiseexistedwithrespectto Libya. Attheend
ofSeptemberthevisitto ConstantinopleofthedeposedLibyan
Shaykhal-Sanussi,SayyidAhmad,raisedhopesin Berlinthatthe
shaykhwouldvisitGermanyand,uponreturninghome,restokethe
fireofSanussirevoltagainsttheBritishinEgypt."Butthatdidnot
happen;GermanyandTurkeyhadlostcompletelytheirformerin-
fluencein Libya. TwomonthslaterthelastGermanagentsin
Tripolitania,Todenwarthandfourteenotherofficersandmen,re-
turnedtoEuropebysubmarine."
RegardingIndiaatleasttheGermansnolongerheldillusionsabout
causingtroubleforBritain.TherelationshipbetweentheGermans