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

THEWAR'SEND 227

ImmediatelytheroughlytwentythousandGermantroopsand
officers inTurkeywereevacuatedacrosstheBlack Sea;withthem
were Enver,Talaat,andjemal,whofled toGermany.Thelastofthe
GermanforcesleftTurkeyinJanuary1919,oftenamidscornandre-
sentmentheapedonthembytheTurkishpopulation,whichblamed
Germanyforthedefeatandtheeconomicmisfortuneoftheircoun-
try.Forthefirsttimein eighty-fouryears,Turkeyhadno German
militarymissionorpresence.Indeed,Germany'sonce-formidable
positionintheOttomanEmpire,andespeciallyitsrivalrywithBrit-
ain,haddisappeared.vTheVersaillesTreatyofJune 1919 madethis
situationofficial.Germany,bysigningthetreatyliquidatedits in-
vestmentsoverseas(articleII9),specificallyintheformerOttoman
Empire(articlesISSand434)andEgypt(articles147-54).3^1
Duringthe1920StheOrientwas toplayalmostno role inthefor-
eignpolicyofthenewWeimarRepublic.Withitsinvestmentsand
tradedestroyedandno navy toexertpolitical influenceintheMiddle
East,Germanyclearlyviewedthatareaasperipheralto itsimmediate
sphereofnationalinterest.Berlinfocusedduringthe1920Sonrevis-
ingtheVersaillessettlement,whichmeantnotantagonizingBritain
andFranceintheMiddleEastlesttheybe given areasontofrustrate
GermaneffortsinEurope."
Nevertheless,afterthewarendedboththeGermanrevolutionary
andWeimargovernmentsworkedclandestinelytopreservetheonly
postwarcontactsintheMiddleEastthatremained.Theforeignmin-
istryandInformationService fortheEastfinanciallysupportednu-
merousEgyptians,Turks,Arabs,Afghans,andIndianswho,because
theyhadassistedtheReichduringthewar,couldnotreturntotheir
homelands.Muchofthistaskfell to theInformationService,but
notuntilaftertheforeignministryhadchangedtheorganization's
nametothemoreinnocuousGermanOrientalInstitute.Theorgani-
zationidentifiedandarrangedforTurks,Egyptiannationalists(in-
cludingShaykhal-JawishandMuhammadFarid),andotherpro-
GermanArabs(suchastheSyrianShekibArslan),toobtainupon
arrivalfromTurkeyGermanpassportsandmoneywithwhichtosettle
inneutralSwitzerland."TheGermansalsosupportedfinanciallyAziz
Alial-Masri,theEgyptian-bornformerOttomanarmyofficerand
chiefofstaffintheArab rebel forcesoftheSharifofMecca.i"