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

BRITAIN,GERMANY,ANDTHEMIDDLEEAST 3

limstodefendtheTurkishempireandcaliphateagainsttheinfidel,
even bywagingholywar."
TheextenttowhichMuslimsacceptedthesedoctrinesisproblem-
atic;somefounditconvenienttoembracethem,whileothersrejected
themas falsearguments.By theendofthenineteenthcenturyahand-
fulofArabwriterswhourgedareformandreawakeningofIslam
viewedtheTurksasdegenerateMuslimswho,unliketheArabs,had
notreceivedtheoriginalrevelationandwhoseruleshouldbereplaced
by an Arabcaliphate.Nevertheless,mostArabsandotherMuslims
lookedto theOttomansultanasthemostpowerfulindependent
Muslimruler,apillarofsupportin aworldincreasinglyhostileto
Islam-aworldinwhichthegreatmajorityofMuslimslivedunder
alienrule.'
IntheviewofEnglishmenandotherEuropeans,pan-Islamism
posedaseriousmenace.Theybelievedonlytooeasilytheidea,medi-
evalandSocialDarwinianinorigin,thatMuslimswereessentially
inferiorandfanaticalsavages,pronetoviolenceinresponseto reli-
giousappeals.Furthermore,Europeansviewedthesultanasthe
murdererofChristians,particularlybecauseoftheOttomanmassa-
cresduringthe1890SofArmeniansintheeasternAnatolianprov-
incesoftheempire.'Accordingly,theEuropeansfearedthatifthey
pressedthesultantoohardtheymightbeconfrontedwithpan-Is-
lamicagitation,andevenrevolt,intheirMuslimcolonies.Thisespe-
ciallyhauntedBritainaftertheGreatRebellionof 1857 inIndia,al-
thoughthatrevolthadnothingto dowithpan-Islamism.Twenty
yearslater,however,duringtheRusso-TurkishWar,theMuslimsof
IndiaforthefirsttimedemonstratedtheirsympathyfortheTurks
onasignificantscale."

GermanInterestintheMuslimWorld

Duringthe1880sand1890Sa newfactorappearedintheMiddleEast,
onethattheBritishbelievedthreatenedtheirsupremepositionin
theregion:thegrowingprestigeatConstantinopleofImperialGer-
many.AmongtheEuropeanpowerstheGermanEmpirearrivedlate
as aglobalimperialistcompetitor.Becausethiswasparticularlytrue
intheMiddleEastandAfrica,Germanyappearedfreefromthe