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

24 WARBYREVOLUTION

ButnoteveryoneattheGermanconsulate-generalinCairoap-

provedofOppenheim'sactivities.Bernstorff,theconsulgeneral,dis-

likedhowOppenheimrepeatedlycorrespondedwiththeGerman

chancellorwithoutconsultinghim.Bernstorffalsosharplydisagreed

withhissubordinate'senthusiasticestimatesofthepan-Islamicmove-

mentandofwhatEgyptwoulddo inaEuropeanwar. However,

OppenheimimpressedWilhelmII,whocalledhimthe"fearedspy"

andwhocontinuedto believeinpan-Islamismanditspotentialfor

fomentingrevoltsamongMuslimsintheBritishcolonies."Further-

more,Oppenheimattemptedtoinfluencethenewrulersin

Constantinople,the''YoungTurks."Herespondedfavorablytotheir

revolutioninConstantinoplein1908-1909,becausehebelievedthat

ithadstrengthenedpan-Islamism.Workingparticularlythrough

AbbasHilmi'snewrepresentativetothePorte,YussufBeySaddik,a

longtimefriend,Oppenheimtriedtoencouragethepro-Germansym-

pathiesoftheYoungTurkregime.'?

Butatthebeginningof19IOOppenheimresignedfromtheconsu-

late-general,ostensiblytopursuehisarchaeologicalexcavationsof

anancientHittitecity hehaddiscoveredinSyria, TellHalaf.As em-

phasizedlaterinthischapter,however,hisworkinSyriaand

MesopotamiacenteredsignificantlyonpromotingtheBaghdadrail-

roadamonglocalArabs.

The YoungTurkRevolutionandBritain'sView

DuringJuly 1908 arevolutionplacedtheYoungTurksandtheirprin-
cipalparty,theCommitteeofUnionandProgress(CUP),inpower
inConstantinople.TheirobjectivescenteredonsavingtheOttoman
EmpirefromdestructionbyEuropeandonchangingitintoamod-
erncentralizedstate.Withintheempirethethreatofsecessionby
thenon-Turkishpeoples,includingtheMacedonians,Albanians,
Armenians,andArabs,hadgrown,bringingwithitthemenaceof
foreignintervention.Initiallythenewregimerestoredthe 1876 con-
stitution,establishedaparliament,andintroducedliberalreforms
thatseemedtoheraldthebeginningofa new eraoffreedomandof
cooperationbetweentheOttomansandotherpeoplesoftheempire."