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

38 WARBYREVOLUTION

PersiaincludeBerlininimportantrailroadandshippingconcessions
previouslyenjoyedbyBritainandRussia."
Meanwhile,theBritishembassyinConstantinopleobservedcare-
fullytheactivitiesofOppenheimandotherGermans,mostlyarchae-
ologistsandengineers,in SyriaandMesopotamia.Oppenheimnot
onlyworkedathisarchaeologicalsiteatTellHalafbutvisitedamong
theArabslivingalongtheconstructionrouteoftheBaghdadrail-
road.During19II,heandtheformerGermanheadoftheEgyptian
nationallibraryinCairo,BernhardMoritz,wonsupportfortherail-
roadfromArabandKurdishtribalchiefsintheKhaburvalley re-
gion.EncampedbesidetheupperEuphratesRiver,Oppenheimand
MoritzpittedtheArabtribesagainstoneanother;theyintriguedwith
theAnazaandMuntafiq,hopingtherebytoundermineneighboring
tribesliketheShammar,whoopposedtherailroadrunningthrough
theirland."
Moreover,inMesopotamia,alongtheTigrisandEuphratesrivers,
otherGermanarchaeologists,led by Dr.FriedrichSarreoftheKaiser
FriedrichMuseuminBerlin,establishedclose relationswithlocal
tribeswhileexcavatingthesensationalpalaceruinsatSamarraofthe
ninth-centuryAbbasidcaliph,al-Mutasim."AnotherOrientalist,Alois
Musil,aCatholicpriestandprofessorattheUniversityofVienna
whoseworktheGermansknewwell,traveledamongtheBedouinsin
theSinaiPeninsula,northernArabia,andsouthernMesopotamia.In
northernArabiaespecially,MusilestablishedfriendlytiestotheAnaza
tribeanditsleadingchieftain,theshaykhoftheRualla,Nuriibn
Shaalan.v
Thus,theBritishpossessedplentyofreasonstonegotiateasettle-
mentwiththeYoungTurks-aswell aswiththeGermans-regarding
theBaghdadrailroadandrelatedissues.InAugust 1913 Britaincon-
cludedwiththePorteaconventionontherailway. Inreturnfor a
significantfinancialpaymentfromBritain,theYoungTurksagreed
toterminationofthelineatBasra, torequestBritain'spermission
for anytrackbuiltbeyondBasratotheGulf,andtoequalityoftreat-
mentforBritishandIndiantradeonall railways inTurkey.Greyand
theBritishalsoconcludedwiththeTurks,on 29 July 1913 andlater,
agreementsthatsecuredBritain'snavigationrightsontheTigrisand