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

44 WARBYREVOLUTION

theMuntafiqandtheirchief,Ajaimi,ontheforcesoftheBasrana-
tionalist,theSayyidTalib,endangeredGermaninterests,especially
thefurtherconstructionoftheBaghdadrailroad.Theconsulurged
thatGermanyincreaseitsinfluenceinthearea, suggestingthatit
establishaconsulatein BasraandsendaGermanbattlecruiserthere."?
Berlinneverconsideredsuchproposalsseriously,becausethey
wouldhardlyhaveassistedtheeffortsofGermanyduringtheJuly
crisis inEuropetopersuadeLondontoremainneutralin a waron
thecontinent.r"Indeed,onlyin a finaldesperateattempttogainBrit-
ishneutralityinthecomingworldwardidtheGermangovernment
agreeattheendofJulytoconcludethesettlementwithBritain,which
hadbeenundernegotiationfornearlytwo years,regardingthe
Baghdadrailroad.v?
Bythen,however,itwas fartoolateforsuchanagreementto af-
fectthedeterioratingsituationin Europe.Furthermore,German
policyinI9I4towardBritain,plustheknowledgeofGermanofficials
inTurkeyabouttheArabunrestthere,mayexplainwhyWangenheim
showedlittleinterestinthepan-Islamicactivitiessuggestedtohim
inMarchbytheextremistEgyptiannationalistexiled inConstan-
tinople,Shaykhal-jawish.Thelatter,recommendedtoWangenheim
by EnverPasha,urgedthatintheeventofawarbetweenGermany
andBritain,anti-BritishinsurrectionsamongMuslimsbeignitedin
Egyptandelsewhere.??
Also,Germany'spolicyinTurkeyseemedto havereachedapoint
ofcrisis.DuringthepreviousmonthstheYoungTurkgovernment,
unableto raise alargeenoughloanfromaGermanyseverelyham-
peredfinanciallybytheReich'sgrandpoliticalschemesintheMiddle
Eastandelsewhere,hadprocuredthemoneyin Paris, intheprocess
makingmajorrailroadandharborconcessionstoFrancein Asia Mi-
norandSyria. Eventhekaiser, alongtimerabidsupporterofthePorte,
complainedthatGermany'sshortageofmoneymeantthatitcould
notcountonthebackingoftheOttomansinthefuture.Wilhelm
accusedtheYoungTurksofdisloyaltytoGermanyandofmaking
dishonestandcorruptadvancestotheEntente.?'
Nevertheless,whiletheGermanswishedto donothingtoalienate
Britain,BerlinalsocouldnotaffordtoangertheTurks.Duringthe
summerofI9I4theDeutscheBank,aidedbytheforeignministry