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

GERMANYASWARTIME"REVOLUTIONARY" 49

popularwiththekaiser,assentedimmediately.Jagowdirectedthe
embassyinConstantinopletospreadpropagandaamongMuslims
inBritishcolonies,especiallyinIndia,andtoensurethattheBritish
navalmissiondidnothingtoutilizethesmallTurkishfleetfor
Britain'spurposes."
Followingtheconclusionofthetreaty,thePortemobilizedits
armedforces.However,someYoungTurksinthegovernmenthad
neitherwantednorevenknownaboutthealliancewithGermany.
Furthermore,theAlliedpowerssoonprovedstrongerthanexpected
intheEuropeanbattles.ThePorte,as aresult,adoptedapolicyof
armedneutralityandpursueditforseveralmonths.
TheGermanandBritishembassiesinConstantinoplecompeted
feverishlywithoneanothertoinfluenceTurkishpolicy.Wangenheim,
hismilitaryandnavalattaches,andLimanvonSanderstriedtoforce
thePortetoenterthewaragainsttheEntente;SirLouisMallet,on
theotherhand,workedtokeeptheTurksneutralforaslongaspos-
sible.EnverPashaandhissubordinatesslowlypreparedTurkeyfor
warandmadeseveralconcessionstotheCentralPowers.Thesein-
cludedallowingtwo shipsofGermany'sMediterraneanfleet, the
GoebenandBreslsu,toenterandremainintheTurkishstraits,and
alsoassisting(asdiscussedbelow)Germanpreparationsforanat-
tackonEgypttotriggera pan-Islamicrising.However,neither
WangenheimnorLimancouldpersuadethePortetoabandonits
neutrality."UntilTurkeyenteredthewar,theGermanshadlittlehope
ofconductingamilitaryoperationanywhereintheMiddleEast.
Nevertheless,withtheconclusionofthetreatyon 2 Augustdis-
cussionsbeganimmediatelyinConstantinoplebetweentheGerman
embassyandTurkishwarministryaboutaTurkish-Germanmilitary
expeditionagainstEgypt.On 10 Augustand 4 SeptemberMoltke
telegraphedLimanabouttheimportanceoftheEgyptianoperation.
WhileLiman,forstrategicreasons,viewedthiscampaignasuseless,
WangenheimandhismilitaryandnavalattachesurgedontheTurks
theGermanGeneralStaff'sideaofanattack,specificallyontheSuez
Canal.'?
Evenbeforethewar,theGermanGeneralStaffhadratedBritish
colonialtroopsaverageatbestandpredictedthatwarinEurope
wouldprovokenativeMuslimrebellionsinbothIndiaandEgypt.