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

50 WARBYREVOLUTION

TheGermansdidnotexpectalargeuprising,buttheydidenvision
thattheexcitementcausedbytheunrestwouldforceBritaintosend
troopstotheendangeredregions,thusremovingsuchforcesfrom
themainwartheatersinEurope."Thehighcommandsaw anassault
ontheSuezCanalas ablowupontheBritishEmpireatitsmost
sensitivepoint.ATurkishtriumphoverBritaininEgyptseemedthe
mosteffectivemethodforpromotingaholywaroftheIslamicworld
againstBritainanditsallies.
DuringthefirstweekofAugust,theYoungTurkwarministryor-
deredtheOttomanFourthArmyinDamascustopreparefor an ex-
peditionagainstthecanal.Simultaneously,on 5 AugustEnverPasha
establishedformallyinthegovernmenthispreviouslyprivatesecret
service,theTaskilat-iMahsusa;headedby itscofounder,Sulayman
Askeri, it wasnowtofunctionas awartimeintelligenceandguerrilla
organization.EnveralsocreatedinthewarministryaCentralOffice
fortheIslamicMovement,appointingas itsleaderananti-French
Tunisian,Ali BasHamba,to coordinatepan-Islamicrevolutionary
activitieswiththeGermans."
InBerlintheforeignministryandthearmy'sreservesectionofthe
GeneralStaff(stellvertretendeGeneralstab)begandispatchingindi-
vidualsandpoliticalmissionstoConstantinopleandTripoli,inor-
dertopromotefromthereMuslimrebellions.TheReserveGeneral
Staff'sSektionIIIb Politik,directedbyCaptainRudolfNadolny,or-
ganizedthearmy'spoliticaloperationsinforeigncountries.Thefor-
eignministry'spoliticaldepartmentcreatedanIslamicsectiontoguide
itsworkintheMiddleEast,NorthAfrica,andsouthernRussia.
ToheadthisnewdepartmenttheministryrecalledOppenheimto
serviceinAugust,withtherankofministerinresidence.Itchosethe
Jewisharchaeologist-spybecausehe wastheonlypersoninGermany
whopossessedbothextensiveknowledgeoftheMiddleEastandAf-
ricaandalsoexperienceinaconsularoffice.Oppenheim'scolleague
intheministry,andthemostimportantpropagandistofGermany's
Orientalpolicy, wasErnstjackh.Anotherkeyofficialinthepolitical
department,alsorecalledto serviceatthewar'sbeginning,wasOtto
GunthervonWesendonk;heservedastheministry'Scoordinatorof
revolutionaryactivitiesintheMiddleEast,India,andRussiaandas
itsliaisonwiththeGeneralStaff."