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

GERMANYASWARTIME"REVOLUTIONARY" 51

WesendonkandNadolnydispatchedthefirstoftheReich'sgroups
toNorthAfrica,withthetaskofprovokingIslamicuprisingsagainst
theFrenchinNorthAfrica. As early asIAugustNadolnysenttoTri-
polia reserve officer,theindustrialistDr.OttoMannesmann,along
withaninterpreterandHansSteinwachs,thedirectoroftheMo-
roccoMineSyndicateandRemscheid-basedminingcompanyofhis
brother,ReinhardMannesmann.Beforethewar,theMannesmann
brothershadreceivedminingconcessionsinMoroccoandhadculti-
vatedpoliticalrelationswithseveral ArabandBerbertribalchieftains.
OttoMannesmann,whospokelittleArabic,arrivedinTripolion
8 Augustandpresentedhimselfas adeputyofthelocalGermancon-
sul, Dr.AlfredTilger.Mannesmannhadordersto subvertFrench
ruleinMorocco,Algeria,andTunis.^14 GermanplansforAlgeriaalso
receivedaboostfromanentirelydifferentquarter.TheAlgerian
shaykhexiled in Syria,theAmirSaid, agrandsonofthenineteenth-
centuryanti-FrenchAlgerianrebelAbdal-Qadir,telegraphedthefor-
eignministryofferingtoleadfivehundredridersagainstFrance."
In Berlin,thepoliticaldepartmentoftheforeignministrydiscussed
Mannesmann'smissiontoNorthAfricaandagreedonplansto in-
citeanti-BritishrevoltsinIndiaandEgypt. Also,Oppenheimrecom-
mendedtoBethmannHollwegtheformationin theministryofa
centralpropagandaagencyaimedatMuslimpeoplesandatcounter-
ingthe"shamelesslyingproclamations"allegedlyissuedbytheBrit-
ishembassyinConstantinople.Soundingduringthewar'sfirstdays
asheadyandarrogantasthekaiser,Oppenheimemphasizedthevul-
nerabilityofBritaintoMuslimrevolutioninIndia."Atthispoint
ErnstFreiherrLangwerthvonSimmern,theassistantdirectorofthe
ministry'spoliticaldepartmentandanexpertonMorocco,informed
theGeneralStaffoftheministry'splannedoperations,highlighting
theideaofspreadingpropagandaandagitationtoIndiathrough
Arabia."Onehopes,"saidLangwerth,"thatamovementbeginning
inEgyptwillreverberatethroughMeccato therestoftheIslamic
worldandthatits wavesstrikeIndia."?
OppenheimsooninformedBethmannHollwegthatraisingaholy
waramongMuslimsinIndiahadbeendiscussedwithEnverPasha
andassertedthatsuchaninsurrection,promotedbyemissariesfrom
Turkeyand"unleashingAfghanistanontheIndianborders,"would