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

GERMANYASWARTIME"REVOLUTIONARY" 53

theGermanarmiesinFrancehadnotachievedtheirplannedlight-
ningvictoryandthatBritainapparentlyintendedtoremaininthe
war.Althoughthenavy'schief,Tirpitz,calledtheoperationdifficult
andpromisednothing,thenavyneverthelesscollaboratedwiththe
foreignministryinplanninganotherattempttodisruptthecanal,
recruitingforthetaskRobertMors,aGermanpolicemaninEgypt."
Meanwhile,Berlineagerlywelcomedanofferofassistanceinthe
attackonEgyptfromthecountry'santi-Britishkhedive, AbbasHilmi.
TheoutbreakofthewarhadfoundhimvisitingConstantinople,
wherehe wasforcedtoremain.Thecavaliermannerinwhichthe
YoungTurksinvestigatedanattemptedassassinationofhimthere
inJuly 1914 angeredAbbasHilmi.Hebelievedthathiscousinand
Ottomangrandvizier,SaidHalim,withwhomAbbasHilmihadpoor
relationsandwhohadambitionsofhisowntoruleEgypt,hadeither
perpetratedorplannedtheattempt."
Thekhedivefoundhimself,thanksto hisprewaranti-British,pro-
Arab,pro-German,andpro-Islamicpolicies,in aprecarioussitua-
tion.BoththeOttomansandBritishmistrustedanddislikedhim."
AbbasHilmi,withhisretinueofservants,secretaries,andhisFrench
mistress,was avirtualprisoneroftheYoungTurks.Immediatelyhe
turnedforassistancetotheCentralPowers, first to hislongtimefriend
Germany,andlatertoAustria-Hungary.On 22 Augustheapproached
Wangenheim,declaringhisreadinesstocooperatewithGermanyto
destroyBritishrulein Egypt.^25
AbbasHilmi'sideas fit wellwiththeGermanplanstoexploitpan-
Islamism.Foratime,duringthefirstmonthsofthewar,thekhedive
playedaprimaryrole insuchthinking;hehopedtherebyto use his
YoungTurkadversariesandGermanallies tohelphimreturnto an
EgyptfreedofbothBritishandTurkishcontrol,butunderhis rule. At
thekhedive'surging,Wangenheimarrangedfor ameetingofAbbas
HilmiwithEnverPasha,whodislikedthekhedive;whentheymeton 4
September,thetwoarguedloudlybutfinallypromisedtoreconcile."
Inaddition,theextremeEgyptiannationalistsandstudentsliv-
ingin exile inSwitzerland,ledbyMuhammadFarid,offeredtheir
assistancetotheEgyptiancampaign.Farid,ananti-Britishfanatic
andpan-Islamisr,hadfoundedinGenevaanorganizationcalled
theSocietyfor theProgressofIslam(SocieteProgresdel'Islem}