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

GERMANYASWARTIME"REVOLUTIONARY" 55

menandpromisingBerlin'ssupportwithmoneyandweapons.>Itis
unclearhowmuch,ifatall,theplannedoperationsagainstBritainin
EgyptandIndiaencouragedthechancellortoissuehisvastwaraims'
program,whichheintendedaseventualconditionsofpeace.Histo-
rianshavenotedthathisso-called"SeptemberProgram"resultedin
largemeasurefromlong-heldGermanimperialistviewsandfrom
theexpectation,popularinthegovernmentandpublic,ofaquick
GermanmilitaryvictoryinFrance.
Thechancellor'swaraimsprogramsymbolizedthewaveofannex-
ationistfeelingthatsweptoverGermanyduringtheinitialmilitary
successesofAugustandSeptember,expressedinthemostextreme
formbythedemandsofthePan-GermanLeague.BethmannHollweg
representedtheideasofmanyGermanindustrialandmilitarylead-
erswhenhecalledforusingthewarandthesubsequentpeacesettle-
menttoestablishGermany'seconomicdominationthroughoutcen-
tralEurope,theBalkans,andTurkey,andtoexpandthecountry's
coloniesin EastandSouthwestAfricaintoavastcentralAfrican
empire."
TheinitialattemptstostoptrafficintheSuezCanal,urgedupon
theforeignministryandnavy bythehighestlevelsoftheGerman
government,provedto befailures.On 3 SeptemberCurtPrufer,the
formerdragomaninCairo,arrivedinConstantinoplewithinstruc-
tionstoprepareananti-BritishrebellioninEgypt,firstbyspreading
reportsthattheleaderofIslam,thesultan-caliphoftheOttoman
Empire,intendedsoontojoinGermanyinthewar.Theextravagant
plan,orderedbyZimmermann,alsoincludedliquidatingtheBritish
officercorpsintheEgyptianarmy,obstructingtheSuezCanal,and
blowinguprailroadsandimportantportinsrallations.>
PruferobservedduringameetingthenextdayattheGermanem-
bassywithWangenheimandthenavalattache,CaptainHans
Humann,thepersonalrivalriesbetweentheambassadorandLiman
vonSanders;thediscussionalsorevealedtohimthedivisionsinthe
PorteoverwhethertojoinGermanyinthewar.Nevertheless,Wangen-
heimintroducedPruferto RobertMors,theprincipalagentfor
sabotagingtheBritishinEgyptuntilaTurkishexpeditioncouldat-
tacktheSuezCanal.Mors,ofGermandescent,was alieutenantin
theEgyptianpoliceonleave inConstantinople.»