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

56 WARBYREVOLUTION

ThetwoconspiratorsthenmetwithOmarFauziBey,anofficialin
thePorte'swarministry,whopromisedtocooperatewiththeGer-
mans.TheydevisedaplantosendsecretagentstoEgypttoorganize
terroristbands(comicaji) eachnumberingtento fifteenEgyptian
maraudersrecruitedfromcriminals;thebandswere toattackrail-
roadsandBritish property,andforcetheBritishtoscattertheirtroops
throughoutthecountry.Fauziintendedmoreovertoformgroupsof
BedouinstoraidBritishpostsalongthecanalandfireonshipspass-
ingthroughit.^34
Prufer,however,learnedsoonthatimplementingtheplansfor a
rebellioninEgyptwouldnotbenearlyas easy aseitherhe or his
superiorsinBerlinhadassumed.Hefacedproblemsinrecruiting
agentstocarryoutsuchoperations,problemsmadeworsebyTurk-
ishreluctancetoallowtheGermanstooperatefreely in Ottoman
lands,andbythetraditionalmistrustandrivalrybetweentheTurks
andArabs intheOttomanEmpire.TheTurksrefusedtoworkwith
twoEgyptianleaderswhomPruferknewwell,thekhediveAbbasHilmi
andthenationalistandpan-IslamistShaykhal-]awish.ThePorteeven
mistrustedIbnRashid,thepro-TurkishprinceinNajd,anddiscour-
agedPruferfromapproachinghimfor help.>Despitesuchdifficulties,
andfollowingameetingofPruferwithEnverPashaon 7 September,
thewarministerconfirmedtheplansworkedoutbyTurkishofficials
andtheGermanagentfortriggeringarebellionin Egypt.^36
ThatsamedayBethmannHollwegapprovedtheevenmoreradi-
calprojectofthecombinedTurkish-Germanmilitaryexpedition
againsttheSuezCanal;"theReich'smilitarymissioninConstan-
tinoplebeganimmediatepreparations.Nonetheless,bitterconflicts
regardingthisandotherissuesragedbetweenWangenheimand
Liman.Wangenheimpressedfor acautiousGermanpolicy,fearing
thattheReich'spreparationsfor amilitaryattackonEgyptmight
alienateItaly,Germany'spartnerintheTripleAlliance,whichhad
chosentoremainneutralinthewar.TheItaliansopposedanypoliti-
calormilitaryactionbytheTurksorCentralPowers inNorthAfrica.
TheyfeareditcouldundermineItaly'salreadyunstablepositionin
Libya,causedbythehostilityofthekeyBedouintribalandreligious
group,theSanussis."