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

GERMANYASWARTIME"REVOLUTIONARY" 57

Germany'sproblemswithItalybecameapparentasearlyas 29
August,whentheRomegovernmentprotestedto theGermanam-
bassador,JohannesvonFlotow,theactivityofOttoMannesmann's
missioninTripoliandsecuredthereturnhomeofeveryoneinthe
groupexceptitsleader.Mannesmann,whooperatedunderthe
codenameof"Dr.Mann,"soonsenteastwardintotheLibyandesert
aTurkishenvoywithgiftsandamessagetotheSayyidAhmadal-
Sharif,theshaykhoftheSanussis,anIslamicreligiousordertowhich
themainBedouintribesofCyrenaica(easternLibya)belonged.Al-
thoughMannesmannhadnevermettheShaykhal-Sanussi,he
showednoreluctance,andinfactthegreatestofconfidence,inurg-
ingthechieftoattacktheBritishharboratSollumontheEgyptian
borderandmarchintoEgypt.^39
Wangenheim,inadditiontoworryingaboutGermanpolicyalien-
atingItaly,alsointerferedwithPrufer'sactivities;theambassador
particularlyopposedtheagent'sindependencefromtheembassyand
hisreceptionofordersfromOppenheim.Theambassadoralsodis-
likedPrufer'sinvolvementwithShaykhal-jawish,withwhomPrufer
hadbeenfriendssincethelatter'sdaysinCairo,butwhomWang-
enheimandsomeTurkishofficialsdistrusted.DespitePrufer'scon-
flictswiththeambassador,theagentdispatchedMorswithdyna-
mite,detonators,propagandaleaflets,andseveralEgyptiancohorts
onashiptoEgypt.Morshadorderstocarryouttheplannedcomitaji
operationsthereand,ifpossible,blowuptheSuezCanal."
Moreover,duringthefirsthalfofSeptember,Pruferreceivedhis
firstinformationonthestrengthofBritishforcesinEgypt.Oneof
hisspiesreportedthatfourthousandtroopshadleftfortheSudan
andthatofthefortyto fiftythousandremaining,Londonhadshipped
thirtythousandtoFrance.Thereport,whileinaccurateas tothefig-
ures,reflectedBritain'sactualtransferofEgyptiansoldiersto the
SudananditsshipmentofunitsfromIndiatoEgyptandPrance."
AmidtheGermanactivitiesunderwayinConstantinople,Wilhelm
IIapprovedthecombinedGerman-Turkishexpeditionplanned
againstEgypt.Thekaiser'sagreementpromptedbothBethmann
HollwegandGeneralErichvonFalkenhayn,Moltke'ssuccessoras
Germanchiefofstaff,toemphasizetheEgyptianprojectevenmore