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

GERMANYASWARTIME"REVOLUTIONARY" 63

ligenceinformationaboutBritishandEgyptiantroopstrengthin
theSudanandtoinciteunrestthere.Beforehedepartedattheendof
October,however,Moritzfiledwiththeforeignministryadiscour-
agingreportinwhichhedeclaredthattheplannedcampaignto raise
theEgyptiansinrebellionhadpoorprospectsforsuccessbecauseof
the"unwarlike"EgyptiansandthelackofsupportfromtheArabs,
especiallythepro-BritishSharifofMecca."
StillanotherexpeditionbeganformingduringNovember1914,
headedby LeoFrobenius,aveteranprewarGermanexplorerofWest
Africa. InConstantinopletheGermanembassyandTurkishwarmin-
istrynegotiatedtosendFrobeniuswithaseventeen-membermission
ofGermans,Turks,andArabsfirsttoAbyssinia,toreachtheGer-
manlegationthere,andthentotheSudan.Oncetheworldwar be-
gan,Berlinhadlostallcontactwiththelegationand,thus,withthe
governmentinAddisAbaba.TheEntentepowerscontrolledthelands
thatencircledAbyssinia;theFrenchalsoownedthepostalandtele-
graphoffices intheAbyssiniancapitalandhadsuspendedlocalcom-
municationwithGermanyandAustria-Hungary."
Simultaneouslywiththepoliticalexpeditions,theGermansordered
fivemilitarymissionstotheSinairegionandRed Sea. Amostbizarre
onearrivedthereinmid-October.AGermannavalofficer,Lieuten-
antHilgendorf,attemptedtocrosstheborderofTurkeyandEgypt
withasmallpartyofGermancolonistsfromPalestinedisguisedas
an Arabcomedytroupe.ApparentlywithKress'sblessing,Hilgendorf
developedaschemetoblocktheSuezCanal:heintendedtocrossthe
Sinaideserttothecanal,shootthepilotofapassingship,andthus
runthevesselaground.v
Anentirelydifferentexpedition,assembledbyLimanvonSand-
ers,theheadoftheGermanmilitarymissioninConstantinople,sent
twoAustrianofficerstoGemsah,atownsouthoftheGulfofSuez;
theretheofficershadbeenorderedtodynamitelocalBritishfuel de-
pots.AttheendofDecember,Pruferorderedtwoothermissionsto
southernEgyptandtheSudantodestroyBritishoilandotherinstal-
lations.Onewasheadedby aHungarianofficer,FranzGondos.Still
anotherDecemberexpedition,sentbytheGeneralStaffandheaded
byMajorSchwabe,leftfor Syria tojointheTurkishFourthArmy,
withtheSudanitsultimategoa1.^60