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

64 WARBYREVOLUTION

Foravarietyofreasons,noneofthemilitarymissionshadmuch
success.VigilantpoliceinthetownofHafiral-AujaontheTurkish
sideoftheborderwithEgyptdetainedHilgendorf'sgroupofGer-
mans,apparentlyatEnverPasha'sorder,followingaprotestby Mal-
let,theBritishambassador,whohadlearnedofHilgendorf'sinten-
tions.Gondosfailedtwice totraversetheRed SeaintoUpperEgypt,
thefirsttimebecauseaBritishseapatrolspottedhisboatandforced
itbackto asmallportonthenorthernArabiancoasr.vThehighly
secretSchwabeexpeditiononlyreachedtheSinaiPeninsula;it fell
intodisfavorwiththeforeignministrywhenitscommanderover-
steppedhisorders.Schwabe,apparentlydesperatetofinda way to
reachtheSudan,senthisinterpreter,KarlNeufeld,whohadbeena
GermanadventurerintheSudanbeforethewar, toMedina.Butthe
actionviolatedacustomintheHijaz,enforcedbytheSharifofMecca,
thatnonon-MuslimforeignermayentertheIslamicholylandwith-
outhispermission."
Thesharifalsoplayeda role inunderminingMoritz'smission.On
10 NovemberMoritzarrivedatJidda,theArabianRed Seaport.He
distributedpropagandamaterialsin theareaandhiredSudanese
agentstosmuggleanti-BritishpropagandaintotheSudan.Butwhat
Moritz'semissariesachievedremainedunknown,becauseBritishships
patrollingtheRed SeapreventedtheirreturntoJidda.Furthermore,
whenMoritzleftJiddatoreturnto Syria he fellcaptiveinRabigh,a
porta fewmilesnorth,toHusayn.Thesharif'sson,Faysal,recogniz-
ingtheGerman,imprisonedhimfor a few days,andthreatenedhis
life fornotreceivingpermissionfromtheshariftotravelintheHijaz.
OnMoritz'sarrivalfinallyinDamascusinJanuary 1915 hehadonly
minimalsuccesstoreporttoKressensteinandtheforeignministry.
HewarnedhissuperiorsinBerlinaboutBritishpropagandafiltering
intowesternArabiafromEgyptandtheSudanandaboutthebitter
struggleforpowerinMeccabetweenthesharifandTurkishgover-
nor,WahibBey, astruggleinwhichHusaynheldtheupperhand."
ProblemsalsoplaguedFrobenius'sexpedition.Itlostmuchvalu-
abletimeinleavingforAfricabecauseofquarrelsinConstantinople
betweenitsleaderandtheYoungTurkgovernment.Oppenheimand
theforeignministryorderedhimtoestablisha baseofoperationsin
MedinaandthencrosstheRed Sea toAbyssinia.Frobeniuscarried