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

72 WARBYREVOLUTION

TheBritishalsomadeextensivemilitarypreparationsto protect
thecountry,andparticularlythecanal.TheyevacuatedtheEgyptian
camelcorpsfromtheSinaiPeninsulaandplaceditinpositionson
thewesternbankofthecanal;theBritishlefttheSinaidesertto its
twenty-fivethousandBedouinsandconvertedthecanalintoa defense-
barrierfor Egypt."Inaddition,however,Britainneededsufficient
troopsto protectthecountry.WiththegarrisonofregularBritish
troopsinEgyptdestinedforthefightinginFrance,thegovernmentin
Londonbegandispatchingforces toEgyptfromtheBritishIndian
Army.ThefirstoftheselandedatSuezon 8 September,butKitchener
andtheWar Office inLondonsoonorderedmostofthemsentonto
France.DuringOctober,as newsworsenedaboutenemyactivityalong
theSinaiborderwithTurkey,theWar OfficepromisedforEgypt's
defensesixmoreIndianbrigades,acamelcorps,andeightbatralions."
ToprotectEgyptandtheotherBritishinterestsfromthegrowing
Turkishmenace,BritainmovedtowardusingtheArabsoftheOtto-
manEmpireagainsttheTurks.Beforethewar,theBritish,likethe
Germans,hadpossessedampleevidenceofArabunhappinesswith
Turkishrule;thishadgivenbirthto theideaamongsomeBritish
officialsthatifwaroccurredbetweenBritainandTurkey,withthe
lattersupportedbyGermany,Londoncouldstrikeablowbyencour-
agingtheArabs torevoltagainsttheTurks."
On 9 August 1914 Aziz Beyal-Masri,theformerEgyptianofficerin
theOttomanarmywhomEnverPashahadarrestedatthebeginning
oftheyear fortreasonbutthenreleased,approachedGilbertClayton,
theofficialrepresentativeinEgyptoftheBritish-controlledSudan
government.Al-MasriclaimedthatEnverhadcalledhimto
Constantinople"toraisetheArabsagainstEngland";instead,henow
offered"toleadtheArabs (SyriaandIrak[sic])againsttheTurksin
ordertoformanArabempireunderBritishsuzerainty."TheForeign
OfficeorderedCheethamto tellal-Masritoremainquietandleave
theArabsalone."Nevertheless,several weekslaterClayton,withthe
helpofStorrs,theCairoresidency'sOrientalsecretary,sentasecret
memorandumtoKitchener,urginghimtoenterintoconversations
withtheSharifofMecca,Husayn."
ClaytonraisedwiththewarministertheissueofwhethertheOt-
tomansultancouldbereplacedascaliphofIslamby an Arableader