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

THETHICKENINGPLOTANDHOLYWAR 75

BythentheinitiativeintheArabquestionhadpassedfromMallet's
handstotheCairoresidency.OnCheetham'sadvice, theForeign
OfficedecidedtoapproachsoontheImamYahyaofYemenandSayyid
al-IdrisiofAsir-before,asLondonfeared,theYoungTurkswonthem
over. In mid-OctoberGeraldFitzmaurice,theinfluentialformer
dragomanattheConstantinopleembassy,recommendedtotheFor-
eignOfficethatintheeventofwarwithTurkey,BritainexploitArab
oppositiontoTurkishruleinMesopotamiaandalso,providedFrance
couldbereconciledto it, in Syria. In his view,theprobabilityexisted
thatanArabcaliphwouldreplacetheOttomanoneandthusremove
the"sting"frompan-Islamism,whoserootslayintheunionofthe
spiritualandtemporalpowersatthePorte."
Theseideasformedtheguidelinesofthesubsequentrevolution-
arypolicypursuedbyBritaintowardtheArabs.WithFrance,Lon-
donwas to havealmostinstantdisagreementontheissueofwhich
ofthem,EnglandorFrance,shouldapproachtheArabs.Frenchmili-
taryleaders,eagertoenhanceFrance'sfutureclaimsto Syria,and
apparentlyindependentlyoftheBritish,hadalreadysuggestedtotheir
governmentorganizinganAraborArab-Syrianrebellionagainst
Turkey,ledbytheSharifofMecca,thatmightpreventanti-French
TurkishactivityamongMuslimsinFrance'sNorthAfricancolonies."
Also,apparentlywithCheetham'scollaboration,adherentsofthe
PanArabmovementinCairohadsentemissariestoArabia,Syria,
andPalestinetocommunicateBritain'smessagetotheArabchief-
tainsandurgethemnottojointhePorte.Ifwarcame,themessen-
gerstoldtheArableaders,thelattercouldexpectarmamentsand
ammunitionfromBritain.BytheendofOctoberCairoreceiveda
replyfromtheSharifofMecca,throughhis sonAbdullah,to the
questionputtohimamonthbeforebyKitchener.His father,said
Abdullah,wouldnotwillinglysupporttheTurks.>Kitchenerreplied
quickly,againthroughEgypt;on 31 October,hesentamessagethat
Abdullahreceivedtwo weekslater,promisingthatifthe"Arabna-
tion"alliedwithBritaininthewar,BritainwouldensureArabia's
safetyandfreedomfromtheOttomans.Kitchener,moreover,men-
tionedthepossibilityofestablishinganewcaliphateatMeccaor
Medina-butas solely aspiritual,ratherthanpolitical,office."The
principalimpetusforanAnglo-Araballiancewouldcomeonlyafter