178 WARBYREVOLUTION"thatthepresenttimedidnotappearsuitableto me tocheckon
AmirFaysalandlosetheHijazrailroad.":"LoyrvedHardeggalso
seemedunimpressedwithJemal'sargumentthathehadnotbelieved
thesharifwouldriskopposingtheOttomangovernmentinpublic."
On 7 JunetheconsulatereportedthedispatchbytheTurksofa spe-
cialmissionofthreepro-OttomanArabsto Medinacarryingfifty
thousandTurkishpoundsingoldfor use inbribinglocalArabs to
supportthegovernmentagainstthesharif. 43
MeanwhileStotzingen,Neufeld,andfourothers,oneanIndian,
hadleftDamascusfortheRed Sea,carryingwiththemalargenum-
berofpropagandaleafletsandtheapparatusfor a wirelessstation
theyhadorderstoconstructattheYemeniportofHodeida.Stotz-
ingenhopedtocharteradhowatal-Wejh,thenextcityonthecoast,
northofYanbo,butbecauseoftheBritishpatroloftheseathemis-
sioncontinuedonland.ItsoonlearnedthatnorthofJiddaBedouins
hadmassacredanotherGermangroupmovingnorthwardup the
coast-apartyofsailorswhohadescapedfromJavaandweremaking
theirwaybacktoEurope.«
Stotzingen'smissionnearlymetthesamefate.On 5 June,four
daysafteritreachedYanbo,thesharif'sarmedrevoltagainsttheTurks
exploded.FaysalandhisbrotherAlicuttheHijazrailroadlinenear
Medina;whileHusayninMeccaproclaimedtherevolt,his forces at-
tackedtheTurksinseveralcitiesoftheHijaz.OnlyStotzingenand
twoofhismen,includingNeufeld,managedtoescapebacknorth
alongtheRed Seacoastandreturnto Syria;theothersdiedatthe
handsoftheBedouinattackers."Inthegroup'sfranticscramblefor
safetybaggageandnumerousdocumentswereleftbehind,someof
whichthesharifsoonturnedover;fromthemtheBritishlearnedthe
Germanplans."
TheGermansandTurkshadmiscalculatedthetiesbetweenthe
Turksandthesharif,whichthelatterhadseverelystrainedwithhis
demandthatthesharifiatebemadeautonomousandhereditaryin
his family.ConstantinopleandBerlinhadalsofailedtoappreciate
thedegreeofHusayn'sallegiancetotheBritish.Asthepresentstudy
hasillustrated,theGermanandTurkishpolicytowardthesharifsuf-
feredfromfaultyintelligenceinformation,indecision,andpoorprepa-
ration.InGermanpolicyonlythealliancewiththeTurksultimately