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

MUSLIMUNRESTANDGERMANSUPPORT 27

fromtheOttomans,orcompleteindependenceforArabsfromTurk-
ishrule.Suchideashadcirculatedamonga fewEgyptianintellectu-
alsattheendofthenineteenthcentury.Moreover,duringthe1890S
theEgyptiankhedive,theyoungandambitiousAbbasHilmi,had
intriguedagainsthisoverlord,theOttomansultan,byspreadingpro-
pagandafavoringthereplacementofthesultanascaliphby an Arab
caliphate,withhimself,AbbasHilmi,asthenewcaliph."
TheYoungTurks,however,followingtheirrevolutioninConstan-
tinoplein1908-1909,pursuedavigorousdefenseoftheOttoman
Empireandcaliphate.Thenewrulers,byexpandingthenumberof
administrativeinstitutionsandschoolsintheempire,seemedmore
thanpreviouslyto forceTurkishpoliticalandculturalpolicieson
theArabsandotherpeoples.Inresponse,theArabnationalistideol-
ogycalled"Arabism"slowlyspread,proclaimingtheArabsto be a
specialpeoplewhopossessedpeculiarvirtuesandrightsandwho
deservedsomeformofautonomywithintheempire."
Several Arabgroupsintheempire,mainlyin Syria,Cairo,andthe
PersianGulfportofBasra,demandedreformsthatwouldensure
rightsfor Arabs.SomeArabswhoparticipatedinthemovementalso
hadinmindindependencefromtheOttomans,andtheysecretly
workedforsuchanationalistandrevolutionarygoal. Atthebegin-
ningof1911,thirty-fiveArabdeputiesintheOttomanparliamentsent
theguardianoftheholyplacesintheHijaz, theSharifofMecca,
HusaynibnAli, awrittenappealtoleadanArabrisingagainstthe
YoungTurks.AlthoughevenmanyArabnationalistsviewedHusayn
as loyal totheOttomanEmpire,oratleastpro-Turkish,thesharif
ruledalmostindependentlyintheHijaz."
Moreover,Arabswereencouragedto seekautonomyfrom,or re-
formwithin,theOttomanstatebytheseriesofwarsthattheYoung
Turksfoughtduring 1911 and1912,resultinginTurkey'slossofterri-
toryin LibyaandtheBalkans.Inthissense, Arabnationalismwas a
reactionagainstthefailureoftheOttomanEmpiretoresistthead-
vanceofEuropeanditsexpansionintotheMiddleEast.s!Despite
theriseoftheArabnationalistmovement,however,mostArabs re-
mainedloyal toTurkeyuntilWorldWar1.^44
TheriseoftheArabmovementhadcaughttheattentionofboth
GermanyandBritain.TwoprincipalfactorsdictatedBerlin'sresponse