The German Empire viewed the Russian Empire as a greater threat than the Ottoman Empire. So they made nice with the Sultan, in order to hamper the Tsar’s influence in the Middle East.
Thanks for the additional info. I knew that the German Reich and the Ottoman Empire were allies in WWI, a connection that still goes on til today with the modern state of Turkey (though that connection has been enormously stressed since Erdogan has been president), but I tend to forget that the Ottomans in the late 19th century still controlled much of what we now call the Middle East.
I read a little further about the sarcophagus on a German site and learned that it happened during an extended Middle East visit in 1898 by Willhelm II who was on a political good will tour.
German politics everywhere in the Muslim world during and before WW1 were heavily influenced by the fact that most powerful “Muslim” power in the world was the British empire. So they did everything possible to be seen as a supporter of Islam (against the British colonial overlords who ruled a vast percentage of the world’s Muslims)
Edit: As mentioned above, the other large swath of the Islamic world that was either ruled over, or in direct conflict with, another of Germany’s enemies: Russia.
British empire and not the Ottoman empire?
Yes, by 1914, Egypt, Malaya and the Indian subcontinent were under British rule.
Yup not even close. At the start of WW1 the Muslim population of the British empire was 94 million. The entire Ottoman empire was only 25 million.
Also many native Americans served in the Spanish-American war which happened less than a decade after the last of the wars between the Native American tribes and the US government. I can’t find any examples with a quick google but there is a chance some of them that received medals (fewer than their white counterparts of course) had actually fought against the US government in those earlier conflicts.
I’m pretty sure a number of “Indian Peace Medals” were given to Native leaders who fought the encroachment of the white man.
Nitpick: Those awards (if any), as well as the medals given to Americans by France after WW II, were awards to former enemies, not to enemies.