First World War in Persia
Iran around 1900
| date | November 2, 1914 to August 9, 1919 |
|---|---|
| place | Iran |
| output | UK victory |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
| Commander | |
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| Troop strength | |
 3rd Army
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.svg){kind=small} Caucasus ArmyDetachement (Armenian Volunteers) |
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The First World War in Persia was a secondary theater of the First World War . The fighting spread to neutral Persia at the end of 1914 and continued until 1921. On the Entente side , troops from the British Empire and the Russian Empire took part. The Central Powers primarily involved Ottoman troops and German and Austrian officers who acted as military advisers in command of Persian units. The local military, especially the Persian Cossack Brigade and the Persian Gendarmerie , fought against the Russian and British units. Irregular tribal militias intervened in the clashes regionally.
After the October Revolution in Russia, the fighting was initially stopped by the Russian side as part of the Brest-Litovsk Peace Treaty . The following fighting between Ottoman and Armenian troops continued to involve parts of western Persia. In 1918, British units that had marched through Iran to the Caucasus occupied the Russian part of Azerbaijan. With the armistice of Mudros the fighting between the Ottoman and British units ended. However, the Russian civil war spread to areas in northern Persia. Units from Great Britain, the Russian whites and the Red Army , Persian irregulars and regular Persian units were involved in these skirmishes .
These military conflicts led to a coup on February 21, 1921, led by Seyyed Zia al Din Tabatabai and Reza Khan , a then unknown commander of a unit of the Persian Cossack Brigade . After the signing of the Soviet-Persian friendship treaty on February 25, 1921, the Soviet units withdrew from northern Iran. The British units had already moved into what is now Iraq.
Starting position
In December 1911, the Iranian parliament was dissolved by the intervention of Russian troops and the forced resignation of the US treasurer Morgan Shusters , who was in the service of the Iranian parliament . After more than two years of occupying the northern half of Iran, the Russian troops had withdrawn to Persian Azerbaijan , so that parliamentary elections in Tehran and the provinces could begin in January 1914. The elections dragged on for months until the new parliament could meet for the first time on December 5, 1914.
While political normalcy had returned to Tehran, the First World War had begun in Europe in August 1914. In Tehran, this was initially not affected, as it seemed more important to build the state that the politicians of the Constitutional Revolution in 1906 had dreamed of. The clashes with Mohammed Ali Shah were finally a thing of the past. The constitutional monarchy, headed by Ahmad Shah, appeared to be consolidating. Hassan Mostofi, a well-respected prime minister, was the first to try to ease Iran's dependence on Great Britain and Russia by trying to revive relations with Germany.
Ahmad Shah declared in a decree issued on November 1, 1914, the strict neutrality of Iran. The declaration of neutrality was preceded by a request from the Prime Minister to the Turkish ambassador in Tehran whether Turkey would respect an officially pronounced neutrality of Iran. The response of the Turkish ambassador was disappointing: Since Russian troops are stationed in Azerbaijan , he sees little possibility of viewing Iran as neutral. The ambassadors of Russia and Great Britain, who were also contacted, welcomed the declaration of neutrality. However, the Russians were not ready to withdraw their troops from Iran because they feared that the Turkish troops would then invade the country even more. Despite the low prospect of success, the Iranian government declared its country's neutrality in the emerging armed conflict. She called on the parties to the conflict to respect Iran's position.
Start of hostilities
Ottoman troops occupy Tabriz and Urmia
The situation in Iran changed suddenly in November 1914. The Ottoman Empire entered the war on the side of the Central Powers and Turkish troops occupied large parts of northwestern Iran in January 1915. This was preceded by an attack by Russian troops on Ottoman border posts on Zivin , Doğubeyazıt and Diyadin (miners offensive) in November 1914 , which led to the Battle of Sarıkamış in December 1914 and ended with a crushing defeat for the Turks. Russian forces had withdrawn from Azerbaijan and moved to the Sarıkamış front. Turkish troops then marched into northwestern Iran and occupied Tabriz and Urmia .
Iran asked the US government for assistance in an effort not to allow hostilities to spill over into Iranian territory. On November 11, 1914, the US government pledged to support Iran's neutral stance. However, it was obvious that the warring parties would not respect neutrality. Parts of the Russian troops that marched into Iran in the 1911 coup attempt by Mohammed Ali Shah were still stationed in northern Iran and Tehran. British units later invaded the south and began to build the South Persia Rifles , a British-commanded Persian unit to protect the Anglo-Persian Oil Company's oil facilities in Abadan . Then Turkish troops moved into the north and west of Iran.
The Niedermayer-Hentig Expedition
Germany sent the Niedermayer-Hentig expedition in September 1914 , which Wilhelm Wassmuss joined. Oskar von Niedermayer and Werner Otto von Hentig were supposed to pull Iran and Afghanistan to the side of the Central Powers and attack British units. Wassmuss, who had been consul in Bushehr until 1914 , hurried to the Kashgai in southern Iran and organized the resistance against the British there. These activities were initially coordinated by the news office for the Orient .
The Turkish Commander-in-Chief Enver Pasha took the view that the Russian troops stationed in the cities of Iran could easily be beaten, and that this would open the way to Azerbaijan and the Caspian Sea oil fields, as well as to Central Asia and India. Enver Pascha was an advocate of Panturanism , a nationalist movement that wanted to unite all Turkic peoples.
From a military point of view, Iran had little to counter these strategic considerations. There was no national army. The small Persian Cossack brigade led by Russian officers and the Persian gendarmerie led by Swedish officers , which had only been under construction since 1911, were not serious opponents for the armies of the Turks, Russians and British. For comparison: Iran had about 20 million inhabitants at the time of the First World War. Only a minority lived in the cities. Tehran had 280,000, Tabriz 200,000, Isfahan 80,000, Mashhad , Kerman 60,000 and Yazd 45,000 inhabitants. In addition, Russian troops were already in large parts of the north before hostilities broke out: Tabriz was occupied by regular Russian troops in support of Mohammed Ali Shah in 1909 during the constitutional revolution; Urmia and Choy followed in 1910. After the constitutional revolution had ended In 1911, the Russian troops had withdrawn from the cities, but remained stationed in northwestern Iran. A press report from Istanbul on November 29, 1914 describes the situation as follows:
“Here is a reliable wire report on the situation in Iran: As is well known, Russian troops have been in northern Iran for several years, supposedly to protect against unrest, but in reality to prepare for an occupation of the country without any legal justification. The recent appointment of respected patriots to the Persian cabinet prompted the governor-general of the Caucasus, Grand Duke Nicolai Nicolajewitsch , to order the advance of Russian troops from Kasoqd onto the capital Tehran in order to force the overthrow of the Mostofi cabinet. It was planned at the same time to arrest all nationalist parliamentarians and to eliminate the Swedish officers who were at the head of the Persian gendarmerie and loyal to the Shah . The completely surprised government with the Shah at its head decided to evade Russian rape and temporarily relocate the seat of the governorate to the city of Qom, a little further south. On the solemn promise given at the last moment to withdraw the troops, the Shah decided to remain in the city. At the written request of the government, the envoys of the central powers had already gone to Qom, where the parliament and the leaders of the Patriot Party were already assembled. The Shah, who tends towards peace, seems to want to make concessions to the Russians again to save the neutral country from going to war, but is demanding the withdrawal of all Russian and British troops. There is great excitement in Iran. Numerous tribes and voluntary groups have moved in the direction of the capital to protect the Shah against the brutal, ruthless actions of the Russians. "
The first weeks of the war
Russian troops in Tabriz and Urmia
For the Turkish government, the first few weeks of the war turned into a catastrophe. The attack of the Ottoman 3rd Army on Russia was stopped by the Russian Caucasus Army . The Turks suffered great losses in the Battle of Sarıkamış and had to retreat to their original positions. The Russians strengthened their troops in northwestern Iran and invaded Gilan . The British, who had already stationed troops in the south, reinforced their units in August 1915 and occupied Abadan and Bushehr . The German Wilhelm Wassmuss had the Kaschgais equipped with explosives and guns and can convince to attacks on Ölpiplines. The British, on the other hand, had tried to attract the Bakhtiars to their side with considerable sums of money. They were supposed to secure the pipelines in conjunction with British troops.
German action plan
Large parts of the Iranian population and the most active political party, the Democrats, as well as the Tehran press were on the side of the Central Powers . If Germany and Austria-Hungary won, it was hoped that they would be liberated from the economic and political dependence on Great Britain and Russia that had existed for decades. The German military mission, led by the cavalry captain of the reserve, Count Kanitz, demanded that Berlin be persuaded to enter the war. Captain Rudolf Nadolny , Head of the Politics Section of the German General Staff, developed an action plan "to start a fire from the Caucasus to Calcutta". The aim of Nadolny's action plan was to organize "a general survey of the Caucasians, Persians, Afghans and Indians" in order to "give the Russians and the British a lot to create."
Nadolny outlined the German plan of action in a telegram to Major Hans Tieschowitz von Tieschowa , the department chief of the General Staff of the Field Army: A new German commander was to be appointed for Persia, consultation with Nadolny and the Turkish department of the Prussian War Ministry and the German Foreign Office ( Foreign Ministry) should hold. The commander also assumed command of the entire Persian armed forces, consisting of the Persian gendarmerie , government troops and tribes, as well as the German forces that were sent to Persia. The commandant should then expel Russians and English from Persia, establish a connection to Afghanistan, Balochistan and India, support the Turkish operations in the Caucasus and Mesopotamia and occupy the oil wells on the Karun or at least prevent the English from using them. In addition, he was supposed to support the Niedermayer-Hentig expedition that had been sent to Afghanistan, as well as support the operations in Afghanistan that were directed against the Russians and the English. He should also support a possible uprising in Trans-Caspia, Balochistan and India.
German stage line
With considerable funds, a stage line was built across Iran to Afghanistan in the spring of 1915 . Diplomatic intelligence officers were used as German consuls at the most important points. Most of the Swedish officers at the head of the Persian gendarmerie entered German service in secret. Field Marshal Colmar von der Goltz appointed Major General Arthur Bopp to head German operations in Iran. Bopp had the task "to utilize the forces of Persia in the interests of the Central Powers and Turkey and to ensure the freedom and independence of Persia. ... To prepare a Persian uprising and to initiate the formation of a Persian army ...". Von der Goltz was under the command of the Ottoman 6th Army , all envoys from Germany and Turkey with all personnel in Iran and Afghanistan, as well as all officers and expeditions sent to Iran and Afghanistan. He was given a free hand with the strength at his disposal to "win soil in Persia".
The war is escalating
Persian gendarmes fight against the Russians and the British
In November 1915, Colonel Pesyan , the commander of the Persian gendarmerie in Hamadan , attacked the pro-Russian Persian Cossack brigade at the Battle of Musalla . After his victory, he managed to win over many Cossacks. The Russian Caucasus Army, which was superior both in numbers and in armament, marched into Hamadan and also defeated the gendarmerie unit in Kermanshah . On November 10, 1915, gendarmerie units successfully attacked Shiraz and arrested all British citizens living there. Also, Yazd and Kerman fell into the hands of the gendarmes. Rudolf Nadolny's plan seemed at least partially to work.
The Russian Caucasus Army has now been divided into two parts. One part marched southwest to Baghdad , the second part towards Tehran , Qom and Isphahan . On November 10, 1915, Ahmad Shah presented a secret treaty to the representative of the German government in which a defense alliance between Germany and Iran was agreed. Iran should declare war on Russia and Britain. After winning the war, Germany should be granted the political and economic privileges of Russia and Great Britain in Iran, and Germany should finance the burden of war. Mobilization in Iran should be gradual as the means allowed. The German ambassador Prince Heinrich XXXI. Reuss signed the contract. In the meantime, however, Ahmad Shah had concerns. The Russian troops were close to Tehran. The contract was therefore initially without his signature.
Russian troops advance on Tehran
On November 15, 1915, Ahmad Shah announced that he would leave Tehran before the approaching Russian troops and go to Qom. Gendarmerie units, members of parliament and the German representation under the leadership of Prince Reuss went to Qom to await the arrival of Ahmad Shah. Prince Kamran Mirza , Sepahdar and Farmanfarma , who were partisans of Russia and Great Britain, urged the Shah to stay in Tehran. The British and Russian ambassadors were also with Ahmad Shah. They assured that the Russian troops would not march into Tehran and got Ahmad Shah to stay in Tehran. Germany's goal of persuading Iran to join the war on the side of the Central Powers had failed for the time being.
Russia and Great Britain, for their part, made political promises to the Iranian government. Negotiations were made about an alliance agreement in which Iran "the repeal of the Treaty of Saint Petersburg of 1907 , the regulation of the Caucasus border in Iran's favor, the recognition of sovereignty over the Persian Gulf and border regulations in Sistan and Baluchistan in favor of Iran were promised" . In this situation, the German ambassador Prince Reuss, who refused to return to Tehran, was relieved and replaced by Philipp Vassel . Vassel was supposed to explain to the Iranian government that “Field Marshal Colmar von der Goltz had arrived in Baghdad and wanted to take command of the Iranian armed forces and lead them to victory against the Russians and the British. Guns and ammunition are already on their way to Iran. Germany would provide an advance of 2 million marks without any special securities. And after the peace agreement, Germany would work for the independence and integrity of Iran. "
But it shouldn't come to that at first. Vassel was stuck in Baghdad. The Russians forced the Shah with their troop presence to overthrow Hassan Mostofi's pro -German government on December 24, 1915 and to replace it with a government under Abdol Hossein Mirza Farmanfarma , who supported the Entente. The MPs who fled to Qom had meanwhile formed a “National Defense Committee” with German support , which called for the “fight for the liberation of Persia”.
The Persian Committee in Berlin
In Berlin, a “Persian Committee” was formed from Persians in exile , which sent members to Persia to support the work of the National Defense Committee. The Persian Committee, which included Abul Hassan Alavi, Bozorg Alavi's father , and Seyyed Hassan Taqizadeh , published the newspaper " Kaveh " with financial support from the German government . The Persians in exile in Istanbul also printed the newspaper “ Hawar (Help) ” with German support . Both newspapers appealed to Persian national sentiment and called for resistance against the British and Russians. The aim was to start a national liberation struggle in Persia.
The first government in exile in Kermanshah
The climax of these efforts was a "provisional government" formed with German and Turkish help under the leadership of Reza Qoli Khan Nezam al Saltaneh , the governor of Lorestan , initially based in Kermanshah. The clergyman Hassan Modarres , who served as Minister of Justice, was also involved. In order to avoid the term "government" out of consideration for the central government in Tehran, the name was "Committee X". As the Russian troops advanced, the seat of the government-in-exile was relocated together with the branch of the German embassy to Qasr-e Shirin (located directly on today's border between Iran and Iraq).
Russian troops occupy Kermanshah
The Russian general Nikolai Nikolajewitsch Baratow , unimpressed by the German actions, led his troops further into the southwest of Iran and had taken Hamadan on December 15, 1915 . From Hamadan an overland road led directly to the border of the Ottoman Empire and on to Baghdad. There had Colmar von der Goltz now be headquarters opened. Together with the new German ambassador for Iran and another 30 German officers under the direction of Colonel Bopp, he traveled to Kermanshah on January 1, 1916 to get an idea of the military situation in Iran. In Kermanshah he met Count Kanitz, the military attaché of the German embassy. Count von Kanitz, in collaboration with Colonel Pesyan, had organized the defense of western Iran from the gendarmes and local Iranian units. Kanitz, Pesyan and the local tribal chiefs had expected that von der Goltz would reinforce the Persian troops with arms and money. But at first he came empty-handed. He wanted to get an idea of the military situation before he wanted to provide weapons and ammunition. In addition, the weapons (20,000 rifles and 6 machine guns) bought and paid for by the Iranian government in Germany in 1912 did not arrive until January and February 1916. The Iranians waited in vain for the weapons promised by Military Attache von Kanitz.
In mid-January the Georgian Cavalry Legion under Kakuza Choloqashvili advanced on Kermanshah. Kanitz had tried to stop the Russian offensive, but failed. Fighters of Luren , which he had recruited, withdrew. After the fighting, Kanitz was lost in the mountains around Kangavar .
Von der Goltz had meanwhile intervened in Berlin. From there a German special mission was dispatched under the direction of Colonel Adolf Friedrich zu Mecklenburg , which included a team equipped with plenty of machine guns. In addition, von der Goltz had set up Turkish auxiliary troops on the march to defend the heights of the pass in Kangavar together with the gendarmes. It didn't help, the Russian advance could not be stopped. On February 22, 1916, Russian troops occupied Kermanshah.
| Forces of the Central Powers in Persia (February 1916) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Location | commander | Strength | heavy weapons |
| Use |
Major Erikson (Swede) |
400 mounted gendarmes 400 gendarmes on foot 2000 tribal warriors |
6 machine guns 2 mountain guns |
| Bitezorg | Major Kaellstroem (Swede) |
2 Ottoman companies 2 Persian companies (militia) |
1 machine gun 4 Schneider guns |
| Sachna | Major Schefket Bey (Ottoman) |
3 Ottoman companies | |
|
Jarsineh (near Sachna) |
Major Raith (German) |
3 Ottoman companies 700 Sendschabi horsemen |
|
| Songhur | Major Soneson (Swede) |
4 Ottoman companies 260 gendarmes on foot approx. 60 mounted gendarmes approx. 500 tribal riders |
|
| Kurweh |
OffzStv Schenker (German) |
1400 tribal riders | |
| Sanandaj | Major Mehemed Taghi Khan (Persian) |
1050 tribal riders 1050 uneducated militias |
|
British troops land in southern Iran
In August 1915, British troops landed in Bushehr and Abadan to protect the oil production of the Anglo-Persian Oil Company . The Persian gendarmerie in Bushehr was disarmed by the British troops. In Burazjan there was fighting between the gendarmes led by Ahmad Khan Akhgar and the British troops. British-Indian troops kept ready landed at Fao in the Persian Gulf on November 6 , thus opening the Mesopotamia front . After several encounters with weaker Ottoman troops, they succeeded in taking Basra on November 23 .
In contrast to Kanitz in the west, Wassmuss , who had traveled to the south , succeeded in drawing the local tribal princes to the German side and positioning them against the British troops. Kurt Wustrow, German consul in Shiraz, had the British consul in Shiraz O'Connor on November 10, 1915 with the help of the gendarmes led by Ali Qoli Khan Pesyan on behalf of the “National Committee for the Protection of the Independence of Persia ( Komīta-ye mellī-e ḥāfeẓīn -e esteqlāl-e mamālek-e Īrān ) ”together with 10 other British citizens. The National Committee took over the administration in Shiraz and remained in office until March 1916. The British-run Imperial Bank of Persia has its cash holdings confiscated. After the success in Shiraz, the gendarmes also took control of Hamadan, Kermanshah, Sultanabad, Esfahan, Yazd and Kerman, forcing the British and Russians to leave the cities. In Hamadan, Colonel Pesyan had disarmed the Russian-led Persian Cossacks and took control of the city. From March 1916, Percy Sykes began building the South Persian Rifles to counterbalance the increasing German influence in southern Iran. In March, the British-linked Abdol Hossein Mirza Farmanfarma resigned his post as prime minister and assumed the post of governor of Fars province in Shiraz, the provincial capital.
In the meantime, after the September 26, 1915 was Afghanistan broken Niedermayer-Hentig Expedition in Kabul arrived. Hentig succeeded in signing a friendship agreement on January 24, 1916, which promised Afghanistan 100,000 rifles, 300 artillery pieces and considerable sums of money. However, Afghanistan stuck to its policy of neutrality and did not join the war with the Central Powers.
Russian troops defeat the Persian gendarmes in northwestern Iran
In the northwest, however, the situation had initially worsened dramatically. The last gendarmes under Colonel Pesyan were defeated and Choloqashvili initially marched on towards Baghdad to rush to the aid of the British troops enclosed by the Ottoman army at Kut . Before Russian troops could intervene in the fighting for Kut, however, the British gave up on April 29, 1916, and 8,000 British soldiers were taken prisoner by the Turks. Field Marshal Baron Colmar von der Goltz had won an important military victory.
Ottoman troops advance on Kermanshah
After the victory at Kut, the Ottoman troops began an offensive eastwards towards Iran. They met Russian troops in Iran on June 3, defeated them and took Kermanshah on July 2. They reached Hamadan on August 10th. In mid-August, Colonel Pesayn gathered the remaining gendarmes and also returned to Kermanshah. In addition to British and Russian troops, there were now Turkish troops in western Iran. In the area controlled by the Turks, the "provisional government" previously formed in Qasr-e Shirin under Nezam al Saltaneh established its own administration, recruited recruits and levied taxes. This was all done in coordination with Ahmad Shah, to whom Nezam al Saltaneh had assured his allegiance.
The second “government in exile” in Kermanshah
In order to create clarity in the relationship with Germany, Nezam had sent his own representative, Wahid al Mulk, to Berlin. Wahid demanded the use of German troops, weapons, financial support for the provisional government and a guarantee of the state and territorial integrity of Iran after the end of the war. The German negotiating partners initially refused, referring to the negotiations that were conducted directly between the German ambassador Vassel and Nezam. Wahid stayed in Berlin as "representative of the provisional government of Iran".
In July 1916, the Reich government sent Rudolf Nadolny to Iran as chargé d'affaires for the German embassy, who set up a branch of the German embassy in Kermanshah. To finance the "provisional government" led by Reza Qoli Khan Nezam al Saltaneh, which had relocated its seat to Kermanshah, Nadolny had Persian silver and gold coins minted in Berlin and 4 million Reichsmarks in 10, 20 and 100 marks -Bills with a red print with 2 1/2, 5 and 25 toman, taken to Kermanshah. A bank was opened under the direction of Mr. Krummpeter and the German mark was put into circulation as a means of payment in Iran. The political guidelines for Nadolny were clear: “We had no interest in conquering Persia, for example. Above all, it was important to us to maintain ties with Afghanistan and to ensure that Persia was preserved as an independent state between England and Russia. "
Nezam al Saltaneh developed the plan to march into Tehran and liberate Ahmad Shah from the hands of the Russian and British occupiers. The German major Loeben took over the training of the gendarmerie troops; Turkish officers trained volunteers. In a solemn ceremony, Nezam al Saltaneh received the holy sword of jihad from mullahs in Najaf .
The advance of the British troops
The South Persian Rifles defeat the Persian gendarmes
The turning point for the Entente troops was to begin in southern Persia. Field Marshal Colmar von der Goltz died of typhus on April 19, 1916 in Baghdad. His untimely death prevented further military action in favor of Iran. On May 17, 1916, Qavam al Molk and a private army of Bandar Abbas financed by Percy Cox set out to retake Shiraz. In Tehran, with the help of the Russians and British, Colonel Nyström was installed as the new Swedish commander in chief of the gendarmes. He transferred the high command of the gendarmes in Shiraz to Fath al Molk, who bribed some units of the gendarmes to switch to the British side. After a six-month march, Qavam al Molk's son arrived in Shiraz on November 11, 1916. The German consul Röver, the Swedish officer Angerman and the remaining Iranian gendarmes were arrested. At the end of 1916, Percy Sykes reached Shiraz and divided the gendarmes who were cooperating with the British into the South Persian Rifles, which were newly formed by the British.
In early January 1917 another British attack on Kut began. On February 24th, Kut was evacuated by the Turkish troops. On February 26, 1917, General Gressman sent the following telegram to Nadolny, the chargé d'affaires at the German embassy in Kermanshah: "Turkish corps with German formations is evacuating Persia. Please withdraw." This made plans to march to Tehran with German, Turkish and Iranian troops obsolete.
British troops occupy Baghdad - Turkish troops withdraw from Iran
On March 11, 1917, Baghdad fell into the hands of the British. The end of the Turkish offensive in Iran was sealed. The German military mission, the provisional government of Iran and the Persian gendarmes with their German and Swedish officers fled from western Iran to Kirkuk . When the work of the provisional Iranian government under Nezam al Saltaneh ceased, the last German representatives in Tehran were also recalled on May 7, 1917. The embassy in Tehran, which had only one secretary, was finally closed. From July 1917 to January 1918, German interests were represented by the American embassy. Nadolny was still able to settle the question of the Persian gendarmerie in Turkey. Colonel Pesyan, who had commanded the gendarmerie, went into exile in Berlin.
The October Revolution of 1917
In January 1917, Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich Romanov was transferred to the Russian troops in Iran to organize a new offensive. When the Russian tsar abdicated on March 15, 1917, hopes were raised in Iran that the fighting would end. The expected withdrawal of the Russian troops was initially not fulfilled. The Kerensky government continued the policy of the tsar and sent further reinforcements to Iran. The Grand Duke was deposed and replaced by General Nikolai Nikolajewitsch Yudenitsch , who was then immediately dismissed by the new communist government after the October Revolution. The withdrawal of the Russian troops now seemed within reach.
Cessation of fighting between the Russian and Turkish troops
On December 16, 1917, with the armistice of Erzincan, fighting between the Ottoman Empire and the newly established Russian Republic was stopped. In addition to the German government, the "Transcaucasian Committee", which was supposed to found the Transcaucasian Democratic Federal Republic in 1918, was involved in the armistice negotiations .
As early as November 1917, the new government under Lenin "in an appeal to the working Muslims of Russia and the Middle East" declared the Anglo-Russian treaty on the partition of Persia to be invalid "and officially promised the withdrawal of Russian troops from Iran". Wahid al-Mulk, who remained in Berlin as a representative of the provisional Iranian government, had traveled to the Congress of Socialists in Copenhagen in 1917 and had declared:
“We do not have excessive demands that we want to submit to the great powers. The summary of our wish list is just a Persia cleansed of foreign troops and the liberation of the country from British and Russian guardianship. We therefore demand that the Anglo-Russian Convention of 1907 in its provisions on Persia be annulled. The only completely satisfactory solution to the Persian question would be for Persia to take on the role in Central Asia that Switzerland plays in Central Europe. "
The Brest-Litovsk Peace Treaty
Turkish troops march to Baku
But the great powers thought differently. Enver Pascha found himself outmaneuvered by the German government at the Erzincan armistice. He raised a new army, the 9th Army , and marched on Baku . Georgia had started negotiations with the imperial government and asked for protection from the Ottoman troops. The Germans sent 3,000 soldiers to Georgia as part of the German Caucasus expedition and guaranteed an independent Georgia. In the Erzincan ceasefire agreement, Germany also ensured that the Turkish and Russian troops would have to leave Iran. Also in the peace treaty of Brest-Litovsk signed on March 3, 1918 , the respect for political and economic independence and the territorial integrity of Iran were included in the treaty at the request of the imperial government. In January 1918 the regular Iranian government in Tehran tried to rebuild the gendarmerie with the help of Swedish officers. Sweden refused, however. Despite all the difficulties, Tehran saw a withdrawal of foreign troops from Iran, after all, Iran had declared its neutrality at the beginning of the war and had ultimately not officially sided with the Central Powers or the Entente.
British troops invade Northern Iran and occupy Baku
However, the British did not think of withdrawing their troops from Iran. Lord Curzon declared before the House of Lords: "The British Government regards the 1907 Agreement as provisional and is ready to reconsider the whole Persian question at a later date". The continued existence and fate of the South Persian Rifles in Iran was justified by the fact that the "authority of the Persian government" was in jeopardy.
Completely unexpected for the government in Tehran, more British troops were marched into Iran. Major General Dunsterville had started with a motorized unit from Baghdad in January 1918, occupied Qazvin in June and marched on to Anzali. From there he crossed over to Baku and thus secured the oil wells from being attacked by German or Turkish troops. At the same time as Dunsterville, Major General Malleson sent an expeditionary force to Mashhad and on to Turkmenistan to form a defensive ring against the Bolshevik troops that were forming.
In Berlin they became active again. On the German side, General Erich Ludendorff had developed plans "to work with the Ottoman Empire and the Transcaucasian peoples to advance the construction of a base on the Caspian Sea in order to meet British rule in India from there in cooperation with Afghanistan."
Ottoman troops occupy Tabriz again
In violation of the peace treaty of Brest-Litovsk, Ottoman troops occupied Tabriz again on June 27, 1918. In the Russian part of Azerbaijan, the Democratic Republic of Azerbaijan was founded on May 28, 1918 . The war in Iran seemed to be continuing. With the collapse of the Central Powers and the end of the First World War on November 11, 1918, the fighting in Iran was initially to come to an end. The occupation of Tabriz by Turkish troops forces the British to withdraw their troops from Baku in order not to be cut off. With the retreat of the British into Northern Iran, units of the newly formed Soviet Red Army move into Baku and later into Northern Iran. In September 1918, the British began a decisive offensive against the Turkish troops and the German Asian Corps in Palestine. The defeat of the Turkish troops also leads to the withdrawal of Turkish troops from western Iran.
The 1919 Agreement
The collapse of tsarist Russia and the renunciation of the new Soviet rulers to the pursuit of imperialist goals saved Iran from the loss of the territorial integrity provided for in the Constantinople Agreement . After the collapse of the Central Powers, however, all hopes in Iran of averting the threatening British protectorate collapsed.
The Iranian delegation sent to the peace negotiations in Versailles, which demanded relatively modest compensation for the war damage suffered, was not even admitted to the peace negotiations following British intervention. As compensation for the war damage suffered, the Iranian delegation demanded 1 million Toman from Russia, 500,000 Toman from Turkey and 20,000 Toman (approx. 7,000 British pounds) from Germany. The British said they would represent Iranian interests at the peace conference, but that did not happen. Lord Curzon even refused to receive the Iranian delegation in London.
The delegation returned to Tehran without having achieved anything. The negotiations were carried out bilaterally in Tehran between the Iranian government and the British ambassador in Tehran. On August 9, 1919, the Anglo-Iranian Treaty was signed between the representatives of the Iranian and British governments , with which, from the British perspective, Iran should be brought into complete economic and political dependence on Great Britain.
epilogue
The main victims of the armed conflict were without a doubt the inhabitants of western Iran. More than 100,000 people starved to death. Most of the population in Hamadan and Kermanshah lived in caves. Carpet production, one of the main sources of income, had come to a complete standstill in western Iran. More than 10,000 villages no longer had any inhabitants.
Iran was facing collapse economically. Politically, it had lost the rest of its sovereignty to the British. They controlled the borders into Iraq, Russia and Afghanistan. The telephone and telegraph lines were monitored by British forces. A black list of Turks, Germans and other undesirable foreigners was drawn up by the British. Everyone on this list had to leave Iran immediately or was arrested.
Ahmad Shah had negotiated a monthly salary of 15,000 tomans, or 5,000 British pounds, with the British ambassador from August 1918. The Iranian government received monthly donations of 350,000 tomans. Other donations were made to clergymen and merchants. Iran actually became a British protectorate.
Neither the Iranian politicians in Tehran nor the politicians in the Persian provinces wanted to come to terms with the British protectorate plans. The Iranian parliament refused to approve the 1919 agreement. In 1920 , Mirza Kutschak Khan proclaimed the Iranian Soviet Republic in northern Iran . On April 7, 1920, the Red Army marched into Iran and occupied large parts of northern Iran. The conflict between British troops stationed in Iran and Russian Soviet troops threatened to escalate into a new war on Iranian soil. General Edmund Ironside took command of the British forces in Iran ( North Persian Forces, Norperforce ) in October 1920 . The Persian Cossacks, who were still fighting under the leadership of Russian officers, had done little against the Red Army in northern Iran. There was a risk that the Bolshevik troops could march on Tehran and take over the government. It was clear to Ironside that the Russian officers would have to be replaced by British officers, then merged with the South Persian Rifles and opposed to the Red Army in Iran as a new strong Persian unit under the leadership of British officers.
In a first step, the Persian Cossacks from northern Iran were withdrawn behind the British lines and the Russian officers were released with financial compensation. Most of them went to the White Army in Vladivostok to continue fighting against the Red Army on Russian soil. After the replacement of the Russian officers, Ahamd Shah Sardar Homayoun gave supreme command over the Persian Cossacks. Homayoun was completely overwhelmed, whereupon Ironside went looking for a suitable candidate for a substitute for Homayoun. Colonel Smyth, who was responsible for the financing of the Cossack Brigade on the British side, introduced him to Reza Khan. Impressed by the soldier qualities of Reza Khan, Ironside decided that Reza Khan should lead the Persian Cossack Brigade "at least temporarily".
With the coup of Seyyed Zia al Din Tabatabai and Reza Khan on February 21, 1921, the further development of Iran changed fundamentally. Reza Khan, who later became Reza Shah Pahlavi , pursued a strictly nationalist policy and tried to free Iran from British and Russian dependence. As commander-in-chief of the Persian Cossacks, he initially fought the separatist movements in the north, west and south of Iran and thus strengthened the central government in Tehran. Reza Khan also managed to get the Russian and British troops to withdraw. The South Persian Rifles were dissolved. Your crews were integrated into the new Iranian army, which was not commanded by British but by Iranian officers.
For the first time in the modern history of Iran it was possible to get all foreign troops to leave Iran. Reza Shah consistently built up a centrally governed nation state until his abdication, which was forced by the Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran in 1941, which was further developed by his son Mohammad Reza Shah after the end of World War II until his overthrow in 1979. Reza Khan's wish that foreign powers should never again determine the fate of Iran should remain unfulfilled.
literature
- Touraj Atabaki: Iran and the First World War: Battleground of the Great Powers . IB Tauris, 2006, ISBN 1-86064-964-5 ( limited preview in Google Book Search [accessed October 13, 2010]).
- Oliver Bast (Ed.): La Perse et la Grande Guerre. Institut français de recherche en Iran. Tehran 2002.
- Mohammad Gholi Majd: Persia in World War I and its Conquest by Great Britain. Lanham, 2003.
- Michael Jonas, Jan Zinke: “We were in league with the future”. Rudolf Nadolny, the Foreign Office and German Persia Policy in the First World War. In Wilfried Loth, Marc Hanisch: First World War and Jihad. The Germans and the revolutionization of the Orient. Oldenbourg, Munich 2014, ISBN 978-3-486-75570-1 , pp. 61-89.
Individual evidence
- ↑ At this point in time only 69 of 136 members were elected, which was just enough for a quorum. Some parts of the country never voted; in Persian Azerbaijan the Russian occupation troops prevented the election, in others uncooperative governors. see Mansoureh Ettehadieh, Art. "Constitutional Revolution IV. The Aftermath", in: Encyclopædia Iranica Vol. VI, Fasc. 2, pp. 193-199, Eisenbrauns Inc. Indiana, USA 1993; Available online at http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/constitutional-revolution-iv , accessed on June 6, 2012
- ^ Rouhollah K. Ramazani: The foreign policy of Iran 1500-1941. University Press of Virginia, 1966, pp. 115f.
- ^ Cyrus Ghani: Iran and the Rise of Reza Shah. IB Tauris 2000. p. 16
- ^ The Encyclopedia Americana, 1920, Vol. 28, p. 403.
- ↑ The Statesman's Year-book By John Scott Keltie
- ↑ http://www.stahlgewitter.com/15_11_29.htm
- ^ RW Ferrier: The History of the British Petrol Company. Vol. 1. pp. 67, 120-122, 126-128.
- ^ Ulrich Gehrke: Persia in the German Orientpolitik. W. Kohlhammer, 1960, p. 99.
- ^ Colmar Freiherr von der Goltz, Memoirs, edited and edited by Friedrich von der Goltz and Wolfgang Foerster, Berlin 1929, p. 418f.
- ^ Ulrich Gehrke: Persia in the German Orientpolitik. W. Kohlhammer, 1960, p. 201.
- ^ Ulrich Gehrke: Persia in the German Orientpolitik . W. Kohlhammer, 1960, p. 214.
- ^ Ulrich Gehrke: Persia in the German Orientpolitik - Notes and Documents. W. Kohlhammer, 1960, p. 209.
- ^ Ulrich Gehrke: Persia in the German Orientpolitik . W. Kohlhammer, 1960, p. 230.
- ↑ Rudolf Nalodny: My contribution. dme-Verlag, Cologne, 1985, p. 96.
- ^ Ulrich Gehrke: Persia in the German Orientpolitik. W. Kohlhammer, 1960, p. 240.
- ^ Hans Werner Neulen: Feldgrau in Jerusalem. 2nd edition, Munich: Universitas, 2002, ISBN 3-8004-1437-6 , pp. 209f.
- ^ Stephanie Cronin: Iranian Nationalism and the Government Gendarmerie. In: Touraj Atabaki (ed.): Iran and the First World War, London, 2006, p. 53.
- ↑ John Keegan: The First World War. A European tragedy. Translated from the English by Karl and Heidi Nicolai. Rowohlt Taschenbuch Verlag, Reinbek bei Hamburg 2001, ISBN 3-499-61194-5 , pp. 309, 312; Janusz Piekałkiewicz: The First World War , Econ Verlag, Düsseldorf / Vienna / New York 1988, ISBN 3-430-17481-3 , p. 163 ff.
- ^ Stephanie Cronin: Iranian Nationalism and the Government Gendarmerie. In: Touraj Atabaki (ed.): Iran and the First World War, London, 2006, pp. 55f.
- ↑ Rudolf Nalodny: My contribution. dme-Verlag, Cologne, 1985, p. 97.
- ↑ Rudolf Nalodny: My contribution. dme-Verlag, Cologne, 1985, p. 99.
- ^ Stephanie Cronin: Iranian Nationalism and the Government Gendarmerie. In: Touraj Atabaki (ed.): Iran and the First World War, London, 2006, pp. 58f.
- ↑ Rudolf Nalodny: My contribution. dme-Verlag, Cologne, 1985, p. 101.
- ↑ Rudolf Nalodny: My contribution. dme-Verlag, Cologne, 1985, p. 105.
- ^ Ulrich Gehrke: Persia in the German Orientpolitik. W. Kohlhammer, 1960, p. 311.
- ^ Ulrich Gehrke: Persia in the German Orientpolitik - Notes and Documents. W. Kohlhammer, 1960, p. 303.
- ^ Ulrich Gehrke: Persia in the German Orientpolitik. W. Kohlhammer, 1960, p. 313.
- ^ Ulrich Gehrke: Persia in the German Orientpolitik. W. Kohlhammer, 1960, p. 315.
- ^ Cyrus Ghani: Iran and the rise of Reza Shah. IB Tauris, 2000, p. 17.
- ^ Cyrus Ghani: Iran and the rise of Reza Shah. IB Tauris, 2000, p. 23.
- ^ Cyrus Ghani: Iran and the rise of Reza Shah. IB Tauris, 2000, pp. 26f.
- ^ Stephanie Cronin: The Army and the Creation of the Pahlavi State in Iran. Tauris Academic Studies, 1997, p. 81.
- ^ Cyrus Ghani: Iran and the rise of Reza Shah. IB Tauris, 2000, p. 147.