Niedermayer-Hentig expedition

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The Niedermayer-Hentig expedition originally went back to a Turkish initiative with the aim of drawing Afghanistan into the First World War on the side of the Central Powers .

course

At the beginning of September 1914, a first contingent of 23 Germans left for Constantinople under the direction of Wilhelm Wassmuss . Shortly thereafter, Oskar von Niedermayer followed him with another group who met with the others in Baghdad . As the costs were borne by Germany, Turkey lost control of the initiative. At the same time another group had formed in Berlin around the Indian prince Mahendra Pratap and the German lieutenant Werner Otto von Hentig , who wanted to stir up uprisings in British India from Afghanistan . They joined the others in Baghdad, and finally the Turkish officer Kazim Bey . On the other hand, Wassmuss left the mission in a dispute, hence the name "Niedermayer-Hentig Expedition". In fact, about 60 men managed to make their way to Herat in Afghanistan in August 1915 , although the Russians and British tried to prevent this. However, another group was intercepted with radio equipment and most of the luggage.

On September 26, 1915, the expedition arrived in Kabul . Although she was greeted with military honors, she was still held in a kind of house arrest. Only by threatening a hunger strike did she manage to meet the emir of Afghanistan, Habibullah , who finally received her in his summer residence in mid-October. The German emissaries urged him to start the holy war that the Turkish sultan had proclaimed against the Allies . The emir was offered money and arms deliveries for this. Habibullah replied evasively; at the same time he assured the British envoy in Kabul that Afghanistan would remain neutral. The negotiations dragged on until a friendship agreement between the German Reich and Afghanistan was signed on January 24, 1916 . Among other things, the delivery of 100,000 rifles and 300 artillery pieces as well as considerable sums of money were promised. Hentig was recognized as the diplomatic representative of the German Reich. Nonetheless, Habibullah continued to pursue a policy of neutrality - the Russian offensive on the Caucasus front and the lack of success of the Ottoman Empire had made a victory for the Central Powers unlikely. The Germans had to realize that their mission had failed and left Afghanistan in May 1916. From a German perspective, however, it could be considered a success that the expedition in Russia and India had caused considerable irritation.

consequences

The arrival of the Niedermayer-Hentig expedition in Kabul marked the establishment of diplomatic relations between Afghanistan and Germany.

In 2015, Steffen Kopetzky wrote a depiction of the "Niedermayer-Hentig Expedition" in a novel with a counterfactual outcome .

See also

literature

  • Ludwig W. Adamec : Afghanistan 1900-1923. A Diplomatic History. University of California Press, Berkeley CA et al. 1967.
  • Oskar von Niedermayer : Under the glowing sun of Iran. War experiences of the German expedition to Persia and Afghanistan. Einhorn-Verlag, Dachbau 1925 (from the 2nd edition: Hanseatische Verlagsanstalt, Hamburg 1936, under the title: In the World War at India's Gates. The desert train of the German expedition to Persia and Afghanistan. ).
  • Werner Otto von Hentig : My life - a business trip. Vandenhoeck and Ruprecht, Göttingen 1962.
  • Werner Otto von Hentig: From Kabul to Shanghai. Report on the Afghanistan mission 1915/16 and the return over the roof of the world and through the deserts of China. Libelle Verlag, Lengwil 2003, ISBN 3-909081-37-1 .
  • Hans-Ulrich Seidt : Berlin, Kabul, Moscow. Oskar Ritter von Niedermayer and Germany's geopolitics. Universitas Verlag, Munich 2002, ISBN 3-8004-1438-4 .
  • Steffen Kopetzky : Risk . Klett-Cotta-Verlag, Stuttgart 2015, ISBN 978-3-608-93991-0

Web links

Commons : Niedermayer-Hentig-Expedition  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ FM Bailey : Mission to Tashkent . Jonathan Cape, London 1946, p. 8: “The isolated activities of these agents caused no serious difficulties, but we were concerned to see that they did not disturb peace and order in Afghanistan and among the tribes lying between Afghanistan and the north-west of India. "
  2. ↑ Federal Foreign Office: Germany and Afghanistan celebrate 100 years of friendship , notification dated August 31, 2015.
  3. ^ Steffen Kopetzky: Risk . Klett-Cotta-Verlag, Stuttgart 2015, ISBN 978-3-608-93991-0