British. In December, the amir offered a treaty of friendship between
Berlin and Kabul, but the terms amounted to little more than an in-
surance policy for Afghanistan should Russia and Great Britain falter
in the war, and contained few benefits for Germany. When the amir
made additional demands before the signing of the treaty, Hentig re-
alized that the mission was a lost cause and decided to depart Kabul
on 21 May 1916.
To minimize the risk of capture, Hentig and Niedermayer left
Afghanistan in opposite directions. Hentig’s group took an eastward
route through the Pamirs to Chinese Central Asia, where they at-
tempted to cause trouble for the local British and Russian communi-
ties by spreading rumors of an imminent Muslim uprising. Following
a protest by the British and Russian consul generals in Kashi, Chinese
troops captured Hentig’s group and escorted them to Beijing. Travel-
ing via the United States and Norway, Hentig returned to Germany
in 1917 and was then dispatched to the embassy in Constantinople.
To his consternation, Niedermayer, who had arrived months earlier,
became an acclaimed and decorated hero, whereas his own role re-
ceived minor attention (their lingering personal dispute was never
resolved). Hentig’s account of his mission, Ins Verschlossene Land
(Into the Closed Land), was hurriedly published in 1918. He returned
to Kabul in 1969 as the honored guest of King Muhammad Zahir
Shah to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Afghan independence.
Hentig died in Lindesnes, Norway, on 8 August 1984.HENTSCH, RICHARD (1869–1918). The army intelligence officer
responsible for the decision to halt the German advance into northern
France in 1914, Richard Hentsch was born in Cologne on 18 Decem-
ber 1869, the son of a lower-middle-class family. After joining the
Royal Saxon Army in 1888 and graduating from the Kriegsakademie
(War Academy), he held a series of staff positions. At the beginning
of World War I, the German General Staff appointed Hentsch head of
its intelligence evaluation branch, the future Fremde Heere. He also
became the liaison officer between the General Staff and the com-
manders of the five armies advancing into northern France.
On 9 September 1914, General Helmuth von Moltke, the chief of
the General Staff then based in Luxembourg, ordered Hentsch to visit
the First and Second Army headquarters and, equipped with sweeping
HENTSCH, RICHARD • 181