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

THEGERMANTHREATONTHEPERIPHERY 129

ThesuccessoftheGermanarmiesinRussiain 1915 heightened
Germany'sinterestin Persia. InthistheReich'sinexperiencedcharge
d'affairesinTeheran,Kardorff,playeda key role. Hedispatchedre-
portstoBerlinthatemphasizedtheeagernessofthePersiansand
theshah'sgovernmentin Teheranto supporttheGermansand
Turksinthewar.ThePersians,claimedKardorff,hopedto freethem-
selvesfromtheRussiantroopsoccupyingmuchofnorthernPersia,
andfromBritishtroopsinthesouth.Kardorff,actingindependently
oftheforeignministryandusinglargesumsofmoneyforbribes,
hadwonover totheGermansidetheSwedishofficersoftheseven-
thousand-manPersianarmedforce,thegendarmerie."
Ontheonehand,thisincreasedtheinterestinPersiaofNadolny
andtheGeneralStaff.Nadolnyarguedthatthepossibiliryexisted
forGermanytounleashamassiveanti-Englishandanti-Russianre-
bellionamongthenativepeoples"fromtheCaucasustoCalcutta."
Ontheotherhand,Kardorff'sactivitieshardenedfurthertheoppo-
sitionoftheTurkstoGermanactivitiesin Persia.TheOttomanmili-
tarycommandersinMesopotamia,RaufBeyandSulaymanAskeri,
onordersfromEnverPasha,prohibitedtheNiedermayerexpedition
fromenteringPersia.>
TheTurksalsolimitedtheworkofanotherGermanmissionthat
hadarrivedinBaghdad,oneledbyFritzKleinandequippedwith
armamentsfromtheGeneralStaff.Enver,too,intheaftermathof
thefailedTurkishmilitaryattackagainsttheRussiansinthe
Caucasus,urgeddelayingtheadvanceofthejointGerman(Nied-
ermayer)-OttomanexpeditionintoPersiaandAfghanistanuntil
Turkishtroops,whichhadinvadedAzerbaijan,hadpushedtheRus-
siansoutofthearea."
AstruggleonthisquestionsoonemergedinBerlinbetweenthe
foreignministryandGeneralStaff.Amultitudeofissues,whichun-
derminedGermanhopesofpersuadingPersiatojointheCentral
Powers,provokedit:TurkishobstinacytowardGermansinMesopo-
tamiaandPersia,themistreatmentofPersiansbyOttomanforces in
Azerbaijan,andPersianfearsthatTurkeyintendedto seizePersian
territory.Thedisagreementcenteredaroundcontrolover Berlin's
policytowardPersiaandAfghanistan.Althoughtheforeignministry
andWangenheimurgedcooperationinthismatterwiththeTurks,