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

THEGERMANTHREATONTHEPERIPHERY 133

hadbeenreorganizedintoanarmycorpsandreinforcedwithmore

troops,northalongtheTigrisRiverprecludedfurtherOttomanand

GermanoperationsonthePersianoilfields."

Turkish-GermanConflictoverPersia
DespitethecooperationoftheKleinexpeditionwiththeOttomans,
duringthespringandsummerof 1915 antagonismdeepenedbetween
theTurksandGermansoverpolicyin Persia.Duringtheattackby
troopsofRaufBeyintowesternPersiatheinvadershadplundered
PersianandKurdishvillages andmadeknowntheirintentionsof
annexingtheregiontoTurkey.ThisproducedbitterPersianprotests
andcallsfromSarre,Kardorff,andNiedermayerforRauf'sremoval."
When,however,WangenheimandZimmermannemphasizedto Enver
PashatheharmfuleffectsofRauf'stroops,thewarministerrejected
thecriticism,refusedtoreplaceRauf,andcomplainedabouttheGer-
manadvanceintoPersia."
Atthesametime,however,theGermanspursuedaggressivelytheir
policyin Persia,autonomousofthePorte,topersuadethegovern-
mentinTeherantojointheCentralPowers. APersianCommittee,
organizedin Berlinbytheforeignministry,sentits membersto
Baghdad,Teheran,andShirazwithpropagandademandingthelib-
erationofPersiafromBritishandRussianconrrol.wInKermanshah,
inwesternPersia, theGermanagent,MaxOttoSchuenemann,as-
sistedbythegendarmerie'sSwedishofficers,incitedlocaltriballead-
ersandtownsmenagainsttheBritishandRussians.Thepresenceof
RaufBey'stroopsnearby,moreover,forcedtheconsulsoftheAllied
powersto fleetherown.>
DuringApriltheGermanministertoTeheran,PrinceHeinrich
XXXIofReuss,returnedtothePersiancapitalalongwiththeAustro-
Hungarianminister,CountLogothetti.Reuss,accompaniedalso by
Niedermayerandtheremainderofhisexpedition,realizedthatGer-
manyfacedfarmoreseriousproblemsinpersuadingPersiatojoin
theReich inthewarthanConstantinopleandBerlinhadbelieved.
HesoondiscoveredthattheBritishandRussians,thankstoBritain's
captureofdocumentsattheGermanconsulateinBushire,knewof
theGermanstrategyofpersuadingthePersiangovernmenttojoin