134 WARBYREVOLUTIONtheCentralPowers."In fact,attheendofAprilBritainandRussia
movedquicklytobluntthethreat.Theypostednewandmoreca-
pableministerstoTeheran,andwhenthePersianprimeministerand
hisgovernmentresigned,theypressuredtheyoungshah,Ahmad,an
eighteen-year-oldwhohadascendedthethroneonlyin1914,toname
a newcabinetacceptabletotheEntenteY
Reuss'sreturntoTeherandidlittletoimproveGermany'sposi-
tionin Persia. HefailedtocentralizeleadershipofPersianpolicyin
hishands,andthusitremaineddistributedamongaconfusingarray
ofGermanagentsinthecountry,includingNiedermayer,eachpur-
suinghisown,oftencontradictory,goals.Moreover,telegramstook
fromtentofourteendays totravelbetweenTeheranandBerlin.The
transferofmoneyfromGermanytoPersia(donethroughbanksin
Amsterdam,Bombay,andCalcutta)oftentookevenlonger.Thisre-
sultedin alackoffundstheagentsrequiredto pay forthesupportof
Persianpoliticalandreligiousleadersandgendarmerie.
Furthermore,holywarpropagandahadmobilizedonlyahandful
ofArabs andKurdsalongtheTurkish-Persianborder,alongwith
somesouthPersiantribes.Elsewherethecall forjihadhadproduced
littleresponse,fallingvictimtoPersianfearsoftheTurksandtothe
Shiite-Sunnischism.Consequently,Kardorffhadestablishedcon-
tactslongbeforeReuss'sarrivalwiththePersiannationalistparty,
theDemocrats.ThisgroupinthePersianparliamentinTeheranbit-
terlyopposedAnglo-Russiandominationofthecountry.TheDemo-
crats,however,remainedcool totheholywar,fearingitmightresult
inTurkishruleinPersiareplacingthatoftheBritishandRussians.
Kardorff,nevertheless,succeededinestablishingcooperationbetween
Democraticofficialsandreligiousleaders.
As for thePersiantribes,theymadeaconfusingpicture.Inthe
west,theTurkishinvasionsabotagedpro-Germansympathies;fur-
thersouth,whereWassmussagitatedamongthetraditionallyanti-
BritishTangistanis,chancesseemedgreaterthatthetribeswouldjoin
theTurkish-Germanside.ButrecruitmentofthePersiantribesand
gendarmeriefor amilitaryassaultontheBritishandRussiansin Per-
siasufferedsignificantlyfromGermany'sinabilitytoshipweapons
andmoneyto itspotentialPersianallies.TheBalkansupplyrouteto
TurkeyremainedclosedtotheReichthroughoutmuchof1915.S3