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

THEGERMANTHREATONTHEPERIPHERY 139

Nevertheless,Wassmusscontinuedhiscampaignto arousethe
tribesagainstBritain.InresponsetheBritishoccupiedBushirewith
fivehundredmoreAnglo-Indiancavalrymenon 8 Augustandap-
pointeda newandevenmorepro-British Persiangovernor."Five days
laterBritishshipsbombardedtheheadquartersofthehostile
Tangistanitriballeader,Rais Ali,atDilbar;on 3 and 9 Septemberthe
Anglo-IndiansrepulsedwithmoderatecasualtiesseveralTangistani
raids,duringwhichRais Ali was killed, afterwhichtheyusedpro-
Britishtribesto scattertheenemyintothehinterland.AtShiraz
WustrowexploitedtheBritishoccupationofBushire tokindlea lo-
calmovementhostileto theBritish.Alsolocaltriballeadersmur-
deredtheBritishviceconsul(aPersian)inShiraz."
DuringthefallGermany'sfortunesinTeheranseemedtopeak.In
AugustandSeptemberGerman-Persiandiscussionsreachedan ad-
vancedstage; thePersiangovernmentaskedfor atreatybywhich
GermanywouldprovidealargeloanandguaranteePersianintegrity
andindependence.ReportsofthelandingofRussiantroopsatEnzeli
ontheCaspianSeaandtheirmovementsouthtowardKazvin,roughly
ahundredmilesfromTeheran,ledReusstopushBerlintoaccept
thePersianconditionsimmediately.
Butforreasonsstillunknown,Reuss'stelegramoutliningthePer-
sianofferreachedtheGermanforeignministryonlyon 9 October
1915,amonthaftertheministerhadsentit.Theministry,Bethmann
Hollweg,andWilhelmIIquicklyagreedto thePersianterms;they
seemedpersuadedthatPersiawouldsoonconcludetheagreement.
TheoptimisminBerlinresultedfromtheapparentlyimpendingde-
featofBritishandimperialforcesatGallipolias well asfromincreas-
ingsignsthatGermany'srouteformoneyandarmamentsthrough
theBalkanstoTurkeyandPersiawouldsoonopen.Indeed,during
OctoberBulgariaenteredthewaronthesideoftheCentralPowers,
whosearmiessoondefeatedSerbia."
Berlin wasfurtherencouragedby the arrivalofnewsthatNiedermayer
andHentighadreachedAfghanistanandthatthePortehadmade
concessionstoGermanyregardingPersia.Thepossibilityofa Ger-
man-PersiantreatyledtheOttomanstoremoveRaufBeyfromhis
militarypostandhalt,atleastmomentarily,Turkishoppositionin
PersiatoGermanactivitiesthere.Also,attheurgingoftheGerman