PERSIA, CAMPAIGNS IN. For many years before the World War Germany had been making strenuous efforts to in crease her influence and interests in Persia. At Tehran a college was opened, staffed by German professors and subsidised by the Persian Government. In the Persian Gulf the firm of Wonck haus began to deal in mother-of-pearl at Lingeh in 1896; in 1897 a German vice-consulate was opened at Bushire. In 190o Ger many attempted to purchase a site for the terminus of the Bagh dad railway at Al Kuwait, but Sheik Mubarak had previously concluded a secret treaty with Great Britain agreeing, in return for protection, not to sell or lease any of his territory without her consent. Other German efforts, made in collusion with Tur key, members of Mubarak's family and the Wahabis, failed; but Turkey established and held posts on Mubarak's territory in Hor (Abdullah, an inlet running from behind Bubiyan Island to within 3om. of Basra. In 1902 the firm of Wonckhaus attempted to gain control of the pearl fisheries around Hulul, then of the red oxide deposits of Abu Musa and finally of a piece of land along the river bank at Mohammerah. These attempts were foiled by Sir Percy Cox, the British Resident. In 1906 the Hamburg Amerika Co. started a service to the Persian Gulf. At the outbreak of war Great Britain was engaged in negotiations with Germany which would have given that Power a strong position at Basra, the destined terminus of the Baghdad railway; and had acknowl edged Turkey's suzerainty over Al Kuwait.
In July 1914 the regency terminated with the coronation of the young Shah, who had hardly taken up his duties when hos tilities commenced. His Majesty summoned the Majlis, and duly proclaimed the neutrality of Persia. The position was, however, a difficult one. The grandees were, in many cases, only anxious to receive money from one or both sides ; the masses hated the Russians and mistrusted the British for being the friends of their enemies. There was sympathy in some quarters for the Turks, and "let the Christians devour one another" was frequently heard. But Persia was powerless. Her military forces included the Cossack brigade 8,000 strong, the Swedish gendarmerie 7,000 strong and the useless Persian Army.
India took the precaution of despatching a brigade of Indian troops to the Bahrein Islands. After the outbreak of hostilities this force, increased to a division, defeated the Turks at Sahil, and occupied Basra on Nov. 2 1 , thus effectually protecting the oil refineries of the Anglo-Persian Oil Co. To protect the pipe line, i5om. long, running through Ahwaz to the oilfields at Maidan-i-Naftun, which the tribesmen had breached and fired in several places, operations were undertaken, as a result of which Persian soil was cleared of a Turkish force that threatened Ahwaz; the local tribes then submitted to the Indian troops and the pipe line was repaired.
Germany hoped to embarrass Russia, and still more, Great Britain, by forcing Persia and Afghanistan into the War on her own side and creating disturbances in India and on her frontiers. If Persia would come in, the claim that Islam was on the side of the Central Powers might have brought in Afghanistan. Germany was able to divert forces to Persia at a small cost ; for India was weakly held, and the "Emden" was causing some uneasiness. The chief German agent was Wassmuss, formerly consul at Bushire, who organised an anti-British confederacy at Tangistan, Dashti and Dashtistan, bought over the Swedish officers of the gendar merie at Shiraz and secured control of their force. The British vice-consul was murdered, the consul and entire colony arrested and taken to the coast, Qawam el Mulk, the chief of the Arab tribes, who was acting Governor-General, was driven out, and Wassmuss reigned supreme in Fars. In Kermanshah, Turks and Germans expelled the British in April 1915; at Isfahan the Ger mans were equally successful, and later at Yezd and Kerman. At the end of 1915 seven out of the 17 branches of the Imperial Bank of Persia (a British company) were in enemy hands, and the British colonies had been expelled from central and southern Persia, except the Gulf ports. In the north the position was different. The Russians landed troops at Enzeli, which marched on Tehran. This action drove the enemy ministers to quit the capital.