Persian Campaign

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Persia was neutral in World War I, but was affected by the rivalry between the Allied Powers and the Central Powers. Persia had significant oil reserves, and was strategically situated between Afghanistan and the warring Ottoman, Russian, and British Empires.

The Persian Campaign was a campaign in the Middle Eastern theatre of the World War I in which the Allied Powers represented by the British Empire, mainly troops from the British Raj contained the Central Powers, the German Empire and the Ottoman Empire.

Wilhelm Wassmuss, known as the German Lawrence, was a German consular official in Persia who loved the desert, and wore the flowing robes of a desert tribesman He persuaded his superiors in Constantinople that he could lead Persian tribes in a revolt against Britain. In 1915 he conferred with local chiefs and distributed pamphlets urging revolt. He was arrested by a local chief, but managed to escape from British custody.

[edit] Battles of the campaign

• Battle of ...

[edit] See also

• World War I
• Military history of Iran
• Wilhelm Wassmuss
• General Lionel Dunsterville of Dunsterforce
• Russo-Persian Wars
• Turko-Persian War
• Anglo-Iranian Oil Company
• Imperialism in Asia
• Morgan Shuster

[edit] References

• Operations in Persia 1914-1919 by Brigadier-General F J Moberly (Printed 1929 but classed 'Confidential'; 1987 reprint, HMSO) ISBN 0 11 290453 X

World War I related:

Theatres of World War I
European (Balkans – Western Front – Eastern Front – Italian Front) – Middle Eastern (Caucasus – Mesopotamia – Sinai and Palestine – Gallipoli – Aden – Persia) – African (South-West Africa – West Africa – East Africa) – Asian and Pacific (German Samoa and New Guinea – Tsingtao) – Other (Atlantic Ocean – Mediterranean – Naval – Aerial)