Coll 28/102 ‘Persia. German activities in Persia and the Middle East.’

Content

Correspondence and other papers relating to the presence of Axis-country nationals in Persia [Iran] and Iraq at the beginning of the Second World War. Subjects covered include: German activities in Iraq, reported by the British Ambassador at Baghdad, Basil Cochrane Newton; Germans in Persia, including the German ‘colony’ in Tehran; reports of the movements of suspected German agents from India to Persia and Afghanistan; the Persian Government’s declaration of neutrality in 1939; the internment of German nationals in Iraq; the arrest of a Persian journalist named Saif Azad [Abdulrahman Saif] suspected of pro-Nazi sympathies; German propaganda in the Middle East; a summary of a memorandum written by Dr Herbert Melzig of the University of Angora [Ankara] on the activities of the German Ministry of Popular Enlightenment and Propaganda in the Near East (ff 123-125); the translation of a second memorandum written by Melzig entitled The Swastika in the East (ff 126-134); reports of German and Italian vessels and crews in the Gulf, circulated by the Commander-in-Chief of the East Indies Squadron and the Senior Naval Officer in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. ; the defence of oil refinery facilities at Abadan; increasing tensions in Iraq and Iran in early 1941, in response to German military successes in Europe and North Africa. The file’s principal correspondents are: HM Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary A diplomatic representative who ranks below an ambassador. The term can be shortened to 'envoy'. at Tehran, Horace James Seymour succeeded by Reader William Bullard; and the Foreign Office.

The file includes a divider, which gives a list of correspondence references contained in the file by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence.

Extent and format

1 file (230 folios)

Arrangement

The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the rear to the front of the file.

Physical characteristics

Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 232; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio. A previous foliation sequence, which is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.

Written in

English in Latin script

Type

Archival file

Access & Reference

Original held at

British Library: India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity.

Access conditions

Unrestricted

Archive reference

IOR/L/PS/12/3513

Former external reference(s)

Coll 28/102

History of this record

Date(s)

20 Apr 1939-6 Aug 1941 (CE, Gregorian)

Subjects

War propagandaSecond World War (1939-1945)

Places

PersiaIraq

People & organisations

Foreign OfficeHM Ambassador to IranHerbert Melzig

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Cite this record in your research

Coll 28/102 ‘Persia. German activities in Persia and the Middle East.’, British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/12/3513, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100000000648.0x000049> [accessed 25 April 2024]

Link to this record

https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100000000648.0x000049

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