"تاريخ الحرب الكبرى استنادًا إلى وثائق رسمية: العمليات في بلاد فارس ١٩١٤-١٩١٩" [ظ‎‎٢‎١] (٥٦٦/٤٧)

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14
OPERATIONS IN PERSIA
Neither he nor any of the Shahs who succeeded him, however,
appear to have realised that many other reforms, besides one
in mUitary training, were necessary before the army could
. be 5ri e 8i e O ffi t C he n French military mission sent by Napoleon was
S” replaced by a British mission from India, among whose officers
missions. Lindsay-Bethune, Monteith and Willock have left
fS n^sEed record. Majors D’Arcy Todd and Hart also
did fine military service in Persia about this penod the latter s
influence over the Shah, the heir-apparent and the Persian
soldiery being so great that he held a position m the country,
till his death there in 1830, which was unequalled by any other
foreign officer. Persia, however, gained almost nothing m
military strength from their employment; not from the
fault of the British personnel or of the Persian rank and fie
who proved to be docile, intelligent and sufficiently courageous
b u t owing to the uselessness and inefficiency of the Persian
officers and to the corruption and lack of proper system of
the administration. In 1815 a dispute between the two
Governments over the subsidy led to the departure of mos
of the British personnel; but in 1834 another large military
mission from India arrived in Persia, among its officers being
Shiel, Rawlinson, Passmore, D’Arcy Todd and Stoddart, all
of whom gained distinction there. Within six months of their
arrival, however, Muhammad became Shah and, actuated
by Russian influence and his own desire to invade Afghanistan,
not only failed to give them the necessary support but treated
them with growing hostility and contumely till they a il
the country with Mr. McNeill in 1838, without having been
able to effect as much good as they might have. The
different British officers and non-commissioned officers who
had so far served Persia left a fine military tradition behind
them, which in 1861, 1870 and 1874, after the efforts of other
European military officers had proved unsuccessful, prompted
further Persian requests for British military instructors. But
the Governments in India and London, displaying indifference,
refused the requests. In 1879 an Austrian military mission
arrived in the country, and the Russians started to organise
the Persian Cossack force which was to become a significant
emblem of Russian ascendancy.
Most European military officers who have been employed m
Persia have held but a poor opinion of the military quality oi
its inhabitants. They all agree as to the lack of the necessary
moral and military attributes of the officer class. Some oi
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