"تاريخ الحرب الكبرى استنادًا إلى وثائق رسمية: العمليات في بلاد فارس ١٩١٤-١٩١٩" [و‎‎١‎٦‎١] (٥٦٦/٣٢٦)

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us by the use of agents and emissaries without employing troops.
This danger could not be met by Persian Cossacks and the
South Persia Rifles. Even if the South Persia Rifles could be
spared from South Persia, which was improbable, the extension
of their sphere northwards would provoke as great an outcry
as the despatch of British troops, while the Persian Cossacks
would not act without an order from the Persian Government,
which the latter would be afraid to give if German influence
became formidable. To effect the replacement of Russian by
British officers in the Persian Cossack force would also require
the presence of British troops. Moreover, said Sir Charles
Marling, only a small British force was required to overawe the
handful of reckless factions whose political capital was a spurious
patriotism inspired by Germany. The despatch of such a force
would be welcomed by our friends and the whole peaceful
community and would facilitate real government, as it would
remove the fear of the extremists which every Persian Cabinet
experienced.' In conclusion, Sir Charles Marling said that the
Government of India had overlooked the necessity for keeping
open communication with the Caucasus.
In the meantime, various incidents indicated a change for
the worse in the general situation. The forced resignation—
due to Russian intrigues and Persian action—of various Russian
officers of the Persian Cossack Division showed that its discipline,
never too good, was deteriorating. General Dunsterville had
been stopped at Enzeli by Bolsheviks and Jangalis and had been
forced to retire to Hamadan. The Jangalis, joined by German
agents and working in co-operation with the Bolsheviks, were
displaying uncompromising hostility to the British and were
meditating an advance on Hamadan, where the Turk Obeidulla,
from the Turkish Embassy at Tehran, had promised that they
would soon be joined by Turkish troops. The Bolshevik
Government had been forced unwillingly to agree to the terms
of the Brest-Litovsk peace treaty. The pan-Turkish movement
was reliably reported to have gained a great impetus from recent
events in Russia. The Turks had broken off negotiations with
the Federal Republic of Trans-Caucasia, where the pro-Turk
Tartars were fighting the Bolsheviks ; and there was evidence
that Turkey looked to obtain territorial compensation in Trans-
Caucasia for the probable loss of her Arab provinces. Finally,
the Persian extremists were in active communication with the
enemy powers, the Jangalis and the Bolsheviks.
On the 21st February the Foreign Office telegraphed to
Sir Charles Marling that, as the despatch of a small force might
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