Mostowfi ol-Mamalek prime minister again
- Category:
- Politics
- Front:
- Middle East
- Date:
- 18 August 1915
- Author:
- Łukasz Skowroń
- Tags:
- Persia, Ahmad Shah Qajar, neutrality, Germany
The British chronology of the war records under 18 August 1915 that Mostowfi ol-Mamalek had once again become Prime Minister of Persia. He had already headed the government twice, most recently until March 1915. According to Persian sources, Ahmad Shah entrusted him with the office at the beginning of August, and on 27 Mordad 1294 in the Iranian calendar, that is 18 or 19 August, the new Prime Minister presented his cabinet to the Majlis, the Persian parliament. Lists of Persian prime ministers usually take this date as the start of his third government. The previous cabinet, led by Ain od-Dowleh, had already fallen in July.
A respected prime minister
Mirza Hasan Khan Ashtiani, born in the mid-1870s, inherited from his father the title Mostowfi ol-Mamalek, meaning “chief treasurer of the realm”. He studied in Europe for several years, and after the Constitutional Revolution he was Minister of War and of Finance. He first headed the government in 1910. He was regarded as honest and independent of the foreign powers, and was also one of the most popular politicians in the country. During his previous government he had defended strict neutrality and demanded the withdrawal of Russian troops from Persian Azerbaijan. When he achieved nothing, he resigned.
Not all the ministers of the new cabinet were independent, however. According to the Encyclopaedia Iranica, the Minister of the Interior was again, largely under British pressure, Prince Abdol-Hossein Mirza Farmanfarma, the same man whose defence had cost Ain od-Dowleh his post.
Playing both sides
Mostowfi returned to power in a worse position than five months earlier. On 8 August the British had occupied Bushehr, the main port on the Persian Gulf, and Russian troops were still stationed in the north. In the east the German expedition of Oskar von Niedermayer and Werner Otto von Hentig was making its way across the country towards Afghanistan, and German agents were winning more and more supporters among Persian nationalists, who saw Germany as an ally against Russia and Britain.
The new Prime Minister pursued a double policy. With the British he discussed a loan and the withdrawal of Russian troops. At the same time he entered into secret negotiations with the Germans. According to historians, he proposed that Germany guarantee Persia’s independence and territorial integrity, grant it a loan and send officers. In return Persia would be ready to enter the war on the side of the Central Powers. The Germans did not accept these terms, and the Entente learned of the talks.
In November 1915 Russian troops set out from Qazvin towards Tehran. Some deputies, journalists and gendarmes, as well as the German minister, left for Qom, hoping that a government independent of the Entente would be formed there. The Shah, however, on the advice of the Russian and British ministers, remained in the capital. Mostowfi failed to persuade the deputies to return and at the end of December 1915 he resigned.
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Meanwhile
(04)Elsewhere in the same days.
- 19 August 1915 · War at seaAttack on the submarine E13On 19 August 1915 German torpedo boats shelled the British submarine E13, aground in Danish waters in the Sound. Fifteen British sailors were killed.
- 19 August 1915 · War at seaSinking of the ArabicOn 19 August 1915 U-24 torpedoed the liner Arabic off Ireland without warning. 44 people died, Americans among them, setting off a new crisis with the USA.
- 19 August 1915 · War at seaBaralong sinks U-27On 19 August 1915 the British Q-ship Baralong sank U-27. Her crew shot the submarine's survivors, which became a notorious affair.
- 16 August 1915 · War at seaU-24 shells Lowca and HarringtonOn 16 August 1915 U-24 shelled the coking and benzol works at Lowca in Cumberland with its deck gun. Damage was slight; the plant restarted after four days.
Related events
(04)The same battle, people or subject.
- 8 August 1915 · Middle EastBritish occupy BushehrOn 8 August 1915 the British occupied the Persian port of Bushehr and took over its administration, in reply to the July Tangestani attack on the Residency.
- 21 July 1915 · Middle EastFall of the Ain od-Dowleh governmentIn July 1915 the government of Persian prime minister Ain od-Dowleh fell. The Majlis attacked his minister Farmanfarma, and he stood by the British protégé.
- 2 November 1915 · Middle EastRussians occupy QazvinOn 2 November 1915 the British chronology records the Russian occupation of Qazvin. Baratov's corps was moving to the town on the road from Enzeli to Tehran.
- 27 April 1915 · Middle EastAin od-Dowleh becomes prime minister of PersiaPer the British chronology, on 27 April 1915 Ain od-Dowleh, premier in the Constitutional Revolution era, again led Persia. A new foreign minister came in too.