Persia/Qajars join the Central Powers in WW1, what happens???

Fatt Shea

For whatever reason Persia decides to join the central powers, maybe they don't like being in the British/Russian sphere.
1.Would this cause the CP to win?
2.If they won, what would they gain?
3.If they still lost, what would they loose?
P.S I've never created one of these fangdangled thread thingies, so I don't know if I'm doing it right.
 

Catspoke

Whatever I have read:

https://www.amazon.com/Berlin-Baghdad-Express-Ottoman-Empire-Germanys/dp/0674064321

(something downloadable)
https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:55dd46e5-2eef-46f6-be8b-ca7bb177a518/datastreams/ATTACHMENT1

Shows:
a) Different German/Turkish viewpoints on Persia strategy
b) Difficulty in influencing the area due to distance and communication issues.
c) Persian army forces are smallish and dispersed around country

So: on your questions
1) No - maybe you can cause the British some distractions, delay the capture of Baghdad if the British are more distracted by events in Persia, however one could argue that if the Germans/Turks would have completely ignored Persia during WW1, focused on building a defensive position after the fall of Kut they might have been better off.
2) Maybe nothing significant gained, Having a strong Ottoman empire next door would be dangerous to Persia, worse than OTL British or Russians, OTL (our time line) the war sort of weakened everybody around so was good for Persia.
3) Might have become a full out British protectorate, more likely a government favorable to British would be installed. British would expect some compensation for losses.


Ok on #1, a stretch Central Powers victory is caused by:

The revolt in the "stan" regions of Russian central Asia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basmachi_movement

This revolt in the "stan" regions of Russian central Asia. Perhaps if the Germans and Turks had greater visibility in the Northern Iran area, they could assist with a handful of officers and some machine guns via Persia and turn this into something big. Perhaps as a POD the Turks don't launch their 1914-1915 Winter offensive in Armenia and so are in a better position to influence event in Northern Persia in 1915 and assist a friendly Persian government and thus are able to assist this rebellion.

The Kerensky government faced with this, amongst their other problems, negotiate a separate peace with Germany. Germany launches a larger offensive into Italy in late 1917 knocking her out of the war.

Germany lunches a 1918 offensive in greater strength in France capturing Amiens and forcing a favorable compromise peace.
 

David T

The basic problems with getting Persia to join the Central Powers:

(1) There was a teen-aged Shah who had a hard time resisting Russian and British pressure.

(2) While there were nationalists in the Majlis who resented the British and Russians, even they were also worried about the Turks (who made no secret of their desire to annex border areas).

(3) Jihad propaganda in favor of the Central Powers was less effective than in some other parts of the Muslim world--it attracted some Arabs and Kurds, but with the ethnic Persian population it foundered on the Shia-Sunni split and fear of Turkish imperialism:

"The notion of global Islamic solidarity behind the Ottoman Sultan-Caliph was a fantasy, particularly in the Shia world. Rauf Bey's incursion across the border had reignited centuries-old hostility between Sunni Turks and Shia Persians, very nearly pushing Persia into war--against the Ottoman Empire..." Sean McMeekin, *The Berlin-Baghdad Express: The Ottoman Empire and Germany's Bid for World Power*, (Harvard UP 2010), p. 283 https://books.google.com/books?id=6k5HzkboGvcC&pg=PA283

"Furthermore, holy war propaganda had mobilized only a handful of Arabs and Kurds along the Turkish-Persian border, along with some south Persian tribes. Elsewhere, the call for jihad had produced little response, falling victim to Persian fears of the Turks and to the Shiite-Sunni schism..." Donald M. McKale, *War by Revolution: Germany and Great Britain in the Middle East in the Era of World War I* (Kent State UP 1998), p. 134 https://books.google.com/books?id=j6-bKj5eaqcC&pg=PA134
 
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CaliGuy

Banned
David T said:
"The notion of global Islamic solidarity behind the Ottoman Sultan-Caliph was a fantasy, particularly in the Shia world. Rauf Bey's incursion across the border had reignited centuries-old hostility between Sunni Turks and Shia Persians, very nearly pushing Persia into war--against the Ottoman Empire..." Sean McMeekin, *The Berlin-Baghdad Express: The Ottoman Empire and Germany's Bid for World Power*, (Harvard UP 2010), p. 283 https://books.google.com/books?id=6k5HzkboGvcC&pg=PA283
Click to expand...
A Persian entry into the war on the Entente side would certainly be interesting, though.
 
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