"تاريخ الحرب الكبرى استنادًا إلى وثائق رسمية: العمليات في بلاد فارس ١٩١٤-١٩١٩" [ظ‎‎٣‎٢] (٥٦٦/٦٩)

- -*-l 11,1
36
OPERATIONS IN PERSIA
Anglo- aim in these friendly negotiations was not to permit one
Russian another to intervene on the pretext of safeguarding their own
Convention, interests
The Persians, however, put little faith in these assurances,
as they regarded the terms of the convention as quite incom
patible with Persian independence and integrity. They
realised that they could no longer rely on one Power to assist
them in resisting the demands of the other and they considered
that in consequence the agreement would facilitate inter
ference, the appointment of officials and even the despatch
of military forces by either country. The sequel was to prove
that the Persians had considerable justification for their
apprehensions. For, while Great Britain was inspired by a
genuine desire to maintain Persia's independence and to
help her, Russian officials, if not the Russian Government,
regarded the agreement as a preliminary to partition. Russia
began almost immediately to take advantage of the agreement
to absorb gradually her so-called sphere, and continued to do
so. Great Britain, endeavouring to co-operate closely with
Russia and to avoid dissensions with her, felt obliged to
remonstrate. But as her protests were generally without
effect, she got no credit for them and became more and more
implicated in Persian minds with responsibility for Russian
aggressive action.
Lord Grey contends—with some justification—that Persia's
integrity and independence did not in fact exist in 1907 and
that we gained considerably by the greater prospect of peace
which the convention achieved. On the other hand, how
ever, it had effects which were subsequently to handicap
or embarrass us. It resulted in the reduction of military
expenditure in India, both in 1907 and 1912 ; it displeased
the Amir of Afghanistan and thereby facilitated the acquisi
tion of arms by the tribes on the North-West Frontier of India ;
and it changed the not unfriendly attitude of the inhabitants
of the buffer states covering India into one of suspicion or
worse.
Shah’s coup In December 1907, the Shah initiated a coup d'etat having
d'etat. as a i m the abolition of the constitution. But his hesitation
at a critical moment gave the Majlis and the populace time
to counteract the stroke and to force the Shah to surrender
and swear, for the fifth time, that he would observe the con
stitution. Attempts to bring about better relations between
the Shah and the Majlis were checked in February 1908 when
a bomb was thrown at the Shah, who believed that it was the