Germany's WW1 Jihad in the Near East

Soon after the beginning of WW1, Germany and its Ottoman ally launched a new strategy to destabilise the British Empire in the Near East (principally Persia, Iraq and Afghanistan) and India. By declaring a jihad or Holy War they aimed to foment revolts in the Middle East and encourage Moslem troops of the Indian Army to mutiny, hoping to tie up badly needed troops away from Europe. German propagandists portrayed the Kaiser as a devout Moslem. Persia (now Iran) was seen as a key target for trouble since the Royal Navy was dependent on supplies of oil from the Persian oilfields. A key element of the strategy involved Wilhelm Wassmuss, a consular official.

First appointed as vice-consul to Bushehr on the Persian Gulf in 1909, Wassmuss spent the following years studying the desert, its people and the local languages. Soon after his return to Bushehr in 1913, he developed the concept of organising and leading a guerilla war against the British, who controlled the southern third of Iran. In 1914, he met his superiors in Constantinople to outline his ideas. The plan was personally approved by the Kaiser and funded in gold from the German Foreign Office. Wassmuss returned to Iran secretly in February as part of a German expedition. He enjoyed wearing the disguise of the flowing robes of desert tribesmen and became known as ‘Wassmuss of Persia’. He was successful in organising local tribes to attack the Persian oil pipelines, but was captured by the British. He managed to escape, but left behind his baggage. Within the latter were many postcards depicting the Kaiser wearing the green turban of a descendant of the Prophet Mohammed and several pamphlets promoting the jihad. Perhaps more significant was his diplomatic codebooks and they were of great use to the Royal Navy’s codebreakers in Room 40.

Paddy Hopkirk has written a fascinating account of this adventure, Like Hidden Fire, and I drew heavily on it for my fictional account in my WW1 spy novel, Now the Darkness Gathers. However, for literary reasons, I brought forward the story by two years. Obviously, I recommend both as gripping stuff.

Other German plans included running guns from the US to Persia, an attempt to persuade the Emir of Afghanistan to turn against the British and the attempted assassination by Indian revolutionaries of the Viceroy of India. Fortunately for Britain, its and the Indian intelligence services were able to foil many of the German plots and the campaign failed to cause widespread revolts.