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Draft:British attack on German consulate in Bushehr

British attack on German Consulate in Bushehr
Part of Persian campaign of World War I, Prelude to Third British occupation of Bushehr
Date6 March 1915[1] or 9 March 1915[2][3]
Location
German Consulate in Bushehr
Result Two members of the consulate are arrested. German code books fall into British hands.[4]
Belligerents
British Empire British Empire German Empire Germany
Commanders and leaders
Helmuth Listemann [de]  (POW)
Strength
several English officers and Consular officials[5]
Casualties and losses
2 officials captured
1 civilian captured[5]

The British attack on German consulate in Bushehr occurred in March 1915 in Bushehr, Bushehr County, Bushehr province, Iran.

Background

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During the Asfarid, Zand, Qajar and early Pahlavi periods, was Bushehr the most important Persian port in the Persian Gulf and an important place in Persia in politics and economics.[6] According to Abdul Karim Mashayekhi, until the 19th century, "British superiority" in the Persian Gulf relied on the "development of the port of Bushehr".[7] Since the end of 19th century, other countries have been attracted to Bushehr[8] and about twenty countries had consulates in the city [fa].[6]

Prelude

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Attack

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At about the same time that was Dr. Lenders arrested,[5] the British had obtained documents that indicated a mission by several Germans under the cover of Wönckhaus & Co. and the German consul himself to destroy British institutions in Bushehr and persuade Ra'is-Ali Delvari to invade Bushehr and expel British forces and nationals from the city. In response to this revelation, English officers and consular officials[9] secretly[4] arrested Dr. Listemann and a local manager of Wönckhaus named Eisenhut in a swift operation[9] that night.[4] Eisenhut's wife was also arrested during the operation.[a][5] The prisoners were transferred to a British warship[4] and deported to British Raj the same day.[9] Together with Dr. Lenders, they were transferred via Basra to India where all three men were interned in the Ahmednagar civilian camp.[5] Later, were found two code books in Listemann's personal luggage.[4]

Reaction

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Mehdi Qoli Khan Hedayat also known as Mokhber-ol Saltaneh, a high-ranking Persian official and one of the most outraged Persians over the attack.

After the capture of the German consul and businessman, the people of Bushehr protested in a passionate community against the violation of Iran's sovereignty and neutrality and demanded serious and immediate action from the government.[9]

After the news of the arrest of the German agents was published, Mokhber-ol Saltaneh, the governor of Fars, as a representative of the Iranian government, protested against this act and, in a telegram, warned the political representative of the British government to release the dr. Listemann, otherwise he would prepare a complaint against this arrest and in the future he would not allow such violations of Iran's neutrality in places where the gendarmerie had been established. Saltaneh repeatedly demanded the release of Dr. Listemann and the employee of the Wönckhaus company, but his requests were ignored. According to Mark Sykes, Mokhber-ol Saltaneh was a Berlin scholar and a friend of Germany.[9]

In a telegram to Tehran on the 25th of Rabi' al-Thani 1333 A.H. (12 March 1915), the governor of Bushehr at the time, Mirza Ali Agha (who was titled as Muvaqqar al-Dowleh by the king[10]) reported the views of the Bushehrs as follows:[9]

I returned from the New Mosque of Bushehr at half an hour before noon. The general excitement is unimaginable. Such a crowd had never been lost in Bushehr and all the ulema and the general classes of the people were present, the summary of the ulama's sermon was that for three years without any financial or human loss from the ports reaching the British, they had disrupted it and kept some of their troops there, and now they have insulted and violated the neutrality of the government.[9]

The British spy of American nationality,[11] J. N. Merrill, in a report to Major[12] and Consul in Shiraz O'Connor[11] from Tehran on March 16, 1915, stated that „The Tehran newspapers are very indignant at the capture of the German Consul by your forces in Bushire.“[12] Meriil also sometime informed O'Connor that Persian popular sentiment, repeatedly reawakened by England's arbitrary actions in Persia, such as the arrest of members of the German consulate in Bushehr, was now quite openly demanding an alliance with Turkey.[11]

Rais-Ali Delvari after a written protest against capturing of Dr. Listemann and his companion launched a series of guerrilla operations against the British and their European united positions in Bushehr resulting in casualties to French, Russian and English military forces.[9]

The repeated attacks by Rais-Ali Delvari on the British positions in Bushehr, the British government and the Indian Viceroy, prompted the Bushehr military occupation plan to put on their agenda. The British occupied Bushehr on August 8, 1915. Operation Bushehr occupation of land and sea was carried out with the support of the British Navy artillery.[9] Saltaneh, observing the general procedure of the central government, objected to the actions of the British and stood against them with the assurance of public support in Fars. This resistance continued until the British abandoned their initial goal of occupying Bushehr, which was to force the central government of Iran to accompany them, and changed this goal to the dismissal of Mokhber-ol Saltaneh. In such a situation, at the instigation of Mostowfi ol-Mamalek (the prime minister), Mokhber-ol Saltaneh agreed to resign from the province of Fars.[13]

British "Cover Story"

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The India Office cellar was, which was filled with captured German goods during the war, was, according to the British Cover Story, the very place where Wassmuss' package containing two code books was found.[4]

In order to keep the activities and existence of Room 40 from being revealed, the Secret Service created a cover story. This "Cover Story" became so credible that it has since been presented as a true story in various publications.[4]

Wording of "Cover Story"

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According to the cover story, in the late summer of 1915, Admiral Reginald Hall, who had recently been promoted to the rank, met a naval officer who was in London on medical leave after being wounded in the Persian Gulf. He told stories of Wassmus' escape and how upset he was about his lost luggage. Hall began to wonder why Wassmuss was so nervous about the lost luggage and why he was so stubborn about getting his luggage back. Immediately, Hall had one of adjutant officers called to search for the item. At first, all seemed lost, as they discovered that no one knew to whom the items had been sent to London. According to the story, however, Hall was very lucky and a few hours later he received word that Wassmuss's luggage had been found in the basement of the India Office, which was responsible for British operations in the Persian Gulf, near Room 40. In the package, which had been sealed until then, Hall was later to find the German diplomatic code No. 13040 of the Foreign Office.[4]

Proof of falsity

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The falsity of the story, however, is proven by the fact that in 1915 the British Vice-Consul C. J. Edmonds reported that after Wassmuss' escape, the British Consulate in Bushehr decided to secretly arrest Dr. Listemann and deport him to a British warship. Two code books were found in his luggage. Since Listemann's arrest was in violation of international law, Hall spread the legend of the luggage found in the Indian office.[4]

Aftermath

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Fragment of the Zimmermann Telegram deciphered by Nigel de Grey and William Montgomery using German codes obtained during the attack on the German consulate in Bushehr.[14]

Notes

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  1. ^ The book Behind the Veil in Persia: English Documents describes the arrest of Dr. Listemann, Eisenhut, and his wife as "in the most brutal manner".

References

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  1. ^ Litten 1925, p. 246.
  2. ^ Loth & Hanisch 2013, p. 103f.
  3. ^ Wocheale et al. 1915, p. 3.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Piekalkiewicz 1988, p. 271.
  5. ^ a b c d e van Lanoenhuysen 1917, p. 9.
  6. ^ a b Asadpour 2019, p. 213.
  7. ^ "صدمین سالگرد اشغال بوشهر توسط بریتانیا - BBC News فارسی". BBC News فارسی (in Persian). Archived from the original on 2021-09-27. Retrieved 2025-08-23.
  8. ^ "صدمین سالگرد اشغال بوشهر توسط بریتانیا - BBC News فارسی". BBC News فارسی (in Persian). Archived from the original on 2021-09-27. Retrieved 2025-08-23.
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h i مشایخی 2015.
  10. ^ "The British-Iranian Baha'i Who Helped Launch BBC Persian". iranwire.com. Retrieved 2025-06-15.
  11. ^ a b c van Lanoenhuysen 1917, p. 74.
  12. ^ a b van Lanoenhuysen 1917, p. 81.
  13. ^ "برچسب دلیران تنگستان - قشقایی ایران". qashqaiiran.blogsky.com. Retrieved 2025-06-13.
  14. ^ Piekalkiewicz 1988, p. 277.

Sources

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Books

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Piekalkiewicz, Janusz (1 January 1988). Weltgeschichte der Spionage. Agenten, Systeme, Aktionen [Historie světové špionáže] (in Czech). Translated by Slavík, Milan; Otáhal, Josef (1nd czech ed.). München : Südwest. ISBN 80-206-0738-2.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: publisher ___location (link)

Litten, Wilhelm (1925). Persische Flitterwochen (in German). Georg Stilke (published 1 January 1925). ASIN B003B2O938.

Loth, Wilfried; Hanisch, Marc (2013). Erster Weltkrieg und Dschihad (in German) (1nd ed.). Oldenbourg Wissenschaftsverlag (published 13 December 2013). ISBN 978-3486755701.

Wocheale; Cox, Percy; WRkower; Mshower (1915). From Bushire [Bushehr]. Nos. 301-599. Vol. 10. Arabian gulf digital archives.

van Lanoenhuysen, C. L. (1917). Behind the veil in Persia: English documents (PDF). Amsterdam.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: ___location missing publisher (link)

Magazines and journals

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Asadpour, Hamid (January 2019). "Historical Obstacle in Busheher development" (PDF). Journal of Historical Researches of Iran and Islam. Vol. 13, no. 25. Iran, Zahedan.: University of Sistan and Baluchestan. p. 213. doi:10.22111/jhr.2020.31045.2612.{{cite magazine}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)

مشایخی, عبدالکریم (December 2015). "بازخوانی تاریخ معاصر شیوه‌های انگلستان در کنترل قیام‌های ضداستعماری". فصلنامه مطالعات تاریخی. کانون اندیشه جوان. Archived from the original on 17 March 2016.

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