Russia and England in the struggle for railway concessions in Persia

Abstract

Since ancient times, Persia has been of utmost importance for trade and migration between Europe and Asia. The emergence of railway transport strengthened the country’s transit potential, and in the second half of the 19th century railways construction projects in the latitudinal and meridional directions began to appear. Implementation of these projects was in direct interest of the Persian authorities, as this would promote economic development, contribute to the state budget, and enable personal enrichment of officials involved in negotiations with foreign concessionaires. In 1872, Baron Julius Reiter showed interest in this project. He managed to get a concession which transferred almost the entire country into his hands, on extremely unfavourable terms for Persia. Its key element was the railway from the Persian Gulf to the port of Anzali on the Caspian Sea. Such a complete takeover of Persia caused a stir in the European capitals, and especially in St. Petersburg, since in the future it could be a threat to Russia from Great Britain. Therefore, the Russian government made every effort to convince Nasser ed-Din Shah to cancel this concession and proposed an alternative project for the Tabriz-Julfa road, to be undertaken by the retired General Falkenhagen as a private entrepreneur. It was assumed that construction would be funded by the Russian government, since Russia would buy out almost all the shares of the company which would be created     to implement the project. This meant that the project would be private in name only. The terms of the Russian concession did not suit the Persian side, and, in addition, the Falkenhagen project was opposed by England. In the end, it failed.