One of the most important was irredentism. The alliance with Great Britain had been aimed principally at the recovery of the Afghan territories, and the one with France was to aid the regaining of Georgia from Russia. Aware of the Shah’s territorial ambitions, Napoleon flattered the Shah with the memory of the extensive empire of Nadir Shah and promised to compel Russia to return Georgia to Iran.
The fundamental objective of France in Iran was to gain a stepping stone to India. Toward this end France sought to ally itself with Iran in 1802, 1804, and 1805 without success. The main reason for the failure of France was the paramount British influence at the Iranian Court. This influence began to diminish, however, as the war with Russia progressed and as Great Britain proved reluctant to aid Iran militarily. The way for an alliance between France and Iran was thus opened. The Shah dispatched Mïrzâ Muhammad Riga Khän, the governor of Qazvin, to Europe to sign an alliance with Napoleon.22 This was done in Finkenstein in 1807. The major provisions of the treaty may be summarized as follows:
1 ) France : France recognized that Georgia “legitimately” belonged to Iran and promised to do everything in its power “to compel Russia to relinquish Georgia.” France also pledged to supply Iran with military equipment, to train the Iranian forces, and to assist the construction of military facilities.
2) Iran: Iran promised to break diplomatic and commercial ties with and to declare war on Great Britain at once, to incite the Afghans to attack India, and to grant France a right of way over Iranian territory if France decided to invade India.
Napoleon regarded his alliance with the Shah quite seriously at first. He sent Lucien Bonaparte, the most able of his brothers, to fill the post of Ambassador at Tehran and dispatched a military mission to Tehran under General Gardane. The mission began reorganizing and modernizing the Iranian army, but Iranian officials proved apathetic and interested primarily in personal gains. Other compelling reasons, however, halted the activities of the mission. First, France became friendly with Russia.
In 1807, the year of the signing of the Franco-Iranian alliance, Napoleon and Alexander met at Tilsit to end their war and form an alliance. Second, Great Britain seriously opposed the activities of the French mission. Napoleon had instructed General Gardane “to institute inquiries, reconnaissance operations and reports which might conduce to discerning the obstacles that an expedition would encounter in passing through Persia, a route that ought to be followed into India, whether the point of departure is Aleppo or one of the ports of the Persian Gulf.” Britain might well have been expected to object.
The weakening of the French alliance did not change Fath ‘Ali Shah’s determination to recover Georgia. He refused General Gardane’s offer of mediation between Iran and Russia, continued the war, and cast about for a new ally.
Mirza Fath Ali Akhundzadeh and Modernization of Persia
