To help sell the agreement to Persians and to the world, the British undertook a massive propaganda campaign both in Persia and in America: The amount of money spent in Persia on propaganda and various causes must be something enormous, and when Lord Curzon informed the Department that the British Government had expended great sums in Persia during the war he told the truth. No political campaign in Persia is comparable to the thoroughness with which this is being and has been done. In connection with the consummation of the treaty, too, should be remembered the statement of the British Minister [Charles Marling] to the undersigned in 1916, when he said, “We’ll tend to Persia AFTER the war.”
Caldwell also describes the imposition of tight press censorship: At present, the only public propaganda here is in favor of the British and this is continuous. Among the better class here American prestige remains high and great admiration exists for American ideals and institutions. This feeling, however, the present Cabinet endeavors to discourage by every means, and disparaging articles as to our political attitude appear frequently in the local papers. The newspapers published here continue to be practically edited by the Cabinet but “shab namehs” [anonymous publications] are scattered throughout Teheran, which latter contain some very strong statements. Recently the Prime Minister issued a manifesto announcing that the authors of these scurrilous articles were known and that they would receive condign punishment, but the articles continue to appear and the real authors are still free. The local British publication, Reuters News, which reaches here daily by telegraph, is filled by assurances by British statesmen and Persians residing in Europe that a close rapprochement and political understanding and unseverable ties of friendship exist between the two countries.
In addition, Britain undertook an international campaign of deception and misinformation about British policy in Persia. Caldwell describes the fact-finding visit to Persia of Maude Radford Warren of the Saturday Evening Post. Formerly a British subject, Mrs. Warren had become a naturalized American citizen. A matter of some importance was the recent arrival in Teheran, from Bagdad, of Mrs. Maude Radford Warren, from Chicago and Ithaca. She represents the Saturday Evening Post and has visited Egypt, Mesopotamia and Persia with a view of preparing some articles on these countries for publication. Upon her arrival in Bagdad the American Consul there wired this Legation as follows: “Mrs. Warren, correspondent of the Saturday Evening Post desires to proceed to Teheran, but British Political Officer offers objections unless you consent.” To which I replied: “If Mrs. Warren has an honest desire to study or write of Persian affairs in good faith, I can see no objection to her coming to Teheran.” Mrs. Warren arrived one week later in a British automobile and stayed in Teheran for a week, then departed by way of the Caspian Sea and the Caucasus for Constantinople. She was, I understand, given an automobile and transportation from Bagdad to Teheran, 635 miles, and from Teheran to Enzeli, 234 miles, by the British authorities gratis. Upon arrival in Teheran she came to this Legation and asked to see certain documents of a confidential nature, including the report on Persia handed to the Department by Dr. Judson, but was advised that it was not within my power to lend her such assistance. Thereupon inquiry was made from her if she desired to ascertain the full facts about Persia and the Persian situation and if she expected to write the same for publication in the Saturday Evening Post. To which she very candidly replied that she did not expect to write the facts; that she represented a magazine whose policy, as well as her own, was to bring about a closer understanding and better feeling between the Governments and people of America and Great Britain.
She was advised to see some of the leading and best informed Persians, as well as the foreign diplomats, but she replied that she did not care to do this. During the week she was here, however, she was in daily communication with the British Legation, who took great pains to be in close touch with her and gave her very detailed reports of the situation, a small part of which Mrs. Warren repeated to the undersigned, whom she advised that the British Minister said that the recent secret revision of the Persian Customs Tariff, though done by British advisers, greatly favored American trade at the expense of Great Britain. Mrs. Warren was formerly a British subject and lost no opportunity of airing her strong pro-British tendencies, sympathies and her admiration for British men and institutions. She interviewed Arbab Kaikhosrow Shahrokh, who recently returned from America, and who is the Zoroastrian member of the Persian Parliament as well as one of Persia’s most honorable and best statesmen, but his interview and attitude were decidedly distasteful to Mrs. Warren. She did not care to see the French or Belgian Ministers or the Russian Chargé d’Affaires.
The British Invasion and the Strangulation of Persia, 1918–1920
