The Bakhtiari Tribe and the First World War: Studying Britain and Germany's Strategies and Tactics

During the First World War, the Bakhtiari tribe had become a field of rivalry and conflict between powers such as Britain and Germany. While aiming to identify the causes of such a situation, this descriptive-analytical research tries to illuminate the important aspects of Bakhtiari territory for these two powers. The research hypothesis is that the existence of adequate capacities such as the Lynch Road and oil resources in Bakhtiari territory made it attractive to both powers so they used strategies and tactics to penetrate this tribe. The findings of the study show by hiring the strategy of establishing security in this territory and by taking proper approaches, Britain tried to maintain its interests there. Germany also employed a strategy to endanger Britain's interests by means of the tactic of creating insecurity in the tribe. Minor khans were openly pro-German but great khans took ambiguous and two-sided positions. Because of these positions, at the end of the war, Britain adopted a new policy based on the transition from the Bakhtiari Khans to an approach to creating a centralized government.