The Polish corps is making trouble. Of the three that are in the Ukraine, the Second and Third were initially unreliable. Therefore, the order was given to disarm these corps. Now, however, at the request of His Excellency von Beseler, who communicated his wish to me by telegraph, the First Corps is to be disarmed as well, because its leaders have not held to the agreements. The Don Cossacks and the Donez Cossacks have expressed the wish to be attached to the Ukraine, which I wholeheartedly support, since the Ukraine is the only viable state structure in the east.
Transcaucasus: The English regard themselves as the masters in Persia. (L[udendorff] recommends having Captain Niedermayer give a lecture to the Chancellor in this connection, and he explains further on a map.) Persia is, so to speak, already an English province. Perhaps there will be an opportunity here, too, to defeat the English some day. A telegram from Zeki Pascha asks us not to make difficulties for the Turks when they take possession of the railway line to Tschulfa. German troops are not going to be used here. The only German troops are at the Jordan.
Should we later undertake a campaign in Persia, we would do it in order to strike at England, not to make conquests. At present we have no troops available for this effort. Therefore it is all the more important that the Turks do it – all the more important not to make any difficulties for their occupation of the railway line. Lossow’s draft contemplates transferring a part of Transcaucasus to Persia; this would in truth represent only a transfer to England. I would therefore like to warn against German-Persian cooperation. I think that the much-vetted idea is wrong that we can achieve anything in Persia. In my view, the best thing would be to send the Turks in the direction of Teheran. On the other hand, the Turks should not be allowed to expand too far toward the Caucasus. Therefore, I am also opposed to the Turks’ having control over the railway line from Baku to Batum, if only because of the Georgians, who are our friends and a Christian people.
We should somehow take up contact with the Transcaucasian Republic. How should this contact be set up?
His Excellency von Kühlmann: Our representatives there are Graf Schulenburg and Mr. v. Wesendonk, who have the necessary knowledge and full comprehension of the situation. On the question of transferring a part of Transcaucasus to Persia – what reasons do we have for doing so?
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