Roosevelt in 1906 finally secured his promption from captain to
brigadier-general, passing him over 862 senior officers. Soon
after he returned to the Philippines as commander of the Depart-
ment of Mindanao and governor of the Moro Province. Here
again he was engaged in quelling the insurbordinate Moros until
his decisive victory at Bagsag June 12 1913. He was then placed
in command of the 8th Brigade at San Francisco. While he was
temporarily absent in 1915 on duty at the Mexican border his
wife and three young daughters lost their lives in a disastrous
fire, but his son was rescued. In March 1916 he was put in
command of the punitive expedition into Mexico against Fran-
cisco Villa, and the same year was made major-general. After
the death of Maj.-Gen. Funston in 1917 he succeeded him as
commander of all the American troops on the Mexican border.
This position he held until America's entrance into the World
War, and was then chosen to command the A.E.F. in Europe.
With his staff he reached England June 9 1917, and four days
later landed in France to prepare for the coming of the American
troops. In Oct. 1917 he was made general, U.S.A. In some quar-
ters it was felt that as the American detachments arrived they
should be hastily trained and then distributed among the Allied
forces already in the field, but from the start General Pershing
insisted upon the integrity of the American army, though willing
in cases of emergency to place detached American units in the
different Allied armies. He was convinced that the presence of
an independent American army would be a serious blow to Ger-
man moral. In Dec. 1917 he forbade American soldiers the use
of alcoholic drinks, excepting light wines and beer, allowing
these only in deference to French customs. As Commander-in-
Chief of the A.E.F. he planned the American attack at the
Marne salient in 1918, as well as American operations at St.
Mihiel and in the Meuse-Argonne. His management of the
A.E.F. is clearly described in his succinct Final Report (less
than 100 pages), issued by the Government Printing Office,
Washington, Dec. 1919. His nomination by President Wilson to
the permanent rank of general was confirmed unanimously by the
U.S. Senate Sept. i 1919, a grade held previously by only four
Americans Washington, Grant, Sherman, and Sheridan. In
1921 he was appointed Chief-of-Staff. By King George V. he
was given the decoration of G.C.B.
PERSIA (see 21.187). The autumn of 1909 was a turning point in Persian history. The despotic Shah had abdicated, thus ending the bad old order. Great Britain and Russia were sympa- thetic to Persia, the latter Power not only appointing a minister with liberal ideas, but withdrawing her troops gradually from Kazvin and Tabriz. In other words the field was clear and Persia had every chance of setting her house in order. The new Assem- bly met in Nov., when Sipahdar read a speech from the throne, full of good intentions. Nor did his Cabinet fail at the first diffi- cult task. When the question of disbanding the mujahidin or " warriors of the Holy War " arose, these soldiers of fortune, for the most part, assumed a menacing attitude and threatened to mutiny unless their exorbitant demands for pay were granted, but the matter was finally settled without bloodshed. Far more dangerous was the discord that raged among the Nationalists, who again broke up into two parties, the " Revolutionaries " (now mis-named " Democrats ") being bitterly hostile to the Mod- erates. Unfortunately the former party, by its activity, its violence, and its secret organization, gained the ascendent. Nor were the leaders any better, Sardar-i-Assad, the Bakhtiari chief, intriguing with the " Revolutionaries " against Sipahdar. The raising of a joint loan of 500,000 from the two Powers, mainly to provide the pay due to the police and soldiers, encountered stormy opposition in the Assembly and was not carried through. The " Revolutionaries " forced their way into the Cabinet, with the result that no progress of any kind was made.
Sipahdar ultimately resigned and a " Democrat " Cabinet was formed under the influence of Sardar-i-Assad, whose nominee for the premiership was a Kajar prince, Mustaufi el Mamalik. It was hoped that office would sober the " Democrats," but little sense of responsibility was shown, together with an intense crav- ing for the sweets of office. Generally speaking the Majlis made
Cabinet rule impossible. It was broken up into several parties swayed by passion, intrigue or greed for money, and would lightly pass votes of censure whenever an incident which appeared to be unfavourable to Persia was reported, without giving the minister concerned the chance of explaining matters. Moreover, the hostility of the Majlis and of the Cabinet towards Russia was exasperating to the northern Power.
Chronic Disorder. In the autumn of 1909 M. Passek, Russian consul-general, was attacked by tribesmen, when travelling to Shiraz with an escort of Cossacks. A few months later, the Brit- ish consul was attacked near Abadeh and two Indian sowars of his escort were killed. The authority of the governor-general of Fars was threatened by the Kashgais. In the N., adherents of the ex-Shah drove the governor from Ardebil, and Russia was suspected of being implicated in this plot probably with justice. Elsewhere in northern Persia there was little disorder compared with the unsatisfactory state of affairs in Fars, which gravely threatened British commerce and other interests. So much was this the case that Great Britain began to consider the situation as one that might demand British intervention, and, in the autumn, the Persian Government was notified that, failing the restoration of order within three months, Persian levies under British officers would be raised to guard the trade routes.
In the autumn of 1910, Nasir el Mulk was elected regent in the place of the deceased 'Azud el Mulk, and reached Teheran at a critical time. Mustaufi had been obliged to resign; Sipahdar again formed a Cabinet and Sardar-i-Assad had left for Europe. The new Cabinet was settling down when the ex-Shah, who had passed across Russia with munitions labeled " Mineral Waters," suddenly landed near Asterabad. At first, there was a panic at Teheran. Sipahdar, whose loyalty to the constitution was sus- pect, was induced to resign, his place being taken by the Bakhti- ari chief Samsam es Sultaneh. The ex-Shah marched on Teheran while Salar ed Dauleh simultaneously advanced on the capital from Kermanshah. The Russians undoubtedly favoured the ex- Shah, but his troops were defeated, as was the horde of tribesmen under Salar. Finally the ex-Shah retired to Russia, mainly because Great Britain declined to consider the question of his return to the throne.
American Financial Mission, IQII. The financial troubles of Persia were mainly due to the all-pervading corruption and irre- sponsibility of the governing class. It is to the credit of the " Demo- crats " that an effort was made to deal with the situation by engag- ing the services of Mr. Morgan Shuster, an American, as financial adviser. Upon examining the situation, Mr. Shuster realized that, without extraordinary powers, he could do little. He therefore demanded the powers of a dictator, which were granted him by the " Democrats," with whose views he found himself in sympathy. Russia regarded his actions with hostility. He was advised by the regent to reorganize everything else before interfering with the com- paratively model organization of the customs under its Belgian officials. Instead of following this sound advice, he began work with the customs, exciting deep animosities. Indeed, in many ways, he ignored the realities of the situation. To take an important instance, Shuster wished to organize a Treasury gendarmerie and offered the task to Maj. C. B. Stokes of the Indian army, whose appointment as military attache was expiring. Stokes was a Russophobe, owing to his strong pro-Persian proclivities, and Russia firmly objected to an appointment which would give him control over men stationed in every part of Persia. The matter caused much stir and was finally settled by Maj. Stokes being ordered to leave Persia and return to India. This was a rebuff to Shuster, but worse was to follow. The Russian Government was determined to oust him, but took action on a weak case. The Treasury gendarmes seized the principal property of Shu'a es Sultaneh, the young Shah's uncle, who had taken part in the ex-Shah's attempt. Actually he was a Turkish subject. However, the Russian consul-general, under the flimsy pretext that Shu'a owed money to the Russian Bank, sent some Russian Cossacks, who ordered the Treasury gendarmes to retire under threat of opening fire on them. A guard of Persian Cossacks was subsequently posted by orders of the Russian consul-general. On the following day Shuster dispatched a much stronger body of Treasury gendarmes who ejected the Persian Cossacks. Russia regarded this foolish act as a challenge and presented an ultimatum demanding an apology for the insult offered to her consul-general. When this had been accepted, she demanded the dismissal of Shuster. The Majlis at first refused with cries of " Death or Inde- pendence," while at Tabriz and Resht attacks were made on the Russians, who dealt sternly with the incidents, hanging the leading ecclesiastic and other notables at Tabriz. Russian troops supported
