Franco-Persian alliance

[1] Attempts to resume contact were made following the French Revolution, as France was in conflict with Russia and wished to find an ally against that country.

Following the Treaty of Campo Formio in 1797, France acquired possessions in the Mediterranean such as the Ionian islands as well as former Venetian bases on the coast of Albania and Greece, geographically close to the Middle-East.

"[4] Napoleon was initially defeated by the Ottoman Empire and Britain at the Siege of Acre in 1799, and at the Battle of Abukir in 1801; by 1802, the French were completely vanquished in the Middle East.

[5] In order to reinforce the Western border of British India, the diplomat John Malcolm was sent to Iran to sign the Anglo-Persian Treaty of 1801.

If ever any of the great men of the French nation express a wish or desire to obtain a place of residence or dwelling on any of the islands or shores of the kingdom of Persia, so that they may there raise the standard of abode or settlement, such request or settlement shall not be consented to by the Persian GovernmentSoon however, from 1803, Napoleon went to great lengths to try to convince the Ottoman Empire to fight against Russia in the Balkans and join his anti-Russian coalition.

[7] Napoleon sent General Horace Sebastiani as envoy extraordinary, promising to help the Ottoman Empire recover lost territories.

[12] Following the visit of the Iran Envoy Mirza Mohammad-Reza Qazvini to Napoleon, the Treaty of Finckenstein formalized the alliance on 4 May 1807, in which France supported Persia's claim to Georgia, promising to act so that Russia would surrender the territory.

When Napoleon the Great resolved to take Iran under his auspices, he dispatched several officers of superior intelligence to that country with the mission of General Gardanne in 1808.

Those gentlemen commenced their operations in the provinces of Azerbaijan and Kermanshah, and it is said with considerable success.The embassy of Gardanne to Persia soon lost one of the main reasons for its original dispatch.

[20] In the east, a mutual defense treaty was signed between British India and Shah Shuja al-Mulk of Afghanistan on 17 June 1809 in order to better resist the Franco-Persian threat, but by that time Persia had already denounced its alliance with France.

[22] After the failed mission of John Malcolm in 1808, who was only allowed to negotiate with the Governor of Fars,[23] Sir Harford Jones managed to sign in March 1809 a preliminary treaty with Persia and General Gardanne was returned to France.

[25] In 1809–1810, the Shah sent ambassador Haji Mirza Abul Hasan Khan to the Court in London, immortalized as Hajji Baba by diplomat James Morier.

[26] According to Sir Justin Sheil: "English influence becoming supreme, and the French Mission having quitted Persia, it was determined to accede to the wishes of the Persian Government and continue the same military organization.

Major Christie was a man of considerable military endowments; he undertook the charge of the infantry, and was killed at his post at the battle of Aslandooz in 1812.

Under the auspices and indefatigable cooperation of Abbas Meerza, heir apparent to the throne of Persia, by whom absolute authority was confided to him, he brought the infantry of Azerbijan to a wonderful state of perfection.

He brought this branch of the forces in Azerbijan to such a pitch of real working perfection, and introduced so complete a system of esprit de corps, that to this day his name is venerated, and traces of his instruction still survive in the artillery of that province, which even now preserves some degree of efficiency.

The Iranian Envoy Mirza Mohammad-Reza Qazvini meeting with Napoleon I at the Finckenstein Palace , 27 April 1807, to sign the Treaty of Finckenstein . François Mulard .
In 1796, Guillaume Antoine Olivier ( depicted ) and Jean-Guillaume Bruguières visited Iran in an attempt to establish an alliance, but in vain.
The French General Horace Sebastiani negotiated a Franco-Ottoman alliance with Selim III .
Letter of Fath-Ali Shah to Napoleon I, thanking him for the letter received through M. Jaubert , and asking for military instructors, December 1806.
The Treaty of Finckenstein between Persia and France, ratified 10 May 1807.
General Gardane , with colleagues Jaubert and Joanin, at the Persian court of Fath Ali Shah in 1808. The red socks were an element of Persian protocol.
Askar Khan Afshar received by Napoleon I at Saint-Cloud , 4 September 1808, by Benjamin Zix.
Iran ambassador Askar Khan Afshar , in Paris from July 1808 to April 1810, by Madame Vavin.
Persia in 1808 according to a British map, before losses to Russia in the north by the Treaty of Gulistan , and the loss of Herat to Great Britain in 1857 through the Treaty of Paris .
An episode of the 1804–1813 Russo-Persian war .
Ferouk Khan in The Illustrated London News , 1857.
The Persian embassy to Napoleon III, led by Amin o Dowleh.