“The Very Personality of Mr. Potapov Does not Inspire Us with Any Confidence”: Russian Land Ownership in Northern Iran and the Concession Projects of the Adventurer General

Abstract

The article is devoted to the development of Russian land ownership in the Caspian provinces of Iran in the era of the First World War. On the eve and during the conflict, the region has become the object of peasant resettlement colonization, and at the same time a large Russian land ownership appears. These processes have attracted the attention of the Russian authorities. Using the example of concession projects by the notorious Major General A. S. Potapov, the nature of the discussion of such initiatives in the structures of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is considered; the factors influencing managerial decision-making, as well as the specifics of interaction between private initiative and the state apparatus, are investigated.