“German threat” and Russian land ownership in the Caspian provinces of Iran during the era of the World War I (problem statement)

The author raises questions about the influence of the German factor, the «German menace» on the formation and development of Russian land ownership and resettlement colonization in the Caspian provinces of Iran. It is noted that in the conditions of the eve and then the beginning of the First World War, this factor played an important role both in terms of the implementation of practical measures for the exploration of the Astarabad and Mazanderan provinces by Russia, and in terms of shaping the discourse of discussion of this issue by state representatives and in the media, publicism. The author suggests that this problem can be considered at several levels and in several dimensions, and outlines the main directions of further study of the topic.