Potsdam Agreement of 1911

an agreement between Russia and Germany concerning Iran and the Baghdad Railroad. It was signed in St. Petersburg on August 6 (19) by Russia’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs A. A. Neratov and by the German ambassador to Russia F. Pourtales.

The agreement was the culmination of negotiations at the Potsdam meeting of 1910, from which the agreement took its name. By its terms, Russia pledged not to hinder construction of the Baghdad Railroad and also assumed the responsibility of obtaining from Iran a concession to build a railroad from Tehran to Khanaqin on the Turkish-Iranian border. Germany recognized Russia’s “special interests” in northern Iran and pledged to refrain from seeking concessions there. Germany also gave its assurance that it would not build branches of the Baghdad Railroad north of Khanaqin.