The only military units of strength were the Persian Cossack Brigade, essentially a Russian proxy force, and the Swedish-trained gendarmerie. Most power was held by dozens of groups of tribal irregulars that openly defied the central government. The Jungle Movement in Gilan province under Mirza Kuchak Khan carried on a guerilla war in the northwest. All of these groups were at constant, shifting cross-purposes, aligning themselves with the Russians, British, Turks, and Germans as fighting went back and forth.
