HISTORYAT A GLANCE |
WORLD WAR II AND THE AZARBAIJAN
CRISIS
At the outbreak of World War II, Iran declared its neutrality, but the
country was soon invaded by both Britain and the Soviet Union. Britain had been
annoyed when Iran refused Allied demands that it expel all German nationals from
the country. When Hitler invaded the Soviet Union in 1941, the Allies urgently
needed to transport war mat�riel across Iran to the Soviet Union, an operation
that would have violated Iranian neutrality. As a result, Britain and the Soviet
Union simultaneously invaded Iran on August 26, 1941, the Soviets from the
northwest and the British across the Iraqi frontier from the west and at the
head of the Persian Gulf in the south. Resistance quickly collapsed. Reza Shah
knew the Allies would not permit him to remain in power, so he abdicated on
September 16 in favor of his son, who ascended the throne as Mohammad Reza Shah
Pahlavi. Reza Shah and several members of his family were taken by the British
first to Mauritius and then to Johannesburg, South Africa, where Reza Shah died
in July 1944.
The occupation of Iran proved of vital importance to the Allied cause and
brought Iran closer to the Western powers. Britain, the Soviet Union, and the
United States together managed to move over 5 million tons of munitions and
other war mat�riel across Iran to the Soviet Union. In addition, in January 1942
Iran signed a tripartite treaty of alliance with Britain and the Soviet Union
under which Iran agreed to extend nonmilitary assistance to the war effort. The
two Allied powers, in turn, agreed to respect Iran's independence and
territorial integrity and to withdraw their troops from Iran within six months
of the end of hostilities. In September 1943, Iran declared war on Germany, thus
qualifying for membership in the United Nations (UN). In November at the Tehran
Conference, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Prime Minister Winston Churchill,
and Prime Minister Josef Stalin reaffirmed a commitment to Iran's independence
and territorial integrity and a willingness to extend economic assistance to
Iran.
The effects of the war, however, were very disruptive for Iran. Food and
other essential items were scarce. Severe inflation imposed great hardship on
the lower and middle classes, while fortunes were made by individuals dealing in
scarce items. The presence of foreign troops accelerated social change and also
fed xenophobic and nationalist sentiments. An influx of rural migrants into the
cities added to political unrest. The Majlis, dominated by the propertied
interests, did little to ameliorate these conditions. With the political
controls of the Reza Shah period removed, meanwhile, party and press activity
revived. The communist Tudeh Party was especially active in organizing
industrial workers. Like many other political parties of the left and center, it
called for economic and social reform.
Eventually, collusion between the Tudeh and the Soviet Union brought further
disintegration to Iran. In September 1944, while American companies were
negotiating for oil concessions in Iran, the Soviets requested an oil concession
in the five northern provinces. In December, however, the Majlis passed a law
forbidding the government to discuss oil concessions before the end of the war.
This led to fierce Soviet propaganda attacks on the government and agitation by
the Tudeh in favor of a Soviet oil concession. In December 1945, the Azarbaijan
Democratic Party, which had close links with the Tudeh and was led by Jafar
Pishevari, announced the establishment of an autonomous republic. In a similar
move, activists in neighboring Kordestan established the Kurdish Republic of
Mahabad. Both autonomous republics enjoyed the support of the Soviets, and
Soviet troops remaining in Khorasan, Gorgan, Mazandaran, and Gilan. Other Soviet
troops prevented government Soviet influence diminished further in 1947, when Iran and the United States
signed an agreement providing for military aid and for a United States military
advisory mission to help train the Iranian army. In February 1949, the Tudeh was
blamed for an abortive attempt on the shah's life, and its leaders fled abroad
or were arrested. The party was banned.
forces from entering Azarbaijan and Kordestan.
Soviet pressure on Iran continued as British and American troops evacuated in
keeping with their treaty undertakings. Soviet troops remained in the country.
Prime Minister Ahmad Qavam had to persuade Stalin to withdraw his troops by
agreeing to submit a Soviet oil concession to the Majlis and to negotiate a
peaceful settlement to the Azarbaijan crisis with the Pishevari government. In
April the government signed an oil agreement with the Soviet Union; in May,
partly as a result of United States, British, and UN pressure, Soviet troops
withdrew from Iranian territory. Qavam took three Tudeh members into his
cabinet. Qavam was able to reclaim his concessions to the Soviet Union, however.
A tribal revolt in the south, partly to protest communist influence, provided an
opportunity to dismiss the Tudeh cabinet officers. In December, ostensibly in
preparation for new Majlis elections, he sent the Iranian army into Azarbaijan.
Without Soviet backing, the Pishevari government collapsed, and Pishevari
himself fled to the Soviet Union. A similar fate befell the Kurdish Republic of
Mahabad. In the new Majlis, a strong bloc of deputies, organized in the National
Front and led by Mohammad Mossadeq, helped defeat the Soviet oil concession
agreement by 102 votes to 2. The Majlis also passed a bill forbidding any
further foreign oil concessions and requiring the government to exploit oil
resources directly.
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