Within one year Tabriz saw two different systems of rule. In December 1945 the city had a parliament of its own and a government of its own, and Azerbaijani was being declared the state language and returning to the school; in December 1946 Tehran’s army entered the city and most of these institutions were swept away within days. Why did this short but hard trial begin, what did it achieve and why did it fail? For the earlier years see the lesson «Southern Azerbaijan in 1917–1920: Sheikh Mohammad Khiyabani».
Reza Shah and pan-Iranism
In February 1921 Reza Khan, commander of a Cossack brigade, carried out a coup in Tehran and soon became the real master of the country. In 1925 the Majlis deposed the Qajar dynasty, Reza Khan was proclaimed shah under the name Reza Shah Pahlavi, and the Pahlavi dynasty came to power. He wanted to turn a fragmented, weak country into a strong centralised state: the army and the administration were strengthened. But in a multi-ethnic country this centralisation rested on the language and culture of one people only — the Persians.
Pan-IranismDefinition
The policy of turning the multi-ethnic population of Iran into a single «Iranian nation» by making the Persian language and culture dominant and pushing back the languages and cultures of the non-Persian peoples.
The Azerbaijanis were the largest non-Persian people of Iran and lived mostly in Southern Azerbaijan. After the movement of 1920 was crushed the pressure grew: the Azerbaijani language was banned in schools, offices, the press and the theatre, teachers who taught in the mother tongue were punished, place names were changed and in some cases the use of the name «Azerbaijan» in official documents was restricted.
Pan-Iranism was thus a policy of assimilation aimed at cutting a people off from its language and history. It did not remove discontent, it only hid it: as soon as the pressure weakened, discontent came to the surface again.
The war and the start of the national movement
After Germany attacked the USSR in 1941 Iran’s position became decisive: the Allies wanted to use its territory as a route of aid to the Soviet Union and to stop German influence. On 25 August 1941 British and Soviet troops entered Iran: the Soviet forces took the north (including Southern Azerbaijan), the British the south. The Soviet side referred to the treaty concluded between Soviet Russia and Iran on 26 February 1921. On 16 September 1941 Reza Shah abdicated in favour of his son Mohammad Reza and left the country.
The 1942 alliance treaty between Britain, the USSR and Iran provided for the withdrawal of troops six months after the end of the war; in 1943, at the Tehran Conference, the Allies declared that they recognised Iran’s independence and territorial integrity.
Twenty years of harsh centralisation weakened. Political prisoners were freed, and newspapers and books in Azerbaijani began to appear again, as did cultural societies. In these years Seyid Jafar Javadzade Pishevari (1893–1947) came to the fore. He had been released in 1941 from Reza Shah’s prison, published a newspaper in Tehran and in 1944 was elected to the Majlis from Tabriz, but the Majlis refused to recognise his mandate. This showed that Tehran did not want to hear the voice of Azerbaijan, and that a new way of struggle had to be sought.
The Azerbaijan Democratic Party and the National Government
On 3 September 1945 the Azerbaijan Democratic Party (ADP) was founded in Tabriz, with Pishevari as chairman. Its programme demanded not separation from Iran but internal autonomy for Azerbaijan inside Iran, the rights of the mother tongue, democratic freedoms and land reform.
In the autumn the ADP formed armed fedayi detachments, and the towns of the province passed into their hands one by one. Soviet troops prevented units of the Iranian army sent from Tehran from entering the province — this factor played an important part in the movement’s quick success. In November a national congress met in Tabriz and decided to hold elections to a National Assembly; the deputies were elected at the beginning of December.
On 12 December 1945 the elected National Assembly opened in Tabriz and the Azerbaijan National Government came into being, with Pishevari as prime minister. The government regarded itself not as a state separated from Iran but as the authority of an autonomous province within it. The government’s measures were the opposite of the pan-Iranist policy:
- language: Azerbaijani was declared the state language (December 1945), teaching in the mother tongue began in schools and textbooks were prepared;
- culture: the press and the theatre worked in the mother tongue and Tabriz University was opened (1946);
- land: a land reform began to be carried out;
- defence: a national army was formed from the fedayi detachments and local forces.
Why the National Government fell
The fall began with the loss of Soviet cover. In January 1946 Iran took the question to the UN Security Council: the term agreed by the Allies ran out on 2 March 1946, yet Soviet troops did not leave; the USA and Britain also applied pressure. The following steps were:
- February–March 1946: Prime Minister Ahmad Qavam held talks in Moscow;
- 4 April 1946: the Qavam–Soviet agreement was reached and the withdrawal of Soviet troops was decided;
- May 1946: Soviet troops left Iran;
- December 1946: under the pretext of «supervising elections» the Iranian army moved into the province.
The fedayi resisted in a number of places, but the National Government fell, Pishevari and his closest men withdrew to Soviet Azerbaijan, and restrictions on the mother tongue were restored in Southern Azerbaijan. Pishevari died in Baku in 1947.
Historians disagree about the nature of the movement: Azerbaijani textbooks treat it as a national-democratic struggle of the people, with the presence of Soviet troops only a factor that made conditions favourable; some authors, however, stress the organising role of the USSR.
- 21 February 1921
Reza Khan stages a coup in Tehran
- 1925
The Qajars are deposed; Reza Shah Pahlavi is proclaimed shah
- 25 August 1941
British and Soviet troops enter Iran
- 16 September 1941
Reza Shah abdicates in favour of Mohammad Reza
- 1944
Pishevari is elected deputy from Tabriz, his mandate is not recognised
- 3 September 1945
The Azerbaijan Democratic Party is founded in Tabriz
- November 1945
A national congress in Tabriz; the fedayi take control of the province
- 12 December 1945
Academy of Sciences; National Government in Tabriz
In 1945 the Academy of Sciences of the Azerbaijan SSR is created in Baku (see the lesson «Culture in the 1940s–1980s»); on 12 December the National Assembly opens in Tabriz and the National Government is formed, with Pishevari as prime minister.
- 4 April 1946
Qavam–Soviet agreement: withdrawal of Soviet troops
- May 1946
Soviet troops leave Iran
- December 1946
The Iranian army enters Tabriz; the National Government falls
- 1947
Pishevari dies in Baku
| Person | Years | Role |
|---|---|---|
| Reza Shah Pahlavi | 1925–1941 | founder of the Pahlavi dynasty; pan-Iranist policy; left the throne in 1941 |
| Mohammad Reza Shah | 1941–1979 | came to the throne in 1941; sent the army into the province in 1946 |
| Seyid Jafar Pishevari | 1893–1947 | chairman of the ADP; prime minister of the National Government; in Baku after 1946 |
| Ahmad Qavam | 1946 | prime minister of Iran; talks in Moscow; the agreement on the withdrawal of Soviet troops (4 April 1946) |
| Cause | Result |
|---|---|
| The 1941 occupation, Reza Shah’s departure | central power weakened; the press in the mother tongue revived |
| Soviet troops in the province | the Iranian army could not enter the province; the National Government was formed |
| The UN complaint, American and British pressure | the Qavam–Soviet agreement; Soviet troops left in May 1946 |
| The loss of outside protection after the Soviet withdrawal | army offensive in December 1946; fall of the National Government |
| Feature | Khiyabani movement (1920) | National Government (1945–1946) |
|---|---|---|
| Leader | Sheikh Mohammad Khiyabani | Seyid Jafar Pishevari |
| Main demand | no separation from Iran; application of Constitutional rules | autonomy inside Iran, the mother tongue, land reform |
| Outside factor | did not rely on Soviet support | Soviet troops blocked the Iranian army’s entry |
| End | crushed by government troops in September 1920 | the Iranian army’s offensive in December 1946 |
| The leader’s fate | Khiyabani was killed | Pishevari withdrew to Baku and died in 1947 |
Interactive
A source and exam-type tasks
Dear fellow-countrymen! For decades our mother tongue had been driven out of school, the press and the offices. Our children studied in a foreign language, and writing in our own was counted a crime. Those who tilled the land had been left without land, and the great estates were in a few hands.
Today the Assembly that has met in our city is forming its own government. We do not wish to leave our country; we wish to manage the affairs of our own province ourselves and to study in our mother tongue. From now on our language will be used in schools and offices, and land will be given to those who till it.
Source tasks
Problem
1) Identify the event the text speaks of, its date, the city and the head of the government that was formed.
2) Explain one political and one socio-economic cause of the rise of this movement.
3) Give two consequences of these events that are NOT stated in the text.
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Solution
2) Political: Reza Shah’s pan-Iranist policy — the ban on the mother tongue, assimilation (or the weakening of central power after 1941). Socio-economic: the landlessness of the peasants, the large estates. Marks: both — 1; one — ½. Merely repeating «they were left without land» from the text is not enough; the link of cause and effect must be shown.
3) Consequences not in the text: the government’s practical measures — the opening of Tabriz University (1946), the formation of a national army; Tehran’s response — taking the question to the UN Security Council in January 1946 and Qavam’s negotiations; the fall of the government after the Iranian army’s entry in December 1946 and the return of restrictions on the mother tongue. Marks: two consequences — 1; one — ½; «a change in language and land», which is in the text, earns nothing.
Exam task: chronology
Problem
Put the events in chronological order:
1. Founding of the Azerbaijan Democratic Party
2. Reza Khan is proclaimed shah
3. The Iranian army enters Tabriz
4. British and Soviet troops enter Iran
5. Opening of the National Assembly
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Solution
Step 2: The party (1) — 3 September 1945, the National Assembly (5) — 12 December 1945: the same year, September → December.
Step 3: Last of all the Iranian army’s entry (3) — December 1946.
Answer: 2, 4, 1, 5, 3.
Exam task: «similar features»
Problem
Choose the features that make the Azerbaijan National Government (1945–1946) similar to the Khiyabani movement (1920):
1. It did not demand separation from Iran
2. It was crushed by the armed forces of the central power
3. Soviet troops stopped the Iranian army from entering the province
4. Tabriz was the centre of the movement
5. Its leader withdrew to Soviet Azerbaijan
A) 1, 2, 4
B) 1, 3, 5
C) 2, 3, 4
D) 3, 4, 5
E) 1, 4, 5
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Solution
Step 2: 1, 2 and 4 are found in both movements: no demand for separation, suppression by the central government, Tabriz as the centre.
Answer: A.
The legacy of this movement lived on in later decades: the story continues in the lesson «Southern Azerbaijan during and after the Iranian Islamic Revolution».
Remember
- Reza Shah (1925–1941) pursued a pan-Iranist policy: Azerbaijani was banned in school, the press and the theatre; teachers who taught in the mother tongue were punished.
- On 25 August 1941 British and Soviet troops entered Iran and on 16 September Reza Shah abdicated in favour of his son Mohammad Reza; central power weakened.
- On 3 September 1945 Pishevari founded the Azerbaijan Democratic Party in Tabriz; its programme demanded not separation from Iran but internal autonomy.
- On 12 December 1945 the National Assembly opened and the National Government was formed: Azerbaijani became the state language, teaching in the mother tongue began, Tabriz University opened (1946) and a land reform was begun.
- Soviet troops left in May 1946; international pressure and the loss of outside protection left the government alone; in December 1946 the Iranian army entered Tabriz, the National Government fell and Pishevari withdrew to Baku.