Persia Since the Constitution

PERSIA SINCE THE CONSTITUTION IR. M. Savory The history of Persia in the nineteenth century is in the main the history of British and Russian political and economic rivalry in the area. During this period the Russian objective, unchanged since the time of Peter the Great, was access to the warm water ports of the Persian Gulf and the securing of an invasion route to India. The underlying theme of British policy in Persia, and indeed in the whole of the Middle East, was the defence of India. Militarily, the nineteenth century is notable for the annexation by Russia of Persia's rich Caucasian provinces and for the completion of Russia's programme of expansion into Central Asia. The boundaries between Russia and Persia were established on the Aras river in the northwest, and on the Atrek river in the northeast. Persia, encircled territorially as the result of these Russian conquests, was subjected to the strongest political and economic pressure by the Russians. Economically, the nineteenth century is notable for the imposition of "capitulations" by the Russians (the Russian example was followed by Britain and other countries), that is to say, extra-territorial rights for foreign officials in Persia, and for the way in which the weak Qajar monarchs, in return for relatively small sums of money which satisfied their immediate needs, made wholesale grants of economic concessions to foreign concessionaires . By the end of the nineteenth century most of Persia's resources were exploited or directed by foreign interests. In 1906, a movement supported principally by merchants and members of the religious classes succeeded in obtaining from Mozaffar od-Din Shah the grant of a constitution. Persia, from time immemorial a despotism, became in theory a constitutional monarchy. Mozatrar odDin 's successor, Mohammad (Ali, used every means in his power to overthrow the 1906 Constitution. In this design he was actively aided by the Russians. Although forced to abdicate temporarily in 1909, he returned to Persia in 1911, backed by Russian troops, and in December 244 R. M. SAVORY 1911 closed the Majles or Lower House which had been inaugurated only five years previously. (An Upper House, termed the Senate, had also been envisaged under the 1906 Constitution, but it was not in fact convened until 1948.) During World War I Persia, though officially neutral, was emotionally pro-German. This orientation was largely the result of the 1907 AngloRussian Convention, which provided for the division of Persia into British and Russian "spheres of influence" and a neutral zone. The Persians turned to Germany, a strong power with no previous history of interference in Persian affairs, as a possible bulwark against AngloRussian pressure. The Bolshevik Revolution of 1917, and the subsequent withdrawal of Russia from the war, caused the collapse of the Eastern Front, 450 miles of which ran through Persian territory, and Persia emerged from the war in a state of administrative and financial chaos. To remedy this, the Anglo-Iranian Treaty of 1919 provided for the appointment of British officials and military officers as advisers to the Persian government, but the treaty was not ratified by the latter. In 1921, by the terms of the Soviet-Iranian Treaty, the Soviet Government renounced the imperialist policies of the former Czarist regime. This treaty contained the controversial article 6, by which Russia reserved the right to move troops onto Persian territory if Persian territory were used as a base for hostile operations against the Soviet Union. The Russians still invoke this clause in their diplomatic exchanges with the Persians, but in fact the application of this clause was limited by a SUbsequent exchange of notes between the Soviet and Persian governments to "cases in which preparations have been made for a considerable armed attack upon Russia . . . by the partisans of the regime which has been overthrown";' it applied, therefore , only to counter-revolutionary activity by supporters of the former Czarist regime. Five days before the signing of the Soviet-Iranian Treaty, a military coup d'etat had brought to power in Persia Reza Khan, the 43-year-old commander of the Persian Cossack Brigade (formed in 1882 by Naser od-DIn Shah). At first Commander-in-Chief of the armed...