The Soviet Socialist Republic of Iran, 1920-1921

The Soviet Socialist Republic of Iran, 1920-1921
Author: Cosroe Chaquèri
Publisher:
Total Pages: 704
Release: 1995
Genre: History
ISBN:

The story of the Jangalis, noncommunist revolutionaries who battled tsarist and British occupation forces in their homeland between 1915 and 1921, is critical to an understanding of twentieth-century Iran. Yet their struggle, commanded by the legendary Kuchek Khan, has been neglected, often deliberately falsified. The Pahlavi regime imposed a curtain of silence, Soviet historians attacked the movement's noncommunist leaders, and the British generally have accepted the Soviet interpretation. Now Cosroe Chaqueri brings fresh evidence, based on recently available documents from secret Soviet archives, that sheds dramatic new light on a brief but decisive moment in modern Iranian history. In reconstructing the record of the guerrilla movement that, with Soviet Russia's help, led to the establishment of the "first Soviet Socialist Republic" in the East, Chaqueri discredits the false versions of that episode and examines the internal and neocolonial external forces that precipitated its downfall. He blames foreign intervention but also locates the roots of Iran's failure to achieve independence in the socioeconomic and mental structures that have controlled the actions of Iranian leaders from ancient times until today's neo-Islamic regime.

A Shamefaced Intervention

A Shamefaced Intervention
Author: Moisei Persits
Publisher: Ithaca Press
Total Pages: 122
Release: 1999-01-01
Genre: Iran
ISBN: 9780863722479

The author examines Soviet attempts to intervene directly in order to remould an Iranian nationalist movement in the image of Bolshevik revolution and thus aid the crushing of capitalism. An effort doomed to failure by the doctrines of proletariat struggle that drove it, the intervention of the Persian Red Army was, due to its terrible cost in Russian lives, obscured behind an official history of the Persian Revolution.

Iran's Constitutional Revolution of 1906 and Narratives of the Enlightenment

Iran's Constitutional Revolution of 1906 and Narratives of the Enlightenment
Author: Ali M. Ansari
Publisher: Gingko Library
Total Pages: 351
Release: 2016-11-15
Genre: History
ISBN: 1909942944

The Constitutional Revolution of 1906 opened the way for enormous change in Persia, heralding the modern era and creating a model for later political and cultural movements in the region. Broad in its scope, this multidisciplinary volume brings together essays from leading scholars in Iranian Studies to explore the significance of this revolution, its origins, and the people who made it happen. As the authors show, this period was one of unprecedented debate within Iran’s burgeoning press. Many different groups fought to shape the course of the Revolution, which opened up seemingly boundless possibilities for the country’s future and affected nearly every segment of its society. Exploring themes such as the role of women, the use of photography, and the uniqueness of the Revolution as an Iranian experience, the authors tell a story of immense transition, as the old order of the Shah subsided and was replaced by new institutions, new forms of expression, and a new social and political order.

The Political History of Modern Iran

The Political History of Modern Iran
Author: Ali Rahnema
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 745
Release: 2023-08-10
Genre: History
ISBN: 0755644018

From the rise of constitutionalism during the rule of despotic Qajars, foreign invasions, the Pahlavi regimes' destructive politics, economic, cultural and social modernization efforts and the oil nationalization movement, to the Iranian Revolution, its high hopes, broken promises, repression and intolerance causing national discontent and another socio-political upheaval today, the history of modern Iran has been eventful, unstable and turbulent. In this textbook, Ali Rahnema draws on his experience teaching and researching on modern Iran to render one hundred years of modern Iranian politics and history into easy-to-follow episodic chapters. Step by step, and taking a chronological approach, students are given the core information, analysis, and critical assessment to understand the flow of contemporary Iranian history. This is a comprehensive and exhaustive guide for undergraduate and graduate level courses on modern Iranian history and politics. The textbook is complete with the following pedagogical features: * An initial chapter on how to study Iranian history and how to approach historiography * Images of key individuals discussed in each chapter * Text boxes throughout to highlight key episodes, concepts, and ideas *Three types of exam questions; factual and analytical, seminar, and discussion at the end of each chapter * Glossaries at the end of each chapter *A comprehensive timeline Topics covered include: party formations; the flourishing of the press; the expansion or reduction of political and civil rights; repression and human right abuses; foreign intervention and influence; obsessions over conspiracies; the influence of Western ideologies, the role of nationalism, cultural and historical Persian chauvinism; and Shi'i Islam and competing Shiisms.

Iran in the 20th Century

Iran in the 20th Century
Author: Touraj Atabaki
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 352
Release: 2009-06-17
Genre: History
ISBN: 0857731874

Political upheaval has marked Iran's history throughout the twentieth century. Wars, revolutions, coups and the impact of modernism have shaped Iran's historiography, as they have the country's history. Originally based on oral and written sources, which underpinned traditional genealogical and dynastic history, Iran's historiography was transformed in the early 20th century with the development of a 'new' school of presenting history. Here emphasis shifted from the anecdotal story-telling genre to social, political, economic, cultural and religious history-writing. A new understanding of the nation state and the importance of identity and foreign relations in defining Iran's place in the modern world all served to transform the perspective of Iranian historiography. Touraj Atabaki here brings together a range of rich contributions from international scholars who cover the leading themes of the historiography of 20th-century Iran, including constitutional reform and revolution, literature and architecture, identity, women and gender, nationalism, modernism, Orientalism, Marxism and Islamism.

The Quest for Democracy in Iran

The Quest for Democracy in Iran
Author: Fakhreddin Azimi
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Total Pages: 511
Release: 2010-09-30
Genre: History
ISBN: 0674057066

The Constitutional Revolution of 1906 launched Iran as a pioneer in a broad-based movement to establish democratic rule in the non-Western world. In a book that provides essential context for understanding modern Iran, Fakhreddin Azimi traces a century of struggle for the establishment of representative government. The promise of constitutional rule was cut short in the 1920s with the rise of the Pahlavi dynasty. Reza Shah, whose despotic rule Azimi deftly captures, maintained the façade of a constitutional monarch but greeted any challenge with an iron fist: “I will eliminate you,” he routinely barked at his officials. In 1941, fearful of losing control of the oil-rich region, the Allies forced Reza Shah to abdicate but allowed Mohammad Reza to succeed his father. Though promising to abide by the constitution, the new Shah missed no opportunity to undermine it. The Anglo-American–backed coup of 1953, which ousted reformist premier Mohammed Mosaddeq, dealt a blow to the constitutionalists. The Shah’s repressive policies and subservience to the United States radicalized both secular and religious opponents, leading to the revolution of 1979. Azimi argues that we have fundamentally misunderstood this event by characterizing it as an “Islamic” revolution when it was in reality the expression of a long-repressed desire for popular sovereignty. This explains why the clerical rulers have failed to counter the growing public conviction that the Islamic Republic, too, is impervious to political reform—and why the democratic impulse that began with the Constitutional Revolution continues to be a potent and resilient force.

Iran and the First World War

Iran and the First World War
Author: Touraj Atabaki
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 240
Release: 2006-06-28
Genre: History
ISBN: 1786734672

The First World War, leading to the overthrow of the Qajar regime and replacement by Reza Shah, was pivotal in the history of modern Iran. The Constitutional Revolution of 1906-09 aimed to abolish the arbitrary regime and bring in a modern constitution and parliament. But growing provincial unrest and rebellion by nomadic peoples brought chaos and instability, heightened by the strains of war and intervention by foreign powers. Iran was on the brink of disintegration, modernisation had failed, and growing frustration and pressure from the disillusioned middle classes, intelligentsia and urban population, set the stage for centralisation of power under the `Man of Order' - Reza Shah.

Iran in the Middle East

Iran in the Middle East
Author: Houchang Chehabi
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 296
Release: 2015-07-01
Genre: History
ISBN: 0857737651

Iran's interaction with its neighbours is a topic of wide interest. But while many historical studies of the country concentrate purely on political events and high-profile actors, this book takes the opposite approach: writing history from below, it instead focuses on the role of everyday lives. Modern Iranian historiography has been dominated by ideas of nationalism, modernization, religion, autocracy, revolution and war. Iran in the Middle East adds new dimensions to the study of four crucial areas of Iranian history: the events and impact of the Constitutional Revolution, Iran's transnational connections, the social history of Iran and developments in historiography.

Muslims and Communists in Post-Transition States

Muslims and Communists in Post-Transition States
Author: Ben Fowkes
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 175
Release: 2014-01-02
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1317995392

Popular uprisings have taken many different forms in the last hundred or so years since Muslims first began to grapple with modernity and to confront various systems of domination both European and indigenous.The relevance of studies of popular uprising and revolt in the Muslim world has recently been underlined by shattering recent events, particularly in Egypt, Yemen, Tunisia and Libya. The book consists of a close analysis of the problématique of the Qur’an, showing the openness of the text to Islamic reform and renewal; the role of Islam in creating a specific form of communism in Albania and Kosova; the Chechen revolts against Russian rule after the collapse of the Soviet Union, and the short-lived period of alliance between communism and Islam in the early 1920s; the history of alliances between British Muslims and socialists since the 1950s. The book also traces the evolution of the Muslim-Communist alliance during the twentieth century, analyses the driving forces behind it, looks at the new situation created by the democratic revolts of 2010-11 in the Middle East and attempts a prognosis for future relations between these and existing communist groups. This volume contributes to the debate over the aims and methods of these popular uprisings. This book was published as a special issue of the Journal of Communist Studies and Transition Politics.