Azerbaijan People's Government

This article is about the short-lived USSR created regional government; for similar uses, see Azerbaijan (disambiguation).

Azerbaijan People's Government
Puppet state of Soviet Union
← 1945–1946 →
Flag
Capital	Tabriz
Language(s)	Azerbaijani
Government	Socialist republic
President	Ja'far Pishevari
History
- Established	November 1945
- Disestablished	November 1946

A surcharged stamp published under the name of Azerbaijan People's Government

The Azerbaijan People's Government (APG; Azerbaijani: Azərbaycan Demokratik Firqəsi, Russian: Азербайджанское народное правительство, Azerbajdzhanskoe narodnoe pravitel'stvo) was a short-lived, Soviet-backed client state (November 1945 - November 1946) in northern Iran. Established in Iranian Azerbaijan, the APG's capital was the city of Tabriz. Its establishment and demise were a part of the Iran crisis, which was a precursor to the Cold War.

History

To supply the Soviet forces with war material through Iran, British and Soviet troops jointly occupied the country in August 1941^[1]. Soviet forces from the Armenian SSR and the Azerbaijan SSR and British and Indian forces from Iraq entered Iranian territory and soon took the control of the country. In September, the British forced Reza Shah to abdicate in favor of his son Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, who ruled until 1979.

With the dethronement of Reza Shah in September 1941, Soviet troops captured Tabriz and northwestern Persia for military and strategic reasons. Azerbaijan People's Government, a puppet government set up by the Soviets, under leadership of Jafar Pishevari was proclaimed in Tabriz. The party, which was created by the direct order of Joseph Stalin, capitalized on some local people's dissatisfaction with centralization policies of Reza Shah. With northern Iran under Soviet occupation, Stalin made plans to "spread Socialism" by creating separatist puppet states. The Kurdish Republic of Mahabad was one such state and the Soviets decided to create a separatist state for northern Iran's Azeri population as well. During this time, a revival of the Azerbaijani literary language, which had largely been supplanted by Persian, was promoted with the help of writers, journalists, and teachers from Azerbaijan SSR. In the quest of imposing national homogeneity on the country where half of the population consisted of ethnic minorities, Reza Shah had previously issued in quick succession bans on the use of Azerbaijani language on the premises of schools, in theatrical performances, religious ceremonies, and, finally, in the publication of books. The current regime has continued this ban since 1979.^[2]. These directives were issued despite the fact that Reza Shah's mother Noosh Afarin and his wife Taj-Al-Molook Ayrimlu were both of Azerbaijani descent.

Establishment

The Firqah-i Dimukrat, or Azerbaijani Democratic Party (ADP), publicly announced its formation in Tabriz on September 3, 1945 by a group of veteran communists headed by Jafar Pishevari. After the announcement, the communist, Soviet-supported Tudeh party dissolved its Azerbaijan chapter and ordered the members to join ADP.^[3] ADP expanded throughout Iranian Azerbaijan, and initiated a local coup d'état with help from Soviet army, who prevented the Iranian army from intervening.^[4] During the first week of September 1945, the Azerbaijani Democratic Party, now led by Jafar Pishevari, a long-time leader of the revolutionary movement in Gilan, declared itself to be in control of Iranian Azerbaijan, promised liberal democratic reforms, and disbanded the local branch of Tudeh^[5][6]. Later in September 1945, at its first congress, the Azerbaijani Democratic Party authorized the formation of a peasant's militia, which by mid-November 1945 captured all remaining government posts in the province, and Iranian Azerbaijan "became an autonomous republic under the direction of a 39-member national executive committee" ^[7]. The only Prime Minister of this short-lived republic was Ahmad Kordary (variously spelled Kordari or Kodari).^{[citation needed]}

At the same time, the US was steadily increasing its military assistance to the government. Under pressure by the Western powers, the Soviet Union reneged its support of the newly-created state and the Iranian military succeeded in re-establishing Iranian rule in November 1946. According to Taduesz Swietochowski:

As it turned out, the Soviets had to recognize that their ideas on Iran were premature. The issue of Iranian Azerbaijan became one of the opening skirmishes of the Cold War, and, largely under the Western powers' pressure, Soviet forces withdrew in 1946. The autonomous republic collapsed soon afterward, and the members of the Democratic Party took refuge in the Soviet Union, fleeing Iranian revenge.. In Tabriz, the crowds that had just recently applauded the autonomous republic were now greeting the returning Iranian troops, and Azerbaijani students publicly burned their native-language textbooks. The mass of the population was obviously not ready even for a regional self-government so long as it smacked of separatism.^[8]

Soviet support

New de-archived evidence of former top secret documents from the Cold War implicates the USSR in forming the government of Pishevari by the direct orders of Stalin.^[9] Soviet military supported the new autonomous entity and prevented Iranian army from restoring governmental control over the area. After Soviet withdrawal, Iranian troops entered the region in December 1946 and Pishevari and his cabinet fled to Soviet Union.^[10][11] According to Professor. Gary R. Hess:

On December 11, an Iranian force entered Tabriz and the Peeshavari government quickly collapsed. The Soviet willingness to forego its influence in (Iranian) Azerbaijan probably resulted from several factors, including the realization that the sentiment for autonomy had been exaggerated and that oil concessions remained the more desirable long-term Soviet Objective.^[12]

Dissolution

On June 13, 1946, an agreement was reached between the Central Government [in Tehran] and the delegates from Azerbaijan, headed by Pishevari.^[13] By that agreement, Pishevari agreed to abandon its autonomy, to relinquish its ministries and premiership and to become once more part of Iran. Its parliament was to be transformed into a provincial council- a system recognized and provided for in the Iranian Constitution.^[13]

By mid-December 1946, the Iranian army reentered Tabriz, thus putting an end to Azerbaijan People's Government after a full year of its existence.^[14] During the lawless interregnum, approximately 500 supporters^[15][16] of the Ferqeh were killed.

Many of the leaders took refuge in Azerbaijan SSR. Jafar Pishevari, who was never fully trusted by Stalin, soon died in a car accident under mysterious circumstances. Prime Minister Kordary was jailed for many years by the Shah and later released due to the tireless efforts of his brother Kazem.

See also

• Republic of Mahabad

References

1. ^ Reza Shah Pahlavi :: Policies as shah. - Britannica Online Encyclopedia
2. ^ Tadeusz Swietochowski, Russia and Azerbaijan: A Borderland in Transition. ISBN 0-231-07068-3
3. ^ Iran in claws of the bear, The failed Soviet landgrab of 1946 , Farhad Tale, iUniverse books, 2007, ISBN 0-595-41345-5,p19
4. ^ Ervand Abrahamian. "Communism and Communalism in Iran: The Tudah and the Firqah-I Dimukrat", International Journal of Middle East Studies, Vol. 1, No. 4. (Oct., 1970), p. 291
5. ^ Sepehr Zabih. The Communist Movement in Iran, Berkeley, 1966, p. 99
6. ^ Ervand Abrahamian. Iran between Two Revolutions, Princeton, 1982, pp. 217-218
7. ^ Fred H. Lawson. "The Iranian Crisis of 1945-1946 and the Spiral Model of International Conflict", International Journal of Middle East Studies, Vol. 21, No. 3. (Aug., 1989), p. 316
8. ^ Swietochowski, Tadeusz 1989. "Islam and the Growth of National Identity in Soviet Azerbaijan", Kappeler, Andreas, Gerhard Simon, Georg Brunner eds. Muslim Communities Reemerge: Historical Perspective on Nationality, Politics, and Opposition in the Former Soviet Union and Yugoslavia. Durham: Duke University Press, pp. 46-60.
9. ^ "Cold War International History Project 1945-46 Iranian Crisis". http://www.wilsoncenter.org/index.cfm?topic_id=1409&fuseaction=va2.browse&sort=Collection&item=1945%2D46%20Iranian%20Crisis. 
10. ^ Azerbaijan Crisis (1947-1948)
11. ^ Iran in World War II
12. ^ Gary. R. Hess Political Science Quarterly, Vol. 89, No. 1 (March., 1974) [1]
13. ^ ^{a b} A. C. Edwards. "Persia Revisited", International Affairs (Royal Institute of International Affairs 1944), Vol. 23, No. 1. (Jan., 1947), p. 58
14. ^ George Lenczowski. "United States' Support for Iran's Independence and Integrity, 1945-1959", Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, Vol. 401, America and the Middle East. (May, 1972), p. 49
15. ^ Swietchowski:“Addressing the troops entering Azerbaijan, General ‘Ali Razmara proclaimed that they were restoing the soul of Iran to the nation, and henceforth the anniversary of the event would be celebrated by a military parade. By all accounts the population’s enthusiatic welcome of the Iranian army was genuine. Among the elated throngs were many who barely a year ago had also enthusiastically greeted the rise of the Pishevari government; the change of heart was due not only to disenchantment with the Democrats but also the uncontrollable violence being meted out at the sympathizers of the faller regime. Rossow conservatively estimated 500 killed during the lawless interregnum that preceded the coming of the Iranian troops. Hundreds of others were tried and jailed, and scores were hanged. ”( Tadeusz Swietochowski, Russia and Azerbaijan: A Borderland in Transition. New York: Columbia. University Press, 1995. pg 154)
16. ^ A British source cited by the US Embassy in Tehran gives the number of killed Democrats as 421. The American Embass’s report has been classified under wash. Nat. Arch. 891.00/1-1547, 15 January 1947”( Touraj Atabaki, Azerbaijan: Ethnicity and the Struggle for Power in Iran, [Revised Edition of Azerbaijan, Ethnicity and Autonomy in the Twentieth-Century Iran] (London: I.B.Tauris, 2000. pg 227).

Documents

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  An official document with cover letter of Azerbaijan People's Government

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  Second part of the document