Figure 1.--This World War II photograph taken in Iran shows a British or American MP and an American jeep. An inscription on the bavk reads, "Little Charlie Cain, Valvo and another fellow with a jeep." I'm not sure who the little boy is. The photograph was taken near Camp Amirabad near Tehran. |
Reza Shah's Government declared Iran neutral with the outbreak of World War II in Europe. The British suspected that the Shah was sympathetic with the NAZIs who were active diplomatically in Iran. The Iranians rejected British demands to expel Axis agents. After the NAZI invasion of the Soviet Union it became vital to open supply lines to the Soviets. The British and Soviets thus launched a coordinated invasion (August 26, 1941). The Soviets invaded from the north. The British from Iraq where they had defeated a pro-Axis rebellion and by troops landed along te Persian Gulf. There was only limitedd resistance. Reza Shah abdicated (September 16). His son ascended the throne as Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi. At the time of the War, Iran had just begun to develop its petroleum indutry. It did not play an important factor in the War. Britain fought the War largely with American oil, although the 8th Army fought the War in the Western Desert largely with Iraqi oil. Iran's importance in the War was largely as a conduit for American Lend Lease shipments to the Soviets. Iran in fact became the major conduit for American Lend Lease aid to the Soviets. Given the fact that the Wehrmacht was largely destroyed on the Eastern Front by the Red Army, these supplies delivered through Iran were very important indeed.
The Qajar Dynasty ruled in Iran (1795-1925). A Constitutional Revolution occurred in Iran just before World War I (1906-09). Iranian reformers sought to curb the arbitary power of Shah Muzaffar ad Din and install a modern elected parliament. The first Majlis was elected (1906). Iran at the time was not a state with a population willing to operate undermocracy and the ballot box. The result was disorders in the provinces. Some of the population was nomadic with very traditional outlook. Many were unwilling to support the new government. In prt because of the growing instability, Britain and Russia sign the Anglo-Russian Agreement (1907). This divided Iran into spheres of influence. The Russians achieved exclusive right to the north along the Cauususes. The British claimed the south along the Persian Gulf nd the east along British India. The treaty detailed a neutral sphere in central Persia which was open to both signatories. Mohammad Ali Shah sought to restablish royal power (1908). A brigade loyal to the shah with Russian officers fired on the Majlis. The Brirish discovered important oil fields in Iran (1908). The British formed the Anglo-Persian Oil Company company (APOC--modern British Petroleum) to develop the resource. Military units loyal to the new constitution match on Tehran and depose the shah. Mohammad Ali Shah was forced into exile in Russia. Disputes develop between the constitutional government and the Russians over taxing rights. The Russians object to the government collecting takes in its sphere and Russian trops stationed in Persia move on Teheran. Eventually the Majlis accepts the Russian demands, but then is again closed (1911). The new Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (AIOC) begins to build an oil refinery at Abadan Island in the Persian Gulf. The political situation in Persia is further complicated by the War and foreign intervention. The urban middle classes and intelligentsia with the failure of democracy were more willing to accept a strong-man ruler. This was to create an opportunity for Reza Shah.
When World War I breaks out in Euope (August 1914), Persia declared its neutrality, but the presence of Russian, Turkish and British troops as swell as the importance of the newly discovered oil resources makes this in practice impossible. The Royal Navy signs a long-term contract with the APOC to supply fuel oil for the fleet. The British Government purchases a majority of the company's stock. Persia bordered on the Ottoman Empire which had held Mesopotamia since 1534. The Britain needed the oil for its fleet. The most modern dreadnoughts had been converted from coal furnaces to clearn burning oil. The British after the Ottomans entered the War launched an offensive and took Basra (Mesopotamia/Iraq) with its oil wells (November 1914). The British also occupied the terminus of the oil pipeline and the refineries situated on Abadan Island (Persia) in the Shatt El Arab. This was the border between Ottoman Mesopotamia and Persia. Accross the border the British and Ottomons fought over Mesopotamia. Some Persian soldiers fought with the Ottomans. A Ottoman diversionary force crossed the Tigris (April 1915) as a threat to pro-British Persia, especially the refinery at Ahvaz. The British suffered a major defeat at El Kut in Mesopotamia (Iraq). The British Mesopotamian Expeditionary Force regrouped and launched another attack. They crossed the Tigris and captured Kut-el-Amara (December 1916). The British reached Baghdad (March 1917). Turkish offensives drove toward Baku in the Caususes supported by the Germans to tghe north. The Ottomons also moved into northeaster Iran (autumn 1918). The British respomded with small mobile forces (Dunsteforce expedition). Ottomon military power is broken, however by a British drive from Bagdad toward Mosul and the British Arab drive toward Jeurusalem and Damascus and then as far noth as Alepo.
With the Bolshevick Revolution, Russia is no longer an important player in Persia. Britain attempted to establish a kind of protectorate under the terms of the Anglo-Persian Agreement. Iranian nationalists object. Iranian Prime Minister Vosuq od-Dowleh supports the agreement because the Majlis refuses to approve it. Vosuq od-Dowleh is forced out of office. Moshir al-Doleh replaces him. The elected government is again overthrown in a British-instigated military coup. Reza Khan leading a force of Persian Cossacks seize control (1921). Reza Khan becomes prime ministership. Reza Khan formally deposed the royal Qajar Dynasty (1925). He then has himself crowned shah (1926) founding the Pahlavi Dynasty. Reza Khan was an authoritarian ruler who sharply limited party politics and imposed severe press censorship.
Reza Shah's Government declared Iran neutral with the outbreak of World War II in Europe (September 1939). The British suspected that the Shah was sympathetic with the NAZIs who were active diplomatically in Iran. The Iranians rejected British demands to expel Axis agents/German nationals. After the NAZI invasion of the Soviet Union it became vital to open supply lines to the Soviets.
The NAZI-Soviet Non-Agression Pact (August 1939) not only gave Hitler the ability to launch World War II, but it also involved the partioning of Central and Eastern Europe among the two dictatorships. This was so extensive that further meetings were required to iron out the details. The Molotov-Hitler agreement (November 26, 1940) addressed the Soviet demand that "the area south of Batum and Baku in the general direction of the Persian Gulf is recognized as the center of the aspirations of the Soviet Union." This of course meant Iran. Interestingly at a time when there was considerable support for the NAZIs in Iran, the same NAZIs were colluding with the Soviet Union in effect to develop a new colonial empire in the Middle East.
A new Government led by Rashid Ali took power in neighboring Iraq (March 1940). Ali was backed by the pro-Axis Golden Square. The fall of France (June 1940) dramatically changed the military ballance in the Mediterranean and thus the Middle East. Ali initiated various intrigues against Britain. British military successes in the Western Desert caused Ali to resign. The next primeminister acted to breakup the e Golden Square. A military coup placed Ali back in power (April 3, 1941). At the same time, spectacular German successes in Yugoslavia, Greece, and Crete convinced the Iraqi nationalists that the Germans would quickly defeat the British. Ali tore up the 1930 Treaty and struck at the British air base at Habbaniya. The French Vichy authorities controlling Syria assisted Ali by allowing the German and Italians to deliver some assistance. General Wavell, the British Middle East commander was hard pressed at the time. He had to contend with Rommel in the Wester Dessert and the disaterous intervention in Greece. He was reluctant to commit forces to Iraw, but Churchill insisted. An Indian division struck from the south landing at Basara. The Habforce (a British brigade and the Arab Legion) struck west from Jordan.
Stalin cooperated with Hitler in the early phase of the War, supplying large quantities of strategic materials. Iran until the NAZIs launched Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union, was a backwater of the War, of little strategic importance except that it was located close to Iraqi oil fields. This changed with Barbarossa. A key to the Allied victory over NAZI Germany was to keep the Soviets in the War. The Soviets appeled for war material whch was urgently needed as the Wehrmacht swept over the western Soviet Union. Iran became a possible route for these shipments and thus suddenly became of major strategic importance.
Shipping war supplies through Iran would violate Iranian neutrality. The British and Soviets thus launched a coordinated invasion (August 26, 1941). The Soviets invaded from the north. The British from Iraq where they had defeated a pro-Axis rebellion and by troops landed along te Persian Gulf. There was only limited Iranian resistance.
Reza Shah concluded that the Allies would not permit his continued reign. He abdicated (September 16). His son ascended the throne as Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi. The British took Reza Shah and several close family members to Mauritius in the Indian Ocean. Subsequently they were transported to Johannesburg, South Africa. Reza Shah died there (July 1944).
At the time of the War, Iran had just begun to develop its petroleum indutry. In addition, after the entry of Italy into the War and the fall of France (June 1940), the Axis effectively closed the Meditteranean to British merchant vessels and tankers. Iranian oil would have to be shipped around the Cape of Good Hope, increasing the cost and tanker force needed to move it. Thus Iranian oil did not play an important factor in the War. [Schmeider, pp. 32-33.] Britain fought the War largely with American oil, although the 8th Army fought the War in the Western Desert largely with Iraqi oil.
Iran before Lend Lease supplies began moving through the country in quantity signed a tripartite treaty of alliance with Britain and the Soviet Union. Iran agreed to provide non-military assistance to the Allied war effort. This primarily involved support to move Lend Lease supplies to the Soviets. Britain and the Soviets for their part committed to respect Iran's independence and territorial integrity. They also pledged to withdraw their troops from Iran within 6 months aftter the end of the War.
Iran's importance in the War was largely as a conduit for American Lend Lease shipments to the Soviets. Iran was the third route open to the Soviets, but it became the most important. Iran became the major conduit for American Lend Lease aid to the Soviets. Given the fact that the Wehrmacht was largely destroyed on the Eastern Front by the Red Army, these supplies delivered through Iran were very important indeed. The Allies transported more than 5 million tons of munitions and other war supplies through Iran to the Soviet Union. Major improvements were made to Iranian ports, roads, and railways.
Iran declared war on Germany (September 1943). By this time, Italy had surrendered and it was clear that Germany was losing the War. The declaration of War gained Iran membership in the United Nations.
One of the major Allied War-time conferences were held in Iran. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and Prime Minister Josef Stalin reaffirmed their commitment to Iran's independence and territorial integrity. The Allies also offered economic assistance.
Iran at the time of the War was still a very traditional society, little touched by the outside world. It was the War in fact that provided Iran's first major contact with the modern world. For most Iranians it was unsetteling. Some Iranians with contracts from the Allies fared well, but many Iranians suffered from spiraling inflation and shortages of food and other items. An active black market developed. Foreign troops made an impression on Iranians. Some were drawn to modernity. Others reacted with xenophobic and nationalism. Migration to the cities increased, causing a range of social problems. The Majlis made little effort to address the social problems, in part the propertied interests which dominated generally benefitted from the Allied intervention. The new Government which followed Reza Shah relaxed press censorship and accepted open and vocal political party politics. Among the new parties which formed was the Tudeh (Communist) Party and from the beginning was subservient to the Soviet Union. The Tudeh actively organized industrial workers. Many of the new partices demanded far reaching economic and social reforms.
Schmider, Klaus. "The Mediterranean in 1940-41: Crossroads of Lost Opportunities?" War and Society Vol. 15, No. 2, (October 1997).
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