1921 Persian coup d'état
1921 Persian coup d'état | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||
Government-Insurgents | |||||||
Supported by: United Kingdom | |||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Fathollah Khan Akbar |
Reza Khan Mirpanj Ziaoddin Tabatabaee Ahmad Amir-Ahmadi Edmund Ironside[2][3] | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
1,500 Persian Cossacks | |||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
Several policemen killed or injured in Tehran during the coup |
1921 Persian coup d'état, known in
The events began with a coup by the Persian Cossack Brigade headed by Reza Khan on 21 February 1921.[1] The precise level of British Empire involvement in the coup remains a matter of historical debate, but it is almost certain that Edmund Ironside provided advice to the plotters.[4][5][6] With this coup Ziaoddin Tabatabaee took over power and became Prime Minister. The coup was largely bloodless and faced little resistance. With his expanded forces and the Cossack Brigade, Reza Khan launched successful military actions to eliminate separatist and dissident movements in Tabriz, Mashhad and the Jangalis in Gilan. The campaign against Simko and the Kurds was less successful and lasted well into 1922, though eventually concluding with Persian success.
Background
In late 1920, the
By 1921, the ruling
The Qajar shah in 1921 was Ahmad, who had been crowned at the age of eleven. He was considered to be a weak, incompetent ruler,[10] especially after British, Russian and Ottoman occupations of Persia during World War I. In 1911, when the capital city, Tehran, had been seized by the Russians, armed Bakhtiaris tribesmen, rather than Iranian regular troops, expelled the invaders.[10] This further diminished the government's reputation, rendering it almost powerless in time of war.[citation needed]
Britain, which played a major role in Persia, was perturbed by the Qajar government's inability to rule efficiently.[8] This inefficiency was the background of a power struggle between Britain and Soviet Russia, each nation hoping to control Persia.[11]
On 14 January 1921, the British General Edmund Ironside chose to promote Reza Khan, who had been leading the Tabriz battalion, to lead the entire brigade.[1] About a month later, under British direction, Reza Khan's 3,000-4,000 strong detachment of the Cossack Brigade reached Tehran.[12]
The coup and subsequent events
Reza Khan seizes Tehran
On 18 February 1921 the Cossacks reached Tehran meeting little resistance.
Treaty with the USSR
On 26 February the new government signed a treaty of friendship with the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, formerly the Russian Empire. As a result of the treaty, the Soviet Union gave up some of its former Russian facilities in Iran, although the Soviet diplomats ensured that their nation was allowed to intervene with its military in Iran, as long as the intervention was "self-defense".[8] The USSR also gave up any Russian-owned railroads and ports in Iran.[14]
Change of prime ministers
Prior to the coup,
Sayyed Ziaoddin Tabatabaee, who had been installed as prime minister, was removed from office on 25 May by Shah Ahmad's decree. Shortly afterward, Qavam was released from prison and given Tabatabaee's former post.[citation needed] Colonel Pessian refused to accept this betrayal of the coup's ideals of a democratic Iran and began to gather popular support and many tribes flocked to make up his formidable force.
Quelling local uprisings
Pessian's revolt
After Qavam was made prime minister, one of the coup leaders and now the gendarmerie chief
Gilan campaign
The campaign on the Republic of Gilan was taken in early July 1921, by the main Cossack force, led by Vsevolod Starosselsky.[13] Following a gendarme operation, led by Habibollah Khan (Shiabani), they cleared up Mazandaran and moved into Gilan.[13] On 20 August, ahead of the arrival of the Cossacks, the insurgents pulled out of Rasht, retreating towards Enzeli.[13] The Cossacks entered Rasht on 24 August.[13] Though further pursuit after the revolutionaries turned successful at Khomam and Pirbazar, they have become heavily assaulted later on by the Soviet fleet, which bombed them by heavy artillery fire.[13] First, it had been believed that the entire force of 700 men, led by Reza Khan, became annihilated in this event, though later the actual casualty rate was determined to be about 10%, with the rest of them scattering upon the bombardment.[13] As a result, Starosselski ordered evacuation of Rasht.[13]
The Soviet Republic of Gilan officially came to an end in September 1921. Mirza[who?] and his German friend Gauook[who?] (Hooshang) were left alone in the Khalkhal Mountains, and died of frostbite.[citation needed]
Kurdish revolt
Aftermath
In the aftermath of 1921 events, relations of Persian government with the Sheikhdom of Mohammerah had also become strained. In 1924, Sheikh Khazal rebellion[16] broke out in Khuzestan, being the first modern Arab nationalist uprising led by the Sheikh of Mohammerah Khaz'al al-Ka'bi. The rebellion was quickly and effectively suppressed with minimal casualties.
Rezā Khan was placed on the throne by constitutional assembly in 1925, and many of those involved in the coup were either killed or put in prison. One General, Sepahbod Amir Ahmadi, tried to stand up against the establishment of a new monarchy, but on a visit to his now imprisoned brother-in-law, General Heydargholi Pessian, who had been one of the leaders of the coup that defeated the Qajar dynasty, Amir Ahmadi confessed that his efforts to prevent Reza Khan being made Shah and the monarchy reinstated were being thwarted by the British.[citation needed] Reza Khan was finally declared Shah, taking the surname Pahlavi and thus founding the Pahlavi dynasty. The Pahlavis ruled in Iran until the revolution of 1979, when the government was toppled and replaced with that of the Islamic Republic of Iran, headed by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.[9] The day after the Shah left Iran, the revolutionary leaders declared Colonel Mohammad Taghi Pessian the first Martyr of the Revolution although Pessian was a Secularist.[citation needed]
See also
- Persian Constitutional Revolution (1905–1907)
- Iran crisis of 1946
- Iranian Revolution (1979)
- List of modern conflicts in the Middle East
References
- ^ ISBN 978-1-86064-629-4.
- ^ ... as a result of his forcefulness and military achievements, had been chosen by Major General Edmund Ironside, head of Norperforce ... COUP D’ETAT OF 1299/1921
- ^ [English amongst Persians by Denis Wright]
- ^ The Cambridge History of Iran, vol. 7 (1991); pp. 210, 219–220
- JSTOR 4310304.
- S2CID 163139538.
- ISBN 0691053421.
- ^ a b c d e f "The Iranian History 1921 AD". Archived from the original on 2010-11-03. Retrieved 2010-10-29.
- ^ a b c History of Iran: Pahlavi Dynasty
- ^ a b History of Iran: Qajar Dynasty
- ^ "New Great War Episode: Persian Coup D'Ètat February 1921". RTH - Real Time History GmbH. Retrieved 2023-04-11.
- ^ "Top 10 Amazing Facts about Rezā Shāh". Discover Walks Blog. 2022-09-21. Retrieved 2023-04-11.
- ^ ISBN 1845112725.
- ^ Foundation, Encyclopaedia Iranica. "Welcome to Encyclopaedia Iranica". iranicaonline.org. Retrieved 2023-04-11.
- ISBN 0822952998.
- ^ Price, M. Iran`s diverse peoples: a reference sourcebook. p.159. "... and finally supporting a rebellion by Shaykh Khazal." CEIQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=sheikh%20khazal%20rebellion&f=false