Persian Corridor
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The Persian Corridor was a supply route through
This supply route originated in the US and the UK with ships sailing around the Cape of Good Hope to the Persian Gulf. From there, the materiel transited Iran to the Soviet Union. Other supply routes included the Northern route across the Arctic, and the Pacific Route which handled US cargo at Vladivostok and then used the Trans-Siberian Railway across the Soviet Union.
This Persian Route became the only viable, all-weather route to be developed to supply Soviet needs.
Etymology
English-language official documents from the Persian Corridor period continue to make the word "Persia" interchangeable with the name of Iran. In correspondence by the government of the United Kingdom, usage of "Persia" over "Iran" was chosen by Winston Churchill to avoid possible confusion with neighbouring Iraq.[2]
Overthrow of the Shah
Following Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941, Britain and the Soviet Union became allies. Britain and the Soviet Union saw the newly opened Trans-Iranian Railway as an attractive route to transport supplies from the Persian Gulf to the Soviet Union. Both countries used concessions extracted in previous interventions to pressure neutral Iran (and, in Britain's case, Iraq) into allowing the use of their territory for military and logistical purposes. Increased tensions with Britain led to pro-German rallies in Tehran. In August 1941, because Reza Shah refused to expel all German nationals and come down clearly on the Allied side, Britain and the Soviet Union invaded Iran, arrested the monarch, sent him into exile to South Africa and took control of Iran's communications and the coveted railway.
In 1942 the United States, now an ally of Britain and the Soviet Union in World War II, sent a military force to Iran to help maintain and operate sections of the railway. The British and Soviet authorities allowed Reza Shah's system of government to collapse and limited the constitutional government interfaces. They installed Reza Shah's son, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, onto the Iranian/Persian throne.
The new Shah soon signed an agreement pledging full non-military logistical co-operation with the British and Soviets in exchange for full recognition of his country's independence, and also a promise to withdraw from Iran within six months of the war's conclusion (the assurances later proved essential in securing his country's independence after the war). In September 1943, the Shah went further by declaring war on Germany. He signed the Declaration by United Nations entitling his country to a seat in the original United Nations. Two months later, he hosted[citation needed] the Tehran Conference between Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin.
The presence of so many foreign troops in Iran accelerated social change and it roused nationalist sentiment in the country. In 1946,
Strategic need for supply to Soviets
After the Dunkirk evacuation and the agreement with Vichy France, Germany was essentially without any military opposition in mainland Europe until Hitler launched Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941. To relieve pressure from the Soviets, British, and later American, leaders sought to open a Second Front in Europe. Realizing that would take time, the Western Allies made the strategic decision to provide Stalin with material support substantial enough to ensure that the Red Army could continue to engage the bulk of the German military. The Allies established protocols that defined the type and amount of material that would be delivered and when. German military action on the Arctic route, prevented the US from meeting the first protocol. That caused increasing pressure on the Allies to develop the Persian Corridor.
Supply efforts
The Allies delivered all manner of
The United States Army forces in the corridor were originally under the Iran-Iraq Service Command, later renamed the Persian Gulf Service Command (PGSC). That was the successor to the original United States Military Iranian Mission, which had been put in place to deliver Lend-Lease supplies before the United States had entered the World War. The mission was originally commanded by Colonel
Statistics
Of the 17,500,000 long tons (17,800,000 t) of US lend-lease aid provided to Russia, 7,900,000 long tons (8,000,000 t) (45 per cent) were sent through Iran.
Supply routes
Supplies came from as far away as Canada and the United States, and those were unloaded in Persian Gulf ports in Iran and Iraq. Once the Axis powers were cleared from the Mediterranean Sea in 1943 - with the Allied capture of Tunisia, Sicily, and southern Italy - cargo convoys were able to pass through the Mediterranean, the Suez Canal, and the Red Sea to Iran for shipment to the Soviet Union.
The main ports in the Corridor for supplies inbound to Iran were: in Iran,
- Bushehr
- Bandar Shahpur(now Bandar Imam Khomeini); and
in Iraq,
The main overland routes were from the ports to Tehran, and then
or, alternatively,
- Kazvinor
- Dzhulfa — Beslan.
The main port for outbound supplies (via the Caspian Sea) was Nowshahr. Ships ferried supplies from this port to Baku or Makhachkala.
Other locations
Important smaller ports and transit points on the routes included:
in Azerbaijan
- Lenkoran;
in Armenia
in Georgia
in North Ossetia-Alania
in Iran
Ports
- Bandar Anzali
- Bandar Abbas
- Chabahar
- Noshahr
- Bandar-e Shah (now Bandar Torkoman)
- Amir Abad port
- Khoramshahr
- Bushehr
- Assalouyeh
- Mahshahr
- Bandar Shahpur
- Fereydunkenar [1]
Cities
- Andimeshk
- Tehran
- Tabriz
- Hamadan
- Isfahan
- Karaj
- Khorramabad
- Kashan
- Malayer
- Mashad
- Mianeh
- Sari, Iran
- Semnan
- Shahroud
- Shiraz
- Tabriz
- Qom
- Zanjan
- Zahedan
in Turkmenistan
Ports
- Krasnovodsk
Cities
- Ashgabat
- Kizyl Arvat
- Kizyl Atrek
Personnel
Cargo was principally handled by special British and American transportation units from the nations' respective combat service support branches, such as the
In addition to providing logistical support to the Iranians, the Allies offered other services as well. The Americans in particular were viewed as more neutral since they had no colonial past in the country as did the British and Soviets. The Americans contributed special expertise to the young Shah's government. Colonel
Equipment
To help operate trains on the demanding Trans-Iranian Railway route, the US supplied large numbers of ALCO diesel locomotives, which were more suitable than steam locomotives. About 3000 pieces of rolling stock of various types were also supplied.[4]
-
A US Army truck convoy carrying supplies for the Soviets somewhere along the Persian Corridor. c. 1943
-
American and British railroad crews operated trains and trucks to bring supplies to the USSR. c.1943
-
An American train transporting aid bound for the USSR stopping at a station. Supplies moved by road, rail and air through the Persian Corridor. c. 1943
-
An assembly plant for American CurtissP-40fighters destined for Russia, somewhere in Iran. c.1943
-
American and British Army train crewmen standing at a station. An American locomotive is seen at the head of the train at left. c. 1943
-
Train going along a gorge through a winding route somewhere in Iraq.
Volga River to Stalingrad
Beyond the Persian Corridor and across the Caspian Sea is the
See also
- History of Iran
- Mediterranean and Middle East Theatre
- Military history of the Soviet Union
- Polish contribution to World War II
- Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran
- Anglo-Russian Treaty of 1907
- Royal Road
- Operation Cedar
- Burma Road
Notes
- ^ ISBN 978-1-58901-258-5.
- ^ Churchill, Winston, The Second World War
- OCLC 56497488.
- ^ "They Helped Russia to Victory". The Port Macquarie News and Hastings River Advocate (NSW : 1882–1950). NSW: National Library of Australia. 28 April 1945. p. 4. Retrieved 25 May 2013.
Further reading
- Coakley, Robert W. (2000) [1960]. "Chapter 9: The Persian Corridor as a Route for Aid to the USSR". In Greenfield, Kent Roberts (ed.). Command Decisions. Washington: United States Army Center of Military History. CMH Pub 72-7.
- Motter, T. H. Vail (2000) [1952]. The Persian Corridor and Aid To Russia. Washington: United States Army Center of Military History. CMH Pub 8-1.