Azerbaijan People's Government
Encyclopedia
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
-backed client state
Client state
Client state is one of several terms used to describe the economic, political and/or military subordination of one state to a more powerful state in international affairs...
(November 1945 - November 1946) in northern Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
. Established in Iranian Azerbaijan, the APG's capital was the city of Tabriz
Tabriz
Tabriz is the fourth largest city and one of the historical capitals of Iran and the capital of East Azerbaijan Province. Situated at an altitude of 1,350 meters at the junction of the Quri River and Aji River, it was the second largest city in Iran until the late 1960s, one of its former...
. Its establishment and demise were a part of the Iran crisis, which was a precursor to the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
.
History
To supply the Soviet forces with war material through Iran, British and Soviet troops jointly occupied the countryAnglo-Soviet invasion of Iran
The Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran was the Allied invasion of the Imperial State of Iran during World War II, by British, Commonwealth, and Soviet armed forces. The invasion from August 25 to September 17, 1941, was codenamed Operation Countenance...
in August 1941. Soviet forces from the Armenian SSR
Armenian SSR
The Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic The Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic The Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic The Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic The Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic The Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic The Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic The Armenian Soviet...
and the Azerbaijan SSR
Azerbaijan SSR
The Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic , also known as the Azerbaijan SSR for short, was one of the republics that made up the former Soviet Union....
and British and Indian forces from Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
entered Iranian territory and soon took the control of the country. In September, the British forced Reza Shah
Reza Shah
Rezā Shāh, also known as Rezā Shāh Pahlavi and Rezā Shāh Kabir , , was the Shah of the Imperial State of Iran from December 15, 1925, until he was forced to abdicate by the Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran on September 16, 1941.In 1925, Reza Shah overthrew Ahmad Shah Qajar, the last Shah of the Qajar...
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
Jafar Pishevari
Sayyed Ja'far Pishevari was the founder and chairman of separatist and communist Azerbaijan People's Government , created and supported by Soviet occupational forces in north-western Iran.-Life:...
was proclaimed in Tabriz. The party, which was created by the direct order of Joseph Stalin
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
, 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
Republic of Mahabad
The Republic of Mahabad , officially known as Republic of Kurdistan and established in Iranian Kurdistan, was a short-lived, Kurdish government that sought Kurdish autonomy within the limits of the Iranian state. The capital was the city of Mahabad in northwestern Iran...
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
Persian language
Persian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and countries which historically came under Persian influence...
, 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.. 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 PartyAzerbaijani Democratic Party
The Azerbaijan Democratic Party was a democratic party supported by the Soviet Union and founded by Jafar Pishevari in Tabriz, Iran, in September 1945. It was founded as an opposition party against the Pahlavi dynasty. The ADP ruled the Soviet-backed Azerbaijan People's Government from 1945 until...
(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. ADP expanded throughout Iranian Azerbaijan, and initiated a local coup d'état with help from Soviet army, who prevented the Iranian army from intervening. 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. 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" . The only Prime Minister of this short-lived republic was Ahmad Kordary (variously spelled Kordari or Kodari).
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:
Soviet support
New de-archived evidence of former top secret documents from the Cold WarCold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
implicates the USSR in forming the government of Pishevari by the direct orders of Stalin. 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. According to Professor. Gary R. Hess:
Dissolution
On June 13, 1946, an agreement was reached between the Central Government [in Tehran] and the delegates from Azerbaijan, headed by Pishevari. 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.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. During the lawless interregnum, approximately 500 supporters 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.