Iran and the First World War: Battleground of the Great Powers

Description

The First World War, leading to the overthrow of the Qajar regime and replacement by Reza Shah, was pivotal in the history of modern Iran. The Constitutional Revolution of 1906-09 aimed to abolish the arbitrary regime and bring in a modern constitution and parliament. But growing provincial unrest and rebellion by nomadic peoples brought chaos and instability, heightened by the strains of war and intervention by foreign powers. Iran was on the brink of disintegration, modernisation had failed, and growing frustration and pressure from the disillusioned middle classes, intelligentsia and urban population, set the stage for centralisation of power under the ‘Man of Order’ - Reza Shah. Front Cover Title page Copyright page Table of Contents List of Contributors Acknowledgements Note on Transliteration 1. The First World War, Great Power Rivalries and the Emergence of a Political Community in Iran 2. The Iranian Provisional Government 3. Going East: The Ottomans’ Secret Service Activities in Iran 4. Iranian Nationalism and the Government Gendarmerie 5. A Kurdish Warlord on the Turkish–Persian Frontier in the Early Twentieth Century: Isma‘il Aqa Simko 6. Ahmad Kasravi on the Revolt of Sheikh Mohammad Khiyabani 7. Pan-Turkism and Iranian Nationalism 8. The Populists of Rasht: Pan-Islamism and the Role of the Central Powers 9. The Council for International Propaganda and the Establishment of the Iranian Communist Party Notes Index