Azerbaijan People's Government
1285129
225309871
2008-07-13T00:50:01Z
Kimse
2380310
deleting [[gl:República Socialista Soviética de Acerbaixán]]
:''This article is about the short-lived USSR created regional government; for similar uses, see [[Azerbaijan (disambiguation)]].''
{{Infobox Former Country
|native_name =
|conventional_long_name = Azerbaijan People's Government
|common_name = Azerbaijan People's Government
|continent = Europe
|region = Caucasus
|status =
|status_text =
|year_start = 1945
|year_end = 1946
|date_start = November
|date_end = November
|event_start =
|event_end =
|p1 = Imperial State of Iran
|flag_p1= State Flag_of_Iran_%281925%29.svg
|s1 = Imperial State of Iran
|flag_s1= State Flag_of_Iran_%281925%29.svg
|image_flag =
|image_map =
|image_map_caption =
|capital = Tabriz
|government_type = Socialist Republic
|legislature=
|title_leader= Chairman
|leader1 = Ja'far Pishevari
|year_leader1 =
}}
[[Image:Old stamp of Democratic Republic of Azerbaijan.jpg|thumb|150px|A surcharged stamp published under the name of ''Azerbaijan People's Government'']]
The '''Azerbaijan People's Government''' ('''APG'''; {{lang-ru|Азербайджанское народное правительство}}) was a short-lived, [[Soviet Union|Soviet]]-backed [[client state]] (November 1945 - November 1946) in northern [[Iran]]. Established in [[Iranian Azerbaijan]], the APG's capital was the city of [[Tabriz]]. Its establishment and demise were a part of the [[Iran crisis of 1946|Iran crisis]], which was a precursor to the [[Cold War]].
To supply the Soviet forces with war material through Iran, British and Russian troops jointly [[Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran|occupied the country]] in August 1941<ref>[http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-6144/Reza-Shah-Pahlavi Reza Shah Pahlavi :: Policies as shah. - Britannica Online Encyclopedia<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>. Soviet forces from the [[Armenian SSR]] and the [[Azerbaijan SSR]] and British and Indian forces from [[Iraq]] entered Iranian territory and soon took the control of the land. In September, the British forced Reza Shah to abdicate in favour of his son [[Mohammad Reza Pahlavi of Iran|Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi]], who ruled until 1979.
New de-archived evidence of former top secret documents from the [[Cold War]] implicates the USSR in forming the government of Pishevari by the direct orders of Stalin.<ref name="Cold War International History Project 1945-46 Iranian Crisis">{{cite web| url=http://www.wilsoncenter.org/index.cfm?topic_id=1409&fuseaction=va2.browse&sort=Collection&item=1945%2D46%20Iranian%20Crisis| title="Cold War International History Project 1945-46 Iranian Crisis"}}</ref> 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.<ref> [http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/war/azerbaijan.htm Azerbaijan Crisis (1947-1948)]</ref><ref>[http://history.acusd.edu/gen/ww2Timeline/iran.html Iran in World War II]</ref> According to Professor. Gary R. Hess:
{{cquote|On December 11, an Iranian force entered Tabriz and the Peeshavari government quickly collapsed. Indeed the Iranians were enthusiastically welcomed by the people of Azerbaijan, who strongly preferred dominination by Tehran rather than Moscow. The Soviet willingness to forego its influence in (Iranian) Azerbaijan probably resulted from several factors, including the realization that the sentiment for autonomy had been exaggerated and that oil concessions remained the more desirable long-term Soviet Objective.<ref> Gary. R. Hess Political Science Quarterly, Vol. 89, No. 1 (March., 1974) [http://www.azargoshnasp.net/recent_history/atoor/theiraniancriris194546.pdf] </ref>}}
With the dethronment 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]] was proclaimed in Tabriz. The party, which was created by the direct order of Stalin, capitalized on some local people's dissatisfaction with centralization policies of Reza Shah. With northern Iran under Soviet occupation, [[Joseph Stalin|Stalin]] made plans to "spread Socialism" by creating separatist puppet states. The [[Kurds|Kurdish]] [[Republic of Mahabad]] 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, was promoted with the help of writers, journalists, and teachers from Soviet Azerbaijan. In the quest of imposing national homogenity 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. <ref>Tadeusz Swietochowski, Russia and Azerbaijan: A Borderland in Transition. ISBN 0-231-07068-3</ref>. One should keep in mind that 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.
The ''Firqah-i Dimukrat'' ([[Azerbaijani Democratic Party]]) 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 DPA<ref>Iran in claws of the bear, The failed Soviet landgrab of 1946 , Farhad Tale, iUniverse books, 2007, ISBN 0-595-41345-5,p19</ref>.DPA expanded throughout [[Iranian Azerbaijan]], and carried through a local coup d'état while the Soviet army prevented the Iranian reinforcements from entering the province <ref>Ervand Abrahamian. "Communism and Communalism in Iran: The Tudah and the Firqah-I Dimukrat", ''International Journal of Middle East Studies'', Vol. 1, No. 4. (Oct., 1970), p. 291</ref>. 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 the [[Iranian Azerbaijan]], promised liberal democratic reforms, and disbanded the local branch of [[Tudeh]]<ref>Sepehr Zabih. ''The Communist Movement in Iran'', Berkeley, 1966, p. 99</ref><ref name="abrahamian217">Ervand Abrahamian. ''Iran between Two Revolutions'', Princeton, 1982, pp. 217-218</ref>. Later in September 1945, at its first congress, [[Azerbaijani Democratic Party]] authorized the formation of 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" <ref name="lawson316">Fred H. Lawson. "The Iranian Crisis of 1945-1946 and the Spiral Model of International Conflict", ''International Journal of Middle East Studies'', Vol. 21, No. 3. (Aug., 1989), p. 316</ref>. The first and only Prime Minister of this short-lived republic was [[Ahmad Kordary]] (variously spelled Kordari or Kodari) {{Fact|date=July 2007}}.
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: ''As it turned out, the Soviets had to recognize that their ideas on Iran were premature. The issue of Iranian Azerbaijan became one of the opening skirmishes of the Cold War, and, largely under the Western powers' pressure, Soviet forces withdrew in 1946. The autonomous republic collapsed soon afterward, and the members of the Democratic Party took refuge in the Soviet Union, fleeing Iranian revenge.. In Tabriz, the crowds that had just recently applauded the autonomous republic were now greeting the returning Iranian troops, and Azerbaijani students publicly burned their native-language textbooks. The mass of the population was obviously not ready even for a regional self-government so long as it smacked of separatism.''<ref>Swietochowski, Tadeusz 1989. "Islam and the Growth of National Identity in Soviet Azerbaijan", Kappeler, Andreas, Gerhard Simon, Georg Brunner eds. Muslim Communities Reemerge: Historical Perspective on Nationality, Politics, and Opposition in the Former Soviet Union and Yugoslavia. Durham: Duke University Press, pp. 46-60.</ref>
On June 13, 1946, an agreement was reached between the Central Government [in Tehran] and the delegates from Azerbaijan, headed by Pishevari, <ref name="edwards">A. C. Edwards. "Persia Revisited", ''International Affairs (Royal Institute of International Affairs 1944)'', Vol. 23, No. 1. (Jan., 1947), p. 58</ref>. 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 <ref name="edwards" />.
By mid-December 1946, Iranian army reentered Tabriz, thus putting an end to Azerbaijan People's Government after a full year of its existence <ref name="lenczowski">[[George Lenczowski]]. "United States' Support for Iran's Independence and Integrity, 1945-1959", ''Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science'', Vol. 401, America and the Middle East. (May, 1972), p. 49</ref>.
Many of the leaders took refuge in Soviet Azerbaijan. 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 Kordary|Kazem]].
== References ==
{{reflist}}
==Documents==
<gallery>
Image:Azerbaijan People's Goverment-9.jpg|An official document with cover letter of ''Azerbaijan People's Government''
Image:Azeri language document.jpg|A document in Azerbaijani language from Azerbaijan People's Government
Image:South Azeri documents.jpg|Second part of the document
</gallery>
[[Category:History of Iran]]
[[Category:History of Azerbaijan]]
[[Category:History of the Soviet Union and Soviet Russia]]
[[Category:Puppet states]]
[[Category:Cold War]]
[[Category:Short-lived states of World War II]]
[[Category:Short-lived states|Azerbaijan]]
[[az:Azərbaycan Demokrat Firqəsi]]
[[de:Aserbaidschanische Volksregierung]]
[[fa:فرقه دموکرات آذربایجان]]
[[fr:Gouvernement populaire d'Azerbaïdjan]]
[[nl:Azerbeidzjaanse Volksregering]]
[[tr:Güney Azerbaycan Özerk Cumhuriyeti]]