Russian Invasion of Tabriz, 1911
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Russian occupation of Tabriz lasted from 30 April 1909 until 28 February 1918, with a brief interruption during 6–31 January 1915.
V. Minorsky Vladimir Fyodorovich Minorsky (russian: Владимир Фёдорович Минорский;  – March 25, 1966) was a Russian Orientalist best known for his contributions to the study of Persian, Lurish and Kurdish history, geography, ...
,
C. E. Bosworth Clifford Edmund Bosworth FBA (29 December 1928 – 28 February 2015) was an English historian and Orientalist, specialising in Arabic and Iranian studies. Life Bosworth was born on 29 December 1928 in Sheffield, West Riding of Yorkshire (now ...
and Sheila S. Blair, "Tabriz", in C. E. Bosworth (ed.), ''Historic Cities of the Islamic World'' (Leiden: Brill, 2007), pp. 486–498, at 496.
The city of Tabriz was the second city of Qajar Persia at the time, the capital of the region of Azerbaijan, and the traditional residence of the Qajar Crown Prince. During the
Persian Constitutional Revolution The Persian Constitutional Revolution ( fa, مشروطیت, Mashrūtiyyat, or ''Enghelāb-e Mashrūteh''), also known as the Constitutional Revolution of Iran, took place between 1905 and 1911. The revolution led to the establishment of a par ...
, rebellion broke out in Tabriz on 23 June 1908. In early February 1909 government forces under Prince ʿAyn-al-dawla surrounded the city. On 20 April, in response to the siege situation, Britain and Russia agreed that a Russian force should be sent to occupy the city in order "to facilitate the entrance into the town of the necessary provisions, to protect the consulates and foreign subjects, and to help those who so desired to leave the town." The Russian force under General Snarski occupied Tabriz on 30 April 1909. Negotiations for its withdrawal soon began but dragged on into 1911. On 29 November 1911, the Russian government presented the Persian government with an ultimatum. There were several demands, but most important was to fire the newly employed American lawyer
Morgan Shuster William Morgan Shuster (23 February 1877 in Washington, D.C. – 26 May 1960 in New York City), was an American lawyer, civil servant, and publisher, who is best known as the treasurer-general of Persia by appointment of the Iranian parliamen ...
. Shuster had been hired by the ''Majlis'' (parliament) to organise the country's financial affairs. Upon the Persian parliament's refusal to fire Shuster, the shah dissolved the parliament and agreed to the Russian ultimatum. The ultimatum nevertheless created unrest in Tabriz. On 21 December,
fedayeen Fedayeen ( ar, فِدائيّين ''fidāʼīyīn'' "self-sacrificers") is an Arabic term used to refer to various military groups willing to sacrifice themselves for a larger campaign. Etymology The term ''fedayi'' is derived from Arabic: '' ...
attacked the Russian troops, inflicting severe casualties. In response, a brigade of the Russian Imperial Army was dispatched to Tabriz under General Voropanov. Its aim was to occupy three major cities: Tabriz, Anzali and Rasht. The most fierce battle of the Russian invasion occurred in Tabriz, where the constitutionalists resisted. After about three days, the defense of the city's residents broke. The Russians shelled Tabriz with artillery and entered the city on 31 December. Once in control, the Russians held courts martial to try the fedayeen. The Russians executed the constitutional revolutionaries of Tabriz and their relatives ''en masse'' and many civilians of Tabriz as well. The total number of executions is estimated to have been about 1,200. The
Seqat-ol-Eslam Tabrizi Mirza Ali-Aqa Tabrizi, () known as Thiqat-ul-Islam Tabrizi (; January 19, 1861 - December 31, 1911) was an Iranian nationalist who lived in Tabriz, Iran, during the Iranian Constitutional Revolution and was a reformist Shia cleric. He was hanged b ...
, a leader of the local
Shaykhi Shaykhism ( ar, الشيخية) is a Shi'a Islamic school founded by Shaykh Ahmad in early 19th-century Qajar Iran. While grounded in traditional Twelver Shiʻi doctrine, Shaykhism diverged from the Usuli school in its interpretation of key idea ...
sect, was among them. The Russians also destroyed part of the Arg of Tabriz by shelling it. Fire broke out in the
Arg Arg or ARG may refer to: Places *''Arg'' () means "citadel" in Persian, and may refer to: **Arg, Iran, a village in Fars Province, Iran **Arg (Kabul), presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan **Arg, South Khorasan, a village in South Khorasan P ...
while it was held by Russian troops. During the Russian occupation, Crown Prince Mohammad Hassan Mirza resided in Tabriz. Beginning in 1906 and through a Persian concession, a Russian government company had constructed a road from the Russian railhead at Julfa to Tabriz. While the region under Russian occupation, they upgraded the road to a railroad. It opened to traffic in May 1916 as the first railroad in Persia. After the Ottoman entry into World War I in November 1914, Ottoman troops advanced into the Caucasus against Russia. This threatened to cut off the troops in Azerbaijan and an evacuation was ordered. Between 17 December 1914 and 6 January 1915, all Russian troops left Tabriz. Many local Christians—
Assyrian Assyrian may refer to: * Assyrian people, the indigenous ethnic group of Mesopotamia. * Assyria, a major Mesopotamian kingdom and empire. ** Early Assyrian Period ** Old Assyrian Period ** Middle Assyrian Empire ** Neo-Assyrian Empire * Assyrian ...
, Chaldean and
Orthodox Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to: Religion * Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pag ...
—left with them. Ottoman Kurds under
Aḥmad Mukhtār Bey Shamkhal Ahmad ( ar, أحمد, ʾAḥmad) is an Arabic male given name common in most parts of the Muslim world. Other spellings of the name include Ahmed and Ahmet. Etymology The word derives from the root (ḥ-m-d), from the Arabic (), from the ve ...
occupied the city on 8 January. The Ottoman–Kurdish occupation did not last long. The Ottomans were decisively defeated in the
Battle of Sarikamish The Battle of Sarikamish (''Sarighamishi chakatamart''), russian: Сражение при Сарыкамыше; tr, Sarıkamış Harekatı, lit=''Operation Sarıkamış'' was an engagement between the Russian and Ottoman empires during World W ...
and the Russians were able to reoccupy the city on 31 January 1915. They remained in control until the
Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and ad ...
of November 1917 created disorder and confusion among the troops. The evacuation began in early 1918 and on 28 February the last Russian soldiers left Tabriz. On 18 June, the Ottomans began occupying the city.


Gallery


See also

* Tabriz during World War I * Timeline of Tabriz


References

{{Portalbar, Iran Invasions by Russia Russian military occupations 1910s in the Russian Empire 1910s in Iran Persian Constitutional Revolution History of Tabriz Iran–Russia military relations Invasions of Iran 1911 in Iran 1911 in the Russian Empire 2nd term of the Iranian Majlis Conflicts in 1911 Mass murder in 1911 Qajar Iran