Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran
| date | August 25, 1941 to September 17, 1941 |
|---|---|
| location | Iran |
| exit | Occupation of Iran by Great Britain and the Soviet Union |
| follow | Securing the Iranian oil fields, Persian Corridor |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
| Commander | |
| Troop strength | |
| Soviet Union: 3 armies United Kingdom: 2 divisions, 3 brigades |
9 divisions |
| losses | |
|
United Kingdom and British India: |
~ 800 killed, |
.svg){kind=small}
.svg){kind=small}
The Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran by British and Soviet armed forces in World War II lasted from August 25, 1941 to September 17, 1941. It ran under the code names Operation Countenance , German for 'peace of mind' , or in Russian Операция Согласие Operazija Soglasie , German ' Consent ' . The aim of the invasion was to secure the Iranian oil fields and to set up a supply line ( see Persian Corridor ) for the Soviet Union , which had been at war with the German Reich since June 22, 1941 .
prehistory
Soviet preparations for attack
After the conclusion of the Hitler-Stalin Pact , the Soviet Union began to prepare for political or military influence in Iran in the autumn of 1939. First, military, political, economic and strategic information about the Iranian province of Azerbaijan was collected. In 1940, Division No. 5 of the Red Army prepared a detailed military-geographic map of Azerbaijan with precise terrain information for military use. Information was also collected on the Iranian army , commanding officers, troop strength, combat strength and stationing. From May to June 1941 the group "Aziz Aliyev" was formed, which comprised more than 3,800 people. The group, consisting of communist party officials, security officers , militiamen , logistics officers , military judges , journalists and printers as well as railroad workers and geologists , was supposed to be smuggled into Iran. From June to July 1941, the 47th Army was relocated to the Iranian border. The plans for an attack on Iran were completed by August 5, 1941 at the latest, the concrete preparations were completed by August 23, 1941 with the formation of the Transcaucasus Front .
British preparations for attack
The British General Staff began planning an attack on Iran on June 11, 1941, before the German attack on the Soviet Union.
The British and Soviet demands
After the German attack on the Soviet Union (Operation Barbarossa) in June 1941, the relationship between Great Britain and the Soviet Union changed . Iran declared its neutrality , Reza Shah Pahlavi and his country sympathized with the Germans. The British wanted to rule out the possibility that the Abadan - refinery , which is owned by the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company was (AIOC), might fall into German hands. The refinery had processed eight million tons of oil in 1940 and was therefore of decisive importance for the outcome of the war from the Allied perspective. The USSR viewed Iran as a zone of influence, and Iran was of great strategic importance. In the first few weeks of the German-Soviet War, the German Wehrmacht had made large gains, and the Allies had very few opportunities to transport the war-essential goods to the USSR that had been promised under the US law on lending and leasing .
The increasing attacks by German submarines, icebergs and a thick ice cover on the coast made it difficult to send northern sea convoys to Arkhangelsk (on the White Sea ). The Trans-Iranian Railroad appeared to be a better way of transporting supplies across the Persian Gulf to the Soviet lines. Britain and the Soviet Union put pressure on Iran and the Shah, but that increased tensions between the countries. There were pro-German demonstrations in Tehran . On August 16, 1941, the British and Soviet ambassadors presented the Iranian government with an ultimatum demanding the expulsion of the fewer than 500 Germans involved in numerous industrial projects in Iran. The Iranian government refused, especially as more than 3,000 British citizens were involved in oil exploration and processing in southern Iran.
As a result, Great Britain and the Soviet Union decided to attack and occupy Iran on August 25, 1941 without a declaration of war.
Defense preparations of the Iranian army
To fend off a possible Soviet attack, Reza Shah had commissioned his generals to develop a defense plan. General Hassan Arfa found it impossible to withstand a Soviet attack. He developed a plan in which light forces should make all roads from the north impassable in the mountains in order to slow down the Soviet advance or to stop them in the mountains. General Haj Ali Razmara wanted to defend the entire north of Iran in the border region and place the Soviet troops on the border. Reza Shah approved the Razmara plan, which was supported by the majority of the generals.
invasion
sequence
On the evening of the invasion, the Iranian troops were only on standby. In Abadan the troops slept in their barracks. The weapons were locked in the magazine. Artillery had arrived at the western frontier to reinforce the 12th Division. In the north, in Bandar Pahlavi , the soldiers cleaned their barracks in preparation for an inspection scheduled for the following day.
The invasion took place on August 25, 1941 from 3:45 a.m. quickly and without major problems. From the south the British Iraq Command , renamed Persian and Iraq Command (Paiforce) six days later, advanced under the command of Lieutenant General Edward Quinan. Paiforce consisted of troops from the Indian 8th Infantry Division and the Indian 10th Infantry Division, the Indian 2nd Armored Division, the British 1st and 4th Cavalry Divisions (later renamed the 9th Armored Division) and the Indian 21st Infantry Brigade. The 8th Infantry Division marched from Basra to Ahvaz to secure the oil facilities of the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company. The 10th Infantry Division moved via Kermanshah to Hamadan and via Qom to Tehran .
The Red Army came with 120,000 men and more than 1,000 tanks from the north with the 44th , 47th and 53rd Armies under Lieutenant General Dmitri Kozlov . The air force and the navy also took part in the attack . The 47th Army advanced from Culfa to Tabriz and then on to Zanjan , Qazvin and Tehran. The 44th Army attacked Astara and advanced on Rasht , then united with the 47th Army in Qazvin to advance further on Tehran. The 53rd Infantry Division crossed the border in the northeast and moved on to Gorgan and towards Mashhad .
The Iranian army mobilized nine infantry divisions. Reza Shah turned to the American President Franklin D. Roosevelt , invoking the Atlantic Charter .
"[...] on the basis of the declarations which Your Excellency has made several times regarding the necessity of defending principles of international justice and the right of peoples to liberty. I beg Your Excellency to take efficacious and urgent humanitarian steps to put an end to these acts of aggression. This incident brings into war a neutral and pacific country which has had no other care than the safeguarding of tranquility and the reform of the country. "
“[...] In accordance with Your Excellency's declaration of the need to defend the principles of international law and the right of peoples to freedom, I ask Your Excellency to take effective and urgently needed humanitarian steps to put an end to this act of aggression . This incident draws a neutral and peace-loving country into a war that wants nothing more than to keep the peace and to push ahead with the reforms that have been initiated. "
Reza Shah's request to Roosevelt to intervene against the invasion did not have the desired success, as his response shows:
“Viewing the question in its entirety involves not only the vital questions to which Your Imperial Majesty refers, but other basic considerations arising from Hitler's ambition of world conquest. It is certain that movements of conquest by Germany will continue and will extend beyond Europe to Asia, Africa, and even to the Americas, unless they are stopped by military force. It is equally certain that those countries which desire to maintain their independence must engage in a great common effort if they are not to be engulfed one by one as has already happened to a large number of countries in Europe. In recognition of these truths, the Government and people of the United States of America, as is well known, are not only building up the defenses of this country with all possible speed, but they have also entered upon a very extensive program of material assistance to those countries which are actively engaged in resisting German ambition for world domination. "
“If you look at the problem in its entirety, then not only are questions addressed that are addressed by Her Imperial Majesty, but questions relating to Hitler's ambitions to conquer the world must also be taken into account. It can be assumed that Germany will continue its campaigns of conquest and expand beyond the borders of Europe to Asia, Africa and even America, unless it is prevented from doing so by the use of military forces. It is also certain that those countries that want to maintain their independence must come together in a joint effort if they do not want to be overwhelmed one by one, as has already happened with a large number of countries in Europe. In view of these facts, as is well known, the government and people of the United States of America are not only intensifying their country's defense efforts, but they are also participating in an extremely extensive aid program for those countries which are actively pursuing the ambitious goals of the Germans, the world to dominate, oppose. "
Roosevelt assured the Shah
"The statements to the Iranian Government by the British and Soviet Governments that they have no designs on the independence or territorial integrity of Iran"
"That the statements of the British and Soviet governments to the Iranian government are not directed against the independence or territorial integrity of Iran."
Contrary to Roosevelt's assurance, after the war the Soviet Union supported separatist movements in northern Iran, such as the Republic of Mahabad . It is not clear whether this was already recognizable for Roosevelt or not.
strategy
The campaign began on August 25 with a dawn attack led by the British sloop HMS Shoreham on the port of Abadan . The Iranian warship Palang (Leopard) was quickly sunk and the remaining ships were destroyed or occupied. The attack caught the Iranians unprepared, so that the Abadan oil facilities could be captured by two battalions of the Indian 8th Division and the Indian 24th Brigade, which had crossed the Shatt al-Arab from Basra . A small unit landed with the armed merchant ship HMAS Kanimbla in the port of Bandar Shahpur to secure the port and the oil terminal. The British Air Force attacked air bases and communications facilities in Iran. The Indian 8th Division advanced from Basra to Qasr Shiekh (taken on August 25) and reached Ahvaz on August 28. On August 28, Reza Shah ordered the Iranian armed forces to stop fighting.
Further north, eight battalions moved British and Indian forces led by Major-General William Slim of Khanaqin from (160 km north-east of Baghdad and 480 km from Basra) into the Naft-i-Shah oilfield and on the Pai Tak Pass ago leading to Kermanshah and Hamadan. The Pai-Tak Pass was captured on August 27 after Iranian forces withdrew that night. The attack on Kermanshah, scheduled for August 29, was abandoned after Reza Shah declared a unilateral ceasefire and local authorities offered to negotiate the terms of the surrender of the city.
The Soviet troops advanced in northern Iran towards Maku , which had initially been bombed. They also landed in Bandar Pahlavi on the Caspian Sea. A Soviet ship was sunk by friendly fire .
losses
A total of two Iranian warships were sunk and four put out of action by the British Navy. 800 Iranian soldiers, sailors and airmen were killed, including Rear Admiral Gholamali Bayandor . About 200 civilians were killed in the bombing of Gilan by Soviet forces. The British and Indian armed forces had 22 dead and 24 wounded. The Red Army had six dead and 18 wounded. There were also nine soldiers who drowned while crossing the macaw . The Soviet Air Force also lost ten aircraft.
Division of Iran
Without the support of military allies, the Iranian forces were quickly overwhelmed and neutralized by British and Soviet tanks and infantry. The British and Soviet forces met in Sanandaj , 150 km northwest of Hamadan, on August 30th. Iran was defeated, the oil fields secured and the Trans-Iranian Railway in the hands of the Allies. In the absence of transportation, the British decided not to deploy any troops behind the Hamadan – Ahvaz line. In the meantime, the new Iranian Prime Minister Mohammad Ali Foroughi had asked the German ambassador in Tehran to leave Iran together with his staff. The German, Hungarian, Italian and Romanian embassies were closed and almost all German nationals were handed over to the British or Soviet military administration. Asserting that German agents were still in Iran, British and Soviet troops occupied Tehran on September 17, 1941. Reza Shah had resigned the day before in favor of his son Mohammad Reza Pahlavi . A few days later the British took him out of the country and into South Africa .
In fact, until the end of the war, Iran remained divided into a British zone of occupation in the south and a Soviet zone of occupation in the north. The Iranian army was also prohibited from stationing its own armed forces in the areas of northern Iran occupied by Soviet troops. As a result, the central government in Tehran lost control of northern Iran.
The Iranian government lost political and economic control over the country during the occupation. Jewish and Polish exiles who had left the Soviet Union poured into Iran. A famine broke out after the Soviet troops confiscated wheat to feed their own troops. The lack of food led to escalating inflation. The supply of the population ran largely through black market shops.
The leaders of the Communist Party, imprisoned after the Communist Party of Iran was banned in 1937 , were released and, with Stalin's support, founded the Tudeh Party , which rose to become one of the most influential political forces in Iran until the fall of Mossadegh in 1953 should.
Further developments
After the most important supply route for the Soviet Union, the Persian Corridor , was open, the delivery of military equipment from the USA to the USSR began under the Lending and Lease Act. Over five million tons of military equipment were delivered to the Soviet Union. On January 29, 1942, Mohammad Reza Shah signed an agreement with the USSR and Great Britain, called the Tripartite Agreement, in which the Allies were assured of all possible non-military support. Article V of this treaty stipulated that the Allied troops would leave Iran no later than six months after the end of the fighting. In September 1943, Iran declared war on Germany in order to be accepted as a member of the emerging United Nations organization . At the Tehran Conference in November 1943, the American President Franklin D. Roosevelt , Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Secretary General Josef Stalin once again confirmed the independence and territorial integrity of Iran. In addition, they pledged economic aid to Iran after the end of the war.
As agreed in the Tripartite Agreement with Iran, British troops began withdrawing six months after the end of World War II. However, Stalin refused to withdraw the Soviet troops stationed in northwestern Iran. In July 1945 he ordered the support of separatist movements and the preparation of the secession of the northern provinces of Iran. Stalin's goal was to bring the oil reserves in northern Iran under Soviet control. The Autonomous Republic of Azerbaijan and the Kurdish Republic of Mahabad were established with Soviet support . The first political crisis between the West and the Soviet Union, the Iran crisis , had begun. It was not until May 1946 that the Soviet troops withdrew under pressure from the USA, which meant the end of the Autonomous Republic of Azerbaijan and the Republic of Mahabad. The Cold War had started.
literature
- Jana Forsmann: Test case for the "Big Three". The occupation of Iran by the British, Soviets and Americans 1941–1946 (= Dresden historical studies. 10). Böhlau, Cologne et al. 2009, ISBN 978-3-412-20343-6 (Dissertation [Technical] University of Dresden 2008, 321 pages)
- Bernhardt Schulze-Holthus: Uprising in Iran. Adventure in the service of the German defense . 2nd, extended German-language edition. W. Angerer, Munich 1980, ISBN 3-922128-02-5 (On the question of German agents in Iran).
- Richard A. Stewart: Sunrise at Abadan. The British and Soviet Invasion of Iran, 1941 . Praeger Publishers, New York NY et al. 1988, ISBN 0-275-92793-8 (The events from a British perspective).
- ʾAṭā Ṭāheri: German agents with Iranian tribes 1942–44. An eyewitness report (= Center for the Modern Orient - Humanities Centers Berlin eV Studies. 26). With an introduction by Burkhard Ganzer. Klaus Schwarz, Berlin 2008, ISBN 978-3-87997-648-5 .
- Thomas Speckmann: Imperialism: Invasion in Iran. In: Die Zeit 27/2019, June 27, 2019, p. 17.
Individual evidence
- ^ A b Compton Mackenzie: Eastern Epic. Chatto & Windus, London 1951, p. 136.
- ↑ Jamil Hasanli: At the Dawn of the Cold War. The Soviet-American crisis over Iranian Azerbaijan, 1941-1946. Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham, MD et al. 2006, ISBN 0-7425-4055-3 , pp. 2 f.
- ↑ Steven R. Ward: Immortal. A Military History of Iran and its Armed Forces. Georgetown University Press. Washington DC 2009, ISBN 978-1-58901-258-5 , p. 154.
- ↑ Steven R. Ward: Immortal. A Military History of Iran and its Armed Forces. Georgetown University Press. Washington DC 2009, ISBN 978-1-58901-258-5 , pp. 153 f.
- ^ Compton Mackenzie: Eastern Epic. Chatto & Windus, London 1951, pp. 130-136.
- ↑ Jamil Hasanli: At the Dawn of the Cold War. The Soviet-American crisis over Iranian Azerbaijan, 1941-1946. Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham, MD et al. 2006, ISBN 0-7425-4055-3 , p. 3.
- ^ Compton Mackenzie: Eastern Epic. Chatto & Windus, London 1951, pp. 136-139.
- ↑ Gholam Reza Afkhami: The life and the times of the Shah. University of California Press Berkeley CA et al. 2009, ISBN 978-0-520-25328-5 , pp. 91 f.
- ^ Fereydun Ala: The Azerbaijan Crisis of 1945-1946. (pdf; 4.1 MB) In: Journal of the Iran Society. Vol. 2, No. 10, 2011, pp. 32-49, here p. 34 , archived from the original on January 30, 2012 ; accessed on August 25, 2021 (English).
-
^ Secret Soviet Instructions on Measures to Carry out Special Assignments throughout Southern Azerbaijan and the Northern Provinces of Iran in an attempt to set the basis for a separatist movement in Northern Iran. (pdf; 218 kB) In: Cold War International History Project. July 14, 1945, Retrieved August 25, 2021 . Decree of the CC CPSU Politburo to Mir Bagirov CC Secretary of the Communist Party of Azerbaijan. (pdf; 218 kB) In: Cold War International History Project. July 6, 1945, Retrieved August 25, 2021 .
- ↑ Joseph Stailn: Decree of the USSR State Defense Committee No 9168 SS Regarding Geological Prospecting Work for Oil in Northern Iran. (pdf; 219 kB) In: Cold War International History Project. June 21, 1945, Retrieved August 25, 2021 .
- ↑ Wolfgang G. Schwanitz : Test case for the big three: Americans, British and Soviets in Iran. (pdf; 225 kB) In: Der Tagesspiegel . April 19, 2010, accessed on August 25, 2021 (review; published on trafoberlin.de).