Iran: A Social and Political History since the Qajars

371 Pages·2019·2.337 MB·English

by  Yann Richard

Iran
FromencounterswithWesternpowersinthenineteenthcenturythroughto
aConstitutionalRevolutionatthebeginningofthetwentiethcentury,and
fromtheoverthrowofthedemocraticallyelectedPrimeMinisterMosaddeq
inthe1950stothecurrentIslamicRepublic,Iran’shistoryhasrarelybeen
anythingotherthantumultuousanddramatic.ThewaysinwhichIranian
society has participated in and reacted to these events have been equally
fascinatingandrevolutionary.
Here for the first time in English, Yann Richard offers his take on the
socialandpoliticalhistoryofIransince1800.Richard’saccounttraces
thecommonthreadsofnationalideologyandviolentconflictthathave
characterizedanumberofepisodesinIranianhistory.Byalsoconcern-
ing himself with the reactions and feelings of Iranian society and by
referringfrequentlytoPersiansourcesandcommentaries,Richardgives
us a unique insight into the challenges encountered by Iranians in
moderntimes.
Yann Richard is Professor Emeritus at the Sorbonne Nouvelle – Paris. A
specialist of the history of contemporary Iran, Persian literature, and the
sociology of modern Shiism, he is the author of a number of books on
modernIranandisalsothecoeditorofthe“IranStudies”bookseries.

Iran
A Social and Political History since
the Qajars
Yann Richard
SorbonneNouvelle–Paris
WiththeassistanceofWillemFloor
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www.cambridge.org
Informationonthistitle:www.cambridge.org/9781108476836
DOI:10.1017/9781108569071
©YannRichard2019
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permissionofCambridgeUniversityPress.
Thiseditionisarevised,expandedandupdatedtranslationofL’Irande1800ànosjours,
published by Flammarion, 2009 and 2016, and previously published as L’Iran:
Naissanced’unerépubliqueislamiquebyLaMartinière,2006.
PrintedintheUnitedKingdombyTJInternationalLtd.PadstowCornwall
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NAMES:Richard,Yann,author.|Floor,WillemM.,translator.
TITLE:Iran:asocialandpoliticalhistorysincetheQajars/YannRichard.
OTHERTITLES:Irande1800ànosjours.English
DESCRIPTION: Cambridge, United Kingdom ; New York, NY : Cambridge University
Press,[2019]|“Thiseditionisarevised,expandedandupdatedtranslationofL’Irande
1800ànosjours,publishedbyFlammarion,2009and2016,andpreviouslypublishedas
L’Iran: naissance d’une république islamique by La Martinière, 2006.” | Includes
bibliographicalreferencesandindex.
IDENTIFIERS:LCCN2018056862|ISBN9781108476836(hardback:alk.paper)|
ISBN9781108701624(paperback:alk.paper)
SUBJECTS:LCSH:Iran–History.
CLASSIFICATION:LCCDS298.R525132019|DDC955–dc23
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ISBN978-1-108-47683-6Hardback
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NOTE ON THE TRANSLATION
The original French version of this book has been translated,
adapted,andexpandedthroughthefriendlyhelpofWillemFloor.

CONTENTS
ListofMaps pageviii
Preface ix
1 IranundertheQajars 1
2 ThreeShahs,ThreeWars,ThreeReformers(1797–1896) 18
3 FromRevoltstotheRevolution(1880–1906) 48
4 TheConstitutionalRevolution:FromIllusiontoReality
(1905–08) 74
5 TheNationalists’BitterVictory(1908–12) 98
6 IranintheGreatWar 114
7 TheEndoftheQajars 141
8 Reza¯ Kha¯ntoReza¯ Sha¯h:DefenderoftheNation 161
9 FromPersiatoIran:ForeignRelations 191
10 TheDemocraticAwakening(1941–53) 211
11 TheLastReignofanImmortalKingdom,
Mohammad-Reza¯ Sha¯h 233
12 AnIslamicRepublicinIran 276
Conclusion:LiesandTruth 313
Chronology 320
Bibliography 326
Index 343
MAPS
M1 Persiainthenineteenthcentury page12
M2 Anglo-RussianAgreement1907 92
M3 IraninWorldWarI 123
M4 OccupationofIran1941–46 213
M5 Secessions1946 216
PREFACE
Withtheeruptionofviolentconflictandtheoppositionbetween
the Americans and their allies on the one hand and the national and
religious power structures in the Middle East on the other, the media
haveoftenspokenaboutIranandtheIranians.Butwhatdotheyknow
aboutthem?
WhydoIraniansseemtobethemainbeneficiariesofAmerican
interventionsinAfghanistan(2001)andIraq (2003)?Doesthesigning
ofthenuclearagreementwiththeAmericans,Europeans,Russians,and
Chinese in Vienna in 2015 provide Iran with a new opportunity for
regionalhegemony?OrisIranarealdangertothesecurityofIsrael?Is
theAmericanwithdrawalfromthenucleardealin2018apathtowards
peaceorachallengetothestabilityoftheMiddleEast?
Toanswerthemanyquestionsthathavebeenraisedaboutthe
violent anti-western reaction of the “Islamic Republic,” one needs to
appreciate the history of the country since its first encounter with
European nations and to take into account the way this history is
understood by Iranians: history as told and imagined is often a very
differentnarrativefromdocumentedhistory.
This book offers fresh insights into the history of modern
Iranians. In the West, we hardly know them any better than our
Enlightenment forebears who saw Persia as paradigm of strangeness.
Thebookaims toshowhowIran,afteraperiod ofsystematicsecular-
ization,hasbecomeanIslamicrepublic,and,atthesametime,afoilfor
westernintellectuals.SinceayatollahKhomeynifoundedastatethatcan
scarcely be said to resemble a paradise of liberties, as western