The army and the creation of the Pahlavi state in Iran, 1910-1926

312 Pages·1997·15.738 MB·English

by  Stephanie Cronin

iii taAy rty aan the Creation
of the Pahlavi Statei n Iran,
$= 10
STEPHANIE CRONIN ~
The Army and the Creation
of the Pahlavi State in Iran
1910-1926
In 1921 Riza Khan, a colonel in the Iranian
Cossack Brigade, rode on Tehran and, in a military
coup that was to change Iran's destiny, took power.
Appropriating the state-building objectives of
Iranian constitutionalism and nationalism, Riza
Khan embarked on the task of constructing a
strong, modern, centralized state at the heart of
which lay a new national army. Ruthless and cun-
ning, he used the emergent military and political
institutions to crush both civilian and military
opposition, and in 1926 crowned himself Shah of
Iran.
But in the construction of his army Riza Khan
relied upon the material bequeathed to him by the
reform efforts of the late nineteenth century and
the constitutional revolution. This unique book -
the first to discuss in detail the way in which the
modern Iranian army was created - puts the rise of
Riza Shah into sorely needed historical context and
outlines, in a careful analysis of the way in which
Riza ensured the army over civil institutions such as
parliament and the provincial authorities, the mili-
tary roots of monarchical dictatorship in Iran.
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The Army and the Creation of the
Pahlavi State in Iran
Library of Modern Middle East Studies
Volume
Water in the Middle East: Legal, political and commercial
I
implications edited by /, A. AWan and Chibli Mallat
ISBN I 85043 645 2
Yemen and the U.S.A. from 1962 Ahmad Almadhagi
ISBN 1 85043 772 6
Workers and the Working Class in the Ottoman Empire and the
Turkish Republic 1839-1850 edited by Donald Quataert and Enk J.
Ziircher
ISBN 1 85043 875 7
From Land Reform to Revolution: The political economy of
agricultural development in Iran Fatemeh E. Moghadam
ISBN 1 86064 006 0
Iranian Intellectuals in the Twentieth CenturyA / Gheissari
ISBN 1 85043 968 0
Middle Eastern Politics and Ideas: A history from within edited by
Moshe Maoz and Ilan Pappé
ISBN 1 86064 012 5
Secret War in the Middle East: The covert struggle for Syria, 1949—
1961 Andrew Rathmell
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Nationalism, Minorities and Diasporas: Identity and rights in the
Middle East edited by Azrsten E. Schultze, Martin Stokes and Colm
Campbell
ISBN 1 86064 052 4
Water, Peace and the Middle East: Negotiating resources in the
Jordan Basin/ ,A . Alan
ISBN 1 86064 055 9
Islamic Politics in Palestine Beverley Milton-Edwards
ISBN 1 86064 049 4
The Army and the Creation of the Pahlavi State in Iran, 1910—
1926 Stephanie Cronin ISBN 1 86064 105 9
The Army and the Creation
of the Pahlavi State in Iran,
1910-1926
STEPHANIE CRONIN
Tauris Academic Studies
LONDON « NEW YORK
Pophc ts abem nhak Pee
Published in 1997 by Tauris Academic Studies
an imprint of I.B.Tauris & Co Ltd
Victoria House
Bloomsbury Square
London we1B 4Dz
Copyright © 1997 by Stephanie Cronin
All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review, this
book, or any part thereof, may not be reproduced in any form
without permission in writing from the publisher.
A full cre record for this book is available from the British
Library
ISBN 1 86064 105 9
Set in Monotype Garamond by Philip Armstrong, Sheffield
Printed and bound in Great Britain by WBC Ltd, Bridgend
>
Mid Glamorgan
Contents
Acknowledgements Vii
Introduction
The Government Gendarmerie, 1910-1921
Formation and Early Years
The Impact of the First World War
The Muhajirat and the National Government of
Kirmanshah
The Reconstruction of the Government Gendarmerie
The Cossacks, 1906-1921
The Constitutional Period, 1906-1914
War and Revolution, 1914-1917
The Cossack Division under Colonel Starroselsky
The Cossack Division and the 1921 Coup d’Etat
1921: The Cossack Ascendancy
The Destruction of the Gendarmerie
Colonel Muhammad Taqi Khan Pasyan and the
Gendarme Regime in Mashhad
The Construction of the New Army, 1921-1926
Structure and Organisation
Finance
Recruitment
Education and Training
Arms and Ammunition; Auxiliary Services
The Air Force, Navy, Amniyyah and Police
Operations
vi CONTENTS
5 Discontent and Disaffection, 1921-1926 144
The ex-Gendarmes 145
Republicanisamnd Royalism 157
Intrigues Within the High Command 167
Pay and Conditionst:h e Mutinies of 1926 171
6 Civil—Military Relations, 1921-1926 182
The Cabinet and the Majlis 182
The Shah 190
The Military Ascendancy over the Civil Authorities 199
The Military and the Civil Population 205
Conclusion ae
Appendix A Biographical Notes 235
Appendix B_ Ranks and Rates of Pay £53
Appendix C The ‘Wil? of Ali Quli Khan Pasyan 256
Notes 259
Bibliography 281
Index 288