August 1941

The Anglo-Russian Occupation of Iran and Change of Shahs

By (author) Mohammad Gholi Majd

Publication date:

06 July 2012

Length of book:

436 pages

Publisher

UPA

ISBN-13: 9780761859406

Coming shortly after the British occupation of Iraq and the German invasion of Russia, the Anglo-Russian occupation of Iran secured a vital route for supplies to Russia and assured British control of the oilfields. To save the Pahlavi regime, Reza Shah was replaced by his son and Iranians were given a “New Deal.” The Allied occupation thus ushered in a brief period of democratic freedoms. Having described the rise of Reza Shah in a previous work, Majd completes the story by describing his downfall. The author has made an extensive search of the widely scattered U.S. diplomatic and military records and these are supplemented by reports in the The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Chicago Daily Tribune, as well as other press accounts. More than seventy years later, this interesting story has remained untold. August 1941 is the first detailed and documented account of the affair.

1. Introduction & Overview
2. The Façade of “Modern Iran” on the Eve of World War II
3. “A Review of the Joint British-Soviet Actions Against Iran”
4. Iran’s Relations with the Great Powers at the Onset of World War II
5. Impact of German Victories on the Western Front
6. British Occupation of Iraq & German Invasion of Russia: Onset of Anglo-Soviet Pressure
7. The Anglo-Russian Ultimatum
8. British Diplomacy on the Invasion of Iran
9. Soviet Diplomacy on the Invasion of Iran
10. Iranian Appeals to Washington
11. The Invasion of Iran: “The Eighty-Hour War”
12. Developments in Tehran & Reza Shah’s Crumbling Rule
13. Change of Shahs & Military Occupation of Tehran
14. Political Developments in Tehran
15. A “New Deal”
Index

The book August 1941: The Anglo-Russian Occupation of Iran and the Change of Shahs by Mohammad Gholi Majd seems to be a great gift to all historians studying the intricate story of the Allied invasian of Iran. ... The book gives a very detailed description of the Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran and even more important, it outlines the long-lasting implications of this military operation for the country. ... August 1941 is a thorough and informative work broadening our knowledge of the Iranian history in the first half of the twentieth century.