Azerbaijan People's Government

To supply the Soviet forces with war material through Iran, British and Soviet troops jointly occupied the country in August 1941. Soviet forces entering Iranian territory from the Armenian SSR and the Azerbaijan SSR and British and Indian forces entering from Iraq soon took the control of the country. Lavrenti Beria was nominally in charge of the operation, but delegated it to Mir Jafar Baghirov, the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Azerbaijan in Baku. and capitalized on some local people's dissatisfaction with the centralization policies of Reza Shah. The U.S. supported the Iranian complaint against Soviet actions lodged with the Security Council in Resolution 3 and Resolution 5; in mid December 1946, the U.S. supported the shah's government in sending the Iranian army to re-occupy Mahabad and Azerbaijan. The leaders of the Azerbaijan enclave in Iran fled to the Azerbaijan SSR, and the leaders of the Kurdish Republic were tried and sentenced to death. They were hanged in Chwarchira Square in the center of Mahabad in 1947. 1947's efforts centered on the issue of Soviet designs on Iran's northern oil resources. Following the election that year of a new Majlis, the newly elected deputies were reluctant to ratify the Soviet-Iranian oil agreement, which had been concluded under duress in March 1946 and had granted the Soviets 51% ownership and de facto control. On September 11, 1947, U.S. ambassador George V. Allen publicly decried intimidation and coercion used by foreign governments to secure commercial concessions in Iran, and promised full U.S. support for Iran to freely decide about its own natural resources. With this unequivocal encouragement, the Majlis refused to ratify the Soviet oil agreement on October 22, 1947; the vote was 102 to 2. ==Establishment==

The Firqah-i Dimukrat, or Azerbaijani Democratic Party (ADP), publicly announced its formation in Tabriz on 3 September 1945 by a group of veteran communists headed by Ja'far Pishevari. After the announcement, the communist, Soviet-supported Tudeh party dissolved its Azerbaijan chapter and ordered its members to join ADP. ADP expanded throughout Iranian Azerbaijan, and initiated a local coup d'état with help from Soviet army, who prevented the Iranian army from intervening. During the first week of September 1945, the Azerbaijani Democratic Party, led by Ja'far Pishevari, a long-time leader of the revolutionary movement in Gilan, declared itself to be in control of Iranian Azerbaijan, promised liberal democratic reforms, and disbanded the local branch of Tudeh. Later in September 1945, at its first congress, the Azerbaijani Democratic Party authorized the formation of a peasant's militia. This militia started a bloodless coup on 18 November 1945 and by 21 November they had captured all remaining government posts in the province, and Iranian Azerbaijan "became an autonomous republic under the direction of a 39-member national executive committee". The power seems to have been exercised by Mohammed Biriya, the Minister of Propaganda and head of the local secret police. According to Prof. Gary R. Hess: ==Dissolution==

On 13 June 1946, an agreement was reached between the Central Government in Tehran and the delegates from Azerbaijan, headed by Pishevari. Under the agreement, Pishevari agreed to abandon the APG's autonomy, to relinquish its ministries and premiership, and to become once more part of Iran. Its parliament was to be transformed into a provincial council – a system recognized and provided for in the Iranian Constitution. reentered Tabriz, thus putting an end to Azerbaijan People's Government after a full year of its existence. The army’s re-entry was met with an enthusiastic welcome by the Azerbaijani people. Christopher Sykes, who witnessed the event, writes: “Nowhere else have I seen such enthusiasm among the people except in France in 1944.” In Tabriz itself prior to the arrival of the army the populace rose and executed all the Democratic officials they could lay their hands on. Approximately 500 supporters of the Ferqeh were killed. According to the U.S. Supreme Court Justice, William O. Douglas, while the Red Army had been on its best behavior when stationed in Azerbaijan, the Iranian Army behaved as an occupying force and brutalized the local inhabitants. The beards of peasants were burned, their wives and daughters raped. Houses were plundered and livestock were stolen. After the Army’s return, absentee Azerbaijani landlords demanded both current rents and unpaid arrears from the Pishevari period, further straining peasant households. In addition, Pishevari’s forces took livestock and grain when they withdrew. Many of the leaders took refuge in the Azerbaijan SSR. Ja'far Pishevari died in a car accident in Baku in 1947. Prime Minister Kordary was jailed for many years by the Shah and later released due to the efforts of his brother Kazem Kordary. ==See also==