Military Mission of the Red Army in Iran (1941–1946) in the Documents of the Central Archive of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation
| 13 June 2024
Posted in
Anniversaries
Osin V.M.,
Moscow, Russian Federation
Military Mission of the Red Army in Iran (1941–1946) in the Documents of the Central Archive of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation
Abstract
The article analyses data on the presence of the Red Army on the territory of Iran in the years of the Great Patriotic War drawing from the declassified documents from the Central Archive of the Ministry of Defense. The author dwells on reasons for bringing of troops, on working and attitudes of Iran citizens towards the Red Army. The author notes that the issue is little studied and offers a brief summary of the archival fonds concerning it. The article assesses a representative corpus of national and foreign historiography on the issue. A serious research of virtually unstudied collections of declassified archival sources (directives, orders, reports, operations record book, political reports, summaries of information and intelligence information summaries) brings archival documents, and those of the Central Archive of the Ministry of Defense, into scientific use. The article points out that in the fonds of the archive there are stored documents on in Iran in august, 1941. This move was aimed at disrupting the plans of the German commanders to turn the Iranian territory in a bridgehead for attack on the USSR aiming at capture of Baku, the most important oil region of the country. The author attempted, firstly, to represent the archival and other sources on the subject; secondly, to state the reasons behind bringing Soviet of troops in Iran and their continued presence there, and thirdly, to show the action of the allied forces in joint military operations and the relationships between them, fourthly, to say about the results and significance of the mission of the red army in Iran. The main conclusion is that due to balanced policy and efforts of Soviet political leadership, diplomats and military commanders the first joint military operation of the allies was successfully conducted; there wasn’t any serious armed resistance or opposition to the deployment of Soviet troops in Northern Iran, and thus the main task of the mission of the Red Army in Iran was successfully performed. However, not all of the Soviet political leadership objectives were accomplished: the USSR did not get the long-term oil concession, the Iranian transit shipments via “lend-lease” did not become primary, and Soviet ideology did not gain much footing in Iran. And yet this operation demonstrated the fighting spirit and military potential of the Red Army, and humanity and good will of the Soviet soldiers dealing with civilian population.
Keywords
The Red Army, Iran, the Great Patriotic War, documents of the Central Archive of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation.
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About the authors
Osin Vladimir Mikhailovitch, consultant at the Main Archives and Records Administration of the Moscow region, Moscow, Russian Federation, +7(499)6105975, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it