monkey

Is it just me, or has politics gotten so washed down that it is almost not even worth wasting time over - I say almost, because its obvious we cannot stop now!!  But seriously, how can anyone attempt to trust anything that comes out of these people's mouths?  I try very hard to find a group to which I belong, but none of them sound appealing because it is all garbage.  All politics is is the art of compromise, and who wants to belong to any affiliation that deams its acceptable to compromise about issues that are suppose to be being decided on moral grounds?  I find it repulsive, but maybe I am just venting. 

Nevertheless, I am starting to find the idea of moving out of the reaches of society a very appealing idea.  It seems to be the only alternative left to cope with the madness that exists in this world.  Hopefully I am wrong, but I wouldn't count on it!

Is it just me, or has politics gotten so washed down that it is almost not even worth wasting time over - I say almost, because its obvious we cannot stop now!!  But seriously, how can anyone attempt to trust anything that comes out of these people's mouths?  I try very hard to find a group to which I belong, but none of them sound appealing because it is all garbage.  All politics is is the art of compromise, and who wants to belong to any affiliation that deams its acceptable to compromise about issues that are suppose to be being decided on moral grounds?  I find it repulsive, but maybe I am just venting. 

Nevertheless, I am starting to find the idea of moving out of the reaches of society a very appealing idea.  It seems to be the only alternative left to cope with the madness that exists in this world.  Hopefully I am wrong, but I wouldn't count on it!

This intro to my thesis might give you a good idea of one of my many interests in international history, which include Russia, Caucasia, Persia, Azerbaijan, and the successor states of the Soviet Union!  Enjoy 

     The first quarter of the twentieth century was a critical period in Iranian history.  For the first time, Persians from different social classes joined together to challenge the uncontested arbitrary rule of the Qajar dynasty.  Their inclination to question the arbitrary rule of the monarchy sparked a process of change that enabled Western ideas of constitutionalism, social democracy, and communism to take hold in the political arena.  This study endeavors to explain these ideas in Persia during the first two decades of the twentieth century and to analyze the factors that contributed to the demise of the revolutionary movements that derived from them.  Ultimately, internal factionalism and foreign involvement played the most prominent part in destroying the Constitutional Revolution, the social democratic movement, and the Soviet Socialist Republic of Iran.

     Despite the fact that the end of the Constitutional Revolution brought to Iran a period of disintegration, two fundamental changes occurred in Iranian society that brought about another revolutionary movement.  First, the increase in cultural contacts between the northern regions of Iran and Caucasia, where a plethora of ethnically diverse revolutionaries had been involved in promoting the ideas of social democracy, introduced radical ideas of social democracy and communism to Iran.  Second, after the Tobacco Rebellion in the late nineteenth century, the social structure of Iranian society changed dramatically.  Increasingly, Iranians were starting to identify with a national community.  By participating in nation-wide protests against a common enemy, the populace began to abandon previous notions of tribalism and provincialism, which had caused communal solidarity and political isolation in Persian society for centuries, for a more unified national identity.  The exploitative manner in which Western powers conducted affairs in Iran only furthered this development, resulting in a nationalist uprising during the Great War.

     These two fundamental changes culminated in a revolutionary movement that took the form of an independent Soviet republic in Northern Iran.  However, ideological differences and inconsistent Soviet foreign policy severely weakened the revolutionary movement, which collapsed in 1921 as Reza Khan and his Cossack brigade marched into Gilan to regain control of Northern Iran.

     The failure of these revolutionary movements to bring about any significant progressive change in the political sphere of Iranian society is evident by the reign of Reza Khan, who took power in 1924.  Analyzing the internal and external factors that contributed to the failure of the revolutionary movements in the first two decades of the twentieth century in Iranian history helps explain why Reza Shah was so successful in bringing all of Persia under his command.  It also sets the stage for understanding the way in which the Persian communist movement developed during the Pahlavi era.