British Intervention And It’s Influence In Iran’s Constitutional Revolution

Since the 18 th century,Britain began to infiltrate into Iran through economic means,expanded its influence in Iran by using unequal treaties and concessions.Britain’s plunder and infiltration of Iran aggravated the suffering of the Iranian people,and made the people think of resisting British aggression,which provided external conditions for the outbreak of the revolution.The incompetence and weakness of the rulers of Qajar dynasty caused the country to gradually lose its independence,and the economy was severely hit by capitalist countries.The situation of internal and external troubles prompted Iranian intellectuals to find a way to save their country and awaken the people’s resistance consciousness,so they began to spread democratic ideas.In the process of Britain’s intervention in the constitutional revolution,Britain’s intervention measures were always based on the premise of maintaining British-Russian relations.This was because Germany’s strength increased greatly after the completion of the industrial revolution,and it began to vigorously expand its navy and compete for European hegemony,trying to expand its sphere of influence in Iran.The intensification of the contradiction between Britain and Germany made Britain try its best to woo Russia.Britain and Russia signed the British-Russian Agreement in 1907,which divided the sphere of influence in Iran and established a close cooperative relationship.After the constitutional revolution broke out,the trade environment in the south of Iran deteriorated,and the trade between Britain and Iran continued to decrease,prompting Britain to try its best to restore a stable social order.Constitutionalists strongly resisted Britain’s plunder and infiltration of Iran,which caused Britain’s hostility and vigilance.Iran’s King resolutely opposed the establishment of a constitutional government,which provided an opportunity for British intervention.Although British radicals strongly criticized Grey’s intervention,they did not change British foreign policy.At the same time,Russia indulged Britain in obstructing the constitutional revolution,which made Britain more unscrupulous.After the outbreak of the constitutional revolution in Iran,the Charge affaires of the British Embassy violated the orders of the British Foreign Minister to provide shelter for the constitutionalists,which eventually led to the convening of the first parliament.During the period of the first constitutional government,Britain urged the king of Iran to compromise with the parliament in the coup in December 1907,conniving at Russia’s intervention in the coup in June 1908,which led to the dissolution of the first parliament,the persecution of a large number of constitutionalists,and Iran’s civil war.After the closure of the first parliament,the rapid development of revolutionary forces in the south damaged Britain’s economic interests,and Britain began to intervene vigorously.It urged the Iran’s king to reconcile with the constitutionalists in Tabrizi and prevented the revolutionary army from marching into Teheran,but failed to prevent the revolutionary army from deposing the king and establishing the second constitutional government.During the second constitutional government,the Britain’s intervention was the most and direct.Britain blocked the parliamentary reform,which made the operation of the constitutional government more difficult,and made it impossible for the constitutional government to get rid of the drawbacks of the old government.Britain also provided conditional loans to Iran,which hindered Schuster’s financial reform and sent troops to southern Iran to maintain order.Britain connived at Russia’s threat to parliament and sent troops to occupy northern Iran.In the end,Britain and Russia colluded with conservatives to close parliament,resulting in the failure of the constitutional revolution.Britain and Russia jointly blocked the constitutional revolution,and the two countries took the opportunity to expand their influence in Iran and undermine Iran’s independence and territorial integrity.Although there are many reasons for the ultimate failure of the revolution,such as the split within the Iranian parliament and the immature constitutionalists,Iran’s inability to resist the powerful British and Russian forces is also one of the important reasons.This paper holds that,firstly,Britain’s penetration of Iran’s politics and economy and its seizure of its concession deepened Iran’s domestic economic predicament and became an important reason for the outbreak of the constitutional revolution.Secondly,the British government openly declared that it would not interfere in Iran’s internal affairs,but its connivance with Russia hindered Iran’s constitutional revolution,which is an important reason for its failure.Thirdly,the collusion between Britain and Russia during Iran’s constitutional revolution did not solve the contradiction between imperialism,but became an important inducement for the outbreak of the First World War.