نشریه مطالعات تاریخی
پیاپی 51 (زمستان 1394)

Benefiting from Capitulation has always been present in different periods of Iranian history and there have been many occasions that foreign official could intervene in Iranian domestic affairs or oppress Iranians through this concession. Ratifying the capitulation bill for the US soldiers during the reign of Mohammad Reza Shah was one of the main causes of shaping Islamic Revolution. This paper wants to have a look at the historical trend of capitulation in Iran and then analyzes the outcomes and the resistance against it and its cancelation during the reign of Reza Shah and its ratification in the reign of his son in National Assembly and the historical rise of Imam Khomeini protesting this bill.

In 1941 the April-May 1941 revolt leaders in Iraq founded their own government and began the fight against the British in their land, however, they were defeated and lost their government and asked for political asylum from the Iranian government and resided in Tehran. After the occupation of Iran by USSR, Britain and USA, Iran was not secure for them any more as what it was in Iraq. Turkey did not accept to issue visas for them except for their leader Rashid Aali al-Gaylani. The German minister did not do anything for them. The pro-British government of Mohammad Ali Foroughi which held the power after the occupation did not accept to know them as political refugees. They were transferred to Ahwaz Prison. The British send to exile in South Africa three months later.

It was long time that we would see the name of the French writer A.L.M. Nicolas who has some works about Babism and Sheikism, however, we knew so little about him. Even we did not know his complete name in order to compile his biography. It was in 1998 that for the first time a collection of documents belonging to Alphonse Nicolas was revealed. This collection belonged to the Iranian Studies Institute at Sorbonne University and the president of this institute, Charles-Henri de Fouchécour, delivered these documents to Homa Nategh few months before his retirement in 1994. In these newly found documents there are some new points about Babi historiography that undermine the creation of this sect and revealed the attempts made by this sect to present a fake history.

In 1943, two years after the fall of Reza Shah and its dictatorship, Malek o-Sho'arā Bahār who was one of his opponents that had passed imprisonment and exile during his reign came back to the political arena and during the short term in which the press were less censored wrote a paper in memory of Modarres and his imprisonment and assassination by the Pahlavi regime which was published in Khandaniha. Bahar revealed that painful murder by the Pahlavi Regime, however, showed the regime agents much more sinful than Reza Shah. He had still some fright of the Pahlavi regime in his mind but he was sure that the reader would know the truth from his writing. Historical Studies Quarterly republishes this article which was once published in December 1943 for easier accessibility.