نشریه مطالعات تاریخی جنگ
سال چهارم شماره 4 (زمستان 1399)

The Abbasid Caliphate is considered one of the most important governing systems in the Islamic world. Many administrative and political institutions of Islamic civilization were formed during this caliphate, although many of these institutions were derived from the structures of pre-Islamic Iran. The institution of the judiciary was one of the most important administrative structures of this caliphate, that despite its previous existence in Islamic governments, it eventually evolved in the hands of the Abbasids. Various military and social structures served the judiciary of the Abbasid Caliphate, the most important of which were Hasabeh, Shorteh, and Divan-e-Mazalem (the Court of Injustice). The present study seeks to examine the position of the mentioned military and social institutions in the judicial structure of the Abbasid Caliphate and to illuminate the position of these military positions and social structures in the judicial system of the Abbasid Caliphate. The findings of the research indicate that these positions were an important part of the judicial structure of that period. Hasabeh was in charge of economic, social, and religious affairs, and this organization acted in direct connection with "Amr-be-Maroof va Nahy-e-Monkar" (enjoining the good and forbidding the evil). Shortehs (judicial officers) were the executors of judicial rulings and were considered the executive arm of the judiciary. Finally, the Court of Injustice, which was an important part of the judiciary of the Abbasid Caliphate and was directly run by the caliph himself, also played an important role in people's direct access to the caliphs when they dealt with people's complaints about the actions of the governors, commanders, and notable statesmen.

In the process of establishing the Safavid government, a Sufi and spiritual tariqa, relying on the power of its followers, played a political and worldly role. The main question of this study is that on what basis and during what process Shah Ismail—as the perfect Sheikh of the Safavid tariqa—was able to mobilize his followers in several tribes to fight against other claimants of power, to overcome them, and to move toward establishing the government? Applying political theories of Ibn Khaldun about the development of governments, the present descriptive-analytical study thus seeks to answer this question. The findings show that Shah Ismail, using Sufi walayah, provided the means for the affinity of tribal and religious bonds within each tribe, and religious bonds between all tribes. He was accordingly able to create unity and solidarity among various tribes which were under his command, and to mobilize resources to fight against other claimants of power and finally, by using the aggregated power of these tribes which was the outcome of affinity of the ethnic and religious ties, he managed to defeat his enemies and succeed in establishing the long-lasting, powerful, and central government of Safavids.

Regarding the weighty role of wars on the formulation of mankind's life history, the investigation of the effects and consequences of wars on the people's social life is of great importance for obtaining an exact and inclusive knowledge of the social history. Taking a descriptive-analytical approach and relying on first-hand resources and reliable research, the present paper thus aimed at investigating the effects and consequences of the wars on people's social life during the Muzaffarids (713-795 AH). The findings indicate that factors such as deranged military and political atmosphere of the eight century AH, rivalry of members of the Muzaffarids over power, challenges of the Muzaffarids with peripheral local sates, and the attacks of some tribes on the Muzaffarids led to the emergence and continuation of numerous domestic and foreign wars in this era. These wars had considerable impacts and consequences on people's social life within the Muzaffarid territory including massacre, population reduction, looting and destruction, economic effects such as increased poverty and starvation, unemployment, depression, income detraction, moral degradation, decline of cultural values, distressing thought, disappointment and despair of people, growth of Sufism, increasing interest in Sufi khanqahs, flourishing fatalism and as a result weakening of philosophical foundations and the growth of superstitions.

Iran's military policy in the second Pahlavi era is a topic that has drawn researchers' interest. However, they begin their research with the August 19 coup d'état. What has here been overlooked is the military policies of Iran and the United States in the pre-coup period. With this in mind, the present paper raises the main question of the military policies of USA and Iran from the end of World War II to the coup to find out what military strategy each of the two countries pursued at this particular time. Another related question concerns the tactics used by them to make the strategies operational. A historical method and the use of documents were used to answer these questions. The research hypothesis is based on the fact that the US, for political and military reasons, insisted on maintaining Iran's independence through "political means", while Mohammad Reza Shah insisted on military reinforcement. The findings of the study also show that due to the US dominance in the sphere of Iran's military policy in this period, the US finally had its own way in terms of its favorite military strategy and acted on not equipping the Iranian army until the August 19 coup.

One of the most important areas which the governments of the Safavid and Nader Shah disputed with the Ottomans was the city of Kars. In the foreign policy of regionally-rival governments like Iran, the Ottomans and Russia, Kars held an important position because this city was the crossroads of the Caucasus and Asia Minor, and the domination of any government over it, strengthened the economic and military status in this complex geography. Given this fact, the questions the present analytical-comparative research, that emphasizes studying Turkish sources, tries to answer concern the political, military and economic goals the Safavids and Nader Shah pursued to capture Kars, and the reason for the importance of this city for the Ottomans. The findings indicate that politically, domination of Kars could change the balance of power in the western region of Iran and the Caucasus, and economically, the passing of the trade line between the Caucasus and the east of the Ottoman Empire and the Black Sea through Kars and hence controlling it could have a huge impact on the revenues of the Safavid, the Afsharid and Ottoman states. Therefore, the conflict with the Ottomans over Kars spread through the Safavid dynasty, and reached its peak in the era of Nader Shah.

American Civil War was a four-year war (1861–65) between the United States and eleven Southern states that seceded from the Union and formed the Confederate States of America. The present research benefits from a descriptive-analytical method. The data were collected through library sources in order to answer the question that “what new military technologies were used during this war and how they were used? The research claims that the new military technology, developed for the first time, was one of the most important features of the American Civil War and played an important role in shaping the course of the war. The Northern states were also able to change the course of the war in their favor due to further development of technology. The results show that machine guns, automatic rifles, armored warships, submarines, railroads, telegraphs, and balloons were among the most important military technologies used during the war. Although both sides took steps to build new weapons of war, the northern states were more successful, and new weapons and technologies helped them win the war.