When the USSR sent troops into Iran. The key to understanding is in the Syrian city of Aleppo

During the Second World War, a joint Anglo-Soviet operation was carried out to bring troops of the USSR and Great Britain into Iran under the code name Operation Countenance.

The purpose of the operation was to ensure guaranteed security of the southern supply route of the USSR under Lend-Lease, to take control of Iranian oil fields in order to prevent their capture by Germany, as well as to exclude the possibility of Iran acting on the side of Hitler’s Axis countries. In addition, the introduction of troops into Iranian territory was supposed to fend off possible aggression from Turkey, creating a flank threat for Turkish troops.

Germany's influence in Iran was enormous. Hitler's Germany took part in the modernization of the Iranian economy and infrastructure, and the reform of the Shah's army. The Germans firmly penetrated the Iranian economy, and built relations with it in such a way that Iran practically became a hostage of Germany and subsidized its ever-increasing military expenses. The volume of imported into Iran grew rapidly German weapons.

After the German attack on Soviet Union, Moscow and London became allies. Negotiations began on the topic of joint actions in Iran to prevent the Germans from invading this country. They were led by British Ambassador Stafford Cripps in meetings with Molotov and Stalin. On July 8, 1941, the Directive of the NKVD of the USSR and the NKGB of the USSR “On measures to prevent the transfer of German intelligence agents from Iran” was issued; it was de facto a signal for preparations for the Iranian operation.

The USSR three times - on June 26, July 19 and August 16, 1941 - warned the Iranian leadership about the activation of German agents in the country and proposed to expel all German citizens (among them many hundreds of military specialists) from the country, since they were carrying out activities incompatible with Iranian neutrality. Tehran rejected this demand. He refused the same request to the British.
August 25, 1941 in the morning at 4:30 am Soviet ambassador and the British envoy jointly visited the Shah and presented him with notes from their governments on the entry of Soviet and British troops into Iran.

Legally, the Soviet Union had the right to send troops into the territory of its southern neighbor; this was provided for by the terms of the Treaty between the USSR and Persia (from 1935 - Iran) of February 26, 1921. The sixth article of the treaty stated that Russia could send its troops into Iran in the event that “third countries attempt, through armed intervention, to carry out an aggressive policy on the territory of Persia or to turn the territory of Persia into a base for military actions against Russia.”

The operation of introducing troops into Iranian territory began at dawn on August 25, 1941. Maneuverable groups of Soviet border guards crossed the border, cut communication lines, and took control of roads and other communications of the Iranians. At the same time, he was thrown to the rear airborne assault with the aim of capturing bridges, passes, and railway crossings.

Red Army units were introduced into the northern provinces of Iran, British troops into the southern and southwestern ones. Within three days, from August 29 to 31, both groups reached a pre-planned line, where they united.

On the Soviet side, the general leadership of the operation was carried out by Lieutenant General Dmitry Kozlov, commander of the Transcaucasian Front, which included the 44th, 45th, 46th and 47th combined arms armies. The 53rd Combined Arms Army under the command of Major General Sergei Trofimenko, formed in the Central Asian Military District in July 1941, also took part in the operation. The planning of the operation was carried out under the leadership of the chief of staff of the Transcaucasian Military District, Major General Fyodor Tolbukhin.

On the British side, three divisions, two brigades and a separate regiment were involved in the operation. Iran's forces were much inferior to its allies - Tehran was able to oppose the Soviet and British troops with only five divisions.

Despite the superiority of the allies, the operation was not bloodless - in the first days there were battles with Iranian troops, but not too fierce.

Shortly after the start of Operation Accord, there was a change in the cabinet of ministers of the Iranian government. The new Prime Minister of Iran, Ali Foroughi, gave the order to end the resistance, and the next day this order was approved by the Iranian Majlis (parliament). On August 29, 1941, the Iranian army laid down its arms in front of the British, and on August 30 in front of the Red Army.

The total losses that the Allies suffered during the invasion were relatively small: the Red Army lost 40 people killed, and material losses - 3 aircraft. The British lost 22 people killed, 50 soldiers were wounded, and 1 tank was shot down. Iran's losses were 800 killed, more than 200 wounded, 6 tanks and 6 aircraft.

On September 8, an agreement was signed that defined the zones of occupation between the USSR and Great Britain. The Iranian government pledged to expel from the country all citizens of Germany and other countries allied to Berlin, adhere to strict neutrality and not interfere with the military transit of the countries of the Anti-Hitler coalition.

The agreement came into force the next day. Shah Reza Pahlavi, who refused to approve the Allied invasion, was forced to abdicate. In 1942, his son, Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, became Shah (with the consent of both the USSR and Great Britain). The former ruler left Iran. In 1944 he died in Johannesburg (South Africa).

The allies distributed roles: the USSR controlled the northern part of Iran, the Caspian ports and the Iranian-Turkish border, Great Britain controlled the southern part, the ports of southern Iran and oil fields.

In October 1941, part of the USSR troops was recalled from Iran: all aviation, and then parts of the 44th and 47th armies.

Iran's neutrality, ensured by Operation Accord, had a significant impact on the course of World War II. The oil fields of Iran and southern Iraq played a significant role in supplying the Allied forces with fuel, and the Lend-Lease route, which ran from the Iraqi port of Basra through Iran to the north, became the main route along which the USSR received assistance from the Allies during the war. In 1943, one of the main allied conferences was held in the capital of Iran, Tehran - a meeting between Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill, during which the most important decisions were made that determined the course of the war at its final stage.

During the occupation, the Allies assisted Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi in organizing a new army. In particular, by decree of the State Defense Committee of the USSR, Yak-7 fighters and Il-2 attack aircraft were transferred to Iran, and relevant specialists were trained.

The occupation of Iran lasted until 1946, and its end was one of the first pages of " cold war"- fearing possible provocations from yesterday's allies in World War II, the USSR was in no hurry to withdraw its troops, which led to a long diplomatic confrontation.

The material was prepared based on information from RIA Novosti and open sources

Vladimir Mayevsky

There are still many pages in the history of the Second World War that, unlike Battle of Stalingrad or the Allied landings in Normandy, are little known to the general public. These include the joint Anglo-Soviet operation to occupy Iran, codenamed Operation Sympathy.

It was held from August 25 to September 17, 1941. Its goal was to protect Iranian oil fields and deposits from possible capture by German troops and their allies, as well as to protect the transport corridor (southern corridor), along which the Allies carried out Lend-Lease supplies to the Soviet Union. In addition, Great Britain feared for its position in southern Iran, especially for the oil fields of the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company, and was concerned that Germany would be able to penetrate through Iran into India and other Asian countries that were in the British sphere of influence.

It must be said that this was one of the few successful operations of the Red Army against the backdrop of the dramatic events of the summer of 1941. Soviet-German front. To carry it out, three combined arms armies were involved (44th, under the command of Major General A.A. Khadeev, 47th, under the command of Major General V.V. Novikov and the 53rd separate Central Asian Army, under the command of General - Lieutenant S. G. Trofimenko) significant aviation forces and Caspian flotilla.

It should be noted that this particular operation was the first joint military action of the countries that, due to changed geopolitical conditions, moved from many years of confrontation to cooperation and became allies in the war with Germany. And the development and implementation by the Soviet and British sides of a joint operation to send troops into Iran, the implementation of a coordinated policy in the region, became the actual basis for closer cooperation in the future, when parts of the American army were introduced into Iran.
The allies, whose interests did not coincide in everything, at that moment were striving for one thing: to prevent, firstly, the threat, and a very real one, of a pro-German military coup in Iran and the breakthrough of Wehrmacht forces there; secondly, to guarantee the transit of weapons, ammunition, food, medicine, strategic raw materials, fuel and other Lend-Lease cargoes necessary for the USSR for war and victory through Iranian territory, and thirdly, to ensure that the neutrality initially declared by Iran gradually transformed into large-scale cooperation and transition to the side of the anti-Hitler coalition.

It must be said that Germany’s influence in Iran was enormous. With transformation Weimar Republic in the Third Reich, relations with Iran reached a qualitatively different level. Germany began to take part in the modernization of the Iranian economy and infrastructure, and the reform of the Shah's army. Iranian students and officers were trained in Germany, whom Goebbels’ propaganda called nothing less than “sons of Zarathushtra.” The Persians were declared purebred Aryans and by a special decree exempted from the Nuremberg racial laws.
In Iran's total trade turnover in 1940-1941, Germany accounted for 45.5 percent, the USSR - 11 percent, and Britain - 4 percent. Germany has firmly penetrated the Iranian economy, and built relations with it in such a way that Iran practically became a hostage of the Germans and subsidized their ever-increasing military expenses.

The volume of German weapons imported into Iran grew rapidly. Over the eight months of 1941, more than 11,000 tons of weapons and ammunition were imported there, including thousands of machine guns and dozens of artillery pieces.

With the outbreak of World War II and Germany's attack on the USSR, despite Iran's formal declaration of neutrality, the activities of German intelligence services intensified in the country. With the encouragement of the pro-German government led by Reza Shah, Iran became the main base for German agents in the Middle East. Reconnaissance and sabotage groups were created on the territory of the country, weapons depots were established, including in the northern regions of Iran bordering the Soviet Union.
Trying to drag Iran into a war against the USSR, Germany offered Reza Shah weapons and financial assistance. And in return, she demanded that her “ally” transfer Iranian air bases to her disposal, the construction of which German specialists were directly related to. In the event of aggravation of relations with the ruling regime in Iran, preparations were made coup d'etat. For this purpose, at the beginning of August 1941, the chief of German intelligence, Admiral Canaris, arrived in Tehran under the guise of a representative of a German company. By this time, under the leadership of Abwehr employee Major Friesch, special combat detachments were formed in Tehran from Germans living in Iran. Together with the group Iranian officers, involved in the conspiracy, they were supposed to form the main strike force of the rebels. The performance was scheduled for August 22, 1941, and then postponed to August 28.
Naturally, neither the USSR nor Great Britain could ignore such developments.

The USSR three times - June 26, July 19 and August 16, 1941 - warned the Iranian leadership about the activation of German agents in the country and proposed to expel all German citizens from the country (among them many hundreds of military specialists), since they were carrying out activities incompatible with Iranian neutrality . Tehran rejected this demand.
He refused the same demand to the British. Meanwhile, the Germans in Iran developed their activity, and the situation became more and more threatening every day for the anti-Hitler coalition.
On the morning of August 25 at 4:30 a.m., the Soviet ambassador and the British envoy jointly visited the Shah and presented him with notes from their governments on the entry of Soviet and British troops into Iran.
Red Army units were introduced into the northern provinces of Iran. In the southern and southwestern - British troops. Within three days, from August 29 to 31, both groups reached a pre-planned line, where they united.

It must be said that the Soviet Union had every legal basis to react decisively to such developments at its southern border in accordance with Article VI of the Treaty between the USSR and Persia of February 26, 1921. It read:

“Both High Contracting Parties agree that in the event that third countries attempt, through armed intervention, to carry out a policy of conquest on the territory of Persia or to transform the territory of Persia into a base for military actions against Russia, if this threatens the borders of the Russian Federal Socialist Republic or its allied powers and if the Persian Government, after a warning from the Russian Soviet Government, is not itself able to avert this danger, the Russian Soviet Government will have the right to introduce its troops into the territory of Persia in order to take the necessary military measures in the interests of self-defense. Once this danger is eliminated, the Russian Soviet Government undertakes to immediately withdraw its troops from Persia.”

Soon after the start of the entry of allied troops into Iran, there was a change in the cabinet of ministers of the Iranian government. The new Prime Minister of Iran, Ali Foroughi, gave the order to end the resistance, and the next day this order was approved by the Iranian Majlis (parliament). On August 29, 1941, the Iranian army laid down its arms in front of the British, and on August 30 in front of the Red Army.

On September 18, 1941, Soviet troops entered Tehran. The ruler of Iran, Reza Shah, had abdicated the throne a few hours earlier in favor of his son, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, and, together with his other son, a staunch supporter of Hitler, fled to the English zone of responsibility. The Shah was sent first to the island of Mauritius, and then to Johannesburg, where he died three years later.
After the abdication and departure of Reza Shah, his eldest son Mohammad Reza was elevated to the throne. Official representatives of Germany and its allies, as well as most of their agents, were interned and expelled.

On January 29, 1942, the Treaty of Alliance was signed between the USSR, Great Britain and Iran. The allies pledged to “respect the territorial integrity, sovereignty and political independence of Iran.” The USSR and England also pledged to “defend Iran with all means at their disposal against any aggression from Germany or any other power.” For this task, the USSR and England received the right “to maintain ground, sea and air forces on Iranian territory in such quantities as they consider necessary.” In addition, the allied states were granted the unlimited right to use, maintain, protect and, in case of military necessity, control over all means of communications throughout Iran, including railways, highways and dirt roads, rivers, airfields, ports, etc. Within the framework of this agreement, through Iran began to supply allied military-technical cargo from the ports of the Persian Gulf to the Soviet Union.

Iran, in turn, committed itself to “cooperating with allied states by all means available to it and by all possible ways so that they can fulfill the above obligations."

The treaty established that the troops of the USSR and England should be withdrawn from the territory of Iran no later than six months after the cessation of hostilities between the allied states and Germany and its accomplices. (In 1946 the troops were completely withdrawn). Allied powers guaranteed Iran that they would not require the participation of its armed forces in hostilities, and also pledged not to approve at peace conferences anything that would harm the territorial integrity, sovereignty or political independence Iran. Presence allied forces in Iran, the neutralization of German agents (*), the establishment of control over the main communications in the country significantly changed the military-political situation on the Soviet southern borders. The threat to the most important oil region - Baku, which provided about three-quarters of all oil produced in the USSR, was removed. Besides, military presence the allies had a restraining influence on Turkey. A Soviet command got the opportunity to withdraw part of the forces from the southern borders and use them on the Soviet-German front. All this testified to the effectiveness of cooperation between the great powers united in the fight against fascist aggression.

A little from the history of Iranian Azerbaijan

South Azerbaijan is a northwestern province of Iran, bordering in the northeast and in the north along the Araks River, with Soviet Azerbaijan, which was part of USSR. In the west and southwest, the province has borders with Turkey and Iraq. In connection with the division of Azerbaijan according to state affiliation into Northern (AzSSR) and Southern (Iranian), the ruling circles in Tehran for a long time demanded that the Soviet Union rename Soviet Azerbaijan, for example, to the “Arran SSR”.

The administrative center of Iranian Azerbaijan was old City Tabriz. The territory where about five million Azerbaijanis lived was divided into two “ostans” (that is, provinces) - East and West Azerbaijan.

During the Second World War, Soviet troops were stationed in these Iranian provinces.

According to a former Soviet diplomat, by 1944, “the Soviet Embassy in Iran, according to Moscow’s directives, was asked to devote more more attention internal affairs Iran and preparations for the capture of Iranian Azerbaijan. The activity of the agents has intensified.” Personnel party workers from Soviet Azerbaijan were sent to Iran. After oil fields were discovered in the northern provinces, the Soviet presence in Iran was intended to be consolidated for a long time.

In November-December 1945, after an uprising led by communists, the autonomy of Azerbaijan within Iran was proclaimed. On November 20, 1945, the People's Congress of Azerbaijan, a kind of constituent Assembly, whose delegates were locally elected representatives. On December 12 (“21st Azeri”) the Majlis - the National Assembly of Azerbaijan - began its work. On the same day, he formed a National Government consisting of ten ministers, to which power was transferred to the territory of the northern Iranian provinces. The new government was headed by the leader of the Azerbaijan Democratic Party, created in September 1945, Seyid Jafar Pishevari. After negotiations between the head of the new government and the commander of the Shah’s troops in Azerbaijan, General Derakhshani, the latter signed an agreement on surrender. Thus, the “People's Democratic State of Southern Azerbaijan” began its existence.

According to the opinion Soviet historians, in December 1945, no public education. There was a point of view that “People’s power in Azerbaijan did not have a number of important features inherent in sovereign independent state(the common constitution, foreign policy service, monetary system, the national territory, citizenship, coat of arms, etc. were recognized).”

All these arguments are correct only insofar as they relate to state symbols. Unlike Gilan, which rebelled in 1921, where it developed its own coat of arms (an image of the Persian “lion and sun” with a hammer and sickle placed above them), the new government of Iranian Azerbaijan did not leave any evidence of own system state symbols, except, perhaps, the national anthem.

Otherwise, the policy of separation from the Shah's Iran was consistently pursued. On the agenda was the issue of establishing diplomatic relations With foreign countries. Their own armed forces were quickly formed on the basis of people's militias - the Feday. By decree of the Azerbaijan National Government dated December 21, 1945, the creation of “ People's Army". A guarded border was also created to separate the territory of the Pishevari government from the rest of Iran. In Qazvin, a border town, “on one side of the barrier stood a light tank and several soldiers under the command of an officer of the Shah’s troops, on the other side there were the same soldiers, but under the command of a man in a leather jacket.”

We also organized our own financial system. One of the most important measures of the National Government was the nationalization of banks. A week before the “21st Azeri” revolution, almost all banks were merged and transferred under the leadership of the new government. The food difficulties that Iran experienced due to the rejection of the northern provinces, which were the traditional supplier of food to Iran, were skillfully used. central areas countries. In order to cover the estimated deficit, the National Government introduced a system of taxation in the form of payment to jawazs for the right to export food outside Iranian Azerbaijan.

Autonomy in South Azerbaijan lasted for about a year. Under the terms of the tripartite treaty of January 29, 1942, concluded between Iran, the Soviet Union and Great Britain, at the end of the war the USSR undertook to withdraw its troops from Iranian territory. Agreeing under pressure from the allies to the withdrawal of Soviet troops, Moscow stipulated that after their departure, the Pishevari government, friendly to the USSR, would remain in Azerbaijan.

However, the Tehran government, having received a reprieve, did not tolerate separatist-minded local governments in Azerbaijan and Kurdistan for long. 1.25 million tomans were allocated to overthrow the National Government of Azerbaijan and, soon after the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Iran in the spring of 1946, troops were sent to the northern provinces. As the newspaper “Irane Ma” (Our Iran) reported, 9 infantry battalions, 1 cavalry regiment, 1 engineer battalion, 2 tank companies, 1 aircraft company, 9 mortar companies, a platoon of armored vehicles, 2 anti-aircraft platoons, several flamethrowers and 1 motorized gendarmerie regiment under the leadership of the American General Schwarzkopf (why not “Desert Storm”?).

According to the Soviet consulate in Tabriz, over twenty thousand “Iran-Azerbaijanis” crossed the border into the USSR. These were people who actively supported the Pishevari regime and did not want to stay in their homeland. A couple of years later, semi-official reports appeared at the Soviet embassy in Tehran that Pishevari had died somewhere near Baku during a car accident and was buried with honors in Baku. There were also rumors that this disaster was not accidental.

The autonomy of Iranian Azerbaijan ceased to exist. According to ill-wishers, “the entire revolutionary epic, or rather the adventure of Pishevari’s coup, was started by Moscow authorities in the interests of seizing Iranian oil.”

By December 11, the troops of the Iranian central government captured the territory of the autonomy. On one December evening in 1946, the Shah’s troops occupied Tabriz: “The Shah’s open car moved slowly, surrounded by an enthusiastically greeting crowd. People walked behind the car, holding on to its sides. Many knelt down. The young Shah, sitting in an open car, greeted the population of Tabriz. The population greeted their Shah with joyful cries and genuine jubilation.”

The Iranian operation was a joint British-Soviet World War II operation to occupy Iran, codenamed Operation Countenance, which ran from August 25, 1941 to September 17, 1941. Its goal was to protect the British-Iranian oil fields from possible capture by German troops and their allies, as well as to protect the transport corridor (southern corridor), along which the Allies carried out Lend-Lease supplies to the Soviet Union. These actions were taken due to the fact that, according to the assessments of the political leadership of both Great Britain and the USSR, there was a direct threat of Iran being drawn to the side of Germany as an ally in World War II.

The Shah of Iran, Reza Pahlavi, refused Britain and the Soviet Union's request to station troops in Iran. Motivating your participation in this military operation against Iran, the Soviet government referred to paragraphs 5 and 6 of the then-current Treaty between Soviet Russia and Iran of 1921, which stipulated that in the event of a threat to its southern borders, the Soviet Union had the right to send troops into Iranian territory. During the operation, the Allied forces invaded Iran, overthrew Shah Reza Pahlavi and took control of the Trans-Iranian Railway and Iran's oil fields. At the same time, British troops occupied the south of Iran, and USSR troops occupied the north.

In 1942, Iran's sovereignty was restored, and power passed to the Shah's son, Mohammed.

Mechanized units of the Red Army cross the Iranian border, August 25. 1941 Young crew member of the BA-20 light armored car (judging by the shape of the hatch cover).

Entry of Red Army units into Tabriz. Light tank T-26... Infantry - on foot...

Artillery - horse-drawn...

...cavalry - as it should be...
In the foreground is a British military vehicle marked "57"

The headquarters of the Red Army, located in the only hotel in Qazvin.

Order, the allies have arrived!

Meeting of the Soviet avant-garde with the British “flying column” from the area of Qazvin. Soviet side is represented by the BA-10 medium armored car, the British - by Gurkha riflemen on wheels. And, of course, war correspondent Allan Michie, who captured the “meeting on the military road” for history.

Soldiers of the Iranian army, who laid down their arms (on August 29-30, the unit received an order from the country's government to cease resistance), still in full combat gear, are watching the advance of the Soviet-British troops. There is not much hostility or depression on the soldiers' faces.

The command of both sides is trying to find mutual language. It is possible that Red Army commanders serving in Central Asia may have learned English, given the traditional clashes between British and Russian/Soviet interests in the region. The Soviet soldier on the left is armed with a PPD submachine gun.

Soviet infantry, armed with Tokarev self-loading rifles, in the area of Qazvin. By the way, by the characteristic facial features of many fighters, natives of the Central Asian republics of the USSR are easily identified, the percentage of whom in the Red Army units in Iran, apparently, was high.

Let's smoke, towaristch!

Local population of Qazvin.

British war correspondent Alan Michie talks with a Red Army commander who was wounded in a skirmish with Iranian troops. Although, according to overall assessment, resistance was sporadic, the irretrievable losses of the Red Army during the entire operation amounted to about 40 people.

Official photographs on the theme: “Soviet-British brotherhood in arms.”

The Soviet and British command bypasses the parade crews of the Red Army units at a joint parade in Tehran on the occasion of the successful completion of the operation, September. 1941. In a word, the oil fields of Iran were taken under control by the Allies, and the southern route for supplies to the USSR under Lend-Lease was open and safe.

Mikhail Cherepanov about the mysterious invasion Soviet army in 1941 to Iran

Photo: Pravda, November 1940

76 years ago, on June 22, 1941, fascist troops invaded the Soviet Union. Corresponding Member of the Military Academy historical sciences, head of the Museum-Memorial of the Great Patriotic War of the Kazan Kremlin, Mikhail Cherepanov, in today’s author’s column of Realnoe Vremya, talks about the critical situation for our country that has developed in pre-war years. Our columnist especially focuses the reader’s attention on the actions of Soviet soldiers and officers in Iran in the first days of the war.

Conflicting Myths

On June 22, the most tragic event occurred in the history of our country and the whole world. Our peaceful cities were subjected to severe bombing by Hitler's Luftwaffe. The invasion of the enemy began, whose main goal was the physical destruction of three quarters of the population of the Soviet state. Regardless of religious, national or social background, only because 196 million people occupied the territory that Hitler needed to implement delusional Nazi ideas.

What were the plans of the main Nazi in relation to our grandfathers and great-grandfathers and how feasible they were is a special conversation. The Day of Remembrance and Sorrow is an occasion to once again reflect on what caused the mass death on our territory of not only career military personnel, but also civilians. Why was our Workers' and Peasants' Red Army unable to hold not only the borders of our homeland, but also half of its European part? Were the reasons for our defeat in 1941-1942 the result of subjective factors, political mistakes of the country’s leadership, as is still claimed? historical encyclopedias and textbooks? Or there were other reasons that did not depend on the specific decisions of I.V. Stalin and his entourage? Who bears the burden of responsibility for the tragedy of the Great Patriotic War and the Second World War? Is it only based on Hitler's Nazism? And most importantly, are we today insured against a repetition of such a tragedy?

Agree that without a real understanding of the causes of what happened 76 years ago, we will not be able to prevent the repetition of the apocalypse. And the saddest thing is that all attempts by honest historians to find an answer to questions asked are suppressed not by scientific counter-arguments, but by active secrecy and hushing up real facts stories. It seems that it is beneficial for someone to leave more and more generations of Russians in the dark, to feed them myths and slander about the pre-war and war generations of fellow citizens.

Let us recall at least one of these myths that still lives in textbooks: “Our country was not at all prepared to repel the aggression of enemies, to defend itself. We had neither experience in the army nor military equipment for this. And in general, 40 thousand career military personnel of the USSR were repressed (it is hinted - shot) by Stalin himself.” On the other hand, it is argued that it was our country that was the forge of personnel fascist Germany and the initiator of World War II.

I will leave these and similar statements to the conscience of domestic and foreign historians who have been defending their doctoral dissertations on this slander for decades. I understand that dozens of monographs need to be spent on refuting both approaches to the interpretation of history. I propose to take a slight break from traditional disputes over details and numbers, and look at the situation from a completely different perspective. With the one that was not so much classified for 76 years, but taken beyond the scope of serious scientific research. But, in my opinion, this is where the main reasons lie for certain actions of the leadership of our country that led to the tragedy of June 1941.

Judge for yourself.

The key to understanding is in the Syrian city of Aleppo

Coincidentally, these days the attention of our and the world media is focused on the tragic events in the Syrian town of Aleppo. The blood of civilians is being shed there today. The tenth man died there Russian soldier. There is a kind of center for the fight against the global forces of terror. And few people know that it was in Aleppo that an event took place that became decisive in the chain of subsequent political steps by leaders of different countries, which led to the tragedy of June 22, 1941.

It was in Aleppo on March 20, 1940 that a meeting of representatives of the French and British military commands took place, at which it was noted that in June 1940 20 military airfields would be built in the Middle East. Their the main objective- Soviet oil fields in the Caucasus and the Caspian coast.

Flight Berlin - Baku

This decision was not spontaneous. This is evidenced by the statements and actions of politicians in France and Great Britain over the past few months.

Let's trace their chronicle.

10/31/1939 The British Minister of Supply stated: “If Russian oil fields are destroyed, not only Russia, but also any of its allies will lose oil.” He was echoed by the French Minister of Finance: “The French Air Force will bomb oil fields and refineries in the Caucasus from Syria.”
12/14/1939 The USSR was expelled from the League of Nations in connection with the attack on Finland.
01/8/1940 The German consulate in Geneva confirmed: “England intends to launch a surprise attack not only on the Russian oil regions, but will also try to simultaneously deprive Germany of Romanian oil sources in the Balkans.”
03/08/1940 The British Committee of Chiefs of Staff presented the government with a report “Consequences of military actions against Russia in 1940”.
February 1940. The commander of the French Air Force in Syria, General J. Jonot, put it clearly: “The outcome of the war will be decided in the Caucasus, and not on the Western Front.”
11.1.1940 The British embassy in Moscow reported that the action in the Caucasus could “bring Russia to its knees in the shortest possible time.”
24.1.1940 The Chief of the Imperial General Staff of England, General E. Ironside, presented a memorandum: “We will be able to provide effective assistance Finland only if we strike Baku in order to cause a serious state crisis in Russia.”
02/1/1940 Iranian Minister of War A. Nakhjavan expressed a desire to purchase 60 bombers and 20 fighters from England, expressing his readiness to use them to destroy Baku.

British bombers in Abadan (Iran)

In Ankara, the British, French and Turkish military discussed the issue of using Turkish airfields to bomb the Caucasus. They expected to destroy Baku in 15 days, Grozny in 12, Batumi in 2 days. Even on the day of the German attack on France, its military informed Churchill of their readiness to bomb Baku.

On March 30 and April 5, 1940, the British carried out reconnaissance flights over the territory of the USSR.
06/14/1940 German occupation of Paris. Capture French documents General Staff. Soviet intelligence receives confirmation from German sources: the bombing of the Caucasus is being prepared.

So, I.V. Stalin received information from his intelligence about a real threat to his only oil field. What actions should any head of state take in his place?

Opening of the Transcaucasian Front

Spring 1940. The Main Directorate of the Red Army Air Force prepared a list of military-industrial facilities in Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, and Palestine.
Summer 1940. The Transcaucasian Military District was reinforced with 10 divisions (5 rifle, tank, cavalry and 3 aviation). The number of aircraft increased from several dozen to 500. Combined arms armies were formed and deployed: the 45th and 46th on the border with Turkey, the 44th and 47th on the border with Iran.
11/14/1940 Soviet-German negotiations in Berlin ended with an agreement on joint operations against Great Britain. German troops were to be transferred through the USSR to Turkey, Iran and Iraq.

April 1941 British commandos captured the port of Basra in Iraq. In record time, a plant sprang up there to assemble cars that arrived from the USA with ready-made kits.
05/05/1941 The Intelligence Directorate of the General Staff of the Red Army reported: “The available forces of German troops for operations in the Middle East are expressed in 40 divisions. For the same purposes, up to two parachute divisions have been concentrated with probable use in Iraq.”
10.5.1941 Hitler's deputy in the party, Rudolf Hess, brought the British government a proposal to end the war and achieve an agreement on the basis of anti-communism. England had to give Germany freedom of action against Soviet Russia, and Germany agreed to guarantee England the preservation of its colonial possessions and dominance in the Mediterranean.
15.5.1941 Order No. 0035 “On the fact of unimpeded passage of the Yu-52 aircraft across the border” was signed. Hitler's envoy brought a letter to Stalin about his desire to continue the war with Great Britain.
19.5.1941 Timoshenko and Zhukov proposed to Stalin the idea of a preventive strike on Germany.
24.5.1941 Stalin gave the command to the five western military districts: “Don’t rock the boat!”
May 1941 3816 mobilized in Azerbaijan alone civilians for shipment to Iran.
Beginning of June 1941. In the Central Asian Military District, with the participation of representatives of the General Staff of the Red Army, command and staff exercises “Concentration of a Separate Army to the State Border” were held.

8.7.1941 Directive of the NKVD of the USSR and the NKGB of the USSR No. 250/14190 “On measures to prevent the transfer of German intelligence agents from the territory of Iran.”
On July 12, 1941, the USSR and Great Britain entered into an agreement on the division of occupation zones in Iran.
08/23/1941 Signed: Directive of the Supreme Command Headquarters No. 001196 “To the Commander of the Central Asian Military District on the formation and entry into Iran of the 53rd separate army"and directive of the Supreme Command Headquarters No. 001197 "To the Commander of the Transcaucasian Military District on the deployment of the Transcaucasian Front and the entry of two armies into Iran."
08/25/1941 three armies of the Red Army (44th, 47th and 53rd separate), 1264 aircraft and the Caspian military flotilla numbering over 350 thousand soldiers and officers cross the border of Iran with the task of “destroying 3 divisions of Iranians in case of resistance” .
09.17.1941 The Red Army entered Tehran.
02/23/1942 The first convoy of 50 cars was sent by the British through Iran to the Soviet Union.

Let us clarify the scale of our forces in Iran:

47th Army (63rd and 76th mountain rifle divisions, 236th rifle divisions, 6th and 54th tank divisions, 23rd and 24th cavalry divisions, 2 battalions of a motorcycle regiment, 2 anti-aircraft artillery battalions, 2 self-propelled artillery battalions);
44th Army (20th and 77th mountain rifle divisions, 17th mountain cavalry division, motorized regiment, anti-aircraft artillery regiment, 2 fighter aviation regiments);
53rd Army (39th, 68th, 83rd mountain rifle divisions);
4th Cavalry Corps (18th and 44th mountain cavalry divisions, 2 anti-aircraft artillery divisions, 2 fighter aviation regiments).

Red Army in Iran

Official losses of the Red Army in Iran from August 25 to August 30, 1941 - about 50 people killed, about 100 wounded and shell-shocked, 4000 evacuated due to illness; 3 aircraft were lost, 3 more did not return for unclear reasons.

Let me remind you that in a note from the government of the USSR to the government of Iran on August 25, 1941, it was mentioned that “56 German intelligence officers infiltrated Iranian military enterprises under the guise of engineers and technicians... turning the territory of Iran into an arena for preparing a military attack on the USSR.”

It turns out that against 56 German intelligence officers on August 25, 1941 (when the Nazis were already near Smolensk), Stalin sent 3 professional, well-armed and experienced armies outside our country? Or did we send troops against another enemy?

And most importantly: when was this done?

War veteran, Chistopol resident Faizrakhman Galimov (died in 2004) in his book “Soldier’s Roads” (Kazan, 1998) writes: “Our 83rd Mountain Rifle Division from June 22 to October 1941 participated in military operations on Iranian territory, and I worked in Iran as an intelligence officer from May 15 to September 1941. From the beginning of 1940, at intelligence school, we studied Persian language, the geography of this country, the way of life of the population - right down to dressing in Iranian clothes. Major Muhammad Ali worked with me. When we asked why all this was needed, the instructors answered: to catch and interrogate defectors.

In May 1941, the school was put on alert. We received an order: to go to the Nakhichevan region. They began to prepare us to cross the Iranian border. At the beginning of June I found myself in Iran. At first I walked with fishing rods, and when I got to Tehran, I became a “shoemaker.” I went to a merchant who worked for Soviet intelligence. He provided me with documents. Further the path lay to the Caspian Sea, where a meeting with the mentor was scheduled. Having met with the major, I learned that the purpose of my drop was to prevent a possible German landing. The agents reported that the Germans were preparing explosions at the oil fields of Baku. Our scouts discovered a boat with explosives on the shore. Having contacted headquarters, they received an order to destroy the object, and on June 21 the boat was blown up. For this operation I was awarded the medal “For military merits" IN award list That’s what it says: “For saving the oil fields of Baku.”

Fayzrakhman Galimov

June 22, at 5.00, when German planes were already bombing Soviet cities, our 83rd Mountain Rifle Division crossed the border and was stationed on Iranian territory. Our regiments walked along the waterless steppe, crossed sandy and rocky deserts. Some could not stand the heat and fainted. Horses also fell. Among the fighters there were patients with cholera. In Tabriz, Tehran, Qom (Moku) we were greeted by empty streets - residents were sitting at home. Having eliminated the German landing forces, we went to the shores of the Caspian Sea and waited for a new order, but it never came... The division’s campaign ended in early September. The patients were transported by sea to the USSR. Many soldiers returned home with tropical diseases.

During the operation, I combined the duties of a platoon commander of an artillery battery and an interpreter for the division commander. In 1942, the 83rd Mountain Rifle Division was sent to the combat area near Tuapse. The main contingent of Soviet troops stayed in Iran until 1946.”

Maybe the veteran got something wrong? Could the 83rd Mountain Division be in Iran already on June 22, if the official order to begin the offensive was received only on August 25?

Oddly enough, F. Galimov is right. Evidence of this is the fate of the commander of the 83rd Mountain Rifle Division, Major General Sergei Artemyevich Baidalinov. He led the division from May 1939 and was arrested in Northern Iran on July 12, 1941, sentenced to to the highest degree penalties for violating NPO order No. 00412. Shot immediately. Rehabilitated on October 30, 1958. This is recorded in the book of Doctor of Historical Sciences A.A. Pechenkin “The senior command staff of the Red Army during the Second World War” (Moscow, 2002).

Sergey Baydalinov

How could the division commander end up on Iranian territory in July 1941? If you carefully study the documents Central Archive Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, everyone will be convinced that long before official start During the Iranian campaign, soldiers and officers of the 83rd Mountain Rifle Division “went missing in action.”

So, junior lieutenant, commander rifle platoon 150th Mountain Rifle Regiment, Vafin Irshod Sagadievich, born in 1915, disappeared in April 1941 (TsAMO, op. 563783, no. 14).

Contact with Lieutenant Kuzma Vasilievich Syutkin, platoon commander of the 67th Artillery Regiment, in which he served since November 1938, has been lost since June 1941 (TsAMO, op. 11458, no. 192).

About the Red Army soldier of the 428th mountain rifle regiment Ivan Arsentyevich Delas, born in 1921, “there has been no news since June 26, 1941” (TsAMO, op. 18002, no. 897).

A Red Army soldier of the same regiment, Juraev Numon, went missing in July 1941 (TsAMO, inventory 977520, file 413), and Chalbaev Mikhail Fedorovich, born in 1921. died on August 20, 1941 (TsAMO, op. 977520, no. 32).

Spiridonov Nikolai Spiridonovich, born in 1915, from the village of Vazhashur, Kukmorsky district, who served as a Red Army soldier from October 4, 1939, died in Iran. Last letter from him dated July 22, 1941 (TsAMO, inventory 18004, no. 751).

Soldiers from other divisions of the 53rd Separate Army also went missing in July 1941.

Captured in Iran

To the Indian Ocean

You can call this errors in the records, but it can be considered proof of the rightness of our fellow countryman Galimov. What does this mean? The fact that the introduction of Soviet troops into Iran began not on August 25, 1941 to ensure lend-lease, but on June 22 in order to show Hitler that we “do not give in to provocations” and in accordance with the agreement reached in November 1940 in Berlin, we protect our oil from threats from Great Britain.

Already June 22, 1941 English ambassador In Russia, Cripps asked Molotov about the advisability of the presence of Red Army units on the border with Iran.

If you believe official documents, on August 25, 1941, we, not paying attention to the real threat of the Wehrmacht to our capitals, tried at any cost to secure the road to receive 50 British cars... in 1942. Would they be useful in the event of the fall of Moscow and Leningrad? Couldn't our army alone cope with the defeat of three Iranian divisions?

Everyone will have their own answer to these questions. But it’s time to finally name the real reason for our defeats on the western border in June 1941: Hitler would not have dared to attack the USSR without unequivocal support from Great Britain. But Stalin did not consider him his enemy, because he saw a real threat to his oil-bearing areas on the part of future allies - England and France.

And no less important reason The entry of our troops into Iran, I think, was Russia’s desire since tsarist times to build a canal from the Caspian Sea to the Persian Gulf. What could be more important than direct access to the Indian Ocean, bypassing the Turkish Straits and the Suez Canal? Today this project is being discussed again at the highest level between the leaders of our states.

Other facts in favor of the stated hypothesis can be found at the Museum-Memorial of the Great Patriotic War in the Kazan Kremlin.

And no less important reason for the introduction of our troops into Iran, I think, was Russia’s desire since tsarist times to build a canal from the Caspian Sea to the Persian Gulf

Mikhail Cherepanov, photos provided by the author

Reference

Mikhail Valerievich Cherepanov- Head of the Museum-Memorial of the Great Patriotic War of the Kazan Kremlin; Chairman of the Association "Club" military glory"; Member of the editorial board of the Book of Memory of Victims political repression RT. Honored Worker of Culture of the Republic of Tatarstan, Corresponding Member of the Academy of Military Historical Sciences, laureate of the State Prize of the Republic of Tatarstan.

Born in 1960.
Graduated from Kazan State University named after. IN AND. Ulyanov-Lenin, majoring in Journalism.
Supervisor working group(from 1999 to 2007) Books of Memory of victims of political repressions of the Republic of Tatarstan.
Since 2007 he has been working in National Museum RT.
One of the creators of the 28-volume book “Memory” of the Republic of Tatarstan about those killed during the Second World War, 19 volumes of the Book of Memory of the Victims of Political Repression of the Republic of Tatarstan, etc.
Creator eBook In memory of the Republic of Tatarstan (list of natives and residents of Tatarstan who died during the Second World War).
Author of thematic lectures from the series “Tatarstan during the war years”, thematic excursions “The feat of fellow countrymen on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War”.
Co-author of the concept virtual museum"Tatarstan - to the Fatherland."
Participant of 60 search expeditions to bury the remains of soldiers who died in the Great Patriotic War (since 1980), member of the board of the Union search teams Russia.
Author of more than 100 scientific and educational articles, books, participant in all-Russian, regional, and international conferences. Columnist for Realnoe Vremya.

The war between the USSR and Iran against the backdrop of the bloody and dramatic events of the beginning of the Great Patriotic War went almost unnoticed. However, in Lately subject Soviet-Iranian war gained some popularity in Western media mass media. Apparently, against the backdrop of bloody events in Islamic countries caused by the “Arab Spring” inspired by Western intelligence services, the ongoing occupation of Iraq and the passionate desire to occupy Iran, an attempt is being made to prepare public opinion. In addition, there is a noticeable desire to shift responsibility from the “sick head” Western countries“to a healthy” Russian one.

What happened in Iran at the end of the summer - beginning of the autumn of 1941, what was the background and reasons for these events? Within the framework of " Big game " - politics of struggle for influence in Transcaucasia and Central Asia between Russia and Great Britain, both sides tried in every possible way to achieve best position in Persia. The fight was with with varying success , and in general, historically, Great Britain gained greater influence in the south, and Russia in the north of the country. Russia's influence there was very great. In 1879, the Persian Cossack brigade , later transformed into a division. This was the most combat-ready unit of the entire Persian army. Trained “Cossacks” and commanded units Russian officers
, receiving a salary from Russia. In addition, the Russian Empire and its citizens invested heavily in various infrastructure projects in Persia. The revolution of 1917 brought significant changes to the existing situation. The Russian instructors in the Cossack division were replaced by the British. Managers revolutionary Russia They expected a general world revolution, so they cared little about preserving Russian property abroad. As a result, in 1921, an agreement was signed between Russia and Persia, according to which most of Russian property in the country went to the Persians. But at the same time, the possibility of introducing Soviet troops into Iran was provided for if necessary. In 1925, General of the Persian Cossack Division Reza Shah, who had risen from the rank and file, organized a coup in the country and led it, creating Hitler. Iranian youth en masse went to study in Germany. A scout movement modeled after the Hitler Youth was created in the country by order. German specialists in all fields came to Iran en masse. All this led to the fact that the country was literally swarming with fascist agents.
Naturally, this state of affairs could not suit Stalin. And after Germany’s attack on the USSR it became unbearable. The oil industry could come under German control, and serious dangers were created for Lend-Lease supplies passing through the ports of the Persian Gulf. Iran could have been the source of an attack from Hitler-friendly Turkey. And Iran itself mobilized an army of 200,000. This led to the USSR and Britain conducting a joint operation to occupy the country. The operation was code-named “Consent”. The USSR and Great Britain turned to Pahlavi with a request to expel German citizens from Iran and station their troops in the country. Reza Shah refused. Then, relying on the provisions of the 1921 treaty, troops of the USSR and Great Britain entered the country. General Tolbukhin took an active part in planning the Soviet part of the operation. On August 25, 1941, under the general leadership of General Kozlov, Soviet troops consisting of five combined arms armies
with the support of the Caspian flotilla assigned to them, they entered Iran.
The Iranian army offered virtually no resistance. All four regiments of Iranian aviation were destroyed at the very beginning of the war, so the Allied aviation that dominated the skies was mainly engaged in scattering propaganda leaflets. The only ones who offered real resistance were the Iranian police, but the forces were clearly not equal. As a result, Pahlavi was forced to change the government, and the new Minister of Defense, Ali Foroughi, ordered an end to resistance, which was immediately approved by parliament. Already on August 29, the Iranian army capitulated to the British, and on August 30 to the Red Army.
Formally, after these events, the country's sovereignty was restored, but the occupation forces remained on its territory. In 1943, Iran declared war on Germany. It was the close control of the USSR and Great Britain over the formally friendly regime that made it possible to hold the famous Tehran Conference in the country in 1943.
It is interesting that even in the oral folk art of Iranians, there are no mentions not only of the atrocities of the occupation, but also of simple inconvenience from it. Soviet troops left Iran in 1946, the USSR retained oil concessions in the north of the country. British troops stayed longer, protecting the interests of British oil corporations.