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  1 - Imperial Russia’s Military Designs and Road-Building Projects in Iran
  Mohammad Ali Kazembeyki
  In recent centuries, the relationship between Russia, as a great power, and a neighboring country has had a special place in Iran's foreign policy. Despite the multi-faceted nature of relations between the two countries, the development of Russia’s expansion, mili More

  In recent centuries, the relationship between Russia, as a great power, and a neighboring country has had a special place in Iran's foreign policy. Despite the multi-faceted nature of relations between the two countries, the development of Russia’s expansion, military threat and interventions has always been a cause of Tehran’s concern. The current article is a translation and study of a secret document regarding fragments of the Russian military plan in Iran, which British intelligence agents obtained in 1909. The examination of this plan in the context of military designs attributed to Russia for both territorial expansion in Iran and endangering the interests of the British in India, reveals Russia’s strategy to advance toward the Persian Gulf in 1907 and the military goals of St. Petersburg investment in road-building projects in Iran as well. The findings also show that following the conclusion of Anglo-Russian Agreement of 1907, the mentioned war plan, though primarily designed against the interests of Britain, in practice enforced against Iranian nationalists and the Central Powers in World War I. References Asnādī darbāra-yi Hudjūm-i England wa Russia bih Iran, Revised by M. Turkamān, Institute for Political and International Studies of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (IPIS), 1991/1370. Asnādī Az Rawābiṭ Iran wa Russia, trans. R. Mosalmanian Qobadiani & B. Mosalmanian Qobadiani, Markaz Asnād wa Tāʿrīkh-i Dīplumāsī, Tehran, 1999/1378. British Documents on Foreign Affairs, Part I, Series B, vol. 13, ed. D. Gillard, University Publications of America, 1985. Dar Takāpū-yi Tādj wa Takht, Asnād-i Abū al-Fatḥ Mīrzā Sālār al- Dawla, Revised by Reza Azari, National Library of Iran, Tehran, 1999/1378. Guzārish-hā-yi siyasī Alā al- Mulk, Revised by A. Safaei, Vol. 2, Gurūh-i Intishārātī-yi Ābād, Tehran, 1981/1362. Iran Political Diaries 1381-1965, ed. by R. M. Burrell, Archives Editions, 1997. Kitāb-i Nārindjī, Revised by A. Bashiri, Nashr-i Nūr, 1983/ 1364. U.K.: National Archives, FO, Annual Series of Trade Reports, Cd. 2682. U.K.: India Office, L/MIL/17/15/26. Historical Newspapers Daily Journal [London] Gentleman's Magazine [London] Manchester Guardian [Manchester] Morning Post and Gazetteer [London] Observer [London] Times [London] Weekly Miscellany [London] Books & papers Atkin, M., Russia and Iran, 1780-1828, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, 1980. Baker, V.,Clouds in the East: Travels and Adventures on the Perso-Turkoman Frontier, London, 1876. Cohen, A., Russian imperialism: development and crisis, Praeger, Westprot CT, 1996. Curzon, G. N., Persia and the Persian Question, London, 1892. Duffy, Ch. Russia’s Military Way to the West: Origins and Nature of Russian Military Power, 1700-1800, Rout!edge& Kegan Paul Ltd, London, 1985. Eastwick, E. B., Journal of a Diplomat’s three years’ Residence in Persia, London, 1864. Ermarth, F. W., “Russia’s Strategic Culture: Past, Present and … in Transition?” Paper prepared for Defense Threat Reduction Agency, U.S.A., 31 Oct. 2006. available at: www.fas.org/irp/agency/dod/dtra/russia.pdf Farrington, A. J. (ed.), British Intelligence and Policy on Persia (Iran), c. 1900-1949: India Office Political and Secret Files and Confidential Print, ed., Brill, Leiden, 1999. Floor, W., “The Iranian Navy in the Gulf during the Eighteenth Century,” Iranian Studies, 20- No. 1 (1987). Galbraith, J. S., “British Policy on Railways in Persia, 1870-1900,” Middle Eastern Studies, 25- No. 4 (1989). Ibid , “Britain and American Railway Promoters in Late Nineteenth Century Persia,” Albion: A Quarterly Journal Concerned with British Studies, 21- No. 2 (1989). Hotz, A., “Persian Trade Routes,” Journal of the Society of Arts, 47 (1898:Nov. 18-1899:  Nov. 10). Hurewitz, J. C., Diplomacy in the Near and Middle East, A Documentary Record: 1535-1914, Vol. I, Princeton, 1956. Istarābādī, Mīrzā Mahdī Khān, Djahāngushā_yi Nādirī, Revised by Seyyed Ali Anvar, Society for the Appreciation of Cultural works and Dignitaries, Tehran, 1998/ 1377. Iʿtimād al- salṭana, Muḥammad Ḥasan Khān, al- Maāthir wa l- āthār, Revised by A. Afshar, Asāṭīr, Tehran, 1995/ 1374. Jamalzadeh, M. A., Gandj-i Shāygān,  Kaveh, Berlin, 1916 AD/ 1335 AH. Kagan, F. W., Military Reforms of Nicholas I: The Origins of the Modern Russian Army, Martin’s Press, New York, 1999. Kazem Beigi, M. A., “Britain wa Khuṭūt-i Āhan-i Iran wa Khāwar-miyāna 1337 AH/ 1919_1918 AD”, Faṣl- nāma Muṭāliāt-i Tārīkhī, No. 22, 1387/ 2008. Ibid, Daryā-yi Māzandarān wa ḳudrat-hā-yi Buzurg: Imperialism-i Britain (1338- 1335 AH/ 1916- 1919 AD), Markaz Asnād wa Tāʾrīkh-i Dīplumāsī Wizārat-i Umūr-i Khāridja, Tehran, 2005/ 1384. Ibid, “Kunsūl-garī-yi Britain dar Iyālāt-i Djunūbī-yi Daryā-yi Māzandarān dar Dawrān-i Ḳādjāriyya wa Kārkunān-i Maḥalī-yi Ān”, Journal of  Social History, No. 2, 2011/ 1390. Ibid, “Mardum, ʿUlamāʾ wa tawsiʿa dar ʿAṣr-i Ḳadjāriyya: Rah-i Gīlān”, Farhang, No. 60, 2006/ 1385. Kazemzadeh, F., “Russia and Britain in Persia, 1864- 1911”, Harvard Slavic Studies, 4(1957). Kowner, R. (ed.), The Impact of the Russo-Japanese War, Routledge Curzon, London, 2007. Kuropatkin, Gen. A., The Russian Army and Russo-Japanese War, translated into English by Captain A. B. Lindsay, E. P. Dutton and Co., New York, 1909. Litten, Wilhelm, Iran Az Nufūdh-i Musālimat- Āmīz tā Taḥt al- Ḥimāyigī (1919- 1860), Trans. M. Mir Ahmadi, Moin-Publisher, Tehran, 1986/ 1367. Lobanov-Rostovsky, A., “Russian Imperialism in Asia. Its Origin, Evolution and Character”, The Slavonic and East European Review, 8- No. 22 (1929). Lockhart, L., Nadir Shah: A Critical Study Based Mainly Upon Contemporary Sources, London, 1938. Ibid , “The ‘Political Testament’ of Peter the Great”, The Slavonic and East European Review, 41 (1936). Mackinder, H. J., “The Geographical Pivot of History”, The Geographical Journal, 23(1904). Marshall, A., The Russian General Staff and Asia, 1800–1917, Routledge, London, 2006. Moberley, Gen. F. J., Operations in Persia, 1914-1919, Her Majesty’s Stationary Office, London, 1987. Mojtahed-Zadeh, P., Small Players of the Great Game, Routledge Curzon, 2004. Nazem, H., Russia and Great Britain in Iran (1900-1914), Tehran, 1975. O’Brien, P. P. (ed.), The Anglo-Japanese Alliance, Routledge Curzon, London, 2004. Roostaei, M., “Sardār Akram naẓar ʿAlī Khān-i Ṭarhānī”, Luristān Pazhūhī, No. 3 & 4, 1998/ 1377. Reese, R., (ed.), The Russian Imperial Army, 1796–1917, Aldershot, Ashgate, 2006. Resis, A., “Russophobia and the ’Testament’ of Peter the Great, 1812-1980”, Slavic Review, 44: 4 (1985). Sārawī, Muḥammad Fatḥallah b. Muḥammad Taḳī, Tārrīkh-i Muḥammadī, Revised by GH. R. Tabatabai Majd, Amīr Kabīr, 1992/ 1371. Shneidman, J. I., “The Proposed Invasion of India by Russia and France in 1801”, Journal of Indian History, 35(1957). Spring, D. W., “The Trans-Persian Railway Project and Anglo-Russian Relations, 1909-14”, Slavonic and East European Review, 54-No. 1 (1976). Steinberg, J. W., All the Tsar’s Men: Russia’s General Staff and the Fate of the Empire, 1898–1914, Woodrow Wilson Center Press, Washington, D.C., 2010. Stone, D. R., A Military History of Russia, From Ivan the Terrible to the War in Chechnya, Praeger, Westprot CT, 2006. Strong, J. W., “Russia’s Plan for an Invasion against India in 1801”, Canadian Slavonic Papers, 7(1965). Subtelny, O., “Peter I's Testament: A Reassessment”, Slavic Review, 33: 4 (1974). Sutherland Edwards, H., Russian Projects against India, London, 1885. Taylor, B. D., Politics and the Russian Army: Civil–Military Relations, 1689–2000, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2003. Teymouri, A., Aṣr-i bī- khabarī, Tarikh-i Imtiyāzāt Dar Iran, Iḳbāl, Tehran, 1953/ 1332. Van der Oye, D. S., “Paul’s great game: Russia's plan to invade British India”, Central Asian Survey, 33:2(2014). Van der Oye, D. S. and B.W. Manning (eds.), Reforming the Tsar's Army: Military Innovation in Imperial Russia from Peter the Great to the Revolution, Cambridge University Press and Woodrow Wilson Press, 2004.                                                     In recent centuries, the relationship between Russia, as a great power, and a neighboring country has had a special place in Iran's foreign policy. Despite the multi-faceted nature of relations between the two countries, the development of Russia’s expansion, military threat and interventions has always been a cause of Tehran’s concern. The current article is a translation and study of a secret document regarding fragments of the Russian military plan in Iran, which British intelligence agents obtained in 1909. The examination of this plan in the context of military designs attributed to Russia for both territorial expansion in Iran and endangering the interests of the British in India, reveals Russia’s strategy to advance toward the Persian Gulf in 1907 and the military goals of St. Petersburg investment in road-building projects in Iran as well. The findings also show that following the conclusion of Anglo-Russian Agreement of 1907, the mentioned war plan, though primarily designed against the interests of Britain, in practice enforced against Iranian nationalists and the Central Powers in World War I.   References Asnādī darbāra-yi Hudjūm-i England wa Russia bih Iran, Revised by M. Turkamān, Institute for Political and International Studies of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (IPIS), 1991/1370. Asnādī Az Rawābiṭ Iran wa Russia, trans. R. Mosalmanian Qobadiani & B. Mosalmanian Qobadiani, Markaz Asnād wa Tāʿrīkh-i Dīplumāsī, Tehran, 1999/1378. British Documents on Foreign Affairs, Part I, Series B, vol. 13, ed. D. Gillard, University Publications of America, 1985. Dar Takāpū-yi Tādj wa Takht, Asnād-i Abū al-Fatḥ Mīrzā Sālār al- Dawla, Revised by Reza Azari, National Library of Iran, Tehran, 1999/1378. Guzārish-hā-yi siyasī Alā al- Mulk, Revised by A. Safaei, Vol. 2, Gurūh-i Intishārātī-yi Ābād, Tehran, 1981/1362. Iran Political Diaries 1381-1965, ed. by R. M. Burrell, Archives Editions, 1997. Kitāb-i Nārindjī, Revised by A. Bashiri, Nashr-i Nūr, 1983/ 1364. U.K.: National Archives, FO, Annual Series of Trade Reports, Cd. 2682. U.K.: India Office, L/MIL/17/15/26. Historical Newspapers Daily Journal [London] Gentleman's Magazine [London] Manchester Guardian [Manchester] Morning Post and Gazetteer [London] Observer [London] Times [London] Weekly Miscellany [London] Books & papers Atkin, M., Russia and Iran, 1780-1828, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, 1980. Baker, V.,Clouds in the East: Travels and Adventures on the Perso-Turkoman Frontier, London, 1876. Cohen, A., Russian imperialism: development and crisis, Praeger, Westprot CT, 1996. Curzon, G. N., Persia and the Persian Question, London, 1892. Duffy, Ch. Russia’s Military Way to the West: Origins and Nature of Russian Military Power, 1700-1800, Rout!edge& Kegan Paul Ltd, London, 1985. Eastwick, E. B., Journal of a Diplomat’s three years’ Residence in Persia, London, 1864. Ermarth, F. W., “Russia’s Strategic Culture: Past, Present and … in Transition?” Paper prepared for Defense Threat Reduction Agency, U.S.A., 31 Oct. 2006. available at: www.fas.org/irp/agency/dod/dtra/russia.pdf Farrington, A. J. (ed.), British Intelligence and Policy on Persia (Iran), c. 1900-1949: India Office Political and Secret Files and Confidential Print, ed., Brill, Leiden, 1999. Floor, W., “The Iranian Navy in the Gulf during the Eighteenth Century,” Iranian Studies, 20- No. 1 (1987). Galbraith, J. S., “British Policy on Railways in Persia, 1870-1900,” Middle Eastern Studies, 25- No. 4 (1989). Ibid , “Britain and American Railway Promoters in Late Nineteenth Century Persia,” Albion: A Quarterly Journal Concerned with British Studies, 21- No. 2 (1989). Hotz, A., “Persian Trade Routes,” Journal of the Society of Arts, 47 (1898:Nov. 18-1899:  Nov. 10). Hurewitz, J. C., Diplomacy in the Near and Middle East, A Documentary Record: 1535-1914, Vol. I, Princeton, 1956. Istarābādī, Mīrzā Mahdī Khān, Djahāngushā_yi Nādirī, Revised by Seyyed Ali Anvar, Society for the Appreciation of Cultural works and Dignitaries, Tehran, 1998/ 1377. Iʿtimād al- salṭana, Muḥammad Ḥasan Khān, al- Maāthir wa l- āthār, Revised by A. Afshar, Asāṭīr, Tehran, 1995/ 1374. Jamalzadeh, M. A., Gandj-i Shāygān,  Kaveh, Berlin, 1916 AD/ 1335 AH. Kagan, F. W., Military Reforms of Nicholas I: The Origins of the Modern Russian Army, Martin’s Press, New York, 1999. Kazem Beigi, M. A., “Britain wa Khuṭūt-i Āhan-i Iran wa Khāwar-miyāna 1337 AH/ 1919_1918 AD”, Faṣl- nāma Muṭāliāt-i Tārīkhī, No. 22, 1387/ 2008. Ibid, Daryā-yi Māzandarān wa ḳudrat-hā-yi Buzurg: Imperialism-i Britain (1338- 1335 AH/ 1916- 1919 AD), Markaz Asnād wa Tāʾrīkh-i Dīplumāsī Wizārat-i Umūr-i Khāridja, Tehran, 2005/ 1384. Ibid, “Kunsūl-garī-yi Britain dar Iyālāt-i Djunūbī-yi Daryā-yi Māzandarān dar Dawrān-i Ḳādjāriyya wa Kārkunān-i Maḥalī-yi Ān”, Journal of  Social History, No. 2, 2011/ 1390. Ibid, “Mardum, ʿUlamāʾ wa tawsiʿa dar ʿAṣr-i Ḳadjāriyya: Rah-i Gīlān”, Farhang, No. 60, 2006/ 1385. Kazemzadeh, F., “Russia and Britain in Persia, 1864- 1911”, Harvard Slavic Studies, 4(1957). Kowner, R. (ed.), The Impact of the Russo-Japanese War, Routledge Curzon, London, 2007. Kuropatkin, Gen. A., The Russian Army and Russo-Japanese War, translated into English by Captain A. B. Lindsay, E. P. Dutton and Co., New York, 1909. Litten, Wilhelm, Iran Az Nufūdh-i Musālimat- Āmīz tā Taḥt al- Ḥimāyigī (1919- 1860), Trans. M. Mir Ahmadi, Moin-Publisher, Tehran, 1986/ 1367. Lobanov-Rostovsky, A., “Russian Imperialism in Asia. Its Origin, Evolution and Character”, The Slavonic and East European Review, 8- No. 22 (1929). Lockhart, L., Nadir Shah: A Critical Study Based Mainly Upon Contemporary Sources, London, 1938. Ibid , “The ‘Political Testament’ of Peter the Great”, The Slavonic and East European Review, 41 (1936). Mackinder, H. J., “The Geographical Pivot of History”, The Geographical Journal, 23(1904). Marshall, A., The Russian General Staff and Asia, 1800–1917, Routledge, London, 2006. Moberley, Gen. F. J., Operations in Persia, 1914-1919, Her Majesty’s Stationary Office, London, 1987. Mojtahed-Zadeh, P., Small Players of the Great Game, Routledge Curzon, 2004. Nazem, H., Russia and Great Britain in Iran (1900-1914), Tehran, 1975. O’Brien, P. P. (ed.), The Anglo-Japanese Alliance, Routledge Curzon, London, 2004. Roostaei, M., “Sardār Akram naẓar ʿAlī Khān-i Ṭarhānī”, Luristān Pazhūhī, No. 3 & 4, 1998/ 1377. Reese, R., (ed.), The Russian Imperial Army, 1796–1917, Aldershot, Ashgate, 2006. Resis, A., “Russophobia and the ’Testament’ of Peter the Great, 1812-1980”, Slavic Review, 44: 4 (1985). Sārawī, Muḥammad Fatḥallah b. Muḥammad Taḳī, Tārrīkh-i Muḥammadī, Revised by GH. R. Tabatabai Majd, Amīr Kabīr, 1992/ 1371. Shneidman, J. I., “The Proposed Invasion of India by Russia and France in 1801”, Journal of Indian History, 35(1957). Spring, D. W., “The Trans-Persian Railway Project and Anglo-Russian Relations, 1909-14”, Slavonic and East European Review, 54-No. 1 (1976). Steinberg, J. W., All the Tsar’s Men: Russia’s General Staff and the Fate of the Empire, 1898–1914, Woodrow Wilson Center Press, Washington, D.C., 2010. Stone, D. R., A Military History of Russia, From Ivan the Terrible to the War in Chechnya, Praeger, Westprot CT, 2006. Strong, J. W., “Russia’s Plan for an Invasion against India in 1801”, Canadian Slavonic Papers, 7(1965). Subtelny, O., “Peter I's Testament: A Reassessment”, Slavic Review, 33: 4 (1974). Sutherland Edwards, H., Russian Projects against India, London, 1885. Taylor, B. D., Politics and the Russian Army: Civil–Military Relations, 1689–2000, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2003. Teymouri, A., Aṣr-i bī- khabarī, Tarikh-i Imtiyāzāt Dar Iran, Iḳbāl, Tehran, 1953/ 1332. Van der Oye, D. S., “Paul’s great game: Russia's plan to invade British India”, Central Asian Survey, 33:2(2014). Van der Oye, D. S. and B.W. Manning (eds.), Reforming the Tsar's Army: Military Innovation in Imperial Russia from Peter the Great to the Revolution, Cambridge University Press and Woodrow Wilson Press, 2004.                                                                           Manuscript profile
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  2 - The Importance of Central Eurasia in Geopolitical Competition among Great Powers
  Afshin Zargar Sina Sayad
  This article is seeking to answer this question that why the central Eurasian region is important in geopolitical competition among major powers? Many of scientists believe that with the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of Cold War, the era of geopolitical theor More

  This article is seeking to answer this question that why the central Eurasian region is important in geopolitical competition among major powers? Many of scientists believe that with the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of Cold War, the era of geopolitical theories and competition Great Powers in Eurasia has ended. But in 1990s that weakened Russia improved its peaceful relations with the west, west expanded its borders toward east and central Asia in form of NATO. The beginning of 2000 and September 11 led to west under the excuse of fighting with terrorism increase its presence more than ever in central Asia. Russia was being restored its former power, act of west is regarded as a threat for Russia, and this is the beginning of the confrontation between two rival in the Central Eurasia. On the other hand, power vacuum that arose after the collapse of the Soviet Union in Central Eurasia, draw attention of many powers in to this geopolitics and geostrategic area. This paper explains the competition among regional and extra-regional powers with the aim of geopolitical advantage in Central Eurasia. Manuscript profile