The Mahabad Republic: Soviet Puppet or the Result of a Genuine National Movement?

The Iranian Kurdistan and its position during and few years after the Second World War often is on the periphery of the scholarly interest staying in the shadow of a more researched and famous crisis around Iranian Azerbaijan in 1945-46. Yet the history of the Mahabad republic is an absolutely unique example in the modern Kurdish history. For the first time since Kurdish tribal proto-states were destroyed by the Ottomans and the Persians, the Kurds obtained the autonomous (or in many ways almost independent) territory under their total control. Although this period was fairly short, it had a significant influence on the Kurdish national feelings: up to this date the Mahabad republic stays the national symbol for the Kurds not only in Iran but in all countries where they live: Iraq, Syria, Turkey, etc. At the same time the independence of the Mahabad republic in its policies and activities is a debatable issue. The emergence of the republic was directly connected with the actions of the external powers: primarily the Anglo-Soviet occupation of Iran in August 1941. The presence of the foreign troops in Iran definitely was the important factor in the raise of the Kurdish movement to autonomy/independence. Yet the open question and the problem that this research is dedicated to are the level of the Soviet involvement in the creation of the Mahabad republic and the level of the Soviet influence on its policies. With the information obtained after the recent partial opening of the Soviet archives we know today that the Soviet role in the events in Azerbaijan was very significant – up to the level that the Azerbaijan Democratic Party was created by the directive from Moscow. Same can be said about the announcement of the autonomous government in Iranian Azerbaijan. But it’s still an open question if we can extrapolate the case of Azerbaijan to Kurdistan.