Republican Movement in Iran and the reasons of its failure (January – March 1924)
By the beginning of the twentieth century for almost 2500 years of its history,Iranwas an originally monarchical country, where the republican ideas and traditions were completely untypical. Nevertheless, from the end of December 1923, the society traced the idea of overthrowing Ahmed Shah Qajar and replacing constitutional monarchy with a republic. The main source of the republican movement was the Tajjaddod (Renaissance) Party, led by Seyyed Mohamed Tadayon. In fact, the whole process was initiated by an almighty dictator Reza Khan (whose honorary title was Sardar Sepah). He held the posts of a Prime Minister and a Minister of War and in order to achieve his goals he forced Ahmed Shah to leaveIranin November 1923. Reza-Khan wanted to repeat Kemal Ataturk’s way, and planned to become the so-called lifetime president of the republic.However, the movement for becoming a republic provoked strong resistance in various segments of Iranian society, which was led by Shiite clergy. The leader of Anti-Republican Movement was Seyed Hassan Modarres, a major theologian and politician and a member of the Majlis (Parliament).As a result of a sharp struggle between the opposing camps, the Republican Movement suffered a crushing defeat. The reasons for it were, firstly, the unwillingness of the majority of Iranian classes and social groups to give up the monarchy and, secondly, straightforward and rough actions of the Republicans, which caused the opposite effect among the population.