The Minor Tyranny (Persian: استبداد صغیر) was a roughly one-year-long period in Iranian history lasting from the bombardment of the Iranian parliament by the forces of Mohammad Ali Shah on 23 June 1908 to the capture of Tehran by the revolutionary forces on 13 July 1909. This period was marked by the executions and expulsion of many journalists and constitutionalists as an era of absolutism returned to the country.
Background
Iran has a long history of absolute monarchy. In the late 19th century, the pressure to bring in a constitution and limit the powers of the Shah and the royalty grew, as the administration of the Shah proved weak and inefficient, and in several instances he had granted concessions that the population deemed outrageous. Examples of such concessions were the tobacco concession given to Gerald Talbot which led to the tobacco protest, and the Reuter concession, both of which were received with massive backlash from the people. The Shah lived extravagantly and often pushed the country to the brink of bankruptcy, this resulted in an increase of loans from western powers to cover his expenses, which consequently increased western influence in the country's politics gradually.
After a series of protests and strikes, Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar agreed with the formation of a parliament on 5 August 1906, and the first constitution was signed by the Shah on 30 December 1906, officially restricting his own powers and making the government a constitutional monarchy.
The shah died 5 days after signing the constitution, and his son Mohammad Ali Mirza, an avid opponent of the constitutional movement, was crowned Shah of Iran.
Friction with the parliament As a way to show his opposition to the constitutional movement, Mohammad Ali Shah did not invite the members of the parliament to his coronation ceremony and encouraged the cabinet ministers to ignore the parliament and its members. After his coronation, he tried to get a note from Mozaffar ad-Din Shah's physician stating the late shah had been too unwell to comprehend what he was signing, but his attempt at this failed. He also ignited several conflicts between the country's ethnic and religious minorities to weaken his opponents and prevent them from allying against him.
From the beginning the parliament had issues with the prime minister and the rest of the government. For example, Mirza Nasrullah Khan Moshir ad-Dowleh who was at the time the prime minister of Iran refused to be present in the parliament and nominating ministers for vote of confidence. At the other hand, the government's proposal to get loans from western countries was rejected by the parliament, which proposed the foundation of a national bank. In early 1907 the Shah reportedly told the British ambassador that the current constitution is not favoured by him, and that the parliament is filled with undisciplined and ignorant people who only think about their personal gain. At the time however, he did not have the financial or the military power to enforce his ideals and remove the parliament.
The Shah later refused to sign the constitutional amendment, which covered parts and issues that were not discussed in the original constitution due to the hastiness of the process of its writing and presenting it to the ill Shah before he died. Some of his major disagreements with the article 8 of the amendment which equaled him with the rest of the people of Iran in front of law, and other parts of the amendment which were inspired by the Belgian constitution and heavily restricted his powers and gave massive powers to the parliament, such as dismissing ministers and controlling the military budget. After protests from people, parliament members and constitutionalists, he was forced to sign the amendment, and even joined Society of Humanity to prove his support for the constitution.
Opponents in the court Other than the Shah, many courtiers and princes also felt that the constitutional movement was threatening their power and income, and thus actively opposed it and encouraged the Shah to act against the parliament. Kamran Mirza, the Shah's uncle and father in law, led the politicians left from the Naseri era. Ein ad-Dowleh, Mozaffar ad-Din Shah's grand vizier before the constitutional revolution, was also among the main opponents of the movement. Javad Sa'd al-Dowleh, a member of the parliament who was the minister of trade and an opponent of Joseph Naus before the revolution, also started slowly leaning towards the Shah and the court. Seraya Shapshal, the Shah's Russian language teacher and Vladimir Liakhov, the leader of the Cossack Brigade were also opposed to the revolution.
Many of the local governors also ignored the orders issued by the parliament. Among them were Asef ad-Dowleh in Khorasan, the Qavam family in Shiraz, Shoja Nezam in Marand and Rahimkhan Chalabianloo and his son in Maku.
Opponents among the clergy Sheikh Fazlollah Noori, one of the influential clerics of Tehran, considered the constitutional amendment against Islam. Legislation by humans was also considered by him to be against the rules of Islam. He was specially opposed to the principles of freedom (article 8) and equality (article 20) in the amendment. It was at this time that for the first time the necessity of adapting the legislation the parliament passes to the rules of Islam was discussed. A while later an anti constitutional movement headed by Noori started working that was against parliamentarism and was opposed to the constitution and its amendment, specially to articles promoting the equality of religions and empowering secular courthouses, and considered them against Islam. In 1908, Noori who saw himself above both Seyyed Abdollah Behbahani and Mirza Sayyed Mohammad Tabatabai, openly favored the Shah and declared constitutionalist journalists and clerics non Muslims.
Anglo-Russian Convention
An agreement between the Russian Empire and the British Empire in 1907 divided Iran into 2 spheres of influence each of them for one of the great powers. This was to put aside their differences and conflicts and unite against the German Empire that was becoming threatening. Neither the British or Russian governments approved of the new constitutional political arrangement which was both liberal and unstable, preferring a stable puppet government which allowed foreign concessions and supported their designs in the region. The agreement was done without consent from the Iranian government and outraged the parliament which saw this as against the sovereignty of Iran. It also enabled the Russians to oppose the constitutionalists more freely without concerns from the British who were previously pro constitutionalist.
Confrontation with the parliament
Incident in Toopkhaneh square On 13 December 1907 a group of court workers and servants who were outraged by their incomes being cut protested against the parliament first in Tehran's arsenal and then in Abdolhossein mosque. The next day groups of thugs joined them, creating a mass of 700 or 800 people and moved towards Baharestan. According to Sohrab Yazdani, their plan had three stages. First, to attack the parliament with cold weapons, second, to gather a mass of people and court servants to protest in Toopkhaneh square, and third, to have the army join in to not let constitutionalist people to join the fight. However, the parliament guards closed the doors on the sight of incoming attackers and after a few gunshots, the first stage failed and thus the attack group joined the protesters on the square.
The anti constitution protesters were made up of three groups:
Thugs and strongmen from Sangelaj and Chalemeidan led by Sani' Hazrat and Moqtader Nezam. Workers and servants of the royal court. Religious following of Sheikh Fazlollah Noori and other royalist clerics.
In the meantime, the Shah punished many constitutionalists severely. The prime minister, Abolqasem Naser ol-Molk was imprisoned by the order of the Shah and was to be executed but was freed on the requests of the British and moved to Europe after freedom. Ala' ad-Dowleh and Moeen ad-Dowleh were arrested and exiled, and other ministers were dismissed with insults, and as such, the government was nearly dissolved.
The protests lasted 10 days but the anti constitutionalists gradually lost the upper hand. At last, after mediation of some politicians and noblemen, the Shah took an oath on 23 December 1907 to abide by the constitution. The new government that was then formed included both constitutionalist and royalist politicians, Nezam as-Saltaneh became prime minister, and Javad Sa'd al-Dowleh was forced to take refuge in the Dutch embassy.
Assassination attempt on the Shah On 29 February 1908, two hand grenades were thrown at the Shah's car in the streets of Tehran near Masoudieh Mansion. Despite several people getting killed, the Shah was unharmed. According to Sohrab Yazdani, the assassination attempt was most probably done by the Social Democratic Party. On the orders of the Shah, some people including Haydar Khan Amo-oghli were arrested and interrogated in the Golestan Palace. Some of the parliament members viewed this order of the Shah as unconstitutional, and blamed the minister of justice, the commander of Nazmiyeh and the judge for accepting the order from the Shah; all this while the Shah was finding his life in danger and viewed the incident as an attempt by his uncle Zell-e Soltan to usurp the throne and would not have accepted parliaments insistence to abide by the constitution.
The Shah moves to Baghshah On 4 June 1908 a group of Shah's soldiers shot guns into the air and disturbed the peace, at the same time a group of the Cossack brigade moved to Toopkhaneh square with a cannon, in a way the people thought the Shah is going to attack the parliament. Simultaneously, the Shah who had not left the Golestan palace since the assassination attempt left for Baghshah, a royal residence that at the time was outside Tehran and had strong defensive structures. The Cossack brigade immediately surrounded Baghshah and pointed cannons towards the capital. The Shah announced to the prime minister in a letter that he has left Tehran due to the warmth of the weather. From here the Shah took control over the country and appointed the people he had in mind to vital positions. Vladimir Liakhov was appointed as the military commander in Tehran, Mavid ad-Dowleh was appointed as the governor of Tehran and Amin al-Molk was appointed for Telegraph communications. Later, the Shah ordered Jalal ad-Dowleh, Zell-e Soltan's son, Ala ad-Dowleh and Sardar Masoud who were holding meetings and protests in the house of Azod-ol-Molk to be arrested and exiled. Members of the parliament objected to these actions of the Shah as being unconstitutional.
On 9 June 1908, after it was clear that the Shah intends to attack the parliament, a large group of political associations and their followers gathered in Sepahsalar mosque and surrounded the parliament building to defend it. The Shah considered this a hostile act and demanded them to be disbanded. Despite opposition from Tabatabai and Behbahani, the parliament accepted the Shah's demands at last and the defenders were disbanded temporarily, but from 16 June the parliament supporters returned, as such that 100 people were on guard around the building at nights. However, the guards did not have much equipment and ammo.
On 22 June 1908, the Shah declared martial law in Tehran and other cities. Following this, gatherings in streets, squares and even houses were banned, no one had the right to carry arms and the security forces were allowed to shoot at people if they did not comply. The streets became empty and the parliament was left without support. In another act, the Shah announced via telegraph to other provinces of the country that the parliament is illegal and is against the constitution.