PHD THESIS

The Republic of Kurdistan, 1946

PhD Awarded 2012

The Republic of Kurdistan, 1946: A Look at My PhD Thesis

My doctoral dissertation, titled “The Republic of Kurdistan, 1946,” examines a critical period in Kurdish history. This research investigates the establishment and subsequent fall of a short-lived Kurdish government in Iran in 1946.

The narrative begins in 1941, when the invasion of Iran by the Soviet Union and Great Britain fundamentally altered the nation's political landscape. This event not only led to the exile of Reza Shah, the authoritarian ruler of Iran, but also empowered the Iranian parliament – though primarily for the benefit of the invading forces.

The power vacuum created by this invasion also fractured Iranian society. Various factions emerged, aligned with the Soviet Union, Great Britain, or the United States. This period even saw the legitimacy of Iran's territorial integrity challenged as ethnic groups within the country sought to establish their own governments.

My thesis explores the rise of Kurdish nationalism during this period. In 1942, the Komalay Jiyanway Kurdistan (The Society for the Revival of Kurdistan), also known as the JK Party, emerged as the leading Kurdish political party. This group later evolved into the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) by 1945. The formation and activities of these parties were instrumental in the establishment of a provisional Kurdish government in Iran.

The success of this Kurdish self-rule movement can be partly attributed to the support of a single major power. The Soviet Union, motivated by its own political and economic objectives, encouraged and aided the establishment of independent governments in Iranian Kurdistan and Azerbaijan, while the United States and Britain backed the central Iranian government. These conflicting agendas of the Great Powers significantly contributed to a period of political turmoil known as the "Iranian Crisis." This crisis ultimately led to the fracturing of relations between the Iranian central government and the newly formed Kurdish and Azeri authorities.

My research delves not only into the role of the Great Powers but also examines several other factors that influenced the rise and fall of the Kurdish government. These include:

The emergence of nation-states in the Middle East following World War I
The lingering effects of Reza Shah’s authoritarian rule on Iran
The establishment of a separate Azeri autonomous government within Iran

This dissertation offers a detailed examination of the events that led to the formation and eventual collapse of the Kurdish government in 1946, a government that even referred to itself as the "Republic of Kurdistan" for a brief period.

I hope this summary provides a glimpse into my doctoral research. The full dissertation is available for download here: https://scholarlypublications.universiteitleiden.nl/handle/1887/18583.

The boundaries of the Republic of Kurdistan, Sites of Battles, and the route of the Barzani's retreating to the Soviet Union. Eagleton 1963.

QUALIFICATION DETAILS:

TITLE: The Republic of Kurdistan, 1946,

AUTHOR: Hawar Khalil Taher (Nerwiy)

ISSN:

AWARDING BODY: Faculty of Humanities, Leiden University

CURRENT INSTITUTION: The University of Duhok

DATE AWARDED: 13/03/2012

Full Text Link: https://scholarlypublications.universiteitleiden.nl/handle/1887/18583.

SUPERVISOR: Prof. Turaj Atabaki and Prof Hamit Bozarslan

SPONSOR: Leiden University, The Netherlands, was founded in 1575 and is one of Europe's leading international research universities.

QUALIFICATION NAME: Doctoral of Philosophy

QUALIFICATION LEVEL: PhD

REPOSITORY LINK: https://hdl.handle.net/1887/18583

Citation to this work:

Nerwiy, H.K.T. (2012), The Republic of Kurdistan, 1946, Thesis, Faculty of Humanities, Leiden University (Access: https://hdl.handle.net/1887/18583)

Abstract:

The invasion of Iran by the Great powers (the Soviet Union and the Great Britain) in 1941 not only changed the political setting of the Iranian government but also led to the exile of Reza Shah, the leader of the Iranian autocratic regime. Although the presence of the Great Powers gave more power to the Iranian parliament -- mainly for political and economic benefit of the Powers -- it also split Iranian society into various adversarial factions, such as pro-Soviet, pro-British, and pro-American groups. Furthermore, during this period, the very idea of Iran’s territorial unity was called into question. In the period from 1941 to 1946, some ethnic groups prepared to establish their own governments, which led to the break-up of relationships between the Iranian central government and the representatives of ethnic groups in their respective provinces, including the region of the Kurds and Azeris.

In 1942, Komalay Jiyanway Kurdistan (The Society for the Revival of Kurdistan) or Jiyani Kurdistan (Kurdistan Life), commonly referred to as the JK Party, assumed the mantle of the nationalist Kurdish political party. By 1945 it evolved into the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP). The formation and subsequent activities of these two Kurdish political parties played a principal role in the establishment of a brief Kurdish polity in Iran. The political struggle, especially between 1945 and 1946, that led to the establishment of a Kurdish government was made possible in part by one of the Great Powers then active in Iran. The Soviet Union, for political and economic purposes of its own, in varying capacities encouraged and supported the two breakaway provincial governments of the Kurds and Azeris. During the same period, Anglo-American policy favoured the Iranian central government. The conflicting interests and subsequently diverging policies of the Great Powers contributed significantly to what many authors refer to as the ‘Iranian Crisis’. This crisis led to the breakdown of relations between the Iranian central government and its peripheral powers, Azerbaijan and Kurdistan.

Besides the presence and policies of Great Powers in Iran, the unfolding of the Iranian Crisis and the formation of two Kurdish political parties, there were a number of other factors that influenced the events leading to the establishment of the Kurdish government. Among these were the emergence of nation-states in the Middle East following the First World War, the after-effects of Reza Shah’s autocratic regime, and the establishment of the Azeri autonomous government. This dissertation takes a close look at the developments leading to the formation and the overthrow of the Kurdish government of 1946, which at times called itself the Republic of Kurdistan.