How did Iran (or Persia as it was known back then) survive the Age of Colonialism? Most nations in Africa and Asia were subject to a foreign power during the 19th and 20th centuries and yet Iran managed to circumvent this. To find out how and why watch this short and simple animated history documentary.

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Sources:
The Great Game in Asia by David Fromkin
Persia and the Great Powers, 1856-1869 by Mikhail Volodarsky

In the age of imperialism, there were few places in Asia which got through it without coming under direct rule by a foreign power.

Now in the Middle East, there was 1 glaring exception, Iran, who was never conquered even briefly.

So as of the 19th century, the borders of Iran, or Persia as it was known then, looked like this.

It was ruled by the Qajar dynasty, whose primary concern wasn't European powers but the Ottoman Empire to its west.

However, as the Ottomans declined, 2 more powers stepped into the void to potentially threaten Persia.

The first was the Russian Empire, whose expansion eastward and southward brought it into a series of conflicts with the Persians.

By the mid-19th century, the Russians had taken this territory and was now a major trade partner of Persia.

And it was shortly after this that Persia came into contact with Britain, who clashed with them and the Qajar dynasty lost control of these economically important lands.

Now the rulers of Persia at this point weren't silly, and they knew that Persia was declining and that the 2 powers weren't going to stop until they had control of Persia in its entirety.

Persia's rulers knew that they couldn't put up much resistance to either empire in the event of an invasion and so they did the only thing that they could, play both Britain and Russia off against each other.

And this did work for a time, but over the course of the late 19th century Britain's economic control continued to grow and thereafter something important happened, Persia struck oil.

Britain's economic influence led to the Persian government signing over all oil rights in the early 20th century to the Anglo-Persian oil company, nowadays called BP.

1907 also saw the closest thing to the colonisation of Persia, the Anglo-Russian Convention, in which Britain and Russia carved the country up into spheres of economic influence with a little remaining free.

Thus, Persia's position as a state which sat partially in both nations' spheres of influence kept it from formally being an imperial domain of either.

However, when World War I rolled up, it did cause issues.

When the Ottoman Empire declared war on the Entente, Persia, being somewhat aligned with them, became a target.

The British and Russians maintained their zones of influence there, and the Ottomans invaded and occupied some of the eastern parts of the state.

When the Russian Empire collapsed in the wake of the Bolshevik Revolution, its forces left Persia and the Ottomans would soon after go on to lose the war and break apart.

This left only Britain, who thanked Persia for its sacrifice and hard work, and made sure that as a result it would be left independent forevermore.

Instead, what happened was that Britain tried to make it into an unofficial protectorate by enforcing its economic hegemony there.

The ruler of Persia at this point, Ahmad Shah, agreed to these terms because he didn't feel like dying, but they weren't implemented for very long.

This was because the US, France and the newly formed USSR decried the treaty as amounting to essentially annexation and it was soon afterwards abandoned.

And after this, Britain subsequently withdrew, leaving a somewhat independent Persia.

Thus, Iran did what many others failed to do, it survived the age of imperialism.

And the reason why Iran was never conquered in its entirety was that it played both Britain and Russia off against each other.

This meant that much of the country would be under the effective economic control of 1 of these 2 powers, but it did spare Iran the same fate as places like India or Syria, which was something.

I hope you enjoyed this episode and a special thanks to my Patreon supporters amount of culture, Marvin Casal, John Bisquez, Moe, Rob Waterhouse, James Castagneda, Aaron the White, Jordan Longley, Gustav Swann, Marcus Arsner, Rashid Ali, Phil de Oink Oink, Izzy, Spinning 3 Plates, David Silverman, Maggie Pakskowski, Spencer Lightfoot, Winston K.

Wood, Robert Wetzel, Anthony Beckett, Lexie Schwinn, Sky Chappell and Kelly Moneymaker.

The occupation during World War II doesn't count.


Speaker 0: In the age of imperialism, there were few places in Asia which got through it without coming under direct rule by a foreign power. Now in the Middle East, there was 1 glaring exception, Iran, who was never conquered even briefly. But the question is, why? Why was Iran never colonised? So as of the 19th century, the borders of Iran, or Persia as it was known then, looked like this.

It was ruled by the Qajar dynasty, whose primary concern wasn't European powers but the Ottoman Empire to its west. However, as the Ottomans declined, 2 more powers stepped into the void to potentially threaten Persia. The first was the Russian Empire, whose expansion eastward and southward brought it into a series of conflicts with the Persians. By the mid-19th century, the Russians had taken this territory and was now a major trade partner of Persia. And it was shortly after this that Persia came into contact with Britain, who clashed with them and the Qajar dynasty lost control of these economically important lands.

Now the rulers of Persia at this point weren't silly, and they knew that Persia was declining and that the 2 powers weren't going to stop until they had control of Persia in its entirety. Persia's rulers knew that they couldn't put up much resistance to either empire in the event of an invasion and so they did the only thing that they could, play both Britain and Russia off against each other. And this did work for a time, but over the course of the late 19th century Britain's economic control continued to grow and thereafter something important happened, Persia struck oil. A lot of oil. Which other nations wanted.

Britain's economic influence led to the Persian government signing over all oil rights in the early 20th century to the Anglo-Persian oil company, nowadays called BP. 1907 also saw the closest thing to the colonisation of Persia, the Anglo-Russian Convention, in which Britain and Russia carved the country up into spheres of economic influence with a little remaining free. Thus, Persia's position as a state which sat partially in both nations' spheres of influence kept it from formally being an imperial domain of either. However, when World War I rolled up, it did cause issues. When the Ottoman Empire declared war on the Entente, Persia, being somewhat aligned with them, became a target.

The British and Russians maintained their zones of influence there, and the Ottomans invaded and occupied some of the eastern parts of the state. When the Russian Empire collapsed in the wake of the Bolshevik Revolution, its forces left Persia and the Ottomans would soon after go on to lose the war and break apart. This left only Britain, who thanked Persia for its sacrifice and hard work, and made sure that as a result it would be left independent forevermore. Just kidding. Instead, what happened was that Britain tried to make it into an unofficial protectorate by enforcing its economic hegemony there.

The ruler of Persia at this point, Ahmad Shah, agreed to these terms because he didn't feel like dying, but they weren't implemented for very long. This was because the US, France and the newly formed USSR decried the treaty as amounting to essentially annexation and it was soon afterwards abandoned. And after this, Britain subsequently withdrew, leaving a somewhat independent Persia. Thus, Iran did what many others failed to do, it survived the age of imperialism. And the reason why Iran was never conquered in its entirety was that it played both Britain and Russia off against each other.

This meant that much of the country would be under the effective economic control of 1 of these 2 powers, but it did spare Iran the same fate as places like India or Syria, which was something. I hope you enjoyed this episode and a special thanks to my Patreon supporters amount of culture, Marvin Casal, John Bisquez, Moe, Rob Waterhouse, James Castagneda, Aaron the White, Jordan Longley, Gustav Swann, Marcus Arsner, Rashid Ali, Phil de Oink Oink, Izzy, Spinning 3 Plates, David Silverman, Maggie Pakskowski, Spencer Lightfoot, Winston K. Wood, Robert Wetzel, Anthony Beckett, Lexie Schwinn, Sky Chappell and Kelly Moneymaker. The occupation during World War II doesn't count.

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Why wasn't Iran colonised? (Short Animated Documentary)