The Imperial Russian involvement in the Persian Constitutional Revolution (; ) was to support the authoritarian faction led by Mohammad Ali Shah to defeat the constitutionalists. Until 20 April 1909, when the Russian army under Major General I. Snarsky occupied Tabriz to protect the Russian consuls, the Russian Empire indirectly supported Ali Shah and the authoritarian faction. Support from the Russian Empire included sending weapons, lending money to Colonel Vladimir Liakhov, the commander of the Persian Cossack Brigade, and a large-scale propaganda machine against the constitutionalist leaders.
During the one-year Siege of Tabriz, Russia had repeatedly expressed concern about the security of its consuls. In correspondence between Russian Foreign Minister Alexander Izvolsky and Persian Prime Minister Hossein-Qoli Nezam al-Saltaneh Mafi, the issue of the Russian military invasion of Tabriz and its conquest was repeatedly raised. After that, for two years, the Russian army tried to occupy areas around the Caspian Sea. The Russians conquered the cities of Astara and Bandar Anzali, and even after Ali Shah was deposed, Russian commanders tried to restore his monarchy in a failed campaign. However, Russian influence remained in the Qajar court and bureaucracy, threatening the Ottoman Empire, which led to the Persian campaign in World War I.
Background
Between 1905 and 1911, the Constitutional Revolution took place in Persia. As a result of the protests of the aristocracy, clergy and intellectuals, Mozafereddin Shah was forced to adopt a constitution in October 1906 and create a Majlis. In 1907, the Anglo-Russian Convention concluded with the division of Persia into three spheres of influence: Northern (Russian), Central (neutral and open to Germany), Southern (England). The Constitutional Revolution was a major problem for the convention, so the British and Russian governments agreed to form an authoritarian state and overthrow the constitutionalists.
In January 1907, after the death of his father, Mohammad Ali Shah ascended to the throne. Upon his accession, he promised to abide by the constitution adopted by his father in 1906, which, however, he did not. On 24 June 1908, Ali Shah launched a coup, with the help of the Persian Cossack Brigade, and dispersed the Majlis. Meanwhile, the Russian Empire's first indirect cooperation with Ali Shah sent letters to Colonel Vladimir Liakhov, commander of the Persian Cossack Brigade, to the Russian Embassy in Tehran for a loan and to the Commander-in-Chief of the Caucasus to request troops. In February 1909, the Shahsevan nomads plundered the villages in the vicinity of the city of Ardabil, the residents of which were Russian subjects. The Russian embassy in Iran accused the move and called on the Iranian government to investigate. At the same time, General Nikolai Yudenich crossed the Iranian-Russian border arbitrarily and occupied Ardabil. He said this was to protect the Russian people and suppress tribal insurgents. This was Russia's first serious move in the Constitutional Revolution.
Occupation of Tabriz, 1909-1911
On 20 April 1909, after many efforts by both the government and the correspondence of Izvolski and Nezam al-Saltaneh Mafi; a secret directive in No. 1124 was sent to the governor in the Caucasus and the commander of the troops of the Caucasus Military District, Adjutant General Illarion Vorontsov-Dashkov. This was a secret order to occupy Tabriz. The purpose of this occupation was to protect the lives of Russian citizens. However, correspondence remained between Ali Shah and the Russian ambassador to Iran, Stanislav Poklevsky-Kozell, in which Ali Shah requested military intervention from Russia. Soon, two battalions of the 1st Caucasian Rifle Brigade, four hundred cavalry troops of Kuban Cossacks, a sapper company, and three artillery eight-gun batteries were sent to Persia. This detachment was commanded by the head of the 1st Caucasian Rifle Brigade, Major General I. Snarsky. The instructions given to him indicated:
“All communications of the military commanders in the cities occupied by Russian troops with the local Persian authorities and with the population should be carried out through the diplomatic agents of the Russian Imperial Government; joint presence of Russian troops in settlements and movement along the roads protected by Russian troops of any armed detachments and parties whose activities were of a predatory nature is not allowed ... The decision on the use of weapons in business depends solely on the military command ... be enforced irrevocably and with full vigor. "