Background and History
The Jangal movement that had been started in 1914 was further boosted and gained gravity after the victory of the Bolsheviks in Russia. In May 1920 the Soviet Caspian Fleet led by Fedor Raskolnikov and accompanied by Sergo Orzhonikidze entered the Caspian port of Anzali. Formally this mission was declared to be only in pursuit of the Russian vessels and ammunition taken to Anzali by the White Russian counter-revolutionary General Denikin, who had been given asylum by British forces in Anzali. The British garrison in Anzali was soon evacuated without any resistance and the British forces retrieved to Manjil.
Faced with the conflict between his movement and the united British and central government forces, Kuchak Khan considered several choices. Mirza had previously considered seeking support from Bolsheviks when a year before he traveled on foot to Lankaran to meet with them but by the time he arrived in that city the Red forces had been forced to evacuate.
Amongst the Jangalis, there were many who felt that the Bolsheviks offered a real solution to the problems shared by both Russia and Iran, namely the domination of the upper-classes and the Imperial Court. Kuchak Khan's second-in-command, Ehsanollah Khan, had become a communist and an ardent advocate of an alliance with the Bolsheviks. Kuchak Khan, though hesitant and cautious towards such an idea due to both his religious and nationalist background, accepted and the Jangalis entered into an agreement with the Bolsheviks.
This cooperation with the Soviet revolutionaries was based on some conditions including the announcement of the Persian Socialist Soviet Republic under his leadership and lack of any direct intervention by the Soviets in the internal affairs of the republic. The Soviets agreed to support him with ammunition and soldiers. Mirza offered to pay for the ammunition but the Soviets refused any payments.
Read more about this topic: Persian Socialist Soviet Republic
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