Russian Settlements in Iran in the Early Twentieth Century: Initial Phase of Colonization

This article reveals the story of Russia's attempts to colonize Astarabad and Mazanderan provinces of Iran in the early twentieth century. By backing and sponsoring Russian settlements there, the Russian government sought to eventually annex the territories in the northeast of Iran. Drawing on Russian and Iranian sources, the article follows the development of the settlements from their spontaneous beginning in 1907 to a state-supported colonization project by 1914. After the Russian government tried to accelerate colonization of the occupied Iranian territories during the First World War, this ambitious project came to an end with the Bolshevik coup of 1917.