When the last representative element of the constitutional government,
for which so many thousands had fought, suffered, and died, was wiped
out in an hour without a drop of blood being shed, the Persian people
gave to the world an exhibition of temperance, of moderation, of stern
self-restraint, the like of which no other civilized country could show
under similar trying circumstances.
The acceptance of Russia's terms by the Cabinet removed the last
pretext for keeping in Northern Persia the _15,000_ troops which by
that time Russia had assembled there,--at Kasvin, Resht, Enzeli,
Tabriz, Khoy, and other points in the so-called Russian sphere. Mons.
Poklewski-Koziell, the Russian Minister, had in fact given an equivocal
sort of a promise to the effect that "if no fresh incidents arose," the
Russian troops would be withdrawn when Persia accepted the conditions
of the ultimatum.
With this in mind, it is interesting to note the truly thorough
precautions which were taken by Russia to prevent any such unfortunate
necessity as the withdrawal of her troops from coming to pass.
December 24th, late in the evening, a message was received from the
Persian Acting Governor at Tabriz in which he declared that the Russian
troops, which had been stationed in that city since their entry during
the siege in 1909, _had suddenly started to massacre the inhabitants_.
Shortly after this the Indo-European telegraph lines stopped working,
and all news from Tabriz ceased. It was subsequently stated that the
wires had been cut by bullets. _Additional Russian troops_ were
immediately started for Tabriz from Julfa, which is some eight miles to
the north of the Russian frontier.
The exact way in which the fighting began is not yet clear. The Persian
government reports show that a number of Russian soldiers, claiming to
be stringing a telephone wire, climbed upon the roof of the Persian
police headquarters about _ten o'clock at night_ on December 20th. When
challenged by native guards, they replied with shots. Reenforcements
were called up by both sides, and serious street fighting broke out
early the following morning and continued for several days. The Acting
Governor stated in his official reports that the Russian troops
indulged in their usual atrocities, killing women and children and
hundreds of other noncombatants on the streets and in their homes.
There were at the time about 4,000 Russian soldiers, with two batteries
of artillery, in and around the city. Nearly I,000 of the _fidais_
("self-devoted") of Tabriz took refuge in an old citadel of stone and
mud, called the "Ark." They were without artillery or adequate
provisions, and were poorly armed, but it was certain death for one of
them to be seen on the streets.
The Russians bombarded the "Ark" for a day or more, killing a large
proportion of its defenders. The superior numbers and the artillery of
the Russians finally conquered, and there followed a reign of terror
during which no Persian's life or honor was safe. At one time during
this period the Russian Minister at Teheran, at the request of the
members of the Persian cabinet, who were horror-stricken and in fear of
their lives for having made terms with such a barbaric nation,
telegraphed to the Russian general in command of the troops at Tabriz,
telling him to cease fighting, and that the _fidais_ would receive
orders to do likewise, as matters were being arranged at the capital.
The gallant general replied that he took his orders from the Viceroy of
the Caucasus at Tiflis, and not from any one at Teheran. The massacre
went on.
On New Year's day, which was the 10th of _Muharram_, a day of great
mourning which is held sacred in the Persian religious calendar, the
Russian military governor, who had hoisted Russian flags over the
government buildings at Tabriz, hung the Sikutu'l-Islam, who was the
chief priest of Tabriz, two other priests, and five others, among them
several high officials of the Provincial Government. As one British
journalist put it, the effect of this outrage on the Persians was that
which would be produced on the English people by the hanging of the
Archbishop of Canterbury on Good Friday. From this time on, the
Russians at Tabriz continued to hang or shoot any Persian whom they
chose to consider guilty of the crime of being a "Constitutionalist."
When the fighting there was first reported, a high official of the
Foreign Office at St. Petersburg, in an interview to the press, made
the statement that Russia would take vengeance into her own hands until
the "revolutionary dregs" had been exterminated.
One more significant fact: At the same time that the fighting broke out
at Tabriz, the Russian troops at Resht and Enzeli, hundreds of miles
away, shot down the Persian police and many inhabitants without warning
or provocation of any kind. And the date also happened to be just after
the Persian cabinet had definitely informed the Russian Legation that
all the demands of Russia's ultimatum were accepted--a condition which
the British Government had publicly assured the Persians would be
followed by the withdrawal of the Russian invading forces, and which
the Russian Government had officially confirmed, "_unless fresh
incidents should arise_ in the mean time to make the retention of the
troops advisable."
I would suggest that the Powers--England and Russia--may _think_ that
they thus escape all responsibility for what goes on in Persia, but the
world has long since grown familiar with such methods. Mere cant,
however seriously put forth in official statements, no longer blinds
educated public opinion as to the facts in these acts of international
brigandage. The truth is that England and Russia are still playing a
hand in the game of medieval diplomacy.
The puerility of talking of Persia having affronted Russian consular
officers or of Persia's Treasurer-General having appointed a British
subject to be a tax collector at Tabriz, as the reasons for Russia's
aggressive and brutal policy in Persia, is only too apparent. Volumes
would not contain the bare record of the acts of aggression, deceit,
and cruelty which Russian agents have committed against Persian
sovereignty and the constitutional government since the deposition of
Muhammad Ali in 1909.