Coll 28/112A ‘Persia. Tabriz – Monthly despatches of internal situation in Azerbaijan & misc. reports.’ [‎126v] (253/1237)

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Republic. Indeed, on all public occasions—and they are many—when the highest
Soviet officials here speak they are careful to emphasise that it is to Persia,
not to Azerbaijan, that they speak. Moreover, there has been, in the latter, halt
of the period under review particularly, a noticeable absence of separatist
propaganda from the public speeches of leaders of the Freedom Front. Some
have displayed their Persian patriotism in the most theatrical way. At the
same time the materials for a separatist movement exist in plenty in the com
munal and racial aspirations of the Kurdish, Assyrian and Armenian minorities,
as well as in the language barrier between this province and the rest of Persia and
its corollary of greater sympathy with the republic across the northern frontier.
Nor can it be denied that below the surface Soviet officials and soldiers of
Caucasian race carry on a good deal of propaganda for a Greater Azerbaijan.
If these people are not encouraged by higher Soviet authorities, they do not seem
to be very actively discouraged. It can scarcely be doubted that, in whatever
form Soviet policy may be expressed, its underlying object is to ensure that Soviet
political and economic influence remain dominant in this province. Not
unnaturally, the Soviet authorities seek to achieve this object by the methods
with which they feel most at home.
4. Soviet Propaganda .—The past six months have been marked by a steady
strengthening of all overt forms of Soviet propaganda, the chief propaganda
vehicle—leaving aside the Freedom Front, which is something more—is the
Irano-Soviet Cultural Society. This organisation, which has spacious premises
equipped with a cinema projector, holds meetings on an average twice a week.
It is served with indefatigable zeal by a number of local people who are either
genuine admirers of everything Russian or have a strong interest in appealing
so. Its meetings, which are usually packed, run often to inordinate length,
beginning with speeches translated in extenso into two languages, and ending
either with a film or with a concert of Azerbaijani and Russian music. Its joint
chairmen are the Governor-General and the Soviet Consul-General, and theie
is a ladies branch under the presidency The name given to each of the three divisions of the territory of the East India Company, and later the British Raj, on the Indian subcontinent. of the Governor-General s wife. The
society is undoubtedly a success, for while everyone recognises that its motnes
are purely propagandist and that it may not survive the occupation, it does
meanwhile both provide entertainment of a better sort than anything else in
Tabriz and it offers a welcome outlet for a good deal of local organising, oratorical
and literary talent.
5. A well-stocked Russian bookshop was opened in the town last October.
Besides this, there is a recently enlarged reading room from which the news
is broadcast and where news photographs are displayed and the progress of
the Russian armies marked on a large map. 1 he Russian school, which was
opened last November, flourishes. There are evening classes in the Russian
language for adult students and much talk of scholarships to Russian
universities for local boys and girls. The Soviet hospital, also opened last year,
is another institution of obvious propaganda value. Performances by Red army
concert parties, visits of artistes from Soviet Azerbaijan, soirees organised by
the Armenian community ‘and other enthusiasts, ensure that no occasion for
celebration goes unexploited. Naturally, the Red army itself plays an impressive
part in Soviet propaganda : its spiritual force of intense patriotism, Stalin-
worship and consciousness of its own worker-peasant origin overflows abundantly
from its own ranks and stirs the crowds of Azerbaijanis who gather to watch
its displays. A vein of commercial enterprise runs through some of this propa-
o-anda : the charges of the Soviet hospital, for instance, are high, and there seems
to be little or no free treatment (the indigent are sometimes referred to the
American or Seventh-Day Adventist medical missionaries), while the frequency
with which merchants of the town are laid under contribution by the forced
purchase of expensive tickets for concerts in aid of this or the other Russian
cause is leading to diminishing returns in cash but an increasing yield of
exasperation. On the whole it may be said of propaganda in Azerbaijan that
where it is accompanied by some material attraction such as a free show or
feast it is eagerly lapped up, for the rest, it is tolerated as one of the necessary
nuisances of°war, and at least provides material for the old oriental pastime
of finding the hidden motive. . , ,
6 Persian A dministration .—A constant theme in local speculation during
the last six months has been the coming removal of the Governor-General of
Eastern Azerbaijan, Mehdi Dadvar (Vussuq us Saltaneh). But he still keeps
his position—apparently through a policy of offering no resistance to anyone in
any circumstances. His compliant attitude towards the Russians would, it might
be thought, have earned him at least the tolerance of the Left wing, but they are