The Shuster Mission to Iran: Leaving Something Worthwhile Behind

by Joan Gaughan

Overview

This is a historical account of the effort of Morgan Shuster, a young American accountant who, in May 1911, during a period of democratic revolution went with his family to Persia (Iran) to put its chaotic finances on a sound footing. Less than eight months later, under Russian and British pressure, he was forced to leave, his task unfinished.

The book describes Shuster's efforts to help a crippled nation-the men and women with whom he worked and struggled for the right to rule themselves. There were some scoundrels among whom he worked. There were others, however, who believed that the dignity and honor of their country were worth working for and, in many cases, dying for.

The book raises an ethical question: while dignity and honor and the love of freedom for one's country or, as in Shuster's case, the desire to lift a burdensome yoke from a nation's neck may be worth working for, even dying for, does that justify placing the lives of hundreds or even thousands of other people in jeopardy? In posing this question, the book asks if Shuster's experience has any relevance in our present-day relations with Iran?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781735593883
Publisher:	Real Nice Books
Publication date:	06/01/2021
Pages:	340
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.76(d)

About the Author

After taking a B.A. at the College of Saint Teresa in Winona, Minnesota, Joan Gaughan taught history and English to eighth graders in Beloit, Wisconsin. The year was 1963. The assassination of President Kennedy that November prompted her to enlist in the Peace Corps and serve in Rasht and Lahijan, Iran. A trip to India during that service led to a life-long love of that country as well as love for the people of Iran. Her Peace Corps service was followed by a year of study at Columbia University, where she studied under Professor Ainslee Embree, who deepened her love for India, and Professor Ehsan Yar-Shater, who introduced her to the beauties of classical Persian literature. She transferred to the University of Michigan, where obtaining a doctorate in the British Empire allowed her to indulge her passion for both countries. After a thirty-year career teaching Western Civilization, Humanities, and English at Washtenaw Community College in Ann Arbor, Michigan, she has been able to reinvigorate her two youthful passions, study of Iran and India.

Table of Contents

Dedication iii

Acknowledgements iv

List of Illustrations vii

Introduction viii

I A Fateful Treaty 13

II The Realm of the Qajars 24

III A King Besieged 41

IV October 1906. The Constitutional Revolution 62

V Anglo-Russian Convention of August 1907 75

VI The Second Majles 93

VII Why an American? Why Shuster? 112

VIII First Days 131

IX The June 13 Law 148

X Creating a Respect for Law 155

XI The Stokes Affair 169

XII Mohammad Ali Invades 181

XIII Mohammad Ali Invades: The Military Campaign 200

XIV September 210

XV The Shu'a al-Saltaneh Incident 217

XVI October. The Times Letter 227

XVII November. Demands and an Ultimatum 237

XVIII December 250

XIX Making Angels Weep 263

XX Khoda Hafez (Good-bye) 273

XXI Conclusion 283

Appendix 292

Glossary 294

Notes 295

Index 325

Bibliography 33