Iran’s Forgotten Friend William Morgan Shuster: Victim of Anglo-Russian Conspiracy

Since the late 19th century, Iran’s economy had struggled with financial instability and foreign influence, particularly that of Russia and Britain. To modernize the country’s corrupt and decrepit financial system, the Iranian government appointed American financial advisor William Morgan Shuster as Treasurer General. But Shuster’s efforts to establish a new system of taxation, reduce corruption, and combat foreign interference in Iran’s financial affairs were seen as a threat to Russian and British interests in Iran. At one point, Russia and Britain put pressure on the Iranian government to dismiss Shuster from his post and finally the Iranian government was bound to do so. Shuster’s dismissal and departure marked a setback for Iran’s attempts at modernization and independence.

William Morgan Shuster; the Great Game, Dollar diplomacy

1. Abrahamian, Ervand (2008) A History of Modern Iran, Cambridge University Press, pp. 34-62 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

2. Alisa Shablovskaia. Russian Hubris in Iran: Diplomacy, Clientelism, and Intervention (1907-1912). Ab Imperio - Studies of New Imperial History and Nationalism in the Post-Soviet Space, 2019, 2019 (1), pp.79-103 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

3. Al-Jiboury, Siham (August 2021) “Lectures in Diplomacy: US – Iran Relations”, Brussels International Center https://www.bic-rhr.com/sites/default/files/inline files/Lectures%20in%20Diplomacy%20US%20Iran%20Relations%20_0.pdf [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

4. Amanat, Abbas (10 August 2018) “Constitutional Revolution: Intellectual Background” Encyclopedia Iranica Vol. VI, Fasc. 2, pp. 163-176 https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/constitutional-revolution-i/ [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

5. Ansari, Ali, (17 October 2023) Iran’s Constitutional Revolution of 1906 https://www.gresham.ac.uk/sites/default/files/transcript/2023-10-17-1800_Ansari-T.pdf [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

6. Ardalan, Davar (8 January, 2020) “The American Task in Iran” https://idavar.medium.com/the-american-task-in-iran-7f76fdbb08fa [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

7. Armajani, Yahya (1970) Middle East: Past and Present, New Jersey , USA [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

8. Aroian, Lois A. and Mitchell, Richard P. (1984) The Modern Middle East and North Africa, Macmillan Publishing Company, New York, pp.108-110 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

9. Avery, Peter (1965) Modern Iran 1965, London, pp. 126-164 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

10. Avery, peter and Hambly G. R, G (1991) Cambridge History of Iran, volume 7, pp. 174-212 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

11. Bakhtiary, Mona (2020) “William Morgan Shuster’s Mission in Iran in 1911: An Episode of Dollar Diplomacy in The Middle East” PhD thesis, Morgan State University   2020 https://www.proquest.com/openview/326f1f6489869a06b15fd255d5d3b318/1?pqorigsite=gscholar&cbl=18750&diss=y [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

12. Browne, Edward Granville (2006) The Persian Revolution of 1905-1909, London, pp. PP. 124-134) [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

13. Brown, Roland Elliot (15 August 2016) “Iran’s Forgotten American: The Legacy of William Morgan Shuster” https://iranwire.com/en/society/61937/ [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

14. Clark, James D. (June 2006) Constitutionalists and Cossacks: The Constitutional Movement and Russian Intervention in Tabriz, 1907–11”, Iranian Studies, no. 39(2), pp, 199-225 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

15. Esposito, John L. (editor) “Constitutional Revolution (Iran)”, The Oxford Dictionary of Islam,Oxford University Press, 2003 https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/acref/9780195125580.001.0001/acref-9780195125580-e-450 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

16. Fernau, F. W (1954) Moslems on the March: People and Politics in the World of Islam, London, pp 161-166 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

17. Gökhan BOLAT (April 2013) “Russia’s attitude towards the Iranian constitutional revolution and its support of counter constitutionalism, International Journal of Social Science, Volume 6 Issue 4, pp. 179-189 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

18. Hashemi, Nader (11 July 2019) “Donald Trump and the strangling of Persia” Al-Jazeera https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2019/7/11/donald-trump-and-the-strangling-of-persia [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

19. Kasravi, Ahmed (translator- Evan Seigel) (2006) History of the Iranian Constitutional Revolution, vol. 1, Mazda publishers, Iran [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

20. Lenczowski, George (1980) The Middle East in World Affairs (4th Edition), Cornell University Press, USA, pp. 110-112 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

21. Lion and the Sun “Iran and Russia: A Struggle for Power in the Constitutional Era” https://thelionandthesun.org/543/iran-and-russia-a-struggle-for-power-in-the-constitutional-era/ [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

22. Makutchev, AV 2020, ‘Russia and Morgan Shuster’s mission in Iran’, Tula Scientific Bulletin History. Linguistics, issue 2 (2), pp. 44–54, URL: http://tula-vestnik.ru/pdf/2020/vipusk_2_15_12_20.pdf (in Russ.) [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

23. Metz, Helen Chap in ed. Iran: A Country Study, Washington: GPO for the Library of Congress, 1987 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

24. Mickols, Christopher Anthony (1 June 2007) “The 1907 Anglo-Russian Agreement and the Iranian Constitutional Revolution: British Foreign Policy and its Critics” MA Thesis Department of History, California State University Bakersfield [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

25. MUNUC 35 “Iranian Constitutional Revolution, 1906” https://munuc.org/wpcontent/uploads/2022/12/IRAN.pdf [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

26. New York Times (27 May 1960) “W. Morgan Shuster Dead at 83; Led Appleton-Century-Crofts [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

27. Richard, Yann (2019) Iran A Social Book and Political History since the Qazars, Cambridge University Press [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

28. Schwerda, Mira Xenia (2023) “The Reign of Terror at Tabriz": The Circulation of Photographs of Atrocity and Russia's Performance of Power at the End of the Iranian Constitutional Revolution (1905-1911)https://www.academia.edu/124058875/_The_Reign_of_Terror_at_Tabriz_The_Circulation_of_Photographs_of_Atrocity_and_Russias_Performance_of_Power_at_the_End_of_the_Iranian_Constitutional_Revolution_1905_1911_ [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

29. Shuster, William Morgan (1912) The Strangling of Persia, New York [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

30. Stempel, John D., (1981) Inside the Iranian Revolution, Indiana University Press, p.60 Sykes, Percy (1951) History of Persia, vol. ii, London, pp. 394-434 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

31. The Conversation (31 July 2018) Iran and America a forgotten friendship https://theconversation.com/iran-and-america-a-forgotten-friendship-99350 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

32. Thomson, Willis Charles (26 November 1911) “How Russia came to make war on William Morgan Shuster”, New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/1911/11/26/archives/how-russia-came-to-make-war-on-w-morgan-shuster-the.html [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

33. Wilber, Donald N. (1955) Iran Past and Present, Princeton University Press, pp. 76-86 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

• Agarwood: A Fragrant Link between India and Southeast Asia
• Pens of Protest: Malayalam Press in the Freedom Struggle
• Long-Term Trends of Temperature and Rainfall in Sivakasi: A Climatic Assessment (1980–2025)
• The (Moordkop) Murder Hill Massacre 1830: A Historical Analysis of the Griqua-Ndebele Conflict
• “Maria Clara at Ibarra Series: Perceptions of College Students on Its Impact towards Studying History”