Page 92 - Russo-Persian Postal Relations

III. 1918 - 1920 The Hunt for Oil and Communists Dunsterforce
Persia war theater The Jangalis &
also after armistice The Bolsheviks
Introduction to the period 1918-21
Dunsterforce
The 1917 Russian Revo- lution had a great inpact on
Persia 's relations with Russia. Caucasus and
surrounding areas were ·, · ~Baku ""' left unprotected and
insecure. Persia recognized )::~.\ u.s.s.~.. 1 1 ~ Soviet Russia 14 Dec 1917.
\ ). .. 1- "
Soon an anti-Russian >< ' ··.._, ./ ·. le CASPIAN cabinet was installed in
1918 that allowed British f: \ ··-· <:., I~ troops to use Persian territory
""'
for invasion of former '- S' : ~abriz ..... I I SEA Russian territories, Trans-
\,,
a •
caukasian and Trans- ' caspian areas (Turkmenia) in
their quest for oil. The ···-...... .. \...:!. Mtanehe British now became the
dominant power and \ decided to invade Baku
under Dunstervill. As ...: \. Turkey and Germany also
wanted access to the oil in ~ · ·-::-. .... .._ °"@TEHERAN Baku the Dunsterville's
forces, named DUNSTER- ~ ~ FORCE, had to return from
Baku to Persia in the & .. / middle of 1919. The forces
were reorganized NORPER- 0 •Qum FORCE. Its purpose was to
policing in northern Persia fl Kha;qm Kermanshah p E R S I A that went on well into 1922.
In the Gilan province the c~{ "'-. Jangalis influenced by
German and Turkish as AOHDAD t.. ________ well as by Communists
agents from Russia caused problems for both the Entente
and Persian Government. Soviet Russia supported the
movement to become Socialist, but only to abandon it in 1921 for the need of food provided by the British.

Dunsterforce used two types of censor marks: a circular and a strait, the latter being elusive

Recht charity
stamp
Dunsterforce
strait line
censor and
Recht relief
stamp.
Elusive
combination
Registered
letter sent
from Recht
July 1918
to Teheran
arriving
same month

In Teheran the authorities introduced "compulsory" charity fee stamps for relief purposes in 1918. Similar arrangements were made at
Tabriz and Recht. Recht used the same design, the "Lion", as that of Teheran. The use of charity stamps at Recht were short lived
probably due to the Jangali"s occupation of Recht. And the Jangalis - of course - cashed in the relief money