Tuesday
May052009
The US Army Pocket Guide to Iran (1943)
Issandr El Amrani
Above is the cover of a guide for US military troops posted to Iran during the Second World War. The book explains that Iran was the only place in the whole war where British, US and Soviet troops were based side-to-side, and one detects that there might be as much competition between these as against Axis spies.
The table of contents shows the priority of the mission in Iran: the first chapter is "Oil - The World's Lifeblood" and continues to explain that
... more than anything else, Iran is one of the great power reservoirs of the world. Napoleon once said that an army marches on its stomach. Today armies march on oil. Were all supplies of oil suddenly vanish, every large industrial nation in the world would collapse almost overnight. Oil is the lifeblood of the modern world.
Also illuminating is the "Getting along in Iran," which offers these pearls of wisdom:
Getting along in Iran is pretty much like getting along at home, except that the people are more formal. Use ordinary decency, politeness, and consideration, and you won't have trouble. Be a little restrained, though friendly. And remember always that you aren't going to Iran to change or reform the Iranis or tell them how much better we do things at home. Their ways of doing things have been good enough for them for some thousands of years, and they aren't likely to change because you think they should.
It makes you nostalgic for early American imperialism. And another chapter, on "The Moslem Religion," might make you nostalgic for the Reza dynasty:
UNTIL a few years ago, if a foreigner had attempted to enter a mosque (Moslem church) in Iran, he would probably have been beaten to death, and even today it is safest to keep strictly away from mosques unless you are invited there by a responsible person. At that time the Iranis were among the most fanatical of all Moslems, and the mullahs (priests) were the men who really ran the country.
Further along a "Check List of Do's and Don'ts" offers advice such as:
- Don't try to tell Iranis how much better everything is in the United States. They think most things are better in Iran.
- Don't touch a respectable Irani woman, or even look at one unnecessarily.
- Don't mistake courtesy for friendship; an Irani is always polite, but he is fundamentally suspicious of foreigners.
And there are some nice etchings:
It's unfortunate that the scanning quality of the document is quite poor, because this guide offers an interesting insight into the minds of the US military during one of its first forays into the Gulf (previously mostly a British colonial playground). It's available in PDF format here.
I wonder if they will be updating these anytime soon?
Reader Comments (14)
Wow this is so interesting especially the religious part !!
I think I remember seeing the whole series of these US Army WWII-era country guides for sale at Foyles bookshop in London a while back.
I've seen later editions, such as a 1970s era \"Army Country Manual\" for China that was actually quite thorough. I assume there is one for Iraq today, although it may be mixed in with counter-insurgency manuals.
I came across an old Brit manual for soldiers going to Iraq in the Mandate period, don't remember where, somewhere on the internets, and it was awfully similar - the same sort of keep your head down and don't interfere too much advice. Too bad the leaders didn't follow it even if they expected the footsoldiers to.
Great find! Thanks. I have linked to this. I can't download the pdf. Could you please check the link.
Thank you.
Here's an alternative link to the PDF:http://sn.im/hesbv-lha" target="_blank">http://sn.im/hesbv-lha
Thanks so much :)
There was a series of pocket guides to various WWII (and WWI) locations. I remember seeing several for sale on eBay at one point, among them a guide to Syria/Lebanon and to Egypt. There were also ones for various Asian countries. The Syria one would be interesting to dig up.
[...] From the Arabist [...]
reminds me of the artist Fernando Bryce who made drawings of another Pocket Book by/for the U.S. military in 1958, this time called "South of the Border" and has an image of a Llama on the cover. All of South America is lumped together...
The New York Museum of Modern Art acquired the drawings and there are images here:
http://www.moma.org/collection/object.php?object_id=88176" target="_blank">http://www.moma.org/collection/object.php?object_...
*Funnily enough in the second image underneath the picture it says "Venezuela and Mexico are among the world's top oil producers"
It looks like you can find the full text here, which is much more readable than the poor-quality scan:
http://www.lonesentry.com/iran/iran.html" target="_blank">http://www.lonesentry.com/iran/iran.html
Here's one of the guides I remembered seeing, the 1943 "Guide for US Forces Serving in Iraq": http://ifile.it/imzx80o" target="_blank">http://ifile.it/imzx80o
Very cool, thanks. Again I love the extremely anti-interference agenda.
[...] I posted images from the US Army 1943 Pocket Guide to Iran, which drew some fun responses including a comment by Benjamin pointing to a contemporary guide to [...]