History of the 1906 Revolution
Origins
The constitutional revolution that occurred in Iran at the beginning of the twentieth century was the result of various factors. For one, the Qajar monarchy which had established its rule in 1779, had been characterized by weak rulers and poor economic performance. In addition, Iranians were becoming increasingly dissatisfied with continued foreign intervention. The Russian Empire and Britain both used Iran in order to engage in trade and diplomatic rivalries. (Afary, 18-19)
Revolution
A seemingly small event actually triggered the advent of the revolution. In December of 1905, the governor of Tehran punished and beat two prminent sugar merchants who had been accused of raising prices. In response to this, mullahs and merchants took sanctuary in Tehran's royal mosque. Soon many ulama gathered in a shrine and sent a list of demands to the shah, including a call for a "house of justice." This "house of justice" was a vague demand but expressed the desire to have a means by which to hold the government accountable for its actions. (Afary, 50-53)
The shah dismissed the offending governor and replaced him with the "house of justice," but there was no real power invested in it. In July of 1906, a mass of mullahs gathered in Qom to protest violence that had been occurring across Iran. A huge crowd of merchants and tradespeople, estimated at about twelve to fourteen thousand, took sanctuary in the British legation in Tehran and began to demand a parliament. In August, the Shah accepted this demand and allowed for the establishment of the first parliament, the Majlis. (Afary, 57-59)
The Majlis was organized and elected within a six-class system. This distributed power and gave more power to the lower classes that they would have in the subsequent parliaments, elected under a non-class system.
The first Majlis opened in October 1906 and a committee wrote a Fundamental Law. The shah refused to sign this until the moment when he was on his death bed. In October 1907, the new shah signed a longer document of laws. Together these two documents made up the Iranian Constitution that lasted in essence until 1979. (Afary, 64-70)
The Constitution was based on European models, particularly the Belgian constitution of 1830. However, the Iranian document contained references to Islam and provisions to establish a committee of five mujtahids who would be consulted on all laws. The planned governmental system, however, never truly worked in a Western constitutional monarchy style.
The shah appointed a conservative prime minister and the Majlis did not have any say in this choice. The liberals and radicals opposed this appointment. On August 31, 1907, the shah and the far-left were both involved in the killing of the prime minister. On that same day, the Anglo-Russian Treaty came into being and divided Iran into spheres of influence. The Russian and British cooperation in Iran signified the beginning of the downfall of the revolution.(Martin, 142-143)
The shah with the aid of the Russians staged a coup against the Majlis and the opposition in June of 1908. Russian troops came in 1909. Two groups, the Tabriz and the Bakhtiari tribe, held out. In July the opposition converged in Tehran and deposed the shah and installed his minor son under a regency. (Martin, 160-162)
This system lasted for a few years with a fairly conservative led governments. In November of 1911, however, Russia and Britain sent in troops and for several years these two nations essentially controlled the government. This signified the real end of the revolution but the legacy of political participation remained forever.