ABSTRACT
Virtually every aspect of the Soviet tactical approach to the Azeris of Iran can be traced back to the experience of the Red Army, especially the Soviet Azeri contingents of GUPP. Once the Red army had established itself, counterpropaganda units directed their work at dispelling rumours that the army had entered Iran to "establish Soviet power", abolish and persecute Islam and "collectivize" women. Working on the staff of Vatan Yolunda had a major impact on the subsequent careers on the lives of Soviet Azeris assigned to it by GUPP during the war. The Japanese attack and occupation of Manchuria in 1931 had alerted the Soviet Union to the vulnerability of its own borders. The Soviet staff of Vatan Yolunda actively courted the "progressive" intelligentsia of Tabriz and invited their participation in the work of the newspaper. Political developments, the roost important of which was the establishment of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, over-shadowed the cultural revival in Iranian Azerbaijan.
