V o L u m e I : a d

President Harry S. Truman sought to broker a settlement between Tehran

and London based on the acceptance of Iranian nationalization in return for

British control over oil production and drilling. At the same time, British offi-

cials were divided over whether launching a war against Iran was a viable

option to ending the standoff. The British Foreign Office seemed willing to

entertain the idea of military force, while British Prime Minister Clement

Attlee steadfastly opposed it.

Nevertheless, the British government refused to negotiate with the Ira-

nians and instead opted to impose economic sanctions on Mossadegh’s regime.

On 10 September 1951, Britain took measures to prevent purchases of Iranian

oil on the international market.

Meanwhile, the United States and Britain were moving closer together

on ending the crisis. Throughout the autumn of 1951, the Truman adminis-

tration became less neutral. As time went on, the U.S. State Department

trusted Mossadegh less and less. From January 1952 on, the United States

became increasingly concerned about Iran’s internal economic stability. Amer-

ica maintained that Mossadegh was now increasingly likely to turn to Moscow

Anglo-Iranian Oil Crisis

129

Demonstrators in Tehran, Iran, most of them students, confronting police and soldiers during a protest rally against the

British government in 1951. (Library of Congress)

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to stabilize Iran’s economy. By the spring of 1952, these concerns led the

Americans to view regime change as a viable path to ending the crisis. Be-

tween the end of 1951 and July 1952, the Americans hoped that this would

happen as a result of the dispute between Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi of

Iran and Mossadegh over which of the two would control the Persian Army.

In the fall of 1952 Tehran broke diplomatic relations with London.

In January 1953 Dwight D. Eisenhower became president of the United

States. The failure of diplomacy coupled with the Eisenhower administra-

tion’s eagerness to end the crisis opened the door for the coup d’état of

August 1953. The Eisenhower administration supported regime change in

Iran in a coup organized by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). U.S. pol-

icymakers were particularly alarmed at the possibility that Mossadegh would

bring the communists to power in Iran. Supported by the British govern-

ment as well and carried out on 19 August of that year, the coup returned

Shah Pahlavi to power. The British and American governments then estab-

lished an Anglo-American oil consortium on 12 April 1954.

Simone Selva

See also

Acheson, Dean Gooderham; Attlee, Clement Richard, 1st Earl; Central Intelligence

Agency; Eisenhower, Dwight David; Iran; Mohammad Reza Pahlavi; Mossa-

degh, Mohammed; Truman, Harry S.; United Kingdom; United States

References

Bamberg, James. British Petroleum and Global Oil, 1950–75: The Challenge to National-

ism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000.

Heiss, Mary Ann. Empire and Nationhood: The United States, Great Britain, and Iranian

Oil, 1950–54. New York: Columbia University Press, 1997.

Marsh, Steve. Anglo-American Relations and Cold War Oil. London: Palgrave Mac-

Millan, 2003.

Historian, politician, and the first freely elected, post–Cold War prime min-

ister of Hungary. Born on 8 April 1932 in Budapest to a politically active fam-

ily, József Antall studied at the University of Budapest, went on to become a

high school teacher, and participated with his students in the Hungarian

Revolution in 1956. He was then involved in the Smallholders Party’s nego-

tiations with the Communist Party to help form a coalition government.

When the negotiations broke down in 1957, Antall was arrested and removed

from his teaching job. After working as a librarian for two years, he com-

mitted himself to the history of medical science and in 1964 became a

researcher, then the deputy director, and finally director of the Semmelweis

Museum of Medical Science.

In 1988 Antall returned to politics and became involved in the growing

Hungarian reform movement, joining the newly created Hungarian Demo-

130

Antall, József

Antall, József

(1932–1993)

---

cratic Forum (HDF). He represented the party at the National Round Table

Negotiations between the governing Socialist Party and the new reform par-

ties. In October 1989 he assumed the presidency of the HDF and became

its  candidate for premier. The HDF won Hungary’s first democratic elec-

tions in April 1990, and the Hungarian parliament elected Antall premier on

23 May 1990.

Antall’s adherence to such values as democracy, conservatism, Christian

morality, and social awareness were the by-products of his upbringing and

education. Even in his teens, he was convinced of the necessity to abandon

the communist system. At the Round Table Negotiations, his main objec-

tives were the restoration of democracy and the rule of law. As premier, he

moved swiftly to promote internal reform and took the first steps toward Hun-

garian membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and

the European Union (EU). Antall died in Budapest on 12 December 1993

following a short illness.

Anna Boros-McGee

See also

Europe, Eastern; Grósz, Károly; Hungarian Revolution; Hungary; Kádár, János;

Németh, Miklós; Tökés, László; Warsaw Pact

References

Debreczeni, József. A miniszterelnök: Antall József és a rendszerváltozás [The Prime

Minister: Antall József and the Political Changes]. Budapest: Osiris, 1998.

Kapronczay, Károly. Antall József. Budapest: Országos Pedagógia Könyvtár és Múzeum,

2001.

Sisa, Stephen. The Spirit of Hungary: A Panorama of Hungarian History and Culture.

2nd ed. Ontario: Wintario Project, 1990.

The continent of Antarctica and the Arctic Ocean, both approximately 8.7

million square miles, cover the southern and northern polar regions, respec-

tively, and have held economic and geopolitical interests for many countries.

During the 1930s, scientific research and political rivalry in Antarctica began

to supplant discovery and mapping operations. Argentina, Australia, Chile,

France, and Great Britain established year-round national research stations

there, both to maintain territorial claims and to conduct scientific research.

In November 1946, the United States conducted Operation 

HIGHJUMP

, the

largest Antarctic expedition to date, involving intensive exploration by

means of ships, aircraft, and temporary land stations. The main goal of the

operation was to give U.S. military forces experience in polar conditions. Set

against the backdrop of the Cold War, this was seen as a necessary means to

prepare for a potential confrontation with Soviet troops in the northern Arc-

tic region, the shortest distance between the United States and the Soviet

Union.

Antarctica and Arctic

131

Antarctica and Arctic

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