The Web in the Tempest: The Experiences of the Teachers and School Directors of the Alliance Israélite Universelle during the Iranian Constitutional Revolution, 1906–11

Abstract

The lives of the teachers of the Alliance Israélite Universelle (Alliance) were entangled with the turmoil and humanitarian disasters of Iran's 1906–11 Constitutional Revolution. In theory, the revolution should have been an exciting moment and a validation of the Alliance's mission to "emancipate" Middle Eastern Jews. Yet in the Alliance staff's letters, there are surprisingly few mentions of the revolution and fewer still that express enthusiasm for the constitutional project. Rather, the correspondence describes chaos, violence, and the staff's efforts to address the needs of traumatized and desperate local Jewish communities. This article seeks to understand the reasons for this and discusses how the Alliance teachers perceived and interpreted the events of the revolution through the lens of their own backgrounds and biases. The article also weighs the value of Alliance staff letters as source material for understanding Iranian history.