User:Bedwards96/sandbox

History
Tabriz Cartoons have provoked revolts due to the long-lasting complex cultural relations within Iran. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Republic of Azerbaijan was created and Azerbaijanis developed a greater ethno-national identity. This impacted the international relations of Tehran with regards to policies in the South Caucus, and consequently, Iran transformed from a neutral position to one actively supporting Armenia against Azerbaijan during the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. In the early 19th century, the Gulistan and Turkmenchay treaties from the two wars between Iran and Russia divided Azerbaijan into North and South. Russia transformed the Northern sector by promoting the development of oil and gas fields where as Iran maintained the traditionalist, rural, and agricultural characteristics of the southern society. These divergent experiences impacted the exposure of the Northern society to western concepts such as liberalism, nationalism, or secularism. As the Northerners shared these ideas with the South, the idea of a single Azerbaijan emerged. The Azerbaijan Democratic Republic manifested in 1918, but since neither Russia nor Iran approved, within two years the Red Army intervened in the North and the Shah implemented a strict policy of assimilation in the South. The 1991 establishment of the Republic of Azerbaijan further influenced an Azerbaijani nationalist movement in Northern Iran. Throughout the chaos and revolts, an Iranian cartoon from the Tabriz contest portrayed Azerbaijanias as cockroaches, which resultantly provoked further demonstrations in Tabriz and other Azerbaijani regions.