William Morgan Shuster (23 February 1877 in Washington, D.C. – 26 May 1960 in New York City), was an American lawyer, civil servant, and publisher, who is best known as the treasurer-general of Persia by appointment of the Iranian parliament, or Majles, from May to December 1911.
Background
Shuster was born in Washington, D.C., and educated in the Columbian University and Law School. After graduation, Shuster became a customs collector for the U.S. government, serving in the United States Military Government in Cuba in 1899 following the Spanish–American War, and in the Philippines, which was at that time an American colony. In 1906 he was appointed Secretary of Public Instruction in the Insular Government of the Philippine Islands and a member of the Philippine Commission.
In Iran
In 1906, the Constitutional Revolution of Iran sought to establish a Western-oriented, democratic civil society in Iran, then known as Persia to the outside world. The movement forced Mozaffar ad-Din Shah to agree to the election of the first Majlis, the opening up of a relatively free press, and a number of other reforms.
After being recommended by the U.S. government to the Iranian minister in Washington, Shuster was appointed by the 2nd Majlis to help manage the country's financial position. Persia was on shaky financial footing at the time due to heavy debts accumulated by the Qajars, the Persian royal family, to Great Britain and Imperial Russia. Great Britain and Russia had previously divided Persia into two spheres of influence pursuant to the Anglo-Russian Convention of 1907.
Shuster became active in supporting the Constitutional revolution of Persia financially. When Iran's government ordered Shu'a al-Saltaneh (شعاع السلطنه), the Shah's brother, who was aligned with the goals of the Russian Empire in Persia, to surrender his assets to the government, Shuster was assigned this task, which he promptly moved to execute. Imperial Russia immediately landed troops in Bandar Anzali demanding a recourse and apology from the Persian government.
The hiring of Shuster and his American associates as financial advisors concerned the imperial powers, who sought to keep Persia from independent influences and dampen national feeling. Prior to Shuster's hiring the Iranian central government was weak, and Shuster oversaw the creation of a 12,000-member gendarmerie to collect taxes. The Imperial Russian Army, which had occupied large parts of northern Iran, claimed that Shuster had violated the 1907 Anglo-Russian Convention by sending Iranian gendarmes into Russian-occupied territory and arresting Russian citizens.
Under Russian and British diplomatic pressure, the vice-regent of Persia expelled Shuster from office in December 1911 against the will of the Persian parliament. Shortly thereafter, due to the chaotic political climate created by Shuster's ouster, the deposed Shah, Mohammad Ali Shah Qajar attempted an invasion of Persia from Russia.
The Majlis approved (Shuster's) financial powers. Shortly after his arrival the Russian government demanded his expulsion, and when the Majlis refused to do so, Russia occupied northern parts of Iran. The Majlis was suspended, and no budget law was prepared for a number of years.
Hence eventually the American Morgan Shuster was forced to resign under British and Russian diplomatic pressure. Shuster's book "The Strangling of Persia" is a recount of the details of these events, and criticizes Britain and Russian influence in Iran.
The Strangling of Persia
Shuster returned to the United States and wrote a scathing indictment of Russian and British influence in Persia, titled The Strangling of Persia. In one well-known passage of that book, Shuster decried the influence of the Great Powers:
[I]t was obvious that the people of Persia deserve much better than what they are getting, that they wanted us to succeed, but it was the British and the Russians who were determined not to let us succeed.
The Strangling of Persia, which has been dedicated to "The Persian People", was originally published in New York by the Century Company in 1912, then reprinted by the Greenwood Press in 1968 and Mage Publishers in 1987 and 2005. The book was subtitled, the story of the European diplomacy and oriental intrigue that resulted in the denationalization of twelve million Mohammedans, a personal narrative. The dedication of the book reads thus: