1953 Iranian coup d'état, Execution of Operation Ajax
Arriving unannounced, the Shah asked for permission for himself and his consort to stay in Baghdad for a few days before continuing on to Europe. After high-level Government consultations, they were escorted to the White House, the Iraqi Government's guest house, before flying to Italy in a plane flown by Mohammad Amir Khatami.


1953 Iranian coup d'état, Execution of Operation Ajax
After the first coup attempt failed, General Zahedi, declaring that he was the rightful prime minister of Iran, shuttled between multiple safe houses attempting to avoid arrest. Mosaddegh ordered security forces to capture the coup plotters, and dozens were imprisoned. Believing that he had succeeded, and that he was in full control of the government, Mosaddegh erred. Assuming that the coup had failed, he asked his supporters to return to their homes and to continue with their lives as normal. The Tudeh party members also returned to their homes, no longer carrying out enforcement duties.


1953 Iranian coup d'état, Execution of Operation Ajax
The CIA was ordered to leave Iran, although Kermit Roosevelt Jr. was slow to receive the message—allegedly due to MI6 interference—and eagerly continued to foment anti-Mosaddegh unrest. The Eisenhower administration considered changing its policy to support Mosaddegh, with undersecretary of state Walter Bedell Smith remarking on 17 August: "Whatever his faults, Mosaddegh had no love for the Russians and timely aid might enable him to keep Communism in check."


1953 Iranian coup d'état, Execution of Operation Ajax
General Zahedi, who was still on the run, met with the pro-Shah Ayatollah Mohammad Behbahani and other Shah supporters in secret. There (using CIA money deridingly known as "Behbahani dollars"), they quickly created a new plan. Already, much of the country's upper class was in shock from the Shah's flight from Iran, fears of communism, and Mosaddegh's arrests of opponents. They capitalized on this sentiment in their plans. The Ayatollah Behbahani also used his influence to rally religious demonstrators against Mosaddegh.


1953 Iranian coup d'état, Execution of Operation Ajax
On 19 August, hired infiltrators posing as Tudeh party members began to organize a "communist revolution". They came and encouraged real Tudeh members to join in. Soon, the Tudeh members took to the streets attacking virtually any symbols of capitalism, and looting private businesses and destroying shops. Much of southern Tehran's business district, including the bazaars, were vandalized. With sudden mass public revulsion against this act, the next part of Zahedi's plan came into action. From the vandalized bazaars, a second group of paid infiltrators, this time posing as Shah supporters, organized angry crowds of common Iranians who were terrified about a "communist revolution" and sickened by the violence.


1953 Iranian coup d'état, Execution of Operation Ajax
The CIA hired the two biggest gangsters of the South Tehran ghetto,  "Icy Ramadan" and Shaban Jafari A.K.A "Brainless Shaban", to mobilize protest against Mosaddegh.


1953 Iranian coup d'état, Execution of Operation Ajax
By the middle of the day, large crowds of regular citizens, armed with improvised weapons, took to the streets in mass demonstrations, and beat back the Tudeh party members. Under Zahedi's authority, the army left its barracks and drove off the communist Tudeh and then stormed all government buildings with the support of demonstrators. Mosaddegh fled after a tank fired a single shell into his house, but he later turned himself in to the army's custody. To prevent further bloodshed, he refused a last attempt to organize his supporters.


1953 Iranian coup d'état, Execution of Operation Ajax
By the end of the day, Zahedi and the army were in control of the government. Despite the CIA's role in creating the conditions for the coup, there is little evidence to suggest that Kermit Roosevelt Jr. or other CIA officials were directly responsible for the actions of the demonstrators or the army on 19 August. It has even been suggested that Roosevelt's activities between 15 and 19 August were primarily intended to organize "stay-behind networks as part of the planned CIA evacuation of the country," although they allowed him to later "claim responsibility for the day's outcome."


1953 Iranian coup d'état, Execution of Operation Ajax
In 2014, historian Ray Takeyh conclusively showed that the US-led coup attempt was unsuccessful, with the CIA writing to Eisenhower that "The move failed [… ] We now [...] probably have to snuggle up to Mosaddeq if we’re going to save [our influence in Iran];” the demonstrations that led to Mosaddeq's resignation took place some weeks after the Roosevelt-organized ones, and were composed of average citizens, not the thugs-for-hire that the CIA and MI6 had recruited.


1953 Iranian coup d'état, Execution of Operation Ajax
The Shah stayed in a hotel in Italy until he learned what had transpired, upon which he "chokingly declared": "I knew they loved me." Allen Dulles, the director of the CIA, flew back with the Shah from Rome to Tehran. Zahedi officially replaced Mosaddegh. Mosaddegh was arrested, tried, and originally sentenced to death. But on the Shah's personal orders, his sentence was commuted to three years' solitary confinement in a military prison, followed by house arrest until his death.


1953 Iranian coup d'état, United States' role
As a condition for restoring the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company, in 1954 the US required removal of the AIOC's monopoly; five American petroleum companies, Royal Dutch Shell, and the Compagnie Française des Pétroles, were to draw Iran's petroleum after the successful coup d'état—Operation Ajax. The Shah declared this to be a "victory" for Iranians, with the massive influx of money from this agreement resolving the economic collapse from the last three years, and allowing him to carry out his planned modernization projects.


1953 Iranian coup d'état, United States' role
As part of that, the CIA organized anti-Communist guerrillas to fight the Tudeh Party if they seized power in the chaos of Operation Ajax. Released National Security Archive documents showed that Undersecretary of State Walter Bedell Smith reported that the CIA had agreed with Qashqai tribal leaders, in south Iran, to establish a clandestine safe haven from which U.S.-funded guerrillas and spies could operate.


1953 Iranian coup d'état, United States' role
Operation Ajax's formal leader was senior CIA officer Kermit Roosevelt Jr., while career agent Donald Wilber was the operational leader, planner, and executor of the deposition of Mosaddegh. The coup d'état depended on the impotent Shah's dismissing the popular and powerful Prime Minister and replacing him with General Fazlollah Zahedi, with help from Colonel Abbas Farzanegan—a man agreed upon by the British and Americans after determining his anti-Soviet politics.


1953 Iranian coup d'état, United States' role
The CIA sent Major General Norman Schwarzkopf Sr. to persuade the exiled Shah to return to rule Iran. Schwarzkopf trained the security forces that would become known as SAVAK to secure the shah's hold on power.


1953 Iranian coup d'état, United States' role
The coup was carried out by the US administration of Dwight D. Eisenhower in a covert action advocated by Secretary of State John Foster Dulles, and implemented under the supervision of his brother Allen Dulles, the Director of Central Intelligence. The coup was organized by the United States' CIA and the United Kingdom's MI6, two spy agencies that aided royalists and royalist elements of the Iranian army. Much of the money was channeled through the pro-Shah Ayatollah Mohammad Behbahani, who drew many religious masses to the plot. Ayatollah Kashani had completely turned on Mosaddegh and supported the Shah, by this point.


1953 Iranian coup d'état, United States' role
According to a heavily redacted CIA document released to the National Security Archive in response to a Freedom of Information request, "Available documents do not indicate who authorized CIA to begin planning the operation, but it almost certainly was President Eisenhower himself. Eisenhower biographer Stephen Ambrose has written that the absence of documentation reflected the President's style."


1953 Iranian coup d'état, United States' role
The CIA document then quotes from the Ambrose biography of Eisenhower:


1953 Iranian coup d'état, United States' role
Before going into the operation, Ajax had to have the approval of the President. Eisenhower participated in none of the meetings that set up Ajax; he received only oral reports on the plan; and he did not discuss it with his Cabinet or the NSC. Establishing a pattern he would hold to throughout his Presidency, he kept his distance and left no documents behind that could implicate the President in any projected coup. But in the privacy of the Oval Office, over cocktails, he was kept informed by Foster Dulles, and he maintained a tight control over the activities of the CIA.


1953 Iranian coup d'état, United States' role
CIA officer Kermit Roosevelt Jr., the grandson of former President Theodore Roosevelt, carried out the operation planned by CIA agent Donald Wilber. One version of the CIA history, written by Wilber, referred to the operation as TPAJAX.


1953 Iranian coup d'état, United States' role
During the coup, Roosevelt and Wilber, representatives of the Eisenhower administration, bribed Iranian government officials, reporters, and businessmen. They also bribed street thugs to support the Shah and oppose Mosaddegh. The deposed Iranian leader, Mosaddegh, was taken to jail and Iranian General Fazlollah Zahedi named himself prime minister in the new, pro-western government.


1953 Iranian coup d'état, United States' role
Another tactic Roosevelt admitted to using was bribing demonstrators into attacking symbols of the Shah, while chanting pro-Mosaddegh slogans. As king, the Shah was largely seen as a symbol of Iran at the time by many Iranians and monarchists. Roosevelt declared that the more that these agents showed their hate for the Shah and attacked his symbols, the more it caused the average Iranian citizen to dislike and distrust Mosaddegh.


1953 Iranian coup d'état, United States' role
The British and American spy agencies strengthened the monarchy in Iran by backing the pro-western Shah for the next 26 years. The Shah was overthrown in 1979. The overthrow of Iran's elected government in 1953 ensured Western control of Iran's petroleum resources and prevented the Soviet Union from competing for Iranian oil. Some Iranian clerics cooperated with the western spy agencies because they were dissatisfied with Mosaddegh's secular government.


1953 Iranian coup d'état, United States' role
While the broad outlines of the operation are known, "...the C.I.A. 's records were widely thought by historians to have the potential to add depth and clarity to a famous but little-documented intelligence operation," reporter Tim Weiner wrote in The New York Times 29 May 1997.


1953 Iranian coup d'état, United States' role
"The Central Intelligence Agency, which has repeatedly pledged for more than five years to make public the files from its secret mission to overthrow the government of Iran in 1953, said today that it had destroyed or lost almost all the documents decades ago."


1953 Iranian coup d'état, United States' role
A historian who was a member of the CIA staff in 1992 and 1993 said in an interview today that the records were obliterated by "a culture of destruction" at the agency. The historian, Nick Cullather, said he believed that records on other major cold war covert operations had been burned, including those on secret missions in Indonesia in the 1950s and a successful CIA-sponsored coup in Guyana in the early 1960s. "Iran—there's nothing", Mr. Cullather said. "Indonesia—very little. Guyana—that was burned."


1953 Iranian coup d'état, United States' role
Donald Wilber, one of the CIA officers who planned the 1953 coup in Iran, wrote an account titled, Clandestine Service History Overthrow of Premier Mossadeq of Iran: November 1952 – August 1953. Wilber said one goal of the coup was to strengthen the Shah.


1953 Iranian coup d'état, United States' role
In 2000, James Risen at The New York Times obtained the previously secret CIA version of the coup written by Wilber and summarized its contents, which includes the following.


1953 Iranian coup d'état, United States' role
In early August, the CIA increased the pressure. Iranian operatives pretending to be Communists threatened Muslim leaders with "savage punishment if they opposed Mossadegh," seeking to stir anti-Communist sentiment in the religious community.


1953 Iranian coup d'état, United States' role
In addition, the secret history says, the house of at least one prominent Muslim was bombed by CIA agents posing as Communists. It does not say whether anyone was hurt in this attack.


1953 Iranian coup d'état, United States' role
The agency was intensifying its propaganda campaign. A leading newspaper owner was granted a personal loan of about $45,000, "in the belief that this would make his organ amenable to our purposes."


1953 Iranian coup d'état, United States' role
The Shah remained intransigent. In a 1 August meeting with General Norman Schwarzkopf, he refused to sign the C.I.A.-written decrees firing Mr. Mossadegh and appointing General Zahedi. He said he doubted that the army would support him in a showdown.


1953 Iranian coup d'état, United States' role
The National Security Archive at George Washington University contains the full account by Wilber, along with many other coup-related documents and analysis.


1953 Iranian coup d'état, United States' role
In a January 1973 telephone conversation made public in 2009, US President Richard Nixon told CIA Director Richard Helms, who was awaiting Senate confirmation to become the new U.S. Ambassador to Iran, that Nixon wanted Helms to be a "regional ambassador" to Persian Gulf oil states, and noted that Helms had been a schoolmate of Shah Reza Pahlavi.


1953 Iranian coup d'état, United States' role, Release of U.S. government records and official acknowledgement
In August 2013, on the 60th anniversary of the coup, the US government released documents showing they were involved in staging the coup. The documents also describe the motivations behind the coup and the strategies used to stage it. The UK had sought to censor information regarding its role in the coup; a significant number of documents about the coup remained classified. The release of the declassified documents, which marked the first US official acknowledgement of its role, was seen as a goodwill gesture on the part of the Obama administration. According to Aljazeera, the deputy director of the National Security Archive, Malcolm Bryne, disclosed that the CIA documented the secret histories purposely for official use.


1953 Iranian coup d'état, United States' role, Release of U.S. government records and official acknowledgement
In June 2017, the United States State Department's Office of the Historian released its revised historical account of the event. The volume of historical records "focuses on the evolution of U.S. thinking on Iran as well as the U.S. Government covert operation that resulted in Mosadeq's overthrow on 19 August 1953". Though some of the relevant records were destroyed long ago, the release contains a collection of roughly 1,000 pages, only a small number of which remain classified. One revelation is that the CIA "attempted to call off the failing coup but was salvaged by an insubordinate spy." The reports released by the U.S had reached 1,007 pages, consisting of diplomatic cables and letters according to VOA News.


1953 Iranian coup d'état, United States' role, Release of U.S. government records and official acknowledgement
In March 2018, the National Security Archive released a declassified British memo alleging that the United States Embassy sent "large sums of money" to "influential people"—namely senior Iranian clerics—in the days leading up to Mosaddeq's overthrow. According to the Guardian, despite the U.S showing regrets about the coup, it has failed to officially issue an apology over its involvement.


1953 Iranian coup d'état, United States' role, United States financial support
The CIA paid a large sum to carry out the operation. Depending on the expenses to be counted, the final cost is estimated to vary from $100,000 to $20 million. CIA gave Zahedi's government $5 million after the coup with Zahedi himself receiving an extra million.


1953 Iranian coup d'état, United States' role, United States motives
Historians disagree on what motivated the United States to change its policy towards Iran and stage the coup. Middle East historian Ervand Abrahamian identified the coup d'état as "a classic case of nationalism clashing with imperialism in the Third World". He states that Secretary of State Dean Acheson admitted the "'Communist threat' was a smokescreen" in responding to President Eisenhower's claim that the Tudeh party was about to assume power.


1953 Iranian coup d'état, United States' role, United States motives
Throughout the crisis, the "communist danger" was more of a rhetorical device than a real issue—i.e. it was part of the cold-war discourse ... The Tudeh was no match for the armed tribes and the 129,000-man military. What is more, the British and Americans had enough inside information to be confident that the party had no plans to initiate armed insurrection. At the beginning of the crisis, when the Truman administration was under the impression a compromise was possible, Acheson had stressed the communist danger, and warned if Mosaddegh was not helped, the Tudeh would take over.


1953 Iranian coup d'état, United States' role, United States motives
The (British) Foreign Office had retorted that the Tudeh was no real threat. But, in August 1953, when the Foreign Office echoed the Eisenhower administration's claim that the Tudeh was about to take over, Acheson now retorted that there was no such communist danger. Acheson was honest enough to admit that the issue of the Tudeh was a smokescreen.


1953 Iranian coup d'état, United States' role, United States motives
Abrahamian states that Iran's oil was the central focus of the coup, for both the British and the Americans, though "much of the discourse at the time linked it to the Cold War". Abrahamian wrote, "If Mosaddegh had succeeded in nationalizing the British oil industry in Iran, that would have set an example and was seen at that time by the Americans as a threat to U.S. oil interests throughout the world, because other countries would do the same." Mosaddegh did not want any compromise solution that allowed a degree of foreign control. Abrahamian said that Mosaddegh "wanted real nationalization, both in theory and practice".


1953 Iranian coup d'état, United States' role, United States motives
Tirman points out that agricultural land owners were politically dominant in Iran well into the 1960s, and the monarch Reza Shah's aggressive land expropriation policies—to the benefit of himself and his supporters—resulted in the Iranian government being Iran's largest land owner. "The landlords and oil producers had new backing, moreover, as American interests were for the first time exerted in Iran. The Cold War was starting, and Soviet challenges were seen in every leftist movement. But the reformers were at root nationalists, not communists, and the issue that galvanized them above all others was the control of oil." The belief that oil was the central motivator behind the coup has been echoed in the popular media by authors such as Robert Byrd, Alan Greenspan, and Ted Koppel.


1953 Iranian coup d'état, United States' role, United States motives
Middle East political scientist Mark Gasiorowski states that while, on the face of it, there is considerable merit to the argument that U.S. policymakers helped U.S. oil companies gain a share in Iranian oil production after the coup, "it seems more plausible to argue that U.S. policymakers were motivated mainly by fears of a communist takeover in Iran, and that the involvement of U.S. companies was sought mainly to prevent this from occurring. The Cold War was at its height in the early 1950s, and the Soviet Union was viewed as an expansionist power seeking world domination. Eisenhower had made the Soviet threat a key issue in the 1952 elections, accusing the Democrats of being soft on communism and of having 'lost China.' Once in power, the new administration quickly sought to put its views into practice."


1953 Iranian coup d'état, United States' role, United States motives
A 2019 study by Gasiorowski concluded "that U.S. policymakers did not have compelling evidence that the threat of a Communist takeover was increasing substantially in the months before the coup. Rather, the Eisenhower administration interpreted the available evidence in a more alarming manner than the Truman administration had."


1953 Iranian coup d'état, United States' role, United States motives
Gasiorowski further states "the major U.S. oil companies were not interested in Iran at this time. A glut existed in the world oil market. The U.S. majors had increased their production in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait in 1951 in order to make up for the loss of Iranian production; operating in Iran would force them to cut back production in these countries which would create tensions with Saudi and Kuwaiti leaders. Furthermore, if nationalist sentiments remained high in Iran, production there would be risky. U.S. oil companies had shown no interest in Iran in 1951 and 1952.


1953 Iranian coup d'état, United States' role, United States motives
By late 1952, the Truman administration had come to believe that participation by U.S. companies in the production of Iranian oil was essential to maintain stability in Iran and keep Iran out of Soviet hands. In order to gain the participation of the major U.S. oil companies, Truman offered to scale back a large anti-trust case then being brought against them. The Eisenhower administration shared Truman's views on the participation of U.S. companies in Iran and also agreed to scale back the anti-trust case. Thus, not only did U.S. majors not want to participate in Iran at this time, it took a major effort by U.S. policymakers to persuade them to become involved."


1953 Iranian coup d'état, United States' role, United States motives
In 2004, Gasiorowski edited a book on the coup arguing that "the climate of intense cold war rivalry between the superpowers, together with Iran's strategic vital location between the Soviet Union and the Persian Gulf oil fields, led U.S. officials to believe that they had to take whatever steps were necessary to prevent Iran from falling into Soviet hands."


1953 Iranian coup d'état, United States' role, United States motives
While "these concerns seem vastly overblown today" the pattern of "the 1945–46 Azerbaijan crisis, the consolidation of Soviet control in Eastern Europe, the communist triumph in China, and the Korean War—and with the Red Scare at its height in the United States" would not allow U.S. officials to risk allowing the Tudeh Party to gain power in Iran. Furthermore, "U.S. officials believed that resolving the oil dispute was essential for restoring stability in Iran, and after March 1953 it appeared that the dispute could be resolved only at the expense either of Britain or of Mosaddeq." He concludes "it was geostrategic considerations, rather than a desire to destroy Mosaddeq's movement, to establish a dictatorship in Iran or to gain control over Iran's oil, that persuaded U.S. officials to undertake the coup."


1953 Iranian coup d'état, United States' role, United States motives
Faced with choosing between British interests and Iran, the U.S. chose Britain, Gasiorowski said. "Britain was the closest ally of the United States, and the two countries were working as partners on a wide range of vitally important matters throughout the world at this time. Preserving this close relationship was more important to U.S. officials than saving Mosaddeq's tottering regime." A year earlier, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill used Britain's support for the U.S. in the Cold War to insist the United States not undermine his campaign to isolate Mosaddegh. "Britain was supporting the Americans in Korea, he reminded Truman, and had a right to expect 'Anglo-American unity' on Iran."


1953 Iranian coup d'état, United States' role, United States motives
The two main winners of World War II, who had been Allies during the war, became superpowers and competitors as soon as the war ended, each with their own spheres of influence and client states. After the 1953 coup, Iran became one of the client states of the United States. In his earlier book, U.S. Foreign Policy and the Shah: Building a Client State in Iran, Gasiorowski identifies the client states of the United States and of the Soviet Union during 1954–1977.


1953 Iranian coup d'état, United States' role, United States motives
Gasiorowski identified Cambodia, Guatemala, Indonesia, Iran, Laos, Nicaragua, Panama, the Philippines, South Korea, South Vietnam, and Taiwan as strong client states of the United States and identified those that were moderately important to the U.S. as Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Greece, Haiti, Honduras, Israel, Jordan, Liberia, Pakistan, Paraguay, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, and Zaire. He named Argentina, Chile, Ethiopia, Japan, and Peru as "weak" client states of the United States.


1953 Iranian coup d'état, United States' role, United States motives
Gasiorowski identified Bulgaria, Cuba, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Mongolia, Poland, North Vietnam, and Romania as "strong client states" of the Soviet Union, and Afghanistan, Egypt, Guinea, North Korea, Somalia, and Syria as moderately important client states. Mali and South Yemen were classified as weak client states of the Soviet Union.


1953 Iranian coup d'état, United States' role, United States motives
According to Kinzer, for most Americans, the crisis in Iran became just part of the conflict between Communism and "the Free world". "A great sense of fear, particularly the fear of encirclement, shaped American consciousness during this period. ... Soviet power had already subdued Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia. Communist governments were imposed on Bulgaria and Romania in 1946, Hungary and Poland in 1947, and Czechoslovakia in 1948. Albania and Yugoslavia also turned to communism. Greek communists made a violent bid for power. Soviet soldiers blocked land routes to Berlin for sixteen months.


1953 Iranian coup d'état, United States' role, United States motives
In 1949, the Soviet Union successfully tested a nuclear weapon. That same year, pro-Western forces in China lost their Civil War to communists led by Mao Zedong. From Washington, it seemed that enemies were on the march everywhere." Consequently, "the United States, challenged by what most Americans saw as a relentless communist advance, slowly ceased to view Iran as a country with a unique history that faced a unique political challenge." Some historians, including Douglas Little, Abbas Milani and George Lenczowski have echoed the view that fears of a communist takeover or Soviet influence motivated the U.S. to intervene.


1953 Iranian coup d'état, United States' role, United States motives
On 11 May 1951, prior to the overthrow of Mosaddegh, Adolf A. Berle warned the U.S. State Department that U.S. "control of the Middle East was at stake, which, with its Persian Gulf oil, meant 'substantial control of the world.'"


1953 Iranian coup d'état, United States' role, News coverage in the United States and Great Britain
When Mosaddegh called for the dissolution of the Majlis in August 1953, the editors of the New York Times gave the opinion that: "A plebiscite more fantastic and farcical than any ever held under Hitler or Stalin is now being staged in Iran by Premier Mosaddegh in an effort to make himself unchallenged dictator of the country."


1953 Iranian coup d'état, United States' role, News coverage in the United States and Great Britain
A year after the coup, the New York Times wrote on 6 August 1954, that a new oil "agreement between Iran and a consortium of foreign oil companies" was "good news indeed".


1953 Iranian coup d'état, United States' role, News coverage in the United States and Great Britain
Costly as the dispute over Iranian oil has been to all concerned, the affair may yet be proved worthwhile if lessons are learned from it: Underdeveloped countries with rich resources now have an object lesson in the heavy cost that must be paid by one of their number which goes berserk with fanatical nationalism. It is perhaps too much to hope that Iran's experience will prevent the rise of Mossadeghs in other countries, but that experience may at least strengthen the hands of more reasonable and more far-seeing leaders. In some circles in Great Britain the charge will be pushed that American "imperialism"—in the shape of the American oil firms in the consortium!—has once again elbowed Britain from a historic stronghold.


1953 Iranian coup d'état, United States' role, News coverage in the United States and Great Britain
The documentary Cinematograph aired on 18 August 2011 on the anniversary of the coup. In it, BBC admitted for the first time to the role of BBC Persian radio as the propaganda arm of the British government in Iran. The Cinematograph narrator said:


1953 Iranian coup d'état, United States' role, News coverage in the United States and Great Britain
The British government used the BBC Persian radio for advancing its propaganda against Mosaddegh and anti-Mosaddegh material were repeatedly aired on the radio channel to the extent that Iranian staff at the BBC Persian radio went on strike to protest the move.


1953 Iranian coup d'état, United States' role, News coverage in the United States and Great Britain
The documentary quoted a 21 July 1951 classified document in which a Foreign Office official thanked the British ambassador for his proposals that were precisely followed by the BBC Persian radio to strengthen its propaganda against Mosaddegh:


1953 Iranian coup d'état, United States' role, News coverage in the United States and Great Britain
The BBC had already made most of the points which you listed, but they were very glad to have an indication from you of what was likely to be most effective and will arrange their programme accordingly... We should also avoid direct attacks on the 'ruling classes' since it seems probable that we may want to deal with a government drawn from those classes should Mosaddegh fall.


1953 Iranian coup d'état, United States' role, News coverage in the United States and Great Britain
The document further stressed that the Foreign Office "shall be grateful for [the ambassador's] comments on the propaganda line we have proposed".


1953 Iranian coup d'état, United States' role, News coverage in the United States and Great Britain
An early account of the CIA's role in the coup appeared in The Saturday Evening Post in late 1954, purporting to explain how "the strategic little nation of Iran was rescued from the closing clutch of Moscow." The report was approved by the CIA, and its authors may have been assisted by Kermit Roosevelt Jr., who had written for the Post before.


1953 Iranian coup d'état, Britain's role
Despite the British government's pressure, the National Security Archive released two declassified documents in August 2017 which confirm the British solicitation of the United States' assistance in ousting Mosaddegh.


1953 Iranian coup d'état, Britain's role
According to these records, the British first approached the American government about a plan for the coup in November 1952 "repeatedly" asking U.S. to join the coup, claiming that the Mosaddegh government would be ineffective in preventing a communist takeover, and that Mosaddegh was a threat to America's global fight against communism, which they believed necessitated action; the records also state that UK and U.S. spy agencies had by then had "very tentative and preliminary discussions regarding the practicability of such a move".


1953 Iranian coup d'état, Britain's role
At the time, the American government was already preparing to aid Mosaddegh in his oil dealings with the British, and believed him to be anti-communist—considerations which made the U.S. government skeptical of the plot. Since President Truman's term was drawing to a close in January 1953, and there was too much uncertainty and danger associated with the plot, the U.S. government decided not to take action against Mosaddegh at the time.


1953 Iranian coup d'état, Britain's role
According to the 1952 documents, it was Christopher Steel, the No 2 official in the British embassy in Washington, who "pitched" the idea of the coup to US officials amid the US-Britain talks which had begun in October. The document also says that the British officials rejected Paul Nitze's suggestion that, instead of executing a coup, they mount a "campaign" against Ayatollah Abolqasem Kashani, "a leading opponent of British involvement in Iran's oil industry", and the communist Tudeh Party. They "pressed US for a decision" since they knew "the Truman administration was in its final weeks". According to Wilber, the British Secret Intelligence Service worked with CIA to form a propaganda campaign via "the press, handbills and the Tehran clergy" to "weaken the Mossadeq government in any way possible".


1953 Iranian coup d'état, Britain's role
Oil nationalization law led to a "direct conflict" between Mosaddegh and the British government. So, Britain tried to regain its control over the oil industry in Iran by following a "three-track strategy" aimed at either "pressuring him into a favorable settlement or by removing him from the office." The three component of Britain strategy was: I) "legal maneuvers" including refusing direct negotiation with Mosaddegh, II) Imposing economic sanctions on Iran accompanied by performing war games in the region and III) Removal of Mosaddegh through "covert political action".


1953 Iranian coup d'état, The role of the clergy
Mosaddegh appointed a series of secular ministers to his cabinet during his premiership, losing his support with the clergy. In 1953, Ayatollah Abol-Qasem Kashani and his followers organised a series of protests against Mosaddegh's liberal reforms - such as the extension of the vote to women. By July 1953 when Mosaddegh asked for a critical extension of his emergency powers, "... Clerical members of the Majles who supported Kashani left the National Front Coalition and set up their own Islamic Faction...". (Muslim Warriors). This faction then  boycotted the 1953 referendum about the dissolution of parliament.


1953 Iranian coup d'état, The role of the clergy
At 8am on August the 18th, Ayatollah Behbahan mobilised 3000 stick and club wielding anti-shah protestors formed a mob in Tehran. This was done in the hope that the removal of Mosaddegh would create a more religious government. Separate mobilisation was instigated by Ayatollah Kashani in the country at this time. There has been documentation that both Ayatollah Behbahani and Khomeini received funds from the CIA by some sources. The former's mob would lead Mosaddegh to abandon his residence, and ultimately his capture. Iranian Historian Michael Axworthy stated that "... [ The clergy's] move to oppose Mossadeq was the decisive factor in his downfall...".


1953 Iranian coup d'état, Aftermath
The coup has been said to have "left a profound and long-lasting legacy."


1953 Iranian coup d'état, Aftermath, Blowback
According to the history based on documents released to the National Security Archive and reflected in the book Mohammad Mosaddeq and the 1953 Coup in Iran, the coup caused long-lasting damage to the U.S. reputation.


1953 Iranian coup d'état, Aftermath, Blowback
The '28 Mordad' coup, as it is known by its Persian date [in the Solar Hijri calendar], was a watershed for Iran, for the Middle East and for the standing of the United States in the region. The joint US-British operation ended Iran's drive to assert sovereign control over its own resources and helped put an end to a vibrant chapter in the history of the country's nationalist and democratic movements. These consequences resonated with dramatic effect in later years. When the Shah finally fell in 1979, memories of the US intervention in 1953, which made possible the monarch's subsequent, and increasingly unpopular, 25-year reign intensified the anti-American character of the revolution in the minds of many Iranians.


1953 Iranian coup d'état, Aftermath, Blowback
The authoritarian monarch appreciated the coup, Kermit Roosevelt wrote in his account of the affair. "'I owe my throne to God, my people, my army and to you!' By 'you' he [the shah] meant me and the two countries—Great Britain and the United States—I was representing. We were all heroes."


1953 Iranian coup d'état, Aftermath, Blowback
On 16 June 2000, The New York Times published the secret CIA report, "Clandestine Service History, Overthrow of Premier Mossadeq of Iran, November 1952 – August 1953," partly explaining the coup from CIA agent Wilber's perspective. In a related story, The New York Times reporter James Risen penned a story revealing that Wilber's report, hidden for nearly five decades, had recently come to light.


1953 Iranian coup d'état, Aftermath, Blowback
In the summer of 2001, Ervand Abrahamian writes in the journal Science & Society that Wilber's version of the coup was missing key information some of which was available elsewhere.


1953 Iranian coup d'état, Aftermath, Blowback
The New York Times recently leaked a CIA report on the 1953 American-British overthrow of Mosaddeq, Iran's Prime Minister. It billed the report as a secret history of the secret coup, and treated it as an invaluable substitute for the U.S. files that remain inaccessible. But a reconstruction of the coup from other sources, especially from the archives of the British Foreign Office, indicates that this report is highly sanitized.


1953 Iranian coup d'état, Aftermath, Blowback
It glosses over such sensitive issues as the crucial participation of the U.S. ambassador in the actual overthrow; the role of U.S. military advisers; the harnessing of local Nazis and Muslim terrorists; and the use of assassinations to destabilize the government. What is more, it places the coup in the context of the Cold War rather than that of the Anglo-Iranian oil crisis—a classic case of nationalism clashing with imperialism in the Third World.


1953 Iranian coup d'état, Aftermath, Blowback
In a review of Tim Weiner's Legacy of Ashes, historian Michael Beschloss wrote, "Mr. Weiner argues that a bad C.I.A. track record has encouraged many of our gravest contemporary problems... A generation of Iranians grew up knowing that the C.I.A. had installed the shah," Mr. Weiner notes. "In time, the chaos that the agency had created in the streets of Tehran would return to haunt the United States."


1953 Iranian coup d'état, Aftermath, Blowback
The administration of Dwight D. Eisenhower considered the coup a success, but, given its blowback, that opinion is no longer generally held, because of its "haunting and terrible legacy". In 2000, Madeleine Albright, U.S. Secretary of State, said that intervention by the U.S. in the internal affairs of Iran was a setback for democratic government. The coup is widely believed to have significantly contributed to the 1979 Iranian Revolution, which deposed the "pro-Western" Shah and replaced the monarchy with an "anti-Western" Islamic republic.


1953 Iranian coup d'état, Aftermath, Blowback
"For many Iranians, the coup demonstrated duplicity by the United States, which presented itself as a defender of freedom but did not hesitate to use underhanded methods to overthrow a democratically elected government to suit its own economic and strategic interests", the Agence France-Presse reported.


1953 Iranian coup d'état, Aftermath, Blowback
United States Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas, who visited Iran both before and after the coup, wrote that "When Mosaddegh and Persia started basic reforms, we became alarmed. We united with the British to destroy him; we succeeded; and ever since, our name has not been an honored one in the Middle East."


1953 Iranian coup d'état, Aftermath, Iran, Perceptions of the Shah
When the Shah returned to Iran after the coup, he was greeted by a cheering crowd. He wrote in his memoirs that while he had been a king for over a decade, for the first time he felt that the people had "elected" and "approved" of him, and that he had a "legitimate" popular mandate to carry out his reforms (although some in the crowd may have been bribed). The Shah was never able to remove the reputation of being a "foreign imposed" ruler among non-royalist Iranians. The Shah throughout his rule continued to assume that he was supported by virtually everybody in Iran, and sank into deep dejection when in 1978 massive mobs demanded his ouster. The incident left him in awe of American power, while it also gave him a deep hatred of the British.


1953 Iranian coup d'état, Aftermath, Iran, Bloody suppression of the opposition
An immediate consequence of the coup d'état was the Shah's suppression of all republicanist political dissent, especially the liberal and nationalist opposition umbrella group National Front as well as the (Communist) Tudeh party, and concentration of political power in the Shah and his courtiers.


1953 Iranian coup d'état, Aftermath, Iran, Bloody suppression of the opposition
The minister of Foreign Affairs and the closest associate of Mosaddegh, Hossein Fatemi, was executed by order of the Shah's military court by firing squad on 10 November 1954. According to Kinzer, "The triumphant Shah [Pahlavi] ordered the execution of several dozen military officers and student leaders who had been closely associated with Mohammad Mosaddegh".


1953 Iranian coup d'état, Aftermath, Iran, Bloody suppression of the opposition
As part of the post-coup d'état political repression between 1953 and 1958, the Shah outlawed the National Front, and arrested most of its leaders. The Shah personally spared Mosaddegh the death penalty, and he was given 3 years in prison, followed by house arrest for life.


1953 Iranian coup d'état, Aftermath, Iran, Bloody suppression of the opposition
Many supporters of Iran continued to fight against the new regime, yet they were suppressed with some even being killed. The political party that Mosaddegh founded, the National Front of Iran, was later reorganized by Karim Sanjabi, and is currently being led by the National Poet of Iran Adib Boroumand, who was a strong Mosaddegh supporter and helped spread pro-Mosaddegh propaganda during the Abadan Crisis and its aftermath.


1953 Iranian coup d'état, Aftermath, Iran, Bloody suppression of the opposition
The Communist Tudeh bore the main brunt of the crackdown. The Shah's security forces arrested 4,121 Tudeh political activists including 386 civil servants, 201 college students, 165 teachers, 125 skilled workers, 80 textile workers, and 60 cobblers. Forty were executed (primarily for murder, such as Khosrow Roozbeh), another 14 died under torture and over 200 were sentenced to life imprisonment. The Shah's post-coup dragnet also captured 477 Tudeh members ("22 colonels, 69 majors, 100 captains, 193 lieutenants, 19 noncommissioned officers, and 63 military cadets") who were in the Iranian armed forces.


1953 Iranian coup d'état, Aftermath, Iran, Bloody suppression of the opposition
After their presence was revealed, some National Front supporters complained that this Communist Tudeh military network could have saved Mosaddegh. However, few Tudeh officers commanded powerful field units, especially tank divisions that might have countered the coup. Most of the captured Tudeh officers came from the military academies, police and medical corps. At least eleven of the captured army officers were tortured to death between 1953 and 1958.


1953 Iranian coup d'état, Aftermath, Iran, Creation of a secret police
After the 1953 coup, the Shah's government formed the SAVAK (secret police), many of whose agents were trained in the United States. The SAVAK monitored dissidents and carried out censorship. After the 1971 Siahkal Incident, it was given a "loose leash" to torture suspected dissidents with "brute force" that, over the years, "increased dramatically", and nearly 100 people were executed for political reasons during the last 20 years of the Shah's rule.


1953 Iranian coup d'état, Aftermath, Iran, Creation of a secret police
After the revolution, SAVAK was officially abolished, but was in reality "drastically expanded" into a new organization that killed over 8,000–12,000 prisoners between 1981 and 1985 alone, and 20,000–30,000 in total, with one prisoner who served time under both the Shah and the Islamic Republic declaring that "four months under (Islamic Republic's) warden Asadollah Lajevardi took the toll of four years under SAVAK".


1953 Iranian coup d'état, Aftermath, Iran, Oil policy
Another effect was sharp improvement of Iran's economy; the British-led oil embargo against Iran ended, and oil revenue increased significantly beyond the pre-nationalisation level. Despite Iran not controlling its national oil, the Shah agreed to replacing the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company with a consortium—British Petroleum and eight European and American oil companies; in result, oil revenues increased from $34 million in 1954–1955 to $181 million in 1956–1957, and continued increasing, and the United States sent development aid and advisers.


1953 Iranian coup d'état, Aftermath, Iran, Oil policy
The Shah's government attempted to solve the issue of oil nationalization through this method, and Iran began to develop rapidly under his rule. The Shah later in his memoirs declared that Mosaddegh was a "dictator" who was "damaging" Iran through his "stubbornness", while he (the Shah) "followed" the smarter option. By the 1970s, Iran was wealthier than all of its surrounding neighbors, and economists frequently predicted that it would become a major global economic power, and a developed country.


1953 Iranian coup d'état, Aftermath, Iran, Oil policy
When the Shah attempted during the 1970s to once again control the oil prices (through OPEC), and cancel the same oil consortium agreement that caused the 1953 coup, it resulted in a massive decline in US support for the Shah, and ironically, hastened his downfall.


1953 Iranian coup d'état, Aftermath, Iran, Oil policy
CIA staff historian David Robarge stated: "The CIA carried out [a] successful regime change operation. It also transformed a turbulent constitutional monarchy into an absolutist kingship and induced a succession of unintended consequences." The 1979 Iranian Revolution was a most impactful unintended consequence.


1953 Iranian coup d'état, Aftermath, Internationally
Kinzer wrote that the 1953 coup d'état was the first time the United States used the CIA to overthrow a democratically elected, civil government. The Eisenhower administration viewed Operation Ajax as a success, with "immediate and far-reaching effect.


1953 Iranian coup d'état, Aftermath, Internationally
Overnight, the CIA became a central part of the American foreign policy apparatus, and covert action came to be regarded as a cheap and effective way to shape the course of world events"—a coup engineered by the CIA called Operation PBSuccess toppling the duly elected Guatemalan government of Jacobo Arbenz Guzmán, which had nationalised farm land owned by the United Fruit Company, followed the next year.


1953 Iranian coup d'état, Aftermath, Internationally
A pro-American government in Iran extended the United States' geographic and strategic advantage in the Middle East, as Turkey, also bordering the USSR, was part of NATO.


1953 Iranian coup d'état, Aftermath, Internationally
In 2000, U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright, acknowledged the coup's pivotal role in the troubled relationship and "came closer to apologizing than any American official ever has before".


1953 Iranian coup d'état, Aftermath, Internationally
The Eisenhower administration believed its actions were justified for strategic reasons. ... But the coup was clearly a setback for Iran's political development. And it is easy to see now why many Iranians continue to resent this intervention by America in their internal affairs.


1953 Iranian coup d'état, Aftermath, Internationally
In June 2009, the U.S. President Barack Obama in a speech in Cairo, Egypt, talked about the United States' relationship with Iran, mentioning the role of the U.S. in 1953 Iranian coup saying:


1953 Iranian coup d'état, Aftermath, Internationally
This issue has been a source of tension between the United States and the Islamic Republic of Iran. For many years, Iran has defined itself in part by its opposition to my country, and there is indeed a tumultuous history between us. In the middle of the Cold War, the United States played a role in the overthrow of a democratically elected Iranian government. Since the Islamic Revolution, Iran has played a role in acts of hostage-taking and violence against U.S. troops and civilians. This history is well known. Rather than remain trapped in the past, I have made it clear to Iran's leaders and people that my country is prepared to move forward.


1953 Iranian coup d'état, Legacy
In the Islamic Republic, remembrance of the coup is quite different from that of history books published in the West, and follows the precepts of Ayatollah Khomeini that Islamic jurists must guide the country to prevent "the influence of foreign powers". Kashani came out against Mosaddegh by mid-1953 and "told a foreign correspondent that Mosaddegh had fallen because he had forgotten that the shah enjoyed extensive popular support." A month later, Kashani "went even further and declared that Mosaddegh deserved to be executed because he had committed the ultimate offense: rebelling against the shah, 'betraying' the country, and repeatedly violating the sacred law."


1953 Iranian coup d'état, Legacy
Men associated with Mosaddegh and his ideals dominated Iran's first post-revolutionary government. The first prime minister after the Iranian revolution was Mehdi Bazargan, a close associate of Mosaddegh. But with the subsequent rift between the conservative Islamic establishment and the secular liberal forces, Mosaddegh's work and legacy has been largely ignored by the Islamic Republic establishment. However, Mosaddegh remains a popular historical figure among Iranian opposition factions. Mosaddegh's image is one of the symbols of Iran's opposition movement, also known as the Green Movement. Kinzer writes that Mosaddegh "for most Iranians" is "the most vivid symbol of Iran's long struggle for democracy" and that modern protesters carrying a picture of Mosaddegh is the equivalent of saying "We want democracy" and "No foreign intervention".


1953 Iranian coup d'état, Legacy
In the Islamic Republic of Iran, Kinzer's book All the Shah's Men: An American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror has been censored of descriptions of Ayatollah Abol-Ghasem Kashani's activities during the Anglo-American coup d'état. Mahmood Kashani, the son of Abol-Ghasem Kashani, "one of the top members of the current, ruling élite" whom the Iranian Council of Guardians has twice approved to run for the presidency, denies there was a coup d'état in 1953, saying Mosaddegh was obeying British plans to undermine the role of Shia clerics.


1953 Iranian coup d'état, Legacy
This allegation also is posited in the book Khaterat-e Arteshbod-e Baznesheshteh Hossein Fardoust (The Memoirs of Retired General Hossein Fardoust), published in the Islamic Republic and allegedly written by Hossein Fardoust, a former SAVAK officer. It says that rather than being a mortal enemy of the British, Mohammad Mosaddegh always favored them, and his nationalisation campaign of the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company was inspired by "the British themselves". Scholar Ervand Abrahamian suggests that the fact that Fardoust's death was announced before publication of the book may be significant, as the Islamic Republic authorities may have forced him into writing such statements under duress.


1953 Iranian coup d'état, Viewpoints
Ruhollah Khomeini said the government did not pay enough attention to religious figures which caused the coup d'état to take place and described the separation between religion and politics as a fault in contemporary history.


1953 Iranian coup d'état, Viewpoints
Ali Khamenei believed that Mosaddegh trusted the United States and asked them to help confront Britain. As a result, the 1953 coup d'état was executed by the U.S. against Mosaddegh.


1953 Iranian coup d'état, Viewpoints
President Barack Obama of the United States, said in regard to the role of the U.S. in the 1953 Iranian coup d'état that the U.S. played a major role in the overthrow of a democratically elected prime minister.


1953 Iranian coup d'état, Viewpoints
In a tweet sent on 19 August 2018, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif stated that the U.S. overthrew the popularly elected democratic government of Dr. Mosaddegh with the 1953 coup, restoring the dictatorship and subjugating Iranians for the next 25 years.


1953 Iranian coup d'état, In popular culture
Directed by Hasan Fathi and written jointly with playwright and university professor Naghmeh Samini, the TV series Shahrzad is the story of a love broken apart by events in the aftermath of the 1953 coup that overthrew the democratically elected prime minister, Mohammad Mosaddegh.


1953 Iranian coup d'état, In popular culture
Cognito Comics/Verso Books has published a nonfiction graphic novel of the history, Operation AJAX: The Story of the CIA Coup That Remade The Middle East, that covers events leading to how the CIA hired rival mobs to create chaos and overthrow the country.


1953 Iranian parliamentary dissolution referendum
A referendum on the dissolution of Parliament, the first referendum ever held in Iran, was held in August 1953. The dissolution was approved by more than 99% of voters.


1953 Iranian parliamentary dissolution referendum
Following the referendum, there were talks about another referendum to abolish the Pahlavi dynasty and make Iran a republic, however the government was overthrown by a coup d'état shortly after.


1953 Iranian parliamentary dissolution referendum, Conduct
The balloting was not secret and there were two separate voting booths, i.e. the opponents of Mossadegh had to cast their vote in a separate tent. Critics pointed that the referendum had ignored the democratic demand for secret ballots.


1953 Iraqi parliamentary election
Parliamentary elections were held in Iraq on 17 January 1953 to elect the members of the Chamber of Deputies. The result was a victory for the Constitutional Union Party, which won 67 of the 135 seats. Only 57 seats were contested.


1953 Irish Greyhound Derby
The 1953 Irish Greyhound Derby took place during July and August with the final being held at Harold's Cross Stadium in Dublin on 7 August 1953.


1953 Irish Greyhound Derby
The winner Spanish Battleship won £500 and was trained by Tom Lynch and owned by Tim 'Chubb' O'Connor.


1953 Irish Greyhound Derby, Competition Report
Tim 'Chubb' O'Connor had taken charge of a litter in Ireland sired by Spanish Chestnut (the half-brother of 1949 Irish Greyhound Derby champion Spanish Lad). One of the litter Spanish Battleship was entered for the St Leger at Limerick but after winning a heat he failed to progress from the second round. O'Connor felt that he had gone well enough and phoned Tom Lynch in Dublin and asked him to train the dog for forthcoming Derby. The Derby was due to be held at Harolds Cross where regular racegoers had already seen Spanish Battleship perform well there.


1953 Irish Greyhound Derby, Competition Report
In the first round he won in 29.84 before winning his semi-final in 30.04. The Irish public took a liking to the greyhound and he was sent off 2-1 favourite for the final. The fawn brindle made his trademark exit from the traps by going into an early lead but was challenged by Gay McKenna's Smokey Glen for much of the race. Spanish Battleship stayed on gamely to take the final win in 29.78. Tom Lynch had deservedly won Ireland's premier race for the first time and Spanish Battleship was on his way to becoming the greatest greyhound in the history of Irish racing.


1953 Isle of Man TT
The 1953 Isle of Man Tourist Trophy saw Ray Amm (Rhodesia) win both Senior and Junior TT races. Bob McIntyre retired for his first TT, the Junior.


1953 Isle of Thanet by-election
The 1953 Isle of Thanet by-election was held on 12 March 1953. It was held due to the resignation of the incumbent Conservative MP, Hon. Edward Carson. It was retained by the Conservative candidate, William Rees-Davies.


1953 Italian Grand Prix
The 1953 Italian Grand Prix was a Formula Two race held on 13 September 1953 at Monza. It was the ninth and final race in the 1953 World Championship of Drivers, which was run to Formula Two rules in 1952 and 1953, rather than the Formula One regulations normally used. This made it the last World Championship race to run under the Formula Two regulations. The 80-lap race was won by Maserati driver Juan Manuel Fangio after he started from second position. Nino Farina finished second for the Ferrari team and his teammate Luigi Villoresi came in third.


1953 Italian Grand Prix, Race report
The initial part of the race was a four-way battle between Alberto Ascari, Giuseppe Farina, Juan Manuel Fangio and Onofre Marimón. With five drivers running together on the last lap, the race saw a spectacular finish with Ascari and Farina ahead of Fangio approaching the last corner. Ascari made a mistake and spun. To avoid him, Farina pulled to the grass but recovered later. Fangio pounced on this window of opportunity and took a famous win. Ascari claimed the World Championship for Drivers' for the second, and final, time.


1953 Italian Senate election in Lombardy
Lombardy elected its second delegation to the Italian Senate on June 7, 1953. This election was a part of national Italian general election of 1953 even if, according to the Italian Constitution, every senatorial challenge in each Region is a single and independent race.


1953 Italian Senate election in Lombardy
The election was won by the centrist Christian Democracy, as it happened at national level. All Lombard provinces gave a majority or at least a plurality to the winning party.


1953 Italian Senate election in Lombardy, Background
Alcide De Gasperi's Christian Democracy weakened in this election, after that the exceptional conditions of 1948 had expired. However, Lombardy remained a stronghold for the national leading party.


1953 Italian Senate election in Lombardy, Background
Communists and Socialists obtained more votes running divided than they did together five years before, absorbing most of the Republican electorate. Even if the Communists obtained some seats in the agricultural south, the Socialists remarked their strength in the Milanese industrial neighbourhood. The Italian Democratic Socialist Party obtained a seat in Milan, a city led by its mayor Virgilio Ferrari, while the rightist and anti-constitutional Italian Social Movement and the Monarchist National Party took away some Conservative votes from the Christian Democracy and obtained their first seats in the bourgeois centers of Milan and Como.


1953 Italian Senate election in Lombardy, Electoral system
The electoral system introduced in 1948 for the newly elected Senate was a strange hybrid which established a form of proportional representation into FPTP-like constituencies. A candidate needed a landslide victory of more than 65% of votes to obtain a direct mandate. All constituencies where this result was not reached entered into an at-large calculation based upon the D'Hondt method to distribute the seats between the parties, and candidates with the best percentages of suffrages inside their party list were elected.


1953 Italian general election
General elections were held in Italy on Sunday 7 June 1953, to choose the Second Republican Parliament. They were a test for leading centrist coalition ruled by Prime Minister Alcide De Gasperi.


1953 Italian general election, The Scam Law
The election was characterized by changes in the electoral law. Even if the general structure remained uncorrupted, the government introduced a superbonus of two thirds of seats in the House for the coalition which would obtain at-large the absolute majority of votes. The change was hugely opposed by the opposition parties as well as the smaller DC coalition partners, which had no realistic chances of success. The new law was called Scam Law by its detractors, including some dissidents of minor government parties who founded special opposition groups to deny the artificial landslide to the Christian Democracy.


1953 Italian general election, Historical background
In the 1950s Italy became a founding member of the NATO alliance (1949), a member of the United Nations (1955) and an ally of the United States, which helped to revive the Italian economy through the Marshall Plan. In the same years, Italy also became a founding member of the ECSC (1952) and of the European Economic Community (1957), later developed into the European Union. At the end of the 1950s an impressive economic growth was termed "Economic Miracle". Italian families used their newfound wealth to purchase consumer durables for the first time. Between 1958 and 1965, the percentage of families owning a television rose from 12% to 49%, washing machines from 3% to 23%, and fridges from 13% to 55%.


1953 Italian general election, Historical background
Christian Democracy's main support areas (sometimes known as "vote tanks") were the rural areas in South, Center and North-East Italy, whereas the industrial North-West had more left-leaning support because of the larger working class. An interesting exception were the "red regions" (Emilia Romagna, Tuscany, Umbria) where the Italian Communist Party has historically had a wide support. This is considered a consequence of the particular sharecropping ("mezzadria") farming contracts used in these regions.


1953 Italian general election, Historical background
The Holy See actively supported the Christian Democracy, judging it would be a mortal sin for a Catholic to vote for the Communist party and excommunicating all its supporters. In practice, however, many Communists remained religious: Emilia was known to be an area where people were both religious and communists. Giovanni Guareschi wrote his novels about Don Camillo describing a village, Brescello, whose inhabitants are at the same time loyal to priest Camillo and communist mayor Peppone, who are fierce rivals.


1953 Italian general election, Historical background
In 1953, a Parliamentary Commission on poverty estimated that 24% of Italian families were either “destitute” or “in hardship,” 21% of dwellings were overcrowded, 52% of homes in the south had no running drinking water, and only 57% had a lavatory. In the 1950s, several important reforms were launched: e.g. agrarian reform (legge Scelba), fiscal reform (legge Vanoni), and the country enjoyed a period of extraordinary economic development (miracolo economico, economic miracle). In this period of time, a massive population transfer, from the impoverished South to the booming industrial North, took place.


1953 Italian general election, Historical background
This however exacerbated social contrasts, including between the old-established "worker aristocracy" and the new less qualified immigrants ("operaio-massa") of Southern origin. In addition, a wide gap between rich and poor continued to exist. By the end of the Sixties, it was estimated that 4 million Italians (out of a population of 54.5 million) were unemployed, underemployed, and casual labourers. As noted by the historian Paul Ginsborg, the affluent society to this section of the Italian population “might have meant a television set but precious little else.”


1953 Italian general election, Results
The complaint campaign of the oppositions against the Scam Law reached its goal. The Centrist coalition (DC, PSDI, PLI, PRI, SVP, PSAZ) won 49.9% of the national vote, coming just a few thousand votes short of the threshold for a two-thirds majority. Instead, the election resulted in an ordinary proportional distribution of the seats. Minor dissident parties resulted determinant for the final result, especially the short-lived National Democratic Alliance. Leading party Christian Democracy did not repeat the extraordinary result of five years before, which had been obtained under special conditions linked to the Cold War, and lost a lot of votes to the right wing, which included resurgent fascist politicians particularly in Southern Italy.


1953 Italian general election, Results
Technically, the government won the election, with a clear working majority of seats in both houses. But frustration at the failure to garner the expected supermajority caused big problems for the leading coalition. De Gasperi was forced to resign by the Parliament on August 2: the Trentin statesman consequently retired and died twelve months later. The legislature continued with weak governments, with minor parties refusing institutional responsibilities. Giuseppe Pella rose to power, but fell after five months only, following strong disputes about the status of the Free Territory of Trieste which Pella was claiming.


1953 Italian general election, Results
Amintore Fanfani not receiving a vote of confidence, Mario Scelba and Antonio Segni followed with more traditional centrist coalitions supported by PSDI and PLI: under the administration of the first one, the problem of Trieste was closed ceding Koper to Yugoslavia. The parliamentary term was closed by the minority government chaired by Adone Zoli, finishing a legislature which hugely weakened the office of the Prime Minister, held by six different rulers.


1953 Italian general election in Veneto
The Italian general election of 1953 took place on 7 June 1953.


1953 Italian general election in Veneto
Christian Democracy (DC) lost some ground, but still gained a convincing 53.4% of the vote (62.2% in Vicenza, 59.9% in Treviso and 59.6% in Padua). The Italian Socialist Party (PSI) and the Italian Communist Party (PCI) ran separate lists, gaining 14.6 and 14.2% of the vote. Veneto was thus one of the few regions of Italy where the Socialists were stronger than the PCI, even without counting the PSDI (5.6%). The PSI got its best results in the provinces of Venice (21.6%), Rovigo (19.8%) and Verona (18.2%), but not in the traditional Socialist stronghold of Belluno, where it was passed by the PSDI (12.3 against 11.0%). The PCI was stronger in Rovigo (28.2%) and Venice (19.7%).


1953 Japan Series
The 1953 Japan Series was the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) championship series for the 1953 season. It was the fourth Japan Series and featured the Pacific League champions, the Nankai Hawks, against the Central League champions, the Yomiuri Giants.


1953 Japan Series, Matchups, Game 1
Saturday, October 10, 1953 – 2:05 pm at Osaka Stadium in Osaka, Osaka Prefecture


1953 Japan Series, Matchups, Game 2
Sunday, October 11, 1953 – 2:05 pm at Osaka Stadium in Osaka, Osaka Prefecture


1953 Japan Series, Matchups, Game 3
Monday, October 12, 1953 – 1:35 pm at Korakuen Stadium in Bunkyō, Tokyo


1953 Japan Series, Matchups, Game 4
Tuesday, October 13, 1953 – 1:33 pm at Korakuen Stadium in Bunkyō, Tokyo


1953 Japan Series, Matchups, Game 5
Wednesday, October 14, 1953 – 2:02 pm at Osaka Stadium in Osaka, Osaka Prefecture


1953 Japan Series, Matchups, Game 6
Thursday, October 15, 1953 – 2:00 pm at Koshien Stadium in Nishinomiya, Hyōgo Prefecture


1953 Japan Series, Matchups, Game 7
Friday, October 16, 1953 – 1:30 pm at Korakuen Stadium in Bunkyō, Tokyo


1953 Japanese House of Councillors election
House of Councillors elections were held in Japan on 24 April 1953, electing half the seats in the House. The Yoshida faction of the Liberal Party won the most seats.


1953 Japanese general election
General elections were held in Japan on 19 April 1953. The result was a victory for the Liberal Party, which won 202 of the 466 seats. Voter turnout was 74.2%.


1953 Kahibah state by-election
A by-election was held for the New South Wales Legislative Assembly seat of Kahibah on 31 October 1953. It was triggered by the forced resignation of Labor MLA Joshua Arthur, after a Royal Commission found his dealings with Reginald Doyle were improper. and was won by independent candidate Tom Armstrong.


1953 Kahibah state by-election, Background
Joshua Arthur had been the Labor member for Kahibah and its predecessor seat of Hamilton since 1935. He had been a minister in the McGirr government, serving as Minister for Tourist Activities and Immigration from 1949 to 1950, before being promoted to Secretary for Mines and Minister for Immigration.


1953 Kahibah state by-election, Background
On 9 February 1953, William Wentworth, a NSW member of federal parliament, aired allegations concerning Arthur's associations with Reginald Doyle, a Newcastle-based conman who was wanted on fraud charges. Arthur voluntarily stood down as a minister while declaring he would fight to clear his name, and the state government set up a Royal Commission into the allegations, to be held under Judge George Amsberg of the District Court. Amsberg's report, handed down in August after several months of hearings, found that Arthur had acted improperly but not corruptly in his dealings with Doyle.


1953 Kahibah state by-election, Background
In the immediate wake of the Royal Commission's findings, Arthur announced on 20 August that he would resign as member for Kahibah, but would contest the resulting by-election. The matter of his continued membership of the Labor was initially undecided, but when it became clear that the state executive would not support him, Arthur announced that he would resign from the party and not contest the by-election. This was insufficient for the executive, who rejected his resignation and formally expelled him from the party on 22 August.


1953 Kahibah state by-election, Candidates
The Labor candidate for the by-election was Joshua Arthur Sr., the 71-year-old father of the outgoing member. His nomination and eventual victory in the preselection ballot was widely considered a surprise. There was reported concern within the Labor Party about his electability in the wake of the Doyle scandal, but a rumored move to overturn the result did not eventuate. The campaign was heavily tied to the former member; not only was his father the Labor candidate, but his wife served as campaign manager.


1953 Kahibah state by-election, Candidates
Tom Armstrong, a Newcastle councillor, former mayor, and prominent union official, contested the seat as an independent Labor candidate. Inglis Alexander, the Liberal candidate from the 1952 election, also contested the election as independent Labor after losing Liberal preselection.


1953 Kahibah state by-election, Candidates
The endorsed Liberal candidate was Harry Quinlan, while the endorsed Communist candidate was Douglas Olive.


1953 Kahibah state by-election, Result
The by-election was a disastrous defeat for Labor in one of their safest seats. Arthur suffered a 40% swing against, finishing third behind independent candidate Armstrong and Liberal candidate Quinlan, with Armstrong being elected on Arthur's preferences.


1953 Kahibah state by-election, Aftermath
Armstrong had never been a member of the Labor Party, but generally supported the Labor government throughout his term. He was re-elected at the 1956 election, but died suddenly in March 1957. The seat reverted to Labor control upon his death, being won by endorsed candidate Jack Stewart.


1953 Kangaroo tour of New Zealand
The 1953 Kangaroo Tour of New Zealand was a mid-season tour of New Zealand by the Australia national rugby league team. The Australians played nine matches on tour, including three tests against the New Zealand national rugby league team. The tour began on 24 June and finished on 18 July.


1953 Kangaroo tour of New Zealand, Leadership
Clive Churchill was both the captain and the coach of the touring side. He appeared in eight of the nine matches. In the one game in which Churchill was absent, against Northland, Ken McCaffery captained the Australian team. The team was managed by Dudley Locke of Wollongong and George McLeod of Maryborough.


1953 Kangaroo tour of New Zealand, Touring squad
The Rugby League News published the touring team including the players' ages and weights. Match details - listing surnames of both teams and the point scorers - were included in E.E. Christensen's Official Rugby League Yearbook, as was a summary of the players' point-scoring. Crocker, Davies, Drew, Hornery, Banks, McCaffery, McGovern and Watson were selected from Queensland clubs. Carlson, Gill and Paul were selected from clubs in New South Wales Country areas. The balance of the squad had played for Sydney based clubs during the 1953 season.


1953 Kangaroo tour of New Zealand, Tour
The Australians played nine matches on the tour, winning seven matches and losing two, both being tests against the Kiwis.


1953 Kano riot
The Kano riot of 1953 refers to the riot, which broke out in the ancient city of Kano, located in Northern Nigeria, in May 1953. The nature of the riot were clashes between Northerners who were opposed to Nigeria's Independence and Southerners made up of mainly the Yorubas and the Igbos who supported immediate independence for Nigeria. The riot that lasted for four days claimed many lives of the Southerners and Northerners and many others were wounded.


1953 Kano riot, Causes
The remote cause of the riot was the strained relationship between the Northern and Southern political leaders over the issue of self-government in 1956. This strained relationship started with a 1953 motion for self-government for Nigeria in 1956 tabled in the House of Representatives by a member of the Action Group (AG), Chief Anthony Enahoro. The Northerners did not accept the motion. The leader of the Northern People's Congress (NPC) and the Sardauna of Sokoto, Alhaji Ahmadu Bello, in a counter-motion, replaced "in the year 1956" with the phrase "as soon as practicable".


1953 Kano riot, Causes
Another Northern member of the House moved a motion for adjournment, a motion which Southern members of AG and the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC) viewed as a delay tactics. All the AG and NCNC members in the house walked out as a result of the adjournment motion.


1953 Kano riot, Causes
When the Northern delegates left the House, they were confronted by hostile crowds in Lagos who insulted, jeered and called them all sorts of names. Members of the Northern delegation were embittered and in their "Eight Point Program" in the Northern Regional Legislative House, they sought for secession. The last straw that broke the camel's back was the tour by a delegation of the AG and NCNC led by Chief Samuel Akintola. That tour which was aimed at campaigning for self-government acted as the immediate cause of the Kano riot. It sparked off a chain of disorder that culminated in the riot. The riot took place at Sabon Gari an area predominantly occupied by southern Nigerians.


1953 Kano riot, Riot
There was already growing tension in the North when the Action Group northern tour came to Kano during the weekend of 15–17 May, the tension was a result of the hostility towards the Northern delegation in Lagos. An orderly demonstration by the Northern Peoples Congress supporters against a proposed Action Group meeting took place on 15 May. This was followed by small skirmishes the following day. Disturbances that led to the riot started out at the Colonial Hotel, on 16 May 1953 which was supposed to be the venue of a meeting by the Action Group led by Akintola.


1953 Kano riot, Riot
Prior the meeting, the Kano Native Authority withdrew its permission to grant the meeting. A mob gathered outside of the hotel and started stoning people close to the hotel, during the fracas, two people believed to be southerners died, the mob later attempted to gain entry into Sabon Gari but were subdued by the Native Authority police.


1953 Kano riot, Riot
The situation became more serious and became an inter-ethnic crisis on 17 May when mobs of hooligans from Northern section of Kano, in particular Fagge attempted to break into the Southern and Igbo dominated Sabon Gari area with some success, though their original chants were against the Yorubas, the casualties in the Sabon Gari area were mostly Igbos. Shops in the Sabon Gari market were looted and violent attacks took place. But the Native Authority police and the Army were called upon and prevented further entry of hooligans into the Kano area.


1953 Kano riot, Riot
The skirmishes further spilled into the indigenous Kano areas such as Fagge where small unorganized groups of people of different ethnic groups clashed. My father, Dennis William Lyndon, told us of his experience in command of some of the troops. His orders were strict regarding the limited objectives of protection of property and of not provoking any escalation. With their bayonets fixed he held his men steady even as women and children were brought before him, their arms lopped off with machetes and fuel thrown over them before they were set alight. This was one of the worst of his experiences as an officer of the British army.


1953 Kano riot, Riot
An exchange of prisoners took place to reduce the tension, Southerners who were arrested were released and Northerners also released; Northerners in the Sabon Gari area were asked to leave and Southerners in the Fagge area were asked to move to Sabon Gari for the meantime. About 46 Nigerians mostly Northerners and Igbos died during the clash and more than 200 people were treated for injuries. Though it was immediately called an inter-ethnic riot by the colonial government in Nigeria, the political leaders termed it a political riot between people who want self government in 1956 and those who want imperialism to continue.


1953 Kansas Jayhawks football team
The 1953 Kansas Jayhawks football team represented the University of Kansas in the Big Seven Conference during the 1953 college football season. In their sixth season under head coach Jules V. Sikes, the Jayhawks compiled a 2–8 record (2–4 against conference opponents), finished tied for fourth in the Big Seven Conference, and were outscored by all opponents by a combined total of 179 to 83. They played their home games at Memorial Stadium in Lawrence, Kansas.


1953 Kansas Jayhawks football team
The team's statistical leaders included Don Hess with 369 rushing yards and 20 points scored, and John McFarland with 343 passing yards. Morris Kay and Bob Hantla were the team captains.


1953 Kansas State Wildcats football team
The 1953 Kansas State Wildcats football team represented Kansas State University in the 1953 college football season. The team's head football coach was Bill Meek. The Wildcats played their home games in Memorial Stadium. 1953 saw the Wildcats finish with a record of 6–3–1, and a 4–2 record in Big Seven Conference play, tied for second in the conference. The Wildcats scored 198 points while giving up 116.


1953 Kansas State Wildcats football team
Kansas State started the season with a 5–1 record, and made the program's first appearance in the top 20 of a national ranking system at #18 in the Coaches Poll on October 28. 1953 was also the first year that Kansas State played on national television, when its game on November 7 against rival Kansas was broadcast on NBC.


1953 Kansas State Wildcats football team
The team finished the season leading the NCAA in punt returns (23.8 yards per punt average).


1953 Kategoria e Dytë
The 1953 Kategoria e Dytë was the 9th season of a second-tier association football league in Albania. The season started in March and ended in August. After the interruption of 1952 the Second Division resumed with the formula of the 14 teams in two groups and the final by title and promotions between the two first classified.


1953 Kategoria e Dytë
Spartaku Tiranë wins the title and promotion, but thanks to the Federation's decision to enlarge the First Division to 12 teams, Puna Elbasan also gains promotion, although defeated in the play-off by the penultimate of the major series, and Puna Kavajë, who wins a special play-off with the second in the other group.


1953 Kategoria e Dytë, Promotion playoffs
The second-place finishers in the groups played in two match promotion playoffs.


1953 Kathmandu municipal election
Local elections to a municipal council for Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal, were first held on September 9, 1953. Candidates nominated by the illegal Communist Party of Nepal got 50% of the total votes cast. Out of a total of 19 seats, six were won by communists, four by Nepali Congress, four by Praja Parishad, one by Gorkha Parishad and four by independents.


1953 Kathmandu municipal election
Amongst the elected communists was the chairman of the council, Janak Man Singh. However, his tenure became short. A jurisdictional dispute emerged between the municipal council and the national government. A no-confidence vote removed Singh from his office and the national government banned him from entering the municipal council office. Singh was arrested when attempting to enter the office, and was jailed.


1953 Kent State Golden Flashes football team
The 1953 Kent State Golden Flashes football team was an American football team that represented Kent State University  in the Mid-American Conference (MAC) during the 1953 college football season. In their eighth season under head coach Trevor J. Rees, the Golden Flashes compiled a 7–2 record (3–1 against MAC opponents), finished in a tie for third place in the MAC, and outscored all opponents by a combined total of 250 to 103.


1953 Kent State Golden Flashes football team
The team's statistical leaders included Lou Mariano with 816 rushing yards, Don Burke with 577 passing yards, and Gino Gioia with 84 receiving yards. Fullback Jim Cullom and offensive tackle Al Kilgore were selected as first-team All-MAC players.


1953 Kentucky Derby
The 1953 Kentucky Derby was the 79th running of the Kentucky Derby. The race took place on May 2, 1953.


1953 Kentucky Wildcats football team
The 1953 Kentucky Wildcats football team represented the University of Kentucky in the 1953 college football season. The team scored 201 points while allowing 116 points. This was Bear Bryant's final season as head coach at Kentucky.


1953 Kilkenny Senior Hurling Championship
The 1953 Kilkenny Senior Hurling Championship was the 59th staging of the Kilkenny Senior Hurling Championship since its establishment by the Kilkenny County Board.


1953 Kilkenny Senior Hurling Championship
On 29 November 1953, Bennettsbridge won the championship after a 3-11 to 3-06 defeat of Slieverue in the final. It was their third championship title overall and their second title in succession.


1953 LFF Lyga
The 1953 LFF Lyga was the 32nd season of the LFF Lyga football competition in Lithuania. It was contested by 13 teams, and Elnias Šiauliai won the championship.


1953 LPGA Tour
The 1953 LPGA Tour was the fourth season since the LPGA Tour officially began in 1950. The season ran from January 15 to October 18. The season consisted of 25 official money events. Louise Suggs won the most tournaments, nine. She also led the money list with earnings of $19,816.


1953 LPGA Tour
This season also saw the introduction of the Vare Trophy for the lowest scoring average, won by Patty Berg. There was only one first-time winner in 1953, Jackie Pung.


1953 LPGA Tour, Tournament results
The following table shows all the official money events for the 1953 season. "Date" is the ending date of the tournament. The numbers in parentheses after the winners' names are the number of wins they had on the tour up to and including that event. Majors are shown in bold.


1953 LSU Tigers football team
The 1953 LSU Tigers football team represented Louisiana State University (LSU) as a member of the Southeastern Conference during the 1953 college football season. Led by sixth-year head coach Gaynell Tinsley, the Tigers compiling an overall record of 5–3–3 with a mark of 2–3–3 in conference play, placing eighth in the SEC.


1953 La Flèche Wallonne
The 1953 La Flèche Wallonne was the 17th edition of La Flèche Wallonne cycle race and was held on 2 May 1953. The race started in Charleroi and finished in Liège. The race was won by Stan Ockers.


1953 Labour Party Shadow Cabinet election
Elections to the Labour Party's Shadow Cabinet (more formally, its "Parliamentary Committee") occurred in 1953. In addition to the 12 members elected, the Leader (Clement Attlee), Deputy Leader (Herbert Morrison), Labour Chief Whip (William Whiteley), Labour Leader in the House of Lords (William Jowitt) were automatically members. All incumbent members of the Shadow Cabinet retained their seats.


1953 Labour Party deputy leadership election
The 1953 Labour Party deputy leadership election took place on 29 October	1953, after sitting deputy leader Herbert Morrison was challenged by Aneurin Bevan.


1953 Labour Party deputy leadership election, Sources
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1953 Lady Wigram Trophy
The 1953 Lady Wigram Trophy was a motor race held at the Wigram Airfield Circuit on 28 February 1953. It was the third Lady Wigram Trophy to be held and was won by Ron Roycroft in the Alfa Romeo Tipo B. This was the third straight win for the Tipo B car and Roycroft completed the weekend in dominant fashion achieving pole position and the fastest lap as well as the race win.


1953 Lafayette Leopards baseball team
The 1953 Lafayette Leopards baseball team represented Lafayette College in the 1953 NCAA baseball season. The Leopards played their home games at Fisher Field. The team was coached by Charlie Gelbert in his 8th year at Lafayette.


1953 Lafayette Leopards baseball team
The Leopards won the District II Playoff to advanced to the College World Series, where they were defeated by the Texas Longhorns.


1953 Lafayette Leopards football team
The 1953 Lafayette Leopards football team was an American football team that represented Lafayette College in the Middle Three Conference during the 1953 college football season. In its second season under head coach Steve Hokuf, the team compiled a 5–4 record. Joseph O'Lenic was the team captain. The team played its home games at Fisher Field in Easton, Pennsylvania.


1953 Lahore riots
The Lahore riots of 1953 were a series of violent riots against the Ahmadiyya Movement, a faith marginalized in Pakistan, mainly in the city of Lahore, Pakistan as well as the rest of Punjab, which were eventually quelled by the Pakistan Army who declared three months of martial law. The demonstrations began in February 1953, soon escalating into citywide incidents, including looting, arson and the murder of somewhere between 200 to 2000 people, while thousands more were left displaced. According to the official inquiry conducted by the Punjab Government the actual number killed in these riots were around 20 people.


1953 Lahore riots
The page one of the inquiry says "Before the declaration of Martial Law, the police had to resort to firing in several places and at least two persons were killed on the night of 4th March and ten on 5th March, Sixty-six persons more must have been injured in the firing because that number of wounded persons admitted to the Lahore hospitals had gunshot wounds. The number of casualties admitted by the military to have been caused in quelling the disturbances in Lahore was eleven killed and forty-nine wounded.


1953 Lahore riots
In some other towns also there were a number of casualties caused by firing by the police or the military.". Official Unable to contain the increasingly widespread civil disorder, Governor-General Ghulam Muhammad handed over the administration of the city to the army under Lieutenant General Azam Khan, imposing martial law on 6 March.


1953 Lahore riots
One of the major controversial differences between Ahmadis and mainstream Sunni and Shia Muslims is their different interpretations of Khatam an-Nabiyyin. Mainstream Sunni and Shia Muslims are awaiting the coming of the Mahdi and the Second Coming of Jesus and reject the claims of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad whom Ahmadis believe to be the Promised Messiah and Mahdi. The Ahmadiyya Community was a vocal proponent of the Pakistan Movement and were actively engaged with the Muslim league having strong relations with many prominent Muslim Leaguers and were opposed to the Congress backed Majlis-e-Ahrar-ul-Islam.


1953 Lahore riots
After the independence of Pakistan in 1947, Ahmadis prospered and reached many high ranking Government and Military positions in Pakistan, due to an extremely high Literacy rate. They held up stay as an important political force in Pakistan, due to its support for secularism and acted as a counterbalance to Majlis-e-Ahrar-ul-Islam. This group was disillusioned and disorganized after 1947 and politically isolated. Even before partition one of its primary targets was the Ahmadiyya movement. However, in 1949, the Majlis-e-Ahrar launched countrywide campaigns and protests resulting in a ban on Majlis-e-Ahrar in 1954.


1953 Lahore riots, Demands and culmination
Disturbances began after an ultimatum was delivered to the Prime Minister of Pakistan on 21 January 1953 by a deputation of ulama representing Majlis-i Amal (council of action) constituted by an All-Pakistan Muslim Parties Convention held in Karachi from 16 to 18 January 1953. (Including Tehreek-e-Khatme Nabuwwat — under Majlis-e-Ahrar-ul-Islam) The ultimatum stated unless three demands were met:


1953 Lahore riots, Disturbances and aftermath
On 6 March martial law was declared. Two people were killed by police prior to martial law and casualties "admitted by the military" caused in "quelling the disturbances in Lahore" were eleven killed and 49 wounded.


1953 Lahore riots, Disturbances and aftermath
Marking the military's first foray into civilian politics, the 70-day-long military deployment saw Lahore return to normalcy under Azam Khan's coherent leadership ; the Secretary General of the Awami Muslim League, Maulana Abdul Sattar Khan Niazi, was arrested and sentenced to death, but his sentence was subsequently commuted. The riots also brought unprecedented political consequences; Ghulam Muhammad first dismissed Mian Mumtaz Daultana from the post of Chief Minister of Punjab on 24 March, allegedly for manipulating the religious element in anti-Ahmadi violence for political benefits.


1953 Lahore riots, Disturbances and aftermath
Next on 17 April, using his special powers under the Government of India Act 1935, Ghulam Muhammad dismissed Prime Minister, Khwaja Nazimuddin and the entire federal cabinet. Muhammad Ali Bogra (Pakistan's ambassador to the United States) replaced him. Bogra, who did not know why he was being called back, took the oath as new Prime Minister within hours of Nazimuddin's dismissal.


1953 Lahore riots, Disturbances and aftermath
On 19 June 1953 a Court Of Inquiry was established to look into disturbances, known as the Punjab Disturbances Court Of Inquiry. The inquiry commenced on 1 July and held 117 sittings. The evidence was concluded on 23 January 1954 and arguments in the case lasted to 28 February 1954. Conclusions were formulated and the report issued 10 April 1954.


1953 Lang by-election
A by-election was held for the Australian House of Representatives seat of Lang on 29 August 1953. This was triggered by the death of Labor MP Dan Mulcahy. A by-election for the seat of Corangamite was held on the same day.


1953 Latin Cup (basketball)
The 1953 Latin Cup was the 1st edition of the Latin Cup. It took place at Frontón Recoletos, Madrid, Spain, on April 5-8, 1953 with the participations of Real Madrid, Borletti Milano Milano (champions of the 1951–52 Lega Basket Serie A), ASVEL (champions of the 1951–52 Nationale 1) and Jonction (champions of the 1952–53 Ligue Nationale A). In the Day 3 where the match held the title, Real Madrid won Borletti by 63–58 and became Latin Cup champions.


1953 Latvian SSR Higher League, Overview
It was contested by 7 teams, and Sarkanais Metalurgs won the championship.


1953 Lebanese general election
General elections were held in Lebanon between 12 July and 9 August 1953, the first under the new electoral system which allowed candidates to win with a plurality of votes, rather than requiring a second round. Independent candidates won the majority of seats. Voter turnout was 50.0%.


1953 Leeds City Council election
The Leeds municipal elections were held on Thursday 7 May 1953, with one third of the council as well as a vacancy in Richmond Hill to be elected.


1953 Leeds City Council election
Winning control of Leeds was one of Labour's highlights in a night that seen them make gains across the country. Whilst there was a swing away from Labour to the Conservatives of over four percent from the previous year's high benchmark, Labour were able to repeat most of the gains they achieved the year before, with the two exceptions being Armley - a seat they already held - and Beeston, which the Tories managed to hold by sixty-six votes this time around. In total they gained seven seats, replacing the Tories slim majority of two with a majority of twelve. Turnout continued its trend downwards with a post-war low of 41.4%.


1953 Leeds City Council election, Election result
The result had the following consequences for the total number of seats on the council after the elections:


1953 Lehigh Engineers football team
The 1953 Lehigh Engineers football team was an American football team that represented Lehigh University during the 1953 college football season. Lehigh placed last in the Middle Three Conference.


1953 Lehigh Engineers football team
In their sixth year under head coach William Leckonby, the Engineers compiled a 4–5 record. They lost their sole conference game, against Lafayette; for the second straight year, Lehigh did not meet its other conference rival, Rutgers. Thomas Gunn was the team captain.


1953 Lehigh Engineers football team
Lehigh played its home games at Taylor Stadium on the university's main campus in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.


1953 Limerick Senior Hurling Championship
The 1953 Limerick Senior Hurling Championship was the 59th staging of the Limerick Senior Hurling Championship since its establishment by the Limerick County Board in 1887.


1953 Limerick Senior Hurling Championship
Treaty Sarsfields won the championship after a 2-05 to 0-05 defeat of Ahane in the final. It was their third championship title overall and their third title in succession. It remains their last championship title.


1953 Lincoln Blue Tigers football team
The 1953 Lincoln Blue Tigers football team was an American football team that represented Lincoln University of Missouri as a member of the Midwest Athletic Association (MAA) during the 1953 college football season. In their fifth season under head coach Dwight T. Reed, the Tigers compiled an 8–0–1 record. The team was ranked No. 4 among the 1953 black college teams with a Dickinson System rating of 24.25, behind Tennessee A&I (25.83), Prairie View (25.00), and Florida A&M (24.50).


1953 Little League World Series
The 1953 Little League World Series was held from August 25 to August 28 in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. In the championship game, Birmingham, Alabama, beat Schenectady, New York, by a score of 1–0 in the seventh edition of the tournament.


1953 Little League World Series
The Birmingham Public Library commemorated the 50th anniversary of the championship in 2003.


1953 Liverpool City Council election
Elections to Liverpool City Council were held on 7 May 1953.


1953 Liverpool City Council election, Ward results
This was the first election with new boundaries since the 1952 election.


1953 Liverpool City Council election, Ward results
Deleted ward names : Brunswick, Castle Street, Edge Hill, Exchange, Garston, Great George, Kirkdale, Little Woolton, Much Woolton, North Scotland, St. Anne's, St. Peter's, Sefton Park East, Sefton Park West, South Scotland, Walton, Wavertree, Wavertree West and West Derby.


1953 Liverpool City Council election, Ward results
New ward names : Arundel, Broadgreen, Central, Church, Clubmoor, County, Gillmoss, Melrose, Picton, Pirrie, St. James', St. Mary's,  St. Michael's, Smithdown, Speke, Tuebrook, Westminster and Woolton.


1953 Liverpool City Council election, Ward results
This was an 'all up' election were three councillors were elected for each ward. The term of office for the councillor with the largest number of votes in each ward was three years. The councillor with the second highest number of votes was elected for two years, and the councillor with the third highest number of votes in each ward was elected for one year. Comparisons are made with the election results or the year when the sitting councillor was elected, although boundary changes make these comparisons of limited use.


1953 Liverpool City Council election, Ward results, Arundel
The successful candidates for Arundel were previously elected for the Sefton Park East wards under the previous ward boundaries in 1950, 1951 and 1952.


1953 Liverpool City Council election, By-elections, Abercromby, Wednesday 30 September 1953
Cllr. Thomas George Dominic Maguire (Abercromby, Labour) died on 24 August 1953


1953 Liverpool City Council election, By-elections, Vauxhall, Thursday 19 November 1953
Two vacancies in the Vauxhall ward were created by the death of Alderman Bertie Victor Kirby C.B.E. D.C.M. on 1 September 1953, Cllr. John Sheehan was elected as Alderman by the City Council on 7 October 1953 and assigned as Returning Officer for the Granby ward. and the resignation of Cllr. Edward Corrigan.


1953 Liverpool City Council election, By-elections, Allerton, Thursday 17 December 1953
A vacancy in the Allerton ward was created by the death of Cllr. Margaret Jane Strong (Conservative, Allerton) on 11 November 1953.


1953 Liège–Bastogne–Liège
The 1953 Liège–Bastogne–Liège was the 39th edition of the Liège–Bastogne–Liège cycle race and was held on 3 May 1953. The race started and finished in Liège. The race was won by Alois De Hertog.


1953 London to Christchurch air race
The 1953 London to Christchurch air race, the "Last Great Air Race", was 12,300 miles (19,800 km) long, from London Heathrow to Christchurch International Airport in New Zealand and took place in October 1953 after Christchurch declared their airport as international in 1950.