Analysis and Criticism of Nationalism and Separatism Approaches in the Jungle Movement

During its seven-year period and even in the last century, the Jungle Movement has always faced accusations of separatism, centrifugalism, disobedience to the central government, and etc. On the other hand, the Jangalies in their memoirs and even the “Jangal newspaper” tried to exonerate themselves from this accusation by presenting their views and manifestos and calling the movement a patriotic movement. In this study, reasons for the accusation of separatism of Jangalies are studied and we are faced with this central question: Did Jangalies step in the path of national identity, or separatism? According to their performance, opinions and ideas in historical sources and documents, are their actions defined as a movement towards nationalism and national identity or have they resulted in the historical rupture of Iran? The findings show that during their activities, Jangalies were loyal to their ideals, which were based on Iran's independence, patriotism, and fighting against foreigners. The research method is historical and content analysis of archival documents.