This word in Middle Persian is Anzalag; a variant Persian form is Anzalazh.[citation needed] Anzali Gulf was a safe harbour for trade ships and fishing boats. It was renamed to Pahlavi in 1935.In 1919, with the collapse of General Anton Denikin’s White Russian army, eighteen of his ships sought refuge in Anzali. On 18 May 1920, a Soviet flotilla of thirteen ships launched a surprise attack on Anzali, capturing the British garrison and the eighteen White Russian ships. This allowed for the establishment of the short-lived Persian Socialist Republic and the Persian Communist Party. Soviet authorities denied responsibility for the attack, blaming the local Russian naval commander for attacking under his own authority.