A Brief History of Iran from 1851 :: History

A Brief History of Iran from 1851Qajar Dynasty1851-1906 -- The Qajars (ruling family) lost telephone exchange Asian provinces to the Russiansand were hale to give up all claims on Afghanistan to the British. These twoEuropean powers dominate Irans trade and manipulated its internal politics. TheQajars and influential members of their court were bribed to sell many invaluableconcessions to the British, such as the Tobacco Concession which triggered amassive general uprising.1906 -- Discontent with Qajar corruption and mismanagement led to theConstitutional Revolution and the governing body of Irans first parliament orMajles. The constitutional aspirations for a limited monarchy were never to be fullyrealized. Although Iran never became an actual colony of imperial powers, in 1907 itwas divided into two spheres of influence. The north was controlled by Russia andthe south and the east by Britain. By the end of WW I, Iran was plunged into astate of political, social and economic c haos.1921 -- Reza Khan, an police officer in the army, staged a coup. Initially the minister ofwar and because the prime minister, in 1925 Reza Khan decided to become the Shahhimself. Although Reza Khans initial aim was to become the president of arepublic, the clergy, fearing a diminished role in a republic, persuaded him tobecome the Shah.Pahlavi Dynasty1925-1940 -- Reza Shah Pahlavis first priority was to strengthen the authority ofthe central government by creating a disciplined standing army and restraining the shore leave of the tribal chiefs. He embarked upon a series of modernizing andsecular reforms, some of which were knowing specifically to break the power ofthe clergy over Irans educational and judicial systems. He provided publiceducation, built Irans first modern university, opened the schools to women andbrought them into the work force. He initiated Irans first industrializationprogram and dramatically improved Irans infrastructure by building numerousroads, brid ges, state-owned factories and Irans first transnational railway. In1935, he officially requested all foreign governments to no longer refer to Iran asPersia, but as Iran. (The Iranian people themselves had always referred to theircountry as Iran.) Politically, however, Reza Shah forcibly abolished the wearing ofthe veil, took away the effective power of the Majles and did not suffer any formsof free speech. With the outbreak of WW II, Reza Shah, wanting to remainneutral, refused to side with the Allies.1941 -- In need of the Trans-Iranian railway to supply the Soviets with wartimematerials, the Allies invaded and occupied Iran for the duration of the war. RezaShah was compel to abdicate in favor of his son Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and died in