TheImperial State of Iran,officially known in English as theImperial State of Persiauntil 1935,[3]and commonly referred to asPahlavi Iran,[d]was the Iranian state under the rule of thePahlavi dynasty.The Pahlavi dynasty was created in 1925 and lasted until 1979, when it was ousted as part of theIslamic Revolution,which ended the Iranian monarchy and established the currentIslamic Republic of Iran.
Imperial State of Irana | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1925–1979 | |||||||||
 Flag(1964–1979)
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| Motto:مرا داد فرمود و خود داور است Marâ dâd farmud o xod dâvar ast "JusticeHebids me do, as He will judge me "[2] | |||||||||
| Anthem:(1925–1933) سلامتی دولت علیهٔ ایران Salâmati-ye Dowla-te 'Aliyeye Irân "Salute of the Sublime State of Persia" (1933–1979) سرود شاهنشاهی ایران Sorud-e Šâhanšâhi-ye Irân[3] "Imperial Anthem of Iran" | |||||||||
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| Capital and largest city | Tehran | ||||||||
| Official languages | Persian | ||||||||
| Religion | Shia Islam(majority andde jureofficial) Secular state(de facto)[a] | ||||||||
| Demonym(s) | Iranian Persian | ||||||||
| Government | Unitary parliamentaryconstitutional monarchy(de jure)[b] Unitary parliamentarysemi-constitutional monarchy(de facto)[c] | ||||||||
| Shah | |||||||||
• 1925–1941 | Reza Shah Pahlavi | ||||||||
• 1941–1979 | Mohammad Reza Pahlavi | ||||||||
| Regency Council (Iran) | |||||||||
• 1953 | Regency Council of Iran (1953) | ||||||||
• 1979 | Regency Council of Iran (1979) | ||||||||
| Prime Minister | |||||||||
• 1925–1926(first) | Mohammad Ali Foroughi | ||||||||
• 1979(last) | Shapour Bakhtiar | ||||||||
| Legislature | National Consultative Assembly(as aunicameral legislature;1925–1949) Parliament(as abicameral legislature;1949–1979) | ||||||||
| Senate | |||||||||
| National Consultative Assembly | |||||||||
| History | |||||||||
• Constituent Assembly votes inPahlavi dynasty | 15 December 1925 | ||||||||
| 25 August – 17 September 1941 | |||||||||
| 19 August 1953 | |||||||||
| 26 January 1963 | |||||||||
• Disestablished | 11 February 1979 | ||||||||
| 11 February 1979 | |||||||||
| Area | |||||||||
• Total | 1,648,195 km2(636,372 sq mi) (17) | ||||||||
| GDP(PPP) | 1978 estimate | ||||||||
• Per capita | US$3,844 ($23,568.06 as of 2023)[A][3] | ||||||||
| Currency | Rial(ریال) (IRR)[3] | ||||||||
| ISO 3166 code | IR | ||||||||
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The Pahlavis came to power in 1925 with the ascension to the throne ofReza Shah,a former brigadier-general of thePersian Cossack Brigade,and the overthrow ofAhmad Shah Qajar,the last Iranian ruler under theQajar dynasty.Iran'sMajlis,convening as a constituent assembly on 12 December 1925, deposed the young Ahmad Shah Qajar and declared Reza Shah as the newshahof the Imperial State of Persia. In 1935, Reza Shah asked foreign delegates to usethe endonym Iran instead of the exonym Persiawhen addressing the country in formal correspondence.
Reza Shah declared Iran neutral during theSecond World War.Nonetheless, Iran was occupied by British and Soviet forces following theAnglo-Soviet invasion of Iran.Subsequently Reza Shah was forced to abdicate.
After Reza Shah's forced abdication, he was succeeded by his son,Mohammad Reza Pahlavi,who became the lastShah of Iran.By 1953, Mohammad Reza Shah's rule became more autocratic and firmly aligned with theWestern Blocduring theCold Warin the aftermath of the1953 Iranian coup d'état,which was engineered by the United Kingdom and theUnited States.In correspondence with this reorientation of Iran's foreign policy, the country became an ally of the United States in order to act as a bulwark againstSoviet ideological expansionism,and this gave the Shah the political capital to enact a hitherto unprecedented socio-economic program that would transform all aspects of Iranian life through theWhite Revolution.Consequently, Iran experienced prodigious success in all indicators, including literacy, health, and standard of living. By 1978, the Shah faced growing public discontent that culminated into a full-fledged popular revolutionary movement led by religious clericRuhollah Khomeini.Mohammad Reza Shah went into exile with his family in January 1979, sparking a series of events that quickly led to the end of monarchy and the establishment of the Islamic Republic on 31 March 1979. Following Mohammed Reza Pahlavi's death in 1980, his son,Reza Pahlavi,now leads the exiled family throne.[5]
History
editEstablishment
edit
In 1925, Reza Khan, a former Brigadier-General of thePersian Cossack Brigade,deposed theQajar dynastyand declared himself king (shah), adopting the dynastic name ofPahlavi,which recalls theMiddle Persianlanguage of theSasanian Empire.[6]He had chosen the last name Pahlavi for himself in November 1919.[7]By the mid-1930s, Reza Shah's strong secular rule caused dissatisfaction among some groups, particularly the clergy, who opposed his reforms, but the middle and upper-middle class of Iran liked what Rezā Shāh did. In 1935, Rezā Shāh issued a decree asking foreign delegates to use the term Iran in formal correspondence, in accordance with the fact that "Persia"was a term used by Western people for the country called" Iran "in Persian. His successor, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, announced in 1959 that both Persia and Iran were acceptable and could be used interchangeably.
Reza Shah tried to avoid involvement with the UK and theSoviet Union.Though many of his development projects required foreign technical expertise, he avoided awarding contracts to British and Soviet companies because of dissatisfaction during the Qajar Dynasty between Persia, the UK, and the Soviets. Although the UK, through its ownership of theAnglo-Iranian Oil Company,controlled all of Iran's oil resources, Rezā Shāh preferred to obtain technical assistance from Germany, France, Italy and other European countries. This created problems for Iran after 1939, when Germany and Britain became enemies inWorld War II.Reza Shah proclaimed Iran as aneutral country,but Britain insisted that German engineers and technicians in Iran were spies with missions tosabotageBritish oil facilities in southwestern Iran. Britain demanded that Iran expel all German citizens, but Rezā Shāh refused, claiming this would adversely affect his development projects.
World War II
editIran claimed to be a neutral country during the opening years of World War II. In April 1941, the war reached Iran's borders whenRashid Ali,with assistance fromGermanyandItaly,launched the1941 Iraqi coup d'état,sparking theAnglo-Iraqi Warof May 1941. Germany and Italy quickly sent the pro-Axis forces in Iraq military aid from Syria but during the period from May to July the British and their allies defeated the pro-Axis forces in Iraq and laterSyria and Lebanon.
In June 1941,Nazi Germanybroke theMolotov–Ribbentrop PactandinvadedtheSoviet Union,Iran's northern neighbor. The Soviets quickly allied themselves with theAllied countriesand in July and August 1941 the British demanded that the Iranian government expel all Germans from Iran. Reza Shah refused to expel the Germans and on 25 August 1941, the British and Soviets launched asurprise invasionand Reza Shah's government quickly surrendered after less than a week of fighting.[8]The invasion's strategic purpose was to secure asupply lineto the USSR (later named thePersian Corridor), secure the oil fields andAbadan Refinery(of the UK-ownedAnglo-Iranian Oil Company), and limit German influence in Iran. Following the invasion, on 16 September 1941 Reza Shah abdicated and was replaced byMohammad Reza Pahlavi,his 21-year-old son.[9][10][11]
During the rest of World War II, Iran becamea major conduitforBritish and American aidto the Soviet Union and an avenue through whichover 120,000 Polish refugeesandPolish Armed Forcesfled the Axis advance.[12]At the 1943Tehran Conference,theAllied"Big Three" —Joseph Stalin,Franklin D. Roosevelt,andWinston Churchill—issued theTehran Declarationto guarantee the post-war independence and boundaries of Iran.
On 13 September 1943 theAlliesreassured the Iranians that all foreign troops would leave by 2 March 1946.[13]At the time, theTudeh Party of Iran,acommunist partythat was already influential and had parliamentary representation, was becoming increasingly militant, especially in the North. This promoted actions from the side of the government, including attempts of the Iranian armed forces to restore order in the Northern provinces. While the Tudeh headquarters inTehranwere occupied and theIsfahanbranch crushed, the Soviet troops present in the Northern parts of the country prevented the Iranian forces from entering. Thus, by November 1945Azerbaijanhad become an autonomous state helped by the Tudeh party.[13][14]This pro-Soviet nominal-government fell by November 1946, after support from the United States for Iran to reclaim the regions that declared themselves autonomous.
At the end of the war, Soviet troops remained in Iran and established two puppet states in north-western Iran, namely thePeople's Government of Azerbaijanand theRepublic of Mahabad.This led to theIran crisis of 1946,one of the first confrontations of theCold War,which ended after oil concessions were promised to the USSR and Soviet forces withdrew from Iran proper in May 1946. The two puppet states were soon overthrown and the oil concessions were later revoked.[15][16]
Cold War
edit
Mohammad Reza Pahlavireplaced his father on the throne on 16 September 1941. He wanted to continue the reform policies of his father, but a contest for control of the government soon erupted between him and an older professional politician, the nationalisticMohammad Mosaddegh.
In 1951, theMajlis(theParliament of Iran) namedMohammad Mossadeghas new prime minister by a vote of 79–12, who shortly after nationalized the British-owned oil industry (seeAbadan Crisis). Mossadegh was opposed by the Shah who feared a resulting oil embargo imposed by the West would leave Iran in economic ruin. The Shah fled Iran but returned when the United Kingdom and the United States staged a coup against Mossadegh in August 1953 (see1953 Iranian coup d'état). Mossadegh was then arrested by pro-Shah army forces.
Following the overthrow of Mossadegh, Iran became steadfastly geopolitically aligned with the United States. During the presidential term ofJohn F. Kennedy,the United States saw Iran as an important ally in the region due to perceiving it as a rare source of stability in the Middle East.[17]
On 12–16 October 1971, an elaborate set of celebrations and festivities for the2,500-year celebration of the Persian Empireoccurred in commemoration of the founding of theAchaemenid EmpirebyCyrus the Great.
Collapse of the Monarchy
edit
The Shah's government suppressed its opponents with the help of Iran's security and intelligence secret police,SAVAK.Such opponents included leftists and Islamists.
By the mid-1970s, relying on increased oil revenues, Mohammad Reza began a series of even more ambitious and bolder plans for the progress of his country and the march toward the "White Revolution".But his socioeconomic advances increasingly irritated the clergy. Islamic leaders, particularly the exiled clericAyatollahRuhollah Khomeini,were able to focus this discontent with an ideology tied to Islamic principles that called for the overthrow of the Shah and the return to Islamic traditions, called theIslamic revolution.The Pahlavi regime collapsed following widespread uprisings in 1978 and 1979. The Islamic Revolution dissolved the SAVAK and replaced it with theSAVAMA.It was run after the revolution, according to U.S. sources and Iranian exile sources in the US and in Paris, by Gen.Hossein Fardoust,who was deputy chief of SAVAK under Mohammad Reza's reign, and a friend from boyhood of the deposed monarch.
Mohammad Reza fled the country, seeking medical treatment inEgypt,Mexico, the United States, and Panama, and finally resettled with his family in Egypt as a guest ofAnwar Sadat.On his death, his sonReza Pahlavi,who was formally invested as Crown Prince on 26 October 1967, succeeded him as head of the Pahlavi dynasty.[18]Reza Pahlavi and his wife live in the United States inPotomac, Maryland,with three daughters.[19]
As of 2013, Reza Pahlavi established theNational Council of Iranin Paris, which serves as agovernment in exileto reclaim the former throne after a potential overthrow of the current Islamic Republic government.[5]However, in February 2019, Pahlavi launched an initiative called the Phoenix Project of Iran. According to the National Interest, this is "designed to bring the various strains of the opposition closer to a common vision for a post-clerical Iran."[20]
Politics
editThe political system of the Imperial State of Iran took place in aparliamentaryconstitutional monarchywhere the Shah served as the head of state and theprime ministeras its head of government.
TheNational Consultative Assemblywas the nation's unicameral parliament, from 1949 it became the lower house when theSenatewas established as its upper house of the parliament.
Legacy
editUnder theQajar dynastythe Persian character of Iran was not very explicit. Although the country was referred to as Persia by westerners, and the dominant language in court and administration wasPersian,the dichotomy between pure Persian andTurkicelements had remained obvious until 1925. The Pahlavi rule was instrumental in Iran's nationalisation in line with Persian culture and language which, among other ways, was achieved through the official ban on the use of minority languages such asAzerbaijaniand the successful suppression of separatist movements.Reza Shahis credited for thereunification of Iranunder a powerful central government. The use of minority languages in schools and newspapers was not tolerated. The succeeding regime –the Islamic Republic of Iran– has adopted a more inclusive approach in relation to the use of ethnic minorities and their language, however the issues as toAzeris,Iran's largest ethnic minority, remain and pose considerable challenges for the unity and territorial integrity ofIran.[21]
Human rights
editThe rulers of the Imperial State of Iran – Reza Shah Pahlavi and his son Mohammad Reza Pahlavi – employed secret police, torture, and executions to stifle political dissent. The Pahlavi dynasty has sometimes been described as an "Imperial dictatorship" or "one-man rule".[22]Additionally, the country enjoyed a brief interlude of democracy from 1941 to 1953.[23]
Corruption
editManouchehr Ganjiled an anti-corruption study group which submitted at least 30 reports in 13 years detailing corruption of high-ranking officials and the royal circle, but the Shah called the reports "false rumors and fabrications".Parviz Sabeti,a high-ranking official ofSAVAKbelieved that the one important reason for successful opposition to the regime was the allegations of corruption.[24]
See also
edit
Notes
edit- ^Worth 23,568.06 (as of 2023)
References
edit- ^Whitney Smith (1980),Flags and Arms across the World,McGraw-Hill,ISBN978-0-07-059094-6
- ^"The Imperial Standards of Iran".
- ^abcd"IRAN: Keshvaré Shahanshahiyé Irân",The Statesman's Year-Book 1978–79,Springer, 2016, pp.674–682,ISBN9780230271074
- ^"Iran between Islamic Nationalism and Secularism".
- ^abParker Richards (29 January 2016)."Pahlavi, Elie Wiesel, Rev. King to Be Honored for Promoting Peace".Observer.Retrieved1 June2017.
- ^Ansari, Ali M. (2003).Modern Iran Since 1921: The Pahlavis and After.Longman. p. 36.ISBN978-0-582-35685-6.Retrieved14 February2016.
- ^Chehabi, H. E. (2020).Onomastic Reforms: Family Names and State-Building in Iran.Harvard University Press.ISBN9780674248199.Archived fromthe originalon 26 April 2021.
- ^Glenn E. Curtis, Eric Hooglund; US Government Printing Office (2008).Iran: A Country Study.U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 30.ISBN978-0-8444-1187-3.
- ^Farrokh, Kaveh (2011).Iran at War: 1500–1988.Osprey Publishing Limited.ISBN978-1-78096-221-4.[permanent dead link]
- ^David S. Sorenson (2013).An Introduction to the Modern Middle East: History, Religion, Political Economy, Politics.Westview Press. p. 206.ISBN978-0-8133-4922-0.
- ^Iran: Foreign Policy & Government Guide.International Business Publications. 2009. p. 53.ISBN978-0-7397-9354-1.Archived fromthe originalon 12 October 2017.
- ^T.H. Vail Motter;United States Army Center of Military History(1952).United States Army in World War II the Middle East Theater the Persian Corridor and Aid to Russia.CMH. Archived fromthe originalon 4 March 2016.Retrieved3 February2021.
- ^abJessup, John E. (1989).A Chronology of Conflict and Resolution, 1945–1985.New York: Greenwood Press.ISBN0-313-24308-5.
- ^The Iranian Crisis of 1945–1946 and the Spiral Model of International Conflict,by Fred H. Lawson inInternational Journal of Middle East Studiesp.9
- ^Louise Fawcett, "Revisiting the Iranian Crisis of 1946: How Much More Do We Know?."Iranian Studies47#3 (2014): 379–399.
- ^Gary R. Hess, "the Iranian Crisis of 1945–46 and the Cold War."Political Science Quarterly89#1 (1974): 117–146.online
- ^Nemchenok, Victor V. (25 February 2010)."In search of stability amid chaos: US policy toward Iran, 1961–63".Cold War History.10(3):341–369.doi:10.1080/14682740903178579.S2CID153842958.Retrieved17 February2023.
- ^"The Imperial Coronation of Iran".Farahpahlavi.org.Retrieved3 February2022.
- ^ Michael Coleman (30 July 2013)."Son of Iran's Last Shah: 'I Am My Own Man'".The Washington Diplomat.Archivedfrom the original on 22 September 2013.Retrieved21 September2013.
- ^Harounoff, Jonathan (13 August 2019)."The White House Once Labeled Them Terrorists. Now They're Being Called Iran's Next Government".Haaretz.
- ^Tohidi, Nayereh."Iran: regionalism, ethnicity and democracy".Archivedfrom the original on 14 July 2013.Retrieved1 August2013.
- ^de Camara, Robert C. (23 March 1980)."The Shah as Tyrant: A Look at the Record".The Washington Post.
- ^Cottam, Richard W. (1980)."Human Rights in Iran under the Shah".Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law.12(1).
- ^Ganji, p. 8-9
