Description

Reza Shah Pahlavi was an Iranian military officer and monarch who was the founder of the Pahlavi dynasty and Shah of Iran from 1925 to 1941. Originally an army officer, he became a politician, serving as minister of war and prime minister of Iran, and was elected shah following the deposition of the last monarch of the Qajar dynasty. In order to reduce foreign influence by Britain and Russia, he partnered with Germany and used German expertise to modernize Iran's infrastructure during the 1920s and 1930s. Reza Shah's reign ended when he was forced to abdicate after the Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran in 1941, during the Second World War; he was succeeded by his eldest son, Mohammad Reza Shah. A modernizer, Reza Shah clashed with the Shia clergy and introduced social, economic, and political reforms during his reign, ultimately laying the foundations of the modern Iranian state. Therefore, he is regarded by many as the founder of modern Iran, though the Pahlavi dynasty he established was later overthrown in the Iranian Revolution in 1979.