Tehran – Reza Khan defeated the Iranian Qajar dynasty in a coup in 1921, then crowned the crown on April 25, 1926 with the help of the British.
During the last year of the Qajar dynasty (1789-1925), Iran was tackling its unrest. Armed robbers were rampant, but the British didn’t like it because they were worried that they were at a disadvantage with the colony’s goals. They were looking for a new ruler who could stabilize the country in line with the goal of self-satisfaction.
A few years before the 1921 coup that led Reza Khan to power
The last king of Qajar, Amad Shah, was too young and incompetent, and his cabinet was weak and corrupt. He is said to have spent much of his time in Europe and received treatment for health problems.
After the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution, the new Soviet regime abandoned the territory of former Russian influence in the northern Iranian provinces. The Russians left Britain as the only force of the region. They seized the opportunity to broaden their profits in Iran.
In the years before the rise of Reza Khan, British Foreign Secretary Curzon ended the 1919 agreement with Iranian Prime Minister Vossag Ed Daul, hoping to make Iran’s guardian. Nevertheless, due to strong opposition from patriotic and religious political factions, the deal was never ratified by the Magillis (Iranian parliament).
The British were tired of the inability of the Kajal monarch to control the country, so they were looking for a military ruler who could ensure the security of their control. Therefore, they brought the young military officer Reza into fame and power.
The 1921 coup
Born in 1878 to an Iranian military family, Reza Khan rose from a humble beginning to become the Shah of the country after a successful coup organized by the British in 1921.
Leza Khan, an officer in the Persian Cossack Brigade, performed a coup on February 22, 1921. On January 14, 1921, General Edmund “Tiny” Ironside, commander of the British Army of Iran, promoted Reza Khan, who had led the Tablis Battalion, to lead the entire Persian Cossack Brigade.
Young officer Reza Khan and his army marched from Kazbin towards the capital Tehran. They faced no resistance on their way to the capital. His loyal forces occupied the city by seizing control of police stations, ministries and government agencies.
After he took strict control of Tehran with the help of the British troops, he forced the government to dissolve. He did not remove Ahmad Shah from power, but he pressured him to appoint Saeed Ziadin Tabatabaye as his new prime minister.
Herman Norman, a British pastor in Tehran, telegraphed to the foreign minister of each country, Lord Curzon, saying that he had no choice but to go to Ahmad Shah on the morning of the coup and compromise with the leaders of the revolutionary army.
Initially, after the coup, he oversaw his own appointment as Minister of War. Certainly, until 1923, when he became Prime Minister himself, he was the real power behind several prime ministers.
His ascension was supported by the British for all years.
Corner Crown
Supported by the British, Reza Khan, who was then prime minister, decided to completely drive the Qajar dynasty away. On October 26, 1923, he pressured the Congress to retire Ahmad Shah and send him to permanent exiles. Historians explain that Kajjar’s final Shah will be disposed of as the second coup of Reza Khan.
Three days after Reza Khan’s second coup in Iran, Ataturk established the Republic of Turkey. This kind of movement also seemed logical to Reza. So he followed the lawsuit and declared Iran a republic that never existed.
On December 12, 1925, the Congress declared Reza the new Shah. At a ceremony held four months later, Reza crowned herself and declared her young son, Mohammad Reza Shah Pallavi, heir to the throne.
During Reza Shah’s 20-year reign, Britain effectively ruled Iran and its resources after he helped establish a military dictatorship within the country.
However, Leza Shah’s neutrality and lack of interest in facing Nazi Germany during World War II was disliked by the British and the Soviet Union, leading to his abdication in 1941.