The Pahlavi shahs: modernisation from above
Reza Khan seizes power and makes himself shah; he and his son Mohammad Reza drive rapid, Western-style modernisation backed by an authoritarian state.
- A History of Modern Iran — Ervand Abrahamian, Cambridge University Press (2008)
- Iran Between Two Revolutions — Ervand Abrahamian, Princeton University Press (1982)
- Modern Iran since 1797: Reform and Revolution — Ali M. Ansari, Routledge (2019)
- Modern Iran: Roots and Results of Revolution — Nikki R. Keddie, Yale University Press (2006)
In February 1921 Reza Khan, an officer of the Cossack Brigade, marched on Tehran in a British-encouraged coup. Within four years he had made himself shah, founding the Pahlavi dynasty in 1925. In 1935 he asked foreign governments to call the country “Iran”, its own name, rather than “Persia”.
- A History of Modern Iran — Ervand Abrahamian, Cambridge University Press (2008)
- Modern Iran since 1797: Reform and Revolution — Ali M. Ansari, Routledge (2019)
Reza Shah built a national army, the Trans-Iranian Railway and Tehran University, forced nomadic tribes to settle, imposed Western dress on men and in 1936 banned the women’s veil in public, a measure many women experienced as liberation and many others as humiliation. Dissent was crushed.
- A History of Modern Iran — Ervand Abrahamian, Cambridge University Press (2008)
- Modern Iran: Roots and Results of Revolution — Nikki R. Keddie, Yale University Press (2006)
- A History of Modern Iran — Ervand Abrahamian, Cambridge University Press (2008)
After the 1953 coup restored his power, Mohammad Reza Shah ruled ever more personally. His “White Revolution” from 1963 brought land reform and votes for women; oil money transformed cities after 1973. But his secret police, SAVAK, became notorious for torture, and in 1975 he abolished all parties but one.
- Iran Between Two Revolutions — Ervand Abrahamian, Princeton University Press (1982)
- A History of Modern Iran — Ervand Abrahamian, Cambridge University Press (2008)
The Pahlavis built modern Iran: railways, universities, women's rights, a strong army and a respected place in the world. Their faults were small compared with what followed in 1979.
- Modern Iran since 1797: Reform and Revolution — Ali M. Ansari, Routledge (2019)
- Revolutionary Iran: A History of the Islamic Republic — Michael Axworthy, Oxford University Press (2013)
A dictatorship that crushed parties, the press and dissent, enriched a narrow elite, imposed change without consent, and depended on foreign backing after 1953.
- Iran Between Two Revolutions — Ervand Abrahamian, Princeton University Press (1982)
- A History of Modern Iran — Ervand Abrahamian, Cambridge University Press (2008)
Why it matters today
The Pahlavi era is fiercely argued over. For many older and diaspora Iranians it was a time of progress, openness and national prestige, and nostalgia for it has grown as life under the Islamic Republic has worsened; Reza Pahlavi, the last shah's son, is a prominent opposition figure abroad. For others it means SAVAK's torture chambers, inequality and subservience to the United States.