Pahlavi Iran

The Imperial State of Iran, officially known in the Western world as the Imperial State of Persia until 1935 and commonly referred to as Pahlavi Iran, was the Iranian state under the rule of the Pahlavi dynasty. The dynasty was established in 1925 and lasted until 1979, when it was overthrown during the Iranian Revolution, ending the over 2,500-year-old Iranian monarchy and leading to the establishment of the Islamic Republic of Iran. In February 1921, Reza Khan, a general in the Persian Cossack Brigade, led a march toward Tehran and launched a coup against the ruling government, becoming the commander-in-chief of Iran. By December 1925, Iran's Majles, convened as a constituent assembly, deposed the Qajars and voted to install Reza Khan as the new shah of the Imperial State of Persia under the dynastic name Pahlavi. Under his rule, the country became a centralized unitary state and underwent a series of modernization reforms. In 1935, he requested that foreign delegates use the endonym "Iran" instead of the exonym "Persia" in formal correspondence. Iran declared neutrality during World War II; nevertheless, in 1941, it was occupied by British and Soviet forces, and Reza Shah was subsequently forced to abdicate and go into exile. Reza Shah was succeeded by his son Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, who led Iran's response to the crisis of 1946. Following the 1953 Iranian coup d'état, Pahlavi consolidated his rule, and Iran became a key ally of the United States during the Cold War. Supported by rising oil revenues and Western backing, the Shah pursued an extensive military buildup and introduced a broad socioeconomic reform program known as the White Revolution, which expanded education, healthcare, infrastructure, and industrial development, while contributing to economic growth and higher standards of living among the Iranian populace. Despite the country's rapid economic growth, the Shah faced growing public opposition by the late 1970s over wealth inequality, political repression, and Westernization. The unrest culminated in a revolutionary movement that sought to overthrow the monarchy, led by the exiled Shia cleric Ruhollah Khomeini. After months of nationwide protests and strikes, the Shah and his family left Iran in January 1979, leading to the collapse of the imperial state. Mohammad Reza Pahlavi died of cancer in July 1980; his son Reza remained in exile and later emerged as a prominent opposition figure advocating liberal democracy in Iran.