Iran: The Quest to Become the Dominant Regional Power

Unlike many developing countries, Iran was never colonised by a colonial power nor was its army established by a European colonial power. At the turn of the last century, Iran was ruled by the weak dynasty of the Qajars and the central government’s rule was hardly extended beyond the capital Tehran. Many provinces, such as Khuzestan, Gilan, and Khorasan, largely governed their own affairs. The core of the modern army in the country was originally established by Russian Cossack officers in 1879. In 1920, two other semi-military forces existed along side the small Cossack armed force. The first was the gendarmerie which was created by Swedish officers in 1911 and second was the Persia Rifles of about 6,000 men created by Great Britain in the south of Iran. By the end of the First World War, the Cossack army was just about 8,000 men. The Russian Revolution of 1917 weakened the Russian influence in Iran and the British assumed more power and started supporting the Cossack’s small army. In February 1921, the British government encouraged Colonel Reza Khan to march on Tehran and in a bloodless coup he seized power. Reza Khan, himself a son of an army officer of no distinguished aristocratic background, eventually deposed Ahmad Mirza, the last Qajar Shah, in 1925 and crowned himself as the new Iranian Shah and changed his name to Reza Shah Pahlavi as the founder of a new dynasty.