After the Nazis came to power in 1933, and particularly after the Nazi leadership unleashed World War II by invading Poland in 1939, German soldiers and diplomats, hoping to undermine the strength of the British and French colonial empires, actively sought to influence strategic and economic developments in Iran, India, and the Arab Middle East. Hitler had also been contemptuous of anti-colonial movements, referring to them as a “coalition of cripples” that could never be true partners for the Germans. Iran after the outbreak of World War IIĪdolf Hitler, the leader of the Nazi Party, had written about the alleged racial inferiority of non-Europeans, especially Arabs and Indians, in Mein Kampf, published in 1925.
Before and during ww2 army sizes free#
While Persia had fallen victim to imperialism, Iran would be free from foreign control. With the reforms Reza Shah was implementing, the adoption of a new name for the country was seen as restoring Iran’s historical legacy. “Persian” was the historical name of one of the ethnic groups in Iran. The new designation at the same time distracted attention from the traditional Western designation “Persia” (a term Greek in origin). In 1935, the Persian government changed the name of the country from “Persia” to “Iran,” the historical name of the country and a designation in common internal use for centuries. The character of his rule has been controversial: on the one hand he has been perceived as a factor in the modernization of Iran on the other, his frequent resort to brutal force and his dependence on ethnic favoritism to secure the Pahlavi Dynasty effectively inhibited the development of modern democracy or pluralist government in Iran. He strove for a modern country with a strong military, united as one instead of divided by multiple religious and tribal groups, and for leadership free from foreign influence. During his reign, Reza Shah implemented reforms to rebuild the country and to restore political and economic independence. The assembly also recognized his eldest son, Muhammad-Reza, as heir to the throne. Reza took the name Pahlavi in establishing his new dynasty. After he had suppressed several rebellions and established a semblance of centralized control in the country, the Persian national assembly appointed Reza Khan as Prime Minister in 1923 with virtual dictatorial power.Īfter crushing an Arab nationalist rebellion and with British backing, Reza Khan induced the assembly to depose the Qatar Shah and appoint himself Shah on December 13, 1925. Backed by the British, Reza Khan led a coup d’etat in February 1921, seizing control over Tehran and forcing the weak and corrupt Qajar Shah to appoint journalist Sayyid Zia al-Din Tabatabai as Prime Minister, and himself-Reza Khan-as Minister of War.
During and immediately following World War I, British and Russian (later Soviet) troops occupied large pieces of once independent Persia, now known as Iran, despite the country’s declared neutrality.Ī military officer serving in the Persian Cossack Brigade and an ardent Persian nationalist, Reza Khan led a military conspiracy aimed at the reestablishment of Iran’s sovereignty under a strong central government.
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