Iran and the West in the First Half of the Twentieth Century

Abstract

This chapter provides a brief history of how European imperialism intervened in Iran’s internal affairs during the first half of the twentieth century. The selected subjects in the chapter are the major events in which foreign powers played significant roles. They are: the constitutional revolution of 1905–1911, the establishment of Iran’s parliament, the British and Russian intrigues in Iran, and the problem of hiring Western advisors to reform Iran’s public finance. The chapter then discusses the oil discovery in Iran and its strategic importance for the British navy, and the invasion of Iran during the First World War which was followed by the 1921 coup and the rise of Reza Shah. The chapter further discusses Iran’s dispute with the British-owned Anglo-Persian Oil Company, the Anglo-Soviet occupation of Iran during the Second World War, the fall of Reza Shah, the Soviet effort to separate the province of Azerbaijan from the Iranian motherland, and the American and Russian rivalry to obtain oil concessions in Iran.