(HISTORY OF IRAN) More accurately known as Reza Shah; founder of the Pahlavi Dynasty (1925-1979), shah (emperor) of Iran from 1925 to his ouster in 1942 (by invading British and Russian armies).

Born, 1878; died, 1944. Originally in the regular Iranian Army, when the Iranian monarchy was bankrupted he contracted out to command a cossack division for the Anglo Persian Oil Company (British Petroleum). As a result, he actually had a lot of money and was able to become the prime minister (1922), and then depose the old Dynasty, the Qejars.

As Shah, he promised to revise the hated concession to Anglo Iranian Oil Company, but they managed to stall and thwart him with the help of the International Court of Justice. As a result, he turned to the Axis Powers. When World War II broke out, he offered some help to the Germans and Italians, so the British invaded and replaced him with his son, Shah Muhammad Reza.
Shah Reza Pahlavi is often compared with Ataturk, a contemporaneous dictator of Turkey. However, Reza Shah was much more reliant on a cooperative clergy than Ataturk was.
by Abu Yahya July 17, 2010
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undoubtedly the finest shah out of them all, who cares that he was repressive. Bro was STUDIOUS.
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Don't talk to me pagan, I am directly related to the Reza Shah. The King of all Kings.
by marjanesatrapifan4992 May 31, 2022
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Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, aka "Shahanshah Aryamehr" means "King of Kings" was the Shah of Iran from 1941 to 1979. He was educated in Switzerland and was familiar with the western ideas. In 1941, Britain and USSR occupied Iran and forced Reza Shah the Great to resign in favor of his son. Later the young Shah became the most important ally to the West in the Middle East.

With Iran's great oil wealth, Mohammad Reza Shah became the pre-eminent leader of the Middle East, and Guardian of the Persian Gulf. He abolished the multi-party system of government such that he could rule through a one-party regime in autocratic fashion. He made major changes to curb certain ancient elite factions by breaking up all large and middle-sized estates for the benefit of more than six million small farmers. In what was called 'the White Revolution', he took a number of populist measures, including extending suffrage to women, to favour the people. He instituted exams for Islamic theologians to become established priests ("Mullahs"), which were widely unpopular and broke centuries old religious traditions.

His policies led to strong economic growth during the 1960s and 1970s but at the same time, opposition to his autocratic rule increased. On January 18, 1979, he and his family left Iran because he didn't wanted to rule when his people didn't appreciate goodness. Following the Shah's departure, conservative Muslims led by the Ayatollah Khomeini who had returned from French exile staged a revolution, abolished the monarchy and sadly established an Islamic Republic.

In the same time, Shah of Iran was diagnosed with a deadly cancer and finally and after two years of exile, in which traveling from country to country seeking what he hoped in his exile, would be merely a temporary residence. He was welcomed by President Anwar Sadat of Egypt, and remained there until his death on June 27, 1980. He is interred at Al-Refai Mosque in Egypt.
who was known in the world as the "Emperor of Oil"?
Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi
by kaaveh December 16, 2005
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