Reza Shah Pahlavi

(1877-1944)

   Originally known as Reza Khan, the future shah of Iran began his career as an illiterate but successful army officer who ended the decrepit Qajar dynasty and in 1925 established himself as the head of the new Pahlavi dynasty.

   Like Mustafa Kemal Ataturk in Turkey, Reza Shah was a great modernizer, changing the name of his country from Persia to Iran; reorganizing the army, government, and finances; and making his country truly independent. He sought to accomplish the latter by applying the ancient Persian technique of protecting his country's independence by balancing such powerful foreign enemies as Great Britain and the Soviet Union, with a third force, Germany, a country he greatly admired. In the end, this proved his downfall as the former two took over Iran at the start of World War II and forced Reza Shah to abdicate in favor of his son, Muhammad Reza Shah Pahlavi.

   Reza Shah's centralization policies beat the Kurdish tribes of Iran into submission. His agents treacherously assassinated Ismail Agha Simko, the famous Iranian Kurdish rebel, in 1930, a time-honored Iranian tactic used again and again against Kurdish leaders. The shah's policies also included an attempt to impose the Persian language throughout the country, including on its Kurdish population. As one of its covert objectives, the Saadabad Treaty of 1937 (named for the shah's palace of Saadabad) sought to harmonize the policies of Iran, Turkey, and Iraq on the Kurdish issue, instead of having these three states try to use the Kurds against each other.