Reza Shah Pahlavi Essay

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Trying to rid himself of Britain's influence, Shah Pahlavi developed alliances with the Soviet Union and Germany. Eventually, Germany accounted for over forty percent of Iran's trade. Iran enlisted many Germans as advisers. Surprisingly, at the outbreak of World War II, Reza Shah Pahlavi declared Iran to be a neutral country and refused to let Iran’s territory be used as a place to train soldiers and transport arms to the Allies in their war against the Axis powers.

In 1941, the Allies suspected Pahlavi of collaborating with the Germans and insisted Iran break its ties with Germany and remove its German advisers, but the Shah refused. Consequently, Britain and the USSR invaded and occupied Iran on the pretext of securing a supply route to Russia. On September 16, 1941, after refusing to cooperate with Britain and the USSR, Reza Shah Pahlavi was forced to step down. His young son, Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, became the leader of Iran.

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Being taken advantage of for so many years fostered hatred of the Western powers, that continued to grow when Iranians observed the differences between the oil company's prosperity and their penury. "Nationalism had been the dominant political idea in Iran" (The New York Times). When Mosaddeq tried to make Iran independent, the foreign powers intervened, and prevented Mosaddeq from removing foreign influence. If he had succeeded, the British would have lost a significant financial investment in Iranian land, and the United States believed that Iran would become communist. These concerns, along with Mosaddeq's refusal to compromise, made a complete regime change seem like the most favorable option. As a result, the U.S. backed a violent overthrow that knocked Mosaddeq out of

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