IRAN'S RULER

Otago Daily Times, Issue 24699, 30 August 1941, Page 12

IRAN'S RULER

SHiBrI REZA PAHLEVI FORMER PRIVATE SOLDIER DRMtATIC RISE TO POWER German intrigue the East and against it have brought into the foreground of current events man; Reza Shan PahlevJ, supreme ruler of Iran, otherwise/Persia, since 1925, and dictator of its id«ftinies for the past 20 years. Allowing for geographical and racial differences the career of the .present Shah is' strikingly like that of the late Mustafi.Kemal Ataturk. Beginnine as soldiers, both rose'tr- power, by a -combination of courage. ■ ruthlessness and political acumen. Both did much to advance the welfare of their people by breaking many ancient traditions and ' imposing 'such western ways as seemed to themAgqod. Born Jill 1878 of humble hind-owning stock In-the province of Mazanderan. lusiisouth of *he Caspian Sea.' Reza enjsted at#2 in the. Persian Cossacks, an irregular military force, which, with the;Swe"dish J -offtcered gehdarrherier was for many years the Government's only means of preserving a semblance of law and order. From a trooper, he rose to be a senior officer in the period of the last .World War, during which he saw his country,over-run by German agents, and skeleton British forces engaged in protecting oil wells': and; countering first.Turlnsh and later Bolshevist aggression.. - March on the Capital ■■■*" Persia .was 'at that -time -ruled nominally by the ineffectual Shah Ahmed, last of the Kajar Dynasty, which had held the throne for about 130 years; ; Actually government was in the hands of a corrupt feudal ar%i tocracy which plundered the,revenues •:■■ and exercised,verv little contral over the semi-independent tribes: in the re* moter provinces. In the /jdisorganisar, tion Which followed the war, matters were going from bad to worse, when Reza Khan, as he then on the capital, Teheran, at the head of 3000. Cossacks, and seized the reins of government without a,' shot being ■fired '< on either side. His object, he declared, was to set up a militarv administration which would protect :tha papital after the withdrawal. of British troops: still; in "the. north; and restore Persia to ah honourable .place"among the.nations. The: Shah accepted the new regime and Britain declared herself neutral in the matter. •: Reza retained the Mejliss, or Parliament, and contented himself with the office of Minister of War. He 'to call in foreign advisers, including an American, Dr A. C. Millspaugh, as Director-general of Finance, and to reorganise the army. Coronation as Shah : Before; a" year was put the Shah ; deemed it advisable to leave for ah extended visit; to France, '. and 'Reza i ; became! Premier; ,= Early in 1925 he' had ■:': himself -appointed chief of :.all the defence forces of the'country. Clamour r for the Shah's deposition; arose: , The Mejliss requested him to return.'but he ;failed tpv.leaye Paris on.the.appointed date, and on October 31 his deposition was proclaimed "in the name bf the national welfare." Reza was, nominated as temporary ruler of the country until, on Decern-^ : ber ;13, a 'constituent- assembly was called together and elected him Shah; making the ;Crown of Darius:heredit- •■' ary in his family; j On April 25, 1926, in the Gulistan Palace at Teheran, Reza;Khan Pahlevi ascended the jewelled Peacock Throne, placed the crown ori*his own > head and V took possession of the sword of'Nadir Shah, -his: great eighteenth century predecessor. National Development In the years that followed, Reza devoted himself to reforming'the government on western lines, improving .;■-. communications; quelling '.;;. revolts; developing the country's resources and building .tip aniarmy, and air force. In 1927 he began- an ambitious railway project fbr connecting the Persian Gulf '•', with.; the ■Caspian, Sea/ Half a. dozen nations'had a share in its construction, s and 'when the whole. length of 808 miles' was: completed in 1938 the cost had reached £28.500,000 This sum wa% found from oil royalties and special increasing. the small: - foreign, debt. In. 1935 the Shah ordered the adoption of: European , headgear, allowed wbmeii to appear unveiled, granted them the right to divorce, and Latinised the alphabet. •. Strong Foreign Policy In foreign- relations, Re:za has followed ah'astute policy of alternately .raising disputes and making pacts with 'Britain; Russia; and' his neighbours to , east and west at regular intervals, and asserting himself whenever; ah ad-; vantagecould be gained by doing so. He "has made repeated claims to sovereignty ~ over 'the British-protected .Bahrein-Islands, .in the Persian Gulf ■now a valuable oilfield. : In. 1931 he expropriated the .telegraph services; partly owned: by the Government of India, and in the following year cancelled 'the Anglo-Persian ..Oil Company's concession, replacing it with another on -terms.mqrei favourable to. -his Government, v On one occasion he broke- off diplomatic relations with : France because of a supposed personal slight in the Paris ipress,,and later he did the'same with -the for a briel period when the :Persian : .Minister was arrested for breaking the -speed limit. ■?;•■>'.- A fine-tookihg • mani- over six feet - tall : " Tm&>M't "Hi"at "63 -the "strong man" of his country. -He draws fabulous oil wells,: mines, factories fhd 'even hotels In ,1939 he placed ,8 further royal;stamp on his , dynasty?by>arrahging the marriage of- : the Grown Prince,:-.'.'-a promising young man. -toi-Princess; Fawzia. eldest sister of Kirig;Fafouk of Egypt. ■ As he has six othet sons and four-daughters; the succession seemsi assured;- ;• ;. At the- outbreak of the present war Iran' declared its neutrality. The army, which has rah actiyg strength ort paper of about 130,000 i is said ito have a considerable 1 dumber:'of rtanks '.and some 300 aircraft.'; Its'* efficiency under the conditions of mod,er,tv war has not yet been tested' . '-'' -"