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| 1909–25 |
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| AHMAD SHAH. The last Qajar shah was crowned just days before the beginning of World War I. His reign was characterized by an increased lack of central government authority and the rise of a plethora of rebellious groups from tribes to reformists. Foreign intervention in Iran continued, heightened by the world war. | 1 |
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| 1909–11 |
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| THE SECOND CONSTITUTIONAL PERIOD. A new Majlis, dominated by wealthy landowners, convened in Oct. 1909. The ulama were now less prominent, and many of them were disillusioned with the demands of the liberal reformers to disestablish Islam and introduce a new system of secular education. Factional strife in Tehran and Russian pressure undermined the Majlis, which the government suppressed in Dec. 1911 under threat of Russian occupation (now extended to much of northern Iran). The constitutional revolution was thus halted, although the restored government of the shah remained weak. | 2 |
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| 1911 |
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| Death of Abd al-Rahman Najjar Zada Tabrizi, author of many popular works on geography, physics, and biology as well as accounts of European social and political institutions. His books emphasized Iran's technological backwardness. | 3 |
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| 1914, May 20 |
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| The British government bought a majority interest in the Anglo-Persian Oil Company in order to ensure the purchase of enough petroleum for its naval fleet. (See Iran (Persia)) | 4 |
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