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| 1925–41 |
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| RIZA SHAH, FOUNDER OF THE PAHLAVI DYNASTY. The Majlis revised the constitution in Dec. 1925 to make Riza Khan the new shah. He crowned himself shah in an official ceremony on April 25, 1926, and became known as RIZA SHAH. | 1 |
| Riza Shah was the dominant figure in Iranian society and politics until World War II. Like Atatürk in Turkey, he embarked on a program of sweeping modernization by which he sought to remodel Iranian society in the image of the West and to centralize and expand the power of the Iranian state. But unlike Atatürk's reforms, Riza Shah's policies failed to strike deep roots in society, and he was unable to broaden his base of support among the Iranian elites. In the end, miscalculations in foreign policy during the early years of World War II brought an Allied invasion of the country and the downfall of his regime. Following his forced abdication in 1941, he died as an exile in South Africa (1943). | 2 |
| Expansion of the educational system. The number of modern primary schools jumped from more than 600 to over 2,300. The number of secondary schools rose from 74 to nearly 350. In 1925 there were about 55,000 primary and 14,500 secondary students; by comparison, the number of students grew to about 287,000 and 28,000 respectively in 1941. Yet the accomplishments of the government's educational programs were at best modest. In large part, modern education remained confined to the wealthy and privileged, primarily families belonging to the landowning and new professional classes. | 3 |
| Expansion of Iranian industry. Riza Shah's government actively promoted the modernization of industry. The number of modern plants rose from about 20 to nearly 350. Nevertheless, modern industry remained a small part of the total economy. In fact, handicraft production still accounted for most industrial output. | 4 |
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| 1926 |
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| Junkers, a German firm, opened a regular airline service, offering both domestic and international flights. The first Iranian airline began operations in 1937 and provided weekly passenger and mail flights between Tehran and Baghdad. | 5 |
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| 1927 |
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| Creation of the Bank Melli Iran, which issued currency and controlled the government's fiscal policy. It functioned simultaneously as a state bank and a commercial bank. | 6 |
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| Nov. 22 |
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| Iran claimed Bahrain, which was officially under British protection, following the discovery of oil there. | 7 |
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