Reza Shah

Japan was the first Asian nation in the nineteenth century which successfully implemented modernization. Therefore, to ensure its economic progress it sought new markets to sell its products. Iran, also with various motivations, to compensate for its backwardness sought to develop its relations with Japan. The present study attempts to study the ups and downs of trade relations between Iran and Japan in the contemporary era. Based on its findings, the study reveals that the First World War and the Bolshevik revolution in Russia boosted the trade between Iran and Japan and Japan became one of the Iran's top ten trade partners and the Japanese products officially entered Iran. Due to official relations, the trade activities between the two nations entered a new phase. Iran needed to be industrialized. Therefore, it hired Japanese experts and specialists to accelerate its progress. The trade balance between the two nations was equal in the beginning years of the Reza Shah era but gradually the Japanese benefitted more and this process continued.

Developments and accomplishments of the newly founded Republic of Turkey in the first half of the 20 th century had long been the focus of Reza Khan, the Pahlavi ruler of Iran. He considered Atatürk and his actions to be a good model for modern life. After ascending the throne, in parallel with the implementation of Western models, he applied the dominant thinking of Turkey about people’s way of life. Emphasis on the role of women, believing that the backwardness of social organization is the reason for the humiliation of women in the society, was closely pursued by Reza Shah as an important policy and as an ideology of his governance. Among special features and components of women's issues are their presence in the social fields, clothing, health, work and financial independence, and their education, which are addressed comparatively. The main question of this article is that despite the policies of Reza Shah's government regarding women, following the example of Atatürk, what similar achievement was made? If not, what were the reasons for this? The present article tries to identify different aspects of Iran and Turkey by using archival documents, newspapers, written sources, historical researches, and descriptive-analytical methods in examining instances of modernization by imitating Turkey. The result confirms the main point that it is not correct to equate the social modernization activities of Reza Shah and Atatürk. The personality structure, the level of knowledge and awareness, and how the two came to power had a different process, and finally, the society's approach to their position in power was also different. Reza Shah's perspective with Atatürk on women's issues and the actions taken by each of them to change the position of women followed different conditions, reactions, and consequences, which in this article is highlighted using a grounded theory and a background study on issues and finally an appropriate analysis is made based on the author's perception.

Antiquarianism is one of the significant elements of Iranian nationalism that emerged through archaeological research and exploration by Iranian scholars and Western archaeologists in the realm of Iran's history and culture. It provided a fresh definition of Iranian history and identity, playing a crucial role in the construction of modern Iranian nationhood during the era of Reza Shah. Nationalist antiquarianism had a lasting impact on cultural, literary, and even political aspects, transforming the understanding of Iranian history and identity. As an intellectual and cultural movement, antiquarianism aimed to uncover the unknown aspects of Iran and its people beyond recorded history. Its purpose was to revitalize the material and spiritual culture of the historical Iranian nation, turning it into a source of pride and a foundation for constructing a new government-nation with a rich historical civilization. In this context, Reza Shah leveraged the Iranian antiquarian movement to construct a modern Iranian government-nation, utilizing the deep-rootedness of the monarchy system in pre-Islamic Iranian history as a legitimate link, presenting it as a legitimate pole against the backdrop of Islamic Iranian history. This research seeks to answer the question of the function of antiquarianism in the development of Iranian nationalism during the reign of Reza Shah, employing a descriptive-analytical method. It explores the coordinates of Iranian nationalist antiquarianism and investigates why Iranian nationalists conceptualized antiquarianism as the foundation of the Iranian nationalist movement.

Research Objective: The present study aims to examine how Reza Shah's despotism influenced the Iranian legislative system in the contemporary era. This is primarily done through an analysis of the National Assembly's performance during its sixth to twelfth sessions. The study also aims to explain the mechanisms used to strengthen authoritarianism by intervening in the legislative process. Research Methodology: This paper utilizes the theoretical framework of patrimonialism and employs a documentary method with descriptive analysis. Historical sources, official documents, and legislative texts form the basis for data collection and analysis.Findings: The research findings indicate that Reza Shah successfully manipulated the legislative environment to consolidate his personal power. He achieved this by undermining the Assembly's independence, interfering in the composition of its representatives, eliminating political opponents, and leveraging authoritarian legitimacy. These interventions not only impacted the selection process of representatives but also significantly influenced the content of the laws passed. Conclusion: The study concludes that Reza Shah's despotism, by dominating the legislative body, played a crucial role in weakening political institutions and reducing the transparency of the legislative process in Iran. By offering a clear depiction of the interplay between authoritarianism and legislation, this study contributes to a more profound understanding of institution- building in contemporary Iranian history

Reza Shah's government can also be considered a government based on an ideology. This ideology has different components and at the same time, based on it, various institutions were created during Pahlavi's rule. Accurate knowledge of the Pahlavi government, especially in the era of Reza Shah, is obtained with a correct understanding of this ideology. Therefore, the state of the Pahlavi government is "linked" to this ideology in a very fundamental way. Looking at its situation, the three most important elements in it were considered the main ideological components of the government, which are: "authoritarianism", "monopolism" and "personalization of power". Of course, nationalism and antiquarianism can also be added to these. In this research, the focus is on the political components of the government's ideology. In sum, according to these three components, the ideological characteristic of Reza Shah's government can be considered as "concentration of exclusive personal power". In the meantime, the military institutions, which Reza Shah had placed the main support of his power on, played a very important role in the continuation of the government and the implementation of its ideology. The "police" was one of the most important of these institutions, which was completely at the service of the "person" of Reza Shah, and before and after he reached the throne, he fulfilled his wishes completely. This article seeks to understand the "problem" of the "police" in the ideology of the government with a descriptive and analytical method. And at the same time, its most important findings are that the "police" based on the principle of "concentration of exclusive personal power", was one of the main tools for creating order and suppressing Reza Shah's opponents. The most important result of this research is that the police played a role in establishing the "concentration of exclusive personal power" mostly by "suppressing and censoring the press", "dominating the elections and parliament" and "suppressing the opponents of the king". And this act was exactly based on the ideology of Reza Shah's government.