Welcome to this week’s History Thread! My participation this week will be relatively limited,
This week’s discussion: Revolutions, rebellions, coups, etc. Arguably there’s a world of difference between them all, but they all have the same result – the destruction and overthrow . At least in the short term. Discuss the most interesting examples of each from history, their impacts and legacies, etc.
Today’s picture: on February 21st, 1921, the so-called Persian Cossack Brigade overthrew the government of Iran in a near-bloodless coup. Long a buffer state between Britain and Russia, Iran (Persia) became caught up in the turmoil following the Russian Revolution, with the ruling Qajars unable to deal with a growing communist movement in the country’s north. Enter Reza Shah, who received support from the British government to ensure a friendly, pro-British Western regime would control Iran and its oil fields. The coup went off nearly without a hitch, though there were a few lingering rebellions after Shah seized power. Reza later became Shah of Iran, and his family, the Pahlavis, ruled Iran more or less continuously until the Revolution of 1979.