The Iranian History 1939 AD

 

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Mohammad Reza Pahlavi Marries Fouziye

Mar, 15, 1939 AD

Queen Fouziye FawziaMohammad Reza Pahlavi who was the crown prince at the time married princess Fouziye, the daughter of king Fuad of Egypt. Because the Pahlavi family did not have a noble origin, this marriage was mostly aimed to bring some royal blood to the family. The crown prince departed for Egypt on Feb, 24, 1939. After a road trip to Baghdad, then Damascus and Beirut, and a sea journey that ended in Alexandria on March, 3, Mohammad Reza took the train towards Cairo. On March 15 the wedding ceremony took place in Abidin palace. A similar ceremony was celebrated in Gulistan palace in Tehran in April. Somehow the marriage did not go as planned and secret love affairs and scandals surfaced. In such a conservative society as Iran, this was unacceptable. After Fouziye gave birth to a girl named Shahnaz, things got more complicated because a boy was expected as the heir of the throne. The relations of the two became worse each day until Fouziye left for Egypt in 1947 and never came back again. Their divorce finalized on Oct, 16, 1948. One year later, Fouziye married an Egyptian officer. After Egypt became a republic, her belongings were confiscated and she started living a simple life in Cairo. Born on Nov, 6, 1921, the once beautiful queen of Iran is now in her late 80's. To honor her, a square in Tehran was named after her but it was renamed after the revolution in 1979. (Updated: Feb, 24, 2008)





Abadan Institute Of Technology Founded

Sep, 23, 1939 AD

Abadan Institute TechnologyAbadan Institute Of Technology (AIOT) was the third of it's kind in the world, founded for education and training of technical staff required to operate and support Iranian Oil fields and refineries. It remains as one of few good heritages of the British who at the time owned %51 of the Iranian oil industry until nationalization of oil in 1952 under Dr. Mosaddegh. In 1956, it was renamed as the Abadan technical university adding fields like drilling and mining engineering, and registration became subject to passing a nationwide university entrance examination called concourd (meaning acceptance in French). The university was renamed after Javad Tondgooyan, the minister of oil who became martyr during the Iran-Iraq war. (Updated: Jan, 12, 2008)





Majlis Twelveth Terms Begins

Oct, 25, 1939 AD

Reza Shah in uniformThe 12th Majlis term started on Oct, 25, 1939.
Reza Shah attended the inauguration ceremony on Oct, 26 though he was a dictator who had no tolerance for opposition voices and Majlis elections were just formalities. Most of political dissidents were either killed, jailed or sent to exile.
World War II began on Sep, 1, 1939 with Germany's invasion of Poland. Germany headed a coalition named Axis Powers with Italy, and Japan against the Allied Powers consisting of Britain, France, USSR, U.S., and China. The sympathies of Reza Shah, seemed to be with the Axis Powers. There were a some Germans in Iran working as specialists or businessmen. Allied Powers insisted on their removal after the German invasion of Russia in June 1941, but Reza Shah put his bet on the wrong horse and in August, British and Russian troops invaded the country despite the fact that Iran had declared neutrality. The Trans-Iranian Railway which Reza Shah had built became one of the main routes for the supply to Russia of arms and other essentials.
During an emergency session on Sep,17, 1941, Reza Shah abdicated in favor of his son, Mohammad Reza who was sworn in as the new monarch on the next day. Reza Shah resignation gave Majlis a chance to pass some important laws including a general amnesty on political prisoners, a draft to increase public servant salaries, and a bill to put bandits on trial in civil courts instead of military courts.
Majlis 12th term ended soon on Oct, 31, 1941. (Updated: Jun, 30, 2009)





PM Daftari Presents His Cabinet

Nov, 12, 1939 AD

1900 Meydan Hasanabad SquareMatin Daftari was appointed as the new prime minister by Reza Shah. He presented his cabinet of ministers to Majlis on November, 12, 1939. The majority of the parliament representatives voted in favor of his cabinet. As a fan of Germany, appointing Daftari was to appease Germans. But after a short while it became clear that Nazi Germany could not reach those targets foreseen as a result of surprise attacks.
During his short term, first population count took place in Iran. Another achievement was inauguration of Iran's first radio station. Matin Daftari was forced to present his resignation after only eight months. He was succeeded by Rajabali Mansour. (Updated: Nov, 17, 2008)





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