Unseen photos from Reza Shah's coronation ceremony

Tall and powerfully built, the young soldier, from the beginning, showed an uncommonly strong will, remarkable intelligence, and a capacity for leadership. He was highly regarded by his seniors.After centuries of misrule by its former rulers and the ravages of the war waged by foreign belligerents on its soil from 1914 to 1919, Iran in 1921 was prostrate, ruined, and on the verge of disintegration. The last of the shahs of the Qājār dynasty, Aḥmad Shah, was young and incompetent, and the cabinet was weak and corrupt.