The reign of Ahmad Shah Qajar, the last ruler of the dynasty, coincided with a turbulent period in Iranian and world history. Iran was caught between the ambitions of Russia, Britain, and later Germany, especially during World War I. The country suffered from famine, foreign occupation, and economic collapse. Although Ahmad Shah was personally well-intentioned, he lacked the political strength to assert authority over the fragmented state.
In 1919, the British imposed the Anglo-Persian Agreement, effectively making Iran a British protectorate. The agreement was met with national outrage and was never ratified, but it exposed the weakness of the Qajar monarchy. By the early 1920s, political power had shifted to military and nationalist figures, most notably Reza Khan, a Cossack officer who seized control of Tehran in 1921 and became the dominant political figure.
In 1925, Iran’s parliament (Majlis) convened as a Constituent Assembly and formally deposed Ahmad Shah, declaring Reza Khan the new monarch under the title Reza Shah Pahlavi. Ahmad Shah lived the rest of his life in exile in France, where he died in 1930.
