All The Shah's Men Essay

Following World War II, many different countries were left in ruins and began to rebuild, especially in Europe. Iran specifically, was recovering from being invaded by Soviet and British troops after being a neutral country in the war. In the book titled All the Shah’s Men, we get a more focused glimpse on Iran and all the foreign powers influencing the nation. Iran was ruled as a monarchy until 1979, and each king or emperor is given the title of “shah”. Every Shah ruled until death or they were overthrown. With the finding of the oil industry in Iran in 1901 and British William D’Arcy being given concession to develop the industry, many countries saw interest in Iran. The fight for oil began, and continued even after the Majlis nationalized the industry in 1951 with the help of the newly elected Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh. Mossadegh was at first considered not a threat by the United States, but because of the ongoing fear of communism during the Cold War the view on Mossadegh shifted radically. This shift in views in the United States leads to the 1953 Iranian coup. The book All the Shah’s Men by Stephen Kinzer draws through the events leading up to the 1953 …show more content…
The coup is a complicated occurrence that had a lot that went into it. But in reality, it should have never been done. It helped no one. The coup lead to the current relationship the United States has with the Iran and in general the Middle East. Not to mention, it lead to a widespread anti-American campaign, angry people and most importantly lead to Iran helping Iraq in the Gulf Wars. The U.S. may have thought they were liberators when staging the coup, but they were far from it. Diplomatic relations with Iran will always be hostile now. The 1953 coup was a defining moment, it shaped Iran’s history and the world