The Qajar government was too weak to control its own territory, and widespread famine, foreign occupation, and internal disorder followed. In 1921, Reza Khan, a military officer backed by the British, led a coup and gradually consolidated power. In 1925, with parliamentary approval, Reza Khan deposed the Qajar dynasty and declared himself Reza Shah Pahlavi, founding the Pahlavi dynasty and beginning a new era of modernization and centralization.
