240 • 14 MODERNIZING RULERS IN THE INDEPENDENT STATESStrengthening Iran's national government could be achieved only by
weakening the nomadic tribes. Many were forced to settle down, their
chiefs in some cases being put under house arrest. Those allowed to re¬
main nomadic often moved their flocks under police escort. The army was
reorganized, with vastly improved munitions, weapons, training, barracks,
and health-care facilities. All security forces came under central control. A
rudimentary political police force was established.
Iran gradually acquired a civil service, European-style law codes and
courts, a state budget, and a national system for registering births, land
transfers, marriages, and deaths. Roads suitable for cars and trucks, almost
nonexistent in 1921, crisscrossed the country by 1941. Often accused of
stealing the peasants' lands to augment his own holdings, Reza claimed that
he wanted his estates to serve as model farms to research and teach new
agricultural methods. His modern factories and imposing public buildings
boosted morale probably more than they really benefited the nation.
To Reza, social reform meant education. Schooling increased greatly at
all levels, for girls as well as boys. Although Reza is well known for opening
the University of Tehran in 1935, he cared most about the basic education
of farmers and workers. Night schools proliferated, and the army became a
vast training program. Officers were held responsible for teaching their
troops to read, write, and do basic arithmetic. If any soldier did not gain
these skills by the end of his two-year stint, then his unit commander
would not be promoted. Sports and games had long been a part of Iran's
culture, although many mollahs frowned on them; Reza made a cult out of
physical fitness and athletic contests. He did not attack organized Islam di¬
rectly (as Ataturk had done), but he sometimes nettled the mollahs by
drinking beer or wine in public, and he did insist that all men who wore the
garb of ulama pass examinations proving their right to do so. He followed
Ataturk's example by requiring Iranian men to wear an "international" cos¬
tume and surpassed him by forbidding women to veil their faces. This re¬
form deeply offended conservative Muslims, who argued that Westerners
would be just as shocked if women of all ages had to go topless in public.
Muslims also opposed what would have been a sounder reform: romaniz-
ing the Persian alphabet.
Reza's Downfall
Although Reza Shah tried in many ways to transform Iran, the results of¬
ten disappointed him. An impatient man, he never could delegate tasks.
Trying to reduce Iran's dependence on Britain, he brought in foreigners
from other lands to advise him on reforms. When a US mission improved