Through the dust raised by this sudden reversal of the
gears of Iranian policy, looms the large lonely figure of Reza Khan Pahlevi. Persian history would seem to be as recurrent as it is ageless, and the same patterns form and re-form across those many thousand years. Again and again do we find a dynasty declining, and some young soldier seizing power and taking for himself the diamonds, the rubies and the peacock throne. A renewal of Persian nationalism ensues, the young soldier becomes an emblem of regeneration, he frees his country from foreign influences, he founds a new dynasty, he amasses enormous wealth, and he imposes upon his people such particular forms of progress as suit his personal tastes. But then, as the pleasures of his sultanate begin to pall and the chill of older age creeps upon him, his days become darkened by suspicion ; the com- panions of his early adventures, the architects of his central success, are alienated, exiled, murdered ; enraged and sullen the potentate stalks alone through the frail palaces which he has built for forgotten loves ; the crude parquet creaks at his passage, the chandeliers tinkle as he lumbers by. It was thus with Nada Shah ; let us hope that with our assistance, use future holds a brighter hqpe for Pahlevi.
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