Military Transformations in Fathali Shah Era, Focusing on Abbas Mirza Military Reforms and Their Consequences

Iran in Qajar period at the beginning of 19th century was an underdeveloped wretched country, inflicted with many problems such as Russo-Persian Wars. The structure of Iranian military forces was totally old that had been remained of Nader Shah era. Iranian defeat in Russo-Persian wars was the first and foremost factor that directed Abbas Mirza and Mirza Abolghasem Ghaem Magham Farahani to the decadence and wretchedness of Iran and led them to undertake western-style reforms in order to modernize the army. The base of these reforms was the modernization of troops and founding a unified, well-ordered army by the help of European military advisors. The paper aims to, first, answers what led Abbas Mirza to reform in armed forces and, then, study the consequences and results of that reform. Findings show military structure, domestic and international situation and the necessity of founding a modern army in order to fight against the foreign invasions were of Abbas Mirza motivations in pursuing a modernistic approach. Analyzing his failures, it also presents the main hindrances Abbas Mirza faced to.