Interpretation and Misinterpretation of the Indicators of the Modern Civilization in contemporary Iranian History (the Qajar era)

The relationships and interactions among societies and countries, irrespective of their type, have always had a social nature and have taken place through two main pillars of a society, namely, culture and civilization. Accordingly, although societies have been presenting their physical and intellectual achievements to one while interacting, such achievements have never been and will never be regarded merely as an item of physical or intellectual value for exchange. Such achievements indicate a particular culture and civilization and more significantly denote the physical and intellectual strength of certain cultures and civilizations and will continue to play that role. The emergence of the modern European civilization and its encounter and contact with other civilizations including Iran, took place in the same manner and through military, political, economic and social interaction, in addition to overcoming ancient civilizations, evidently demonstrated an unprecedented strength in all four aspects of society, i.e., politics, economy, society and culture and fundamentally impacted the old Iranian civilization. The findings of this research based on logical explanation (focusing on two areas of military-political and economic social impact), demonstrates that the Qajar dynasty monarchs despite a long interaction with the modern civilization, did not manage to deal appropriately with the signs and indications of the modern civilization and instead, still delusively dreamed of the ancient relationships and interactions. They insisted so intensely on opposing the indications of the new civilization that finally while overwhelming Iran with the issues of the modern civilization, lead to their own disappearance from the political landscape of Iran.