entury, the Shahs gave many of Iran's economic concessions away to foreign powers. In particular, Russia and Great Britain benefitted from these concessions. Muzaffar al-Din Shah, the autocrat of Iran from 1896 to 1907, compares to Russia's Nicholas II in that he was not very well prepared for this job as ruler. Wilber notes that the Shah spent his youth "in idleness and the pursuit of pleasure" and therefore "as sovereign he showed no more force or true concern for the affairs of state" (Wilber, 1981, p. 69). Because of Muzaffar al-Din Shah's political weaknesses, Russia and Britain were able to draw up a treaty in 1907 in which they split the lands and resources of Iran between themselves. In Turkey, the revolutionaries of 1908 rose up against the Ottoman Empire which had controlled the region since the thirteenth century. At that time, the people of Turkey were subjected to the "repressive policies" of the Sultan Abdul Hamid II (Rhinehart, 1988, p. 38). The Great Arab Revolt of 1916 was also directed against the Ottoman Empire. Revolutionar
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