Naser al-Din Shah’s 1873 Visit to the World’s Fair in Vienna

Abstract

ABSTRACT Naser al-Din Shah's 1873 visit to the World's Fair in Vienna was devised by his advisors to encourage the Shah to adopt European-inspired policies for modernisation, and to put Persia on the map. The latter priority entailed several related goals: first, to pursue diplomacy with Persia's main adversaries in order to balance their influence; second, to forge alliances with other European nations; and third, to communicate Persian sovereignty in order to deter aggression. The Shah's visit to Vienna constituted a mixed success. The Austrian press alternately lampooned and fawned over the Persian ruler, using numerous orientalist tropes. However, the Shah managed to persuade Austria to help Iran's efforts at administrative reform and forged good enough relations to secure Austria's military aid several years later. At the same time, he did little to conscript Austrian know-how for Persia's industrialisation and preferred to spend his time with old acquaintances and interesting personages. Persia's exhibition at the World's Fair also met with both successes and failures. While it effectively communicated Persia's wealth and culture to the Europeans, it could not shake off the impression of Persia's backwardness, and did little to break Persia from the mould of a Euro-centric colonialist narrative.