After the government of Persia - or Iran as it was known internationally by then - attempted to nationalise oil supplies in the early 1950s, and both Britain and America saw the government as increasingly siding with the Soviet Union in the Cold War, they disposed the Prime Minister and gave the monarch, or Shah, a significant amount of funding towards their army and secret police. This culminated in an invasion during Second World War in order to secure oil supplies. Under the Safavid dynasty from the 16th to 18th centuries, they once again controlled a great empire, but into the 19th century, the great European colonial powers of Russia and Britain cost them much land and influence.

Yet, once again, Persia rose from the ashes. But in the early 13th century, an invasion by the Mongolians devastated the region, followed by more upheaval in the 14th. Over the centuries, Persia gradually re-asserted independence and self-rule, becoming one of the most advanced nations in the world during the Middle Ages. Arabia was successful in bringing Islam to Persia, but unsuccessful in changing Persia's unique culture. Nonetheless, this would be marred by constant wars with the Romans, before and after its partition, leaving both Persia and Byzantium vulnerable to the rising Arabian Empire. Yet Persia would rise again the Sassanid Empire lasting from the 3rd to 7th centuries of the common era would once again capture the lands the Achaemenid Empire once did. Like many early empires, the need to delegate management of this vast realm led to disunity and defeat - at the hands of Alexander of Macedon Alexander the Great. Under the Achaemenid Empire, the first of the great Persian empires, it stretched from what would now be from eastern Libya to western China from Crimea to Oman, and encompassed over two fifth's of the world's people - a feat never equalled since. But in times of strength, Persia excelled to an unrivalled degree. One of the oldest and most powerful civilizations in history, Persia (or Iran as it is commonly known today) keeps, as it always has done, a powerful degree of cultural independence even within times of weakness. Note: This guide assumes you have all game-altering DLC and expansion packs (all Civ packs, Wonders of the Ancient World, Gods & Kings and Brave New World)

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