He was succeeded by his son, Mohammed Zahir Shah, whose rule started in 1933 and lasted for 39 years. Mohammed Zahir Shah, the last King of Afghanistan, was eventually overthrown by his own cousin Mohammed Daoud Khan who successfully ended the centuries-old monarchy and established a republican Afghan government. It was under the leadership of Zahir Shah that the Afghan government sought relationships with the outside world, most notably with the Soviet Union, France, Great Britain, and the United States.[2]