This identity underpins the fierce sense of independence of the Iranian people. It has helped them survive foreign domination. The Iranian people have overcome two aggressive wars by tsarist Russia, in 1804 and 1812, resisting economic and political domination by Britain and Russia—countries that attempted to divide the country into spheres of influence in 1907—and maintained political independence and territorial integrity despite the British and Russian invasion and occupation during World War I and World War II.