Iran

Iran from Monarchy to Revolution 1945-1990

Political:
Following the democratically elected government in WWII, Iran transitioned to a monarchy, ruled by Mohammad Raza Shah Pahlavi. He ruled from 1953-1979. On August 19,1953 an Iran [|coup d’état], known as the was the overthrow of the democratically elected Iranian government led by Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh. The [|coup] was orchestrated by the United States and Britain. Subsequent to the coup a military government was formed, led by General Fazlollah Zahedi and ruled by Mohammad Pahlavi. The shah ruled as an absolute monarch for 26 years until he was overthrown in the[| Islamic Revolution] in 1979. As a result of the Islamic Revo lution, the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini was installed as the [|Supreme leader] of the Islamic Republic until his death in 1989. After the Ayatollah's death, the assembly of experts appointed the Ayatollah Ali Khomeini to succeed him as supreme leader. (aljazeera/nova)

Social Movements:
After the Shah took over as ruler of Iran he attempted to modernize Iran through a program referred to as the [|White Revolution] , a program of land reforms and social and economic modernization. This[| modernization] movement was popular with the wealthy an d educated, largely urban population, but was resented by poorer, rural population. While it brought an economic boom to the country, largely through increased oil revenues, it widened the income gap between the wealthy and the poor. In addition the Shah's attempts to create a more secular society angered religious traditionalist. Under the Shah's rule, women were given greater rights. These rights included the right to vote, access to education and an increasing number of women joining the workforce. The increasing resentment by the religious traditionalists, the Shah's repressive regime including using the secret police and the increased income gap between the city elite and the rural poor, led to the [|Islamic Revolution in 1979]. Before the revolution, Iranians enjoyed all types of freedoms except for political freedom, but afterwards, they not only did not achieve political freedom, they also lost all freedoms. "Before the revolution people used to drink outside their homes and pray inside their homes; after the revolution people pray outside and drink inside" (pbs.org) Under the Ayatollahs, Iran became a religiously conservative country following strict [|Islamic law]. (aljazeera/pbs)

Culture:
Iran is a multiethnic society populated with Persians, Azeri’s, Kurds, Lurs and Baluchis. The Arab population is predominately Shiite. Iran has been largely free of nationalistic conflicts, excluding the occasional movement by Kurds to seek independence. There are many languages spoken within Iran, however the official and main language is Farsi. Iran is the only nation in the Middle East that uses the solar calendar and is also the only nation on earth that marks its new year at the [|spring equinox]. Prior to the revolution, Iran was religiously tolerant, with the exception of the longstanding efforts to suppress those of the [|B'hai faith]. Because the B'hai's incorporate the beliefs of many faiths, Iran's Shiite government considers this to be an insult to Islam. After the revolution, the Islamic fundamentalist regime was increasingly less tolerant particularly of Jews and Christians. (pbs/ABC CLIO)



Economic:
In the early 1950's Iran nationalized its oil industry. After the Shah came to power in 1953 he opened negotiations with an [|eight-company oil consortium] that guaranteed Iran a profit margin that was greater than anywhere else in the Middle East. Using these increased oil revenues, the Shah embarked upon his economic modernization plan. Traditionally Iran was an agricultural society, but by the 1970's the country had undergone significant industrialization and economic modernization. After the revolution of 1979 the pace of growth slowed dramatically due to a substantial amount of capital leaving the country and the Islamic regimes economic reforms. The Ayatollah nationalized industry, including the National Iranian Oil Company and all Iranian banks. The government’s long-term objectives were to achieve economic independence, full employment and a comfortable standard of living for all citizens. However, by 1990 those objectives were largely unmet, due to the failure of reforms and the costly eight-year war with Iraq from 1980-1988. (Novaonline)

[[image:http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/40828000/jpg/_40828132_iranianbodies203.jpg align="left" caption="Iran-Iraq War"]]
[|War] between Iran and Iraq broke out in September 1980 due to Iraq's belief that Iran was greatly weakened by the revolution. The war between the two nations lasted eight years and claimed almost 500,000 Iranian lives. The war was estimated to have cost 500 billion dollars. In July 1988 Iran accepted a ceasefire agreement with Iraq, following UN negotiations.

US Embassy Hostage Crisis:
Shortly after the Islamic Revolution on November 4, 1979, a group of Iranian students in support of the Iranian Revolution forcibly took over the US [|Embassy] in Tehran. 52 American diplomats and citizens were held hostage for 444 days. The United States government refused to negotiate with Iran because the United States government would not yield to blackmail. After Iraq invaded Iran in September 1980, the Iranians began to negotiate with the US. Leading to the hostages being formally released on January 20, 1981, US relations with Iran have been strained ever since.

Conclusion:
The increased globalization and increased interdependence of world post WWII enriched Iran through greater oil revenues due to the world's increasing need for oil. This greater oil wealth enabled rapid modernization and industrialization of Iran transforming it from a relatively poor agrarian economy to a modern word oil power. This increased wealth and stature encouraged the Shah to consolidate his power and repress his Islamic critics. This increased economic disparity between the wealthy secular urban citizens and the poor rural traditional Iranians led to the Islamic revolution. After the revolution, as the world continued to globalize Iran became increasingly isolated, purposefully distancing itself from the rest of the world.

Works cited: "Iranian Revolution." Novaonline.nvcc.edu. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 May 2014. . I used this source for political information and I referred to the timeline at the bottom of the site. Parvaz, D. "Iran 1979: A revolution that shook the world." Aljazeera.com. N.p., 11 Feb. 2014. Web. 14 May 2014. . I used this source for information about the revolution and information on Ayatollah. Sadjapour, Karim. "Iran Then and 33 Years After the Revolution." Pbs.org. N.p., 1 Feb. 2012. Web. 14 May 2014. . I used this source for information on Social movements and I also got a quote from this source. Whit, Durham. "Iran: People." ABC- CLIO. World Geography: Understanding a Changing World, n.d. Web. 14 May 2014. . I used this source for culture and social movements.

Charlotte Rosenbloom

<span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; text-align: center;">May 2014