The Causes and Effects of the Iranian Revolution Religiously and Politically

The reformation of the country of Iran toward Islam caused turmoil among the people because the drastic changes forced on the people were not easily accepted. One of the major changes is that

In the late 1970's, the world was hit with the events of the Iranian Revolution, a movement in which the Shah was overthrown in replacement with Ayatollah Khomeini. Causes for this movement included the economic, political, and socio-economic conditions in Iran before the Revolution. Economically, the Shah's hopes for the country ended up being their downfalls while politically, the Shah's ruling as a dictator prohibited the freedom of the Iranians. Socio-economically, the Shah didn't place much emphasis on religion, angering the majority of the population. The overthrow of the Shah led to the uprise of a religious leader, Ayatollah Khomeini, a figure supported by many. Unlike advice

Various factors influenced the 1979 Iranian revolution, but at the core of this significant event was Islamic fundamentalism. The Iranian religious leader, Ayatollah Khomeini, led this movement to end the thirty-seven-year reign of Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, also known as the Shah of Iran (Diller 1991, p.152). The revolution was a combination of mounting social, economic, political and religious strains. The nation of Iran was never colonized, unlike some of its bordering countries, making its people intolerant of external influences. The Shah had gradually westernized and secularized his country, creating a strong American presence that was being felt

To begin, a few key events that caused the Iranian Revolution must be known to understand the politics and major changes that Satrapi grew up with in Tehran. The Iranian Revolution began on February eleventh, 1979 when the Shah, Mohammed Reza Pahlavi was succeeded by the Islamic Republic. This took place partly due to an event that occurred about a year earlier; on January ninth, 1978 in the city of Qum,

Firstly, Mohammed Reza Shah Pahlavi was the extremely isolated leader of Iran who was extremely concerned, by any means necessary, with consolidating his power. Not only did the Shah completely remove himself from the suffering society and ignore the injustice surrounding him but he ruled with absolute power meaning that everyone else had little say in government, if any at all. The Shah also created a force known as the SAVAK, and it was largely and widely feared by those who opposed the regime as it was known for extreme surveillance, torture and even execution. Mohammed Reza Shah completely overlooked the fact that up to 70%of Iran’s population of 20 million was living in poverty without basic liberties and at the mercy of their landlords. This evidence proves that the needs of the Iranian people were not being met which in many cases, like the case of the English Civil War sets the stage for revolution. Charles Stuart I, was a leader who also ruled by divine right with the belief that he was superior to everyone, including parliament whom he, due to this

The Iranian Revolution was an uprising by the common people of Iran who were upset about the doings of their Shah and his government. The Shah’s treatment of his own people can be characterized as unjust and cruel. After all, he severely limited the rights of groups whom he felt threatened his power to rule. He opposed the political rights of religious Shiite groups, which especially enraged Iranians, and led to the rise of Ayatollah Khomeini. The Ayatollah was a religious leader who would overthrow the Shah and establish a proper Islamic State in the nation. Ever since, the so called Islamic Revolution has raised concern over the dangers that Iran may pose to the Western world. Nevertheless, the Iranian Revolution was a progressive movement that reflected the major concerns of Iranians towards corruption in government, all with the intention of removing injustices and enforcing rightful liberties and common needs.

“Because his American-supplied army and his American-trained secret police kept the shah in power, his opponents hated the United States almost as much as they hated their autocratic ruler. The shah’s rule was not one of constant decency” (Carnes and Garraty). From 1977 to 1979, Iran grew more and more unstable, as the Iranian people’s hatred of the shah further intensified. 1977 saw numerous riots, along with both the wounding and even killing of large numbers of the Iranian people. The Iranian people finally rose up against the shah in 1978, by January of the next year the shah was forced to flee. “A revolutionary government headed by a religious leader, the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, assumed power. He that freedom was an enemy of Islam, as well as that Islam condoned terror. Khomeini denounced the United States as the “Great Satan” whose support of the shah, he said, had caused the Iranian people untold suffering” (Carnes and Garraty). Upon his exile, the shah was dying of cancer, after seeking refuge in numerous countries he was finally given refuge in the United States. The Iranian people wouldn’t have it, and began protesting outside the U.S. Embassy demanding the shah be returned, tried, and hanged. The Iranian Hostage Crisis was quickly approaching.

Crane Brinton 's book, An Anatomy of a Revolution, explains set of four steps a country experiences when a revolution occurs. Symptoms, rising fever, crisis, and convalescence are the steps that occur. The Iranian Revolution followed the four steps in Crane Brinton 's theory,

Seemingly the death of intellectual life from the western viewpoint, the cultural revolution in Iran opened a new chapter in the country. As they denounced Western influences, they made way for a new wave of Islamic culture. The Cultural Revolution affected more than just the educational aspect of Iranian society, it also heavily affected its citizens. The Iranian Cultural Revolution was centered on the reformation of the education system in Iran, so the impact the cultural revolution had on Iranian students, educational institutions, and professors would outweigh any other.

What impact did the traditional/secular Muslims and religious fundamentalists make during the Iranian revolution in 1979?

The Iranian Revolution refers to the several events that took place in an effort to remove the Shah from Iran in the late 1970’s. At the time, the Shah of Iran, much like his father, ran the country as an autocracy. This means that there was one person in absolute power. The people of Iran did not like this, and they wanted the Shah out. They attended demonstrations where they protested for the Shah to leave. The Iranian Army shot at the protestors, and they threw rocks at the army. The Shah finally left Iran in exile, and the people

This was one reverse too far, for Iran's young “cherish a packet of grievances, ranging from the acute shortage of jobs to the social restrictions that ban most boy- and-girl outings. Restrictive though it is, the system allows discussion of these complaints, and many niggling rules have been quietly eased since Mr. Khatami took over” (Anonymous Iran's second revolution? 13). It was, however, after the police and their allies, the Islamist bully-boy militia, raided the dormitories in Tehran University, where they killed at least one student and probably more, that the shout for change began to penetrate “out-of-bounds areas. The students started to call for fundamental reforms, questioning the legitimacy of clerical control” (Anonymous Iran's second revolution? 13). They even went so far as to challenge the sacrosanct heart of Iran's Islamist edifice, the ultimate authority of the “supreme leader.”

The emergence of the Islamic Republic in late 1970’s Iran demonstrates how middle class Iranian people purged themselves of the Pahlavi Dynasty in an effort to continue down a more righteous and egalitarian path. As a result, the country underwent a complete social upheaval and in its place grew an overtly oppressive regime based in theoretical omnipotence. In response to this regime, the very structure of political and social life was shaken and fundamentally transformed as religion and politics became inexorable. As a result, gender roles and the battle between public and private life were redrawn. Using various primary and secondary sources I will show how the Revolution shaped secular middle class Iranians. Further, I will show how the

Iranians deeply value their social and cultural traditions. The Persian revolution formed the basis through which the country evolved and foundation upon which its empires were established. The Islamic regime practiced by the country formed the basis through which the country’s sophisticated institutions were built. Shah seemed to champion for secularization and westernization (Axworthy,

Analysis of the Political and Social Consequences for Iran of the 1979 Revolution When Ayatollah Khomeini ousted Mohammed Reza Shah and ended the Pahlavi dynasty in the revolution of 1979 many political and social consequences took place. These consequences were due to vital decisions made by him but also due to repercussions of the revolution itself. With Iran being dominated predominantly by monarchies for the past several decades with the most recent being the Pahlavi dynasty the public had been through an era of radical yet superficial ‘modernisation’ and ‘westernisation’. Khomeini entered his rule with an extremist Islamic rule that was non-existent under the previous Shahs and this was bound