Changes in Iran After the Islamic Revolution

2715 Words6 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: 3. The effects of the revolution in Iran

Before the 1979 Islamic revolution in Iran, the country was on course to becoming a westernized secular country. The Shah of Iran was more interested in developing the country along western model than anything else. People were left on their own to make decisions regarding moral issues. Religion was a private affair and people were free to practice their religion, as they wanted. People enjoyed personal freedoms comparable to those enjoyed in the west. They only thing they lacked was political freedom as all the power rested with the Shah. The elite controlled political power and anyone who wanted to join politics needed the sponsorship of the elites. The elites also controlled the economy largely because Shah appointed members of the legislature to companies and state industrial complexes. Accumulating wealth and maintaining it depended on retaining connections with the political class. The middle class and the poor were disadvantaged by the system because opportunities for education, pursuing wealth, government jobs, and politics were the reserve of the elite (Keddie 20). For these reasons, people supported the ouster of the Shah. The Ayatollah had even promised people many free things once he assumed leadership. Once he assumed leadership, he never made good his promises and things even got worse as people lost most of the freedoms they enjoyed under Shah (Axworthy 56). When Sartrapi arrived in Austria, she was thrilled to see well-stocked stores and said, “It had been four years since I’d seen such a well stocked library” (Sartrapi, p. 12). From the story of Marjane Sartrapi, the changes brought by the Islamic revolution made life difficult especially for young people. Power and influence shifted from the elites to religiou...

... middle of paper ...

...ublic. 1. publ. ed. London: Allen Lane, 2013. Print.

Keddie, Nikki R., and Yann Richard. Modern Iran: roots and results of revolution. Updated ed. New Haven [Conn.: Yale University Press, 2006. Print.

Rosen, Barry. Iran since the revolution: internal dynamics, regional conflict, and the superpowers. Boulder: Social Science Monographs ;, 1985. Print.

Satrapi, Marjane. Persepolis: The story of my childhood. Viewed May 22, 2014

Satrapi, Marjane. Persepolis 2: A story of my return. Viewed May 22, 2014

Varzi, Roxanne. Warring souls youth, media, and martyrdom in post-revolution Iran. Durham: Duke University Press, 2006. Print.

Show More
Related

  • All The Shah’s Men by Stephen Kinzer

    2087 Words  | 5 Pages

    Not only did the religious history play a large role in Iran’s beliefs but also foreign invaders have been imposing their power on the Iranian region for thousands of years. Iran...

    Read More

  • The Effects of the Islamic Revolution of 1979 on Gender Equality

    1625 Words  | 4 Pages

    Prior to the Islamic Revolution, Iran was ruled by the Shah, Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, and furthermore, not governed by religion. The Shah’s White Revolution launched a series of reforms in 1963 that are indicative of where women’s rights for Iran were heading prior to the Islamic revolution. The reforms included, giving women the right to vote, run for office and to become lawyers and judges. This large of a reform in regards to women’s rights, was far more drastic than anything Iran had experienced in the past, and the shock of these “extreme” measures, received a large backlash from over 90% of the population1, the Shia Muslims.

    Read More

  • Marjane Satrapi’s Challenging of Stereotypes in Persepolis

    1107 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...ran is much more than a country of extremists and fanatics. Satrapi seeks to extend the beliefs of her family onto the majority of the Iranian population by citing examples like large riots against the veiling of women and other conservative reforms of the new regime as evidence of a nationally unified feeling of dissent. Satrapi never attempts to defend her government and it is unlikely that she has any interest in doing so, although, she does wish for the western world to see the separation between the beliefs and actions of a government and those of its subjects. In conclusion, Satrapi manages to successfully challenge the assumptions of many people outside of Iran that the people of Iran are just as theologically conservative and politically reactionary as their government.

    Read More

  • Censorship In Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis

    679 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Iranian government is fighting a losing battle against a rapidly growing Western force. Although Iran is not physically waging war against the United States, the government is fighting to eradicate its increasing cultural influence in Iran. The young, Iranian population is currently speaking out against the Islamic Republic’s attempts to rid the country of Western culture, demanding more freedom and less censorship, similar to how Marjane Satrapi acts out against the regime in Persepolis.

    Read More

  • The Blowback of Operation Ajax

    878 Words  | 2 Pages

    Farber, David R. Taken Hostage: The Iran Hostage Crisis and America's First Encounter with Radical Islam. Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 2005. Print.

    Read More

  • Personal Narrative: The Iranian Revolution

    1567 Words  | 4 Pages

    First, the Shah, out-of-touch with what his people wanted, became the catalyst for massive xenophobic and anti-Western feelings to spread throughout the nation. By giving up traditional Islamic ideals and becoming sort of a “puppet” for the U.S. and the Western world, the Shah made a mockery of himself and of those traditional Islamic values, which were paramount in Iran. For many years, Iranians wrote letters to the Shah, voicing their discontent with many aspects of his rule — the spread of the Bahá’í Faith, the collapse of Islamic traditions, and the crumbling economy. The Shah, however, did nothing to fix these issues. Instead, he designed a political reformation movement, hoping to silence his opponents, to introduce personal rights for women, and to establish a sense of fiscal equality. This series of reforms, which appeared to be a blatant attempt to Westernize Iran, became known as the “White

    Read More

  • Theme Of Persepolis

    1538 Words  | 4 Pages

    The introduction to Persepolis gives a great deal of background information to the unrest in Iran leading up to the Islamic revolution. Iran had been in a state of unrest for “2500 years” (page11). Iran was ruled by foreign nations and exploited by the western world for its rich expanses of oil. In 1951 the prime minister of Iran tried to take back his country’s wealth by nationalizing

    Read More

  • The Iranian Revolution and the Russian Revolution

    1667 Words  | 4 Pages

    Lafraie, Najibullah (2009). Revolutionary Ideology and Islamic Militancy : The Iranian Revolution and Interpretations of the Quran. Tauris Academic Studies. Retrieved March 23, 2012, from Ebook Library.

    Read More

  • The Pros and Cons of Nationalism

    594 Words  | 2 Pages

    Maghen, Z. (2009, January). Eradicating the "Little Satan": Why Iran Should Be Taken at Its

    Read More

  • Transnational Social Movements, International Nongovernmental Organizations

    2182 Words  | 5 Pages

    Griffith, William E. “The Revial of Islamic Fundamentalism: the Case of Iran.” International Security. Volume 4, Issue 1, 1979, 132-138.

    Read More

  • Women's Rights in The Islamic Republic of Iran

    1331 Words  | 3 Pages

    Beck, Lois, and Guity Nashat. Women in Iran from 1800 to the Islamic Republic. Urbana:

    Read More

  • Persepolis and Hotel Rwanda: Human Rights Films

    1664 Words  | 4 Pages

    Under the Shah's son, Iranian citizens were often whipped, killed execution style, or went to prison for speaking out. Brainwashing people into believing, that the way to heaven was by obeying the Shah's rules and if they did not honor the Shah they would go to hell. After the deposing of the shah by revolution, the people of Iran elected a democratic leader.... ... middle of paper ...

    Read More

  • The Black Revolution And The White Revolution Of Iran

    838 Words  | 2 Pages

    In February of 1979, Muhammad Reza Shah was in exile and Ayatollah Khomeini arrived as the triumphant leader of a revolution. Throughout the remainder of the year, the execution of former prime ministers, SAVAK agents, and high- ranking military officers took place. Muhammad Reza Shah’s regime was no longer in power and the Iranian Revolution was in full effect, but what caused this rapid shift of power? In the years leading up to the revolution, the Shah implemented the White Revolution in attempts to modernize Iran. The White Revolution was an attempt to turn Iran into an economic power, however; it went against many of the core beliefs of Islam. The White revolution of the 1960’s and 1970’s caused the Iranian revolution because it marginalized

    Read More

  • The Khomeini Martyrs

    248 Words  | 1 Pages

    Gold-painted, plastic keys symbolize the certain entry into “paradise” for volunteers who were killed, glorifying martyrdom, declaring that survival of a regime depends on the sacrifice of its apparatus (102.1). During the Iran-Iraq War, the outgunned and overwhelmed Khomeini regime resorted to human wave attacks in order to sweep for landmines and absorb heavy Iraqi artillery. The ruling mullahs embarked on a variety of indoctrination campaigns to mobilize Iran’s faithful on the front lines. In order to entice Iranians, promises of eternal peace and pleasure in the afterlife were guaranteed. The Khomeini regime was certain that these martyrs would be sacrificed. Therefore, “thousands of young kids” were provided with plastic keys, ostensibly

    Read More

  • The Causes and Effects of the Iranian Revolution Religiously and Politically

    2489 Words  | 5 Pages

    Although the Iranian Revolution was both a political and religious movement in that it resulted in major shifts in government structure from an autocracy to a republic and that Islamic beliefs were fought to be preserved, it was more a religious movement in that the primary goal of the people was to preserve traditional ideology and in that the government became a theocracy intertwined with religious laws and desires of the people. Although the Iranian Revolution was caused by combination of political and religious motivations and ideas, the desires of the people supporting the movement were more dominantly religious ideas that were wished to be imposed in society and in a new government. The Shah, or king, of Iran at the time was Muhammad Reza Pahlavi, who had developed relations with nations in the “western” world, specifically with the United States. The United States supported the White Revolution, which was a series of social reformations the Shah made to remove Islamic values, law and tradition from the government to boost the country’s economy (White Revolution, 2010).... ...

    Read More

More about Changes in Iran After the Islamic Revolution

Open Document