Autocratic Monarchy During The Iranian Revolution

746 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Iranian revolutions the causes and effects

Joey Sansone

November 17

HHHP

Autocratic Monarchy a Thing of the Past!

With the Autocratic Monarchy in Iran 's rear view mirror, there is hope that the new form of government will benefit the Citizens of Iranian. Before the Iranian Revolution, which began in January 1978 and ended in February 1979, Iran 's government was an Autocratic Monarchy (Wikipedia; Iranian Revolution). Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi had unlimited authority over the citizens of Iran. Shah’s dictatorship and inability to manage the country 's finances resulted in poverty and led to a revolutionary war which ultimately changed the form of Iran 's government. Once the Shah was overthrown, Iran adopted the Islamic Republic. Iran was now ruled by Islamic law. For …show more content…

(Wikipedia; Autocratic) The editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica define coup d 'état as a “sudden, violent overthrow of an existing government by a small group.”(Encyclopaedia Britannica; coup d’etat) This is what occurred during the Iranian revolution.
Monarchy
“A form of government in which law-making power is given to a single person, usually holding such authority by birthright” (Duhaime’s Law Dictionary; Monarchy)
Autocratic Monarchy Resulted in Coup D 'etat
Shah was the Supreme leader of Iran. The vast majority of people did not agree with his economic decisions and as a result he was overthrown by his people. His bad financial decisions led to high levels of inflation and a low standard of living. Wikipedia stated that, “Shah was perceived by many Iranians as beholden to if not a puppet of a non-Muslim Western power (the United States).”(Wikipedia; Background and causes of the Iranian revolution).

Show More
Related

  • Analysis of Child Raising in Anthem by by Ayn Rand

    557 Words  | 2 Pages

    Totalitarianism is the term that is used to describe the political system where the government holds total authority ove...

    Read More

  • All The Shah’s Men by Stephen Kinzer

    2087 Words  | 5 Pages

    In All The Shah’s Men there seems to be a very strong hatred for all foreign powers, including the United States, taken by the citizens of Iran. I believe that this ultimately occurred because of the impatience of certain government officials in Washington D.C., and also in Great Britain. If only there could have been better communication between countries, I feel that there would have been a solution reached. The stubbornness of the British for the most part, led to many lives being lost, and a feeling of perpetual disgust being shown towards the United States for their involvement. Although the British were our allies and we did have an extreme fear of communism taking over the free world, this coup was disorganized, forced along too quickly, and put forth without any guidance or strong evidence, which in the end proved to completely defy what the United States was trying to impose on the world, and what Mossadegh was trying to give his people; freedom and democracy.

    Read More

  • How Did The Cold War Affect Iran

    606 Words  | 2 Pages

    America and Iran had tricked the Soviets which left them very angry, and this inevitably led to the Cold War. But less than a decade later, America had done something which caused Iran to change their opinion of them. In 1951, Iran had recently elected a prime minister by the name, Mohammed Mosaddeq, which he nationalized the countryś petroleum industry, long the domain of the British-dominated AIOC. This move, however, pitted the two governments against each other in a bitter political fight. The Truman administration had tried to work between both sides, but Dwight Eisenhower had quickly concluded that Mosaddeq represented the problem rather than the solution to the crisis. They decided that they wanted him out and later he was kicked out and Mohammad Reza Shah took his place for the next twenty-five years. Shah not only gained access to sophisticated American weaponry, but also obtained tacit White House permission to forgo any serious effort at reform. Over the years, the internal resentment against the Shahś political and economic policies was building to a peak, but the depth of the problem escaped the notice of American

    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

  • Absolute Monarchs During the Renaissance

    2895 Words  | 6 Pages

    Absolute Monarchy was a major form of government in Europe during the Renaissance. The monarch of that country controlled every aspect of their country and acts as the undisputed head of state. Whether economic, social, religious, or domestic the monarch had his say in every matter in their country. While except in places like the Middle East and Africa, absolute monarchs have ceased to exist, their policies and actions are used in the governments of today.

    Read More

  • Theme Of Persepolis

    1538 Words  | 4 Pages

    A few years later in 1979 the Islamic revolution began, causing the Shah to flee (introduction pages one and two).

    Read More

  • Pros And Cons Of Ancient Greek Government

    489 Words  | 1 Pages

    Monarchy was a form of government where one would take power in succession to there family member that had ruled before them. Inheriting the title and takiing over the power until the day they were no longer able to. Monarchy's still to this day exist in some countries such as England, where we still have Princes and A queen that rules over them.

    Read More

  • A Brief History of Iran from 1851

    1850 Words  | 4 Pages

    1921 -- Reza Khan, an officer in the army, staged a coup. Initially the minister of

    Read More

  • American Culture And Cultural Awareness: Iranian Culture

    1226 Words  | 3 Pages

    After its founding in 1979, Iran became a Theocratic Republic. It was originally a monarchy, but after much fighting, the last Shah (king) went into exile and the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini established the Islamic Republic (Kagan, 2012a). In a theocratic republic, God is the supreme civil ruler of the nation. The people elect a supreme leader and president to oversee political and some civil laws, but the leaders must look to the Qur’an for spiritual and civil guidance (Theocratic, 2016). The supreme leader has the overall control in all matters to include the military and the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, a military entity charged with protecting the revolution of 1979 and its achievements (Kagan, 2012). The state’s government is a multi-tier system with some checks and balance systems in place so that one group does not have total power. The first tier is the Islamic consultation assembly, a parliamentary group who creates and passes laws. The second tier is the Guardian Council. Elected by the supreme leader, this group is the approval authority for all of the parliament’s decisions. The Guardian Council also has the power to remove the Supreme Leader if they feel he is not worthy of the title. The Expediency Council is the last tier, which mediates decisions between the previous two entities. The

    Read More

  • The Rise of Islamic Fundamentalism in Iran

    1517 Words  | 4 Pages

    Over the course of the last century, the Islamic Republic of Iran (formerly known as Persia) has seen colonialism, the end of a dynasty, the installation of a government by a foreign power, and just over three decades ago, the popular uprising and a cleric-led revolution. These events preceded what could be considered the world’s first Islamic state, as politics and fundamentalist religion are inextricably linked in contemporary Iran. Looking at Iran from the mid 1940’s until the present day, one can trace the path that led to the rise of fundamental Islam in Iran in three distinct periods. The first is that which began with the rise of secular nationalism and the decline of Islam. In the second, the secular, western-friendly government eventually gave way to the Islamic revival in the form of a government takeover by hard-line clerics and disillusioned, fundamentalist youth; both motivated and led by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. Rule of Iran by these fundamentalist clerics then led to the formation of the fundamentalist Islamic theocracy that governs present-day Iran. The current government has some democratic appearances, but all real power is in the hands of the supreme leader, an Ayatollah who is chosen by the Assembly of Experts, a group of clerics chosen by the Guardian Council. With the Iranian Revolution, political Islam was born, with the fundamentalists holding the reins of power in Iran to the present day.

    Read More

  • The Iranian Revolution and the Russian Revolution

    1667 Words  | 4 Pages

    In the 1970’s Iran, under Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was a very centralized military state that maintained a close relationship with the USA. The Shah was notoriously out of touch with working class Iranians as he implemented many controversial economic policies against small business owners that he suspected involved profiteering. Also unrestricted economic expansions in Iran lead to huge government expenditure that became a serious problem when oil prices dropped in the mid 1970’s. This caused many huge government construction projects to halt and the economy to stall after many years of massive profit. Following this was high rates of inflation that affected Iranians buying power and living standards. (Afary, 2012) Under the Shah, political participation was not widely available for all Iranians and it was common for political opposition to be met with harassment, illegal detention, and even torture. These measures were implemented by the Iranian secret police knows as ‘SAVAK’. This totalitarian regime combined with the increasing modernisation of the country paved the way for revolution.

    Read More

  • The Case Against Monarchy

    1620 Words  | 4 Pages

    The idea that a monarchy is the ideal form of government is a fallacy. Al-Farabi and Aquinas’ ideas about government are wrong, and are filled with irreparable holes. In modern times, the idea of a monarchy has become counter-intuitive and counter-productive. A democratic republic paired with an educated and empowered middle-class is the solution to the quandary of how to create the perfect government. While the ideas of the Arabic philosophers are interesting, there ideas on the perfection of monocratic rule are outdated by both new technology and new ideas

    Read More

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

    2489 Words  | 5 Pages

    A revolution is a mass movement that intends to violently transform the old government into a new political system. The Iranian Revolution, which began in 1979 after years of climax, was an uprising against the Shah’s autocratic rule resulting in much religious and political change. Shah Muhammad Reza Pahlavi made efforts to remove Islamic values and create a secular rule and “westernize” Iran through his White Revolution. In addition, his tight dictatorial rule and attempts at military expansion felt threatening to the people, who desired a fairer governmental rule immensely influenced by Islam. Afterwards, governmental affairs became extremely influenced by Islamic traditions and law which created changes religiously and politically for years to come. 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.

    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

  • Constitutional Monarchy and Malaysia

    2562 Words  | 6 Pages

    Constitutional monarchy can be described as a form of government in which a monarch acts as the head of state but functions within the parameters or guidelines of a written and/or unwritten constitution. Although the government may function officially in the monarch’s name, the monarch does not set public policies or choose the political leaders. Constitutional monarchy therefore differs from absolute monarchy where the monarch controls political decision making without being restricted by constitutional constraints. Consequently, a constitutional monarch has often been defined as a sovereign who reigns but does not rule. Constitutional monarchies have also been called limited monarchies, crowned republics or parliamentary monarchies.

    Read More

More about Autocratic Monarchy During The Iranian Revolution

Open Document