Explain The Cause Of The Iranian Evolution, Its Participants (Research Paper Sample)

THE IRANIAN REVOLUTION
Introduction
The Iranian revolution is one of the most significant events of the 20th century. Unlike other revolutions in history, it was a peaceful revolution that involved massive demonstrations by ordinary citizens. What shook the whole world was its level of success where despite having the support of western countries including the United States and Britain, the Shah’s regime came crumbling down to public pressure.
The background and course of the revolution
Initially, Iran was a monarchy and was among the remaining parts of the Persian Empire that dated back about 2000 years. Until 1978, the empire was headed by Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, who ascended to the throne after his father, Reza Shah was deposed by Allied and Soviet Union forces because he was seen as being sympathetic to the Nazi regime, which was considered as the enemy. The installation of the young Shah was seen as a control measure to counter the influence of the Nazi regime in the 1940s when the World War II was going on. By having a leader who was indebted to them, the allies and Soviet Union knew they had succeeded in countering the Nazi regime in the Middle Eastern front.
However, the new shah became too sympathetic to the west and tried to make Iran more western than Islamic. He made significant political, economic and social changes where traditional Islamic laws were replaced with secularism. Being traditionally Islamic, majority of Iranian religious leaders became very uncomfortable with the changes. There was increasing public discontent among the Iranian people due to the brutal way the radical changes were being enforced. For instance, the Shah banned traditional Islamic dressing including veils for women. Those who violated the ban had their veils removed in public and the shah took total control of the government.
All the while, the shah got a lot of support from the west and he was backed by powerful allies to form a strong 400,000 man army. For those who opposed the shah’s regime, armed confrontation was not an option. There was no way they could defeat the well-equipped army. Besides, the army was so lavishly treated that they were totally loyal to the regime.
The west continued having big influence on the Iranian society, from economy to politics. The Shah’s reforms were known popularly as “The White Revolution”, which aimed at achieving total westernization of Iran. Other reforms that the Shah introduced included allowing women to vote, repealing of the laws on landholding by the Shi’a clerics and allowing minority groups to hold public office. These reforms were received with mixed reactions. For the few oligarchs that were close to the monarch, these reforms were much welcome. There were those who opposed these reforms and saw them as a threat to Islamic values, on which the Iranian society was based.
Participants in the revolution
Among the fiercest critics of the Shah regime was Shi’a cleric Shah Ayatollah Khomein, who came to prominence in the 1960s. The attempts to overhaul the traditional Islamic values and secularizing the Iranian society were to him the greatest threat to Iran’s prosperity. Given the influence the Shi’a clerics had on the Iranian people, the sentiments by Khomein were shared by a majority of the populations.
Shah Ayatollah Khomein was however not allowed to continue “poisoning” the public and he was arrested. However, not even detention and exile could deter him from his fight against the Shah regime. He continued sending revolutionary messages through his followers and the Iranian people became increasingly opposed to the regime. All this time, the shah received a lot of support from the west. As a matter of fact, the government and economy was increasingly being controlled by Americans and the French. Case in point, the Shah brought in French Chefs when Iran was celebrating 2500 years since the founding of the Persian Empire. This was among the things that infuriated Iranians the most because they felt like their kingdom was completely being run by outsiders and ordinary Iranians had nothing to gain from the economic growth that Iran was experiencing at the time
The resistance of Ayatollah Khomein continued even with him being exiled in Iraq and France. He continued sending messages in form of music and speeches that were smuggled by his followers into Iran. The opposition to the Shah comprised Islamist leftist organizations as well as student organizations that greatly helped spread the opposition agenda to the Iranians.
The success of the revolution
The opposition groups mobilized people to demonstrate beginning in 1977 and continued to 1979. Initially, the demonstrations comprised a few people, who were often arrested and some exiled. The regime’s police crashed the initial demonstrations and managed to restore order, but the crackdown on the demonstrators only served to fuel the demonstrators. More people felt that there was need for a regime change and joined the demonstrators.
Unlike most revolutions that are characterized by armed resistance, the Iranian revolution took the form of peaceful demonstrations where the opposition aimed at forcing a regime change using public pressure. In 1978, demonstrations and public riots paralyzed the whole of Iran and the pressure was too much for the Shah. Despite initial attempts to use the military and the police to crash the demonstrations, the demonstrators showed immense determination, forcing the Shah to exile himself to France. After the Shah’s exile, the government was left in the hands of an opposition prime Minister, Shapour Bakhtiar, who held power as a regent. The government, in the absence of the Shah was more accommodative of opposition and even welcomed Ayatollah Khomeini back to Iran.
Despite the exile of the monarch, there were still troops that were loyal to the monarchy. These were however, defeated by guerilla and opposition troops and Ayatollah Khomeini was installed as the Supreme leader of Iran. Khomeini was seen by the Iranians as the hope of Iran and in the referendum that followed, Iranians voted unanimously for the formation of an Islamic republic of Iran, putting an end to the Persian Rule that had persisted for more than 2000 years. The authoritarian monarchy of the Shah was replaced with an authoritarian theocracy where Islam was made a national religion, further underlining the power of the Shia clerics.
The new regime under Ayatollah Khomeini sought to reverse...