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October 19, 2005

Group 1

Group 1: Information about Iran just before 1979 (during the rule of theShah, pre-revolution). Concentrate on the effects inside Iran.

Persian History Before 1979

In the second millennia B.C., Aryans invaded the Iranian plateau and divided into tribes that distinguished from each other by different dialects. The two most famous of tribes were the Persians and the Medes. The Persians settled in the province of Fars and in the Bakhtiari Mountains and achieved unity under the leadership of Achaemenes, whose descendant, Cyrus II, brought the Achaemenian Empire onto the center stage of world history. Cyrus overthrew the Median empire and seized Ecbatana (Place of Assembly), which became his capital. Because he spared the defeated ruler, respected all religions, and brought nobles and civilian officials, both Median and Persian, into the government of his kingdom, he continued to expand his empire over all the kingdoms of the Near and Middle East through peace.

The Mongol conquest of the Persian world brought with it terrible destruction and large-scale massacres. The east of Iran fell in 1380 and north-western Iran went through a different historical development. The Safavids were successful in bringing the whole of the Iranian plateau under unified control. They made Iran a "national state" in the modern sense of the word and traded with Europe, transforming the new capital, Isfahan, into one of the greatest cities of Persia. The presence at the Safavid court of foreign envoys and the growing number of merchants and travellers in Iran was later to have a great influence on the arts and literature in Europe. The cultural growth was accompanied by considerable development in all forms of art.

Afghan rule in eastern Iran lasted only a short period of time (1722-1729); the second ruler was overthrown by Nader Khan of the Safavid Dynasty. In 1795 the Qajar leader Agha Muhammed Khan, won and established the new Qajar dynasty bringing the whole country under his authority and was crowned "Shah" (king) in Tehran in 1796. Dissatisfied with the incompetence and corruption of the government revolts formed by various secret societies and religious groups.

Protests

In Iran from 1963-1967, there was economic growth in the country and opposition towards Mohammed Reza (Shah). The Shah was also opposed by religious figures and urban middle class people as well. He had gained power 1941, and he used his secret police as a method of controlling people within Iran. Only the wealthy were able to benefit from the Shah’s power.

With his power, the Shah imprisoned hundreds of political activist’s, he enforced strict censorship laws, killed and arrested protestors, and also attacked theology students who were attempting to stop a liquor store from opening. In 1978 there were lots of protests due to a libelous story about Khomeini. Overall there had been millions of protests in Tehran. Shah also had conflicts with muslims regarding such things as alcohol, sex and gambling. There was also lots of poverty in the country of Iran and very poor living conditions, where most of the poor lived in slums or rural areas outside of the large cities. The price of oil also continued to climb and about $300 million was spent on the celebration of the 2500 year anniversary of the Persian Empire in Persepolis.

In 1977 Jimmy Carter said he's cut arms shipments because of human rights issues inside Iran, therefore 300 prisoners were released and laws became more lenient, going against the beliefs of the Muslims. Protests began then for these reasons, and for the concept of freedom of thought. Early protests were led by Mehdi Bazargan and the "Freedom Movement", with support from the people of Iran and abroad. Al Shari'ati, an orthodox Shia, was also a radical leader whose murder added to the tension. Khomeini's son died of unknown causes, but the Shah's forces were blamed and this escalated hostile feelings towards the Shah.

In 1978 many protests were triggered by a libel printed about Khomeini in the official press, and because of the libelous story, there were many protests, one being where some student protesters were killed by members of the army. On this day, there was a memorial service for these martyrs. The army became even more violent and killed hundreds of the people at the memorial services. Many protests around the nation and images of the Shah were destroyed. There was also lots of unemployment because of the unrest in Iran. On Dececmber 12, 2 million protesters crammed into Azadi Square in Tehran. To protest against the Shah. Members of the army began to switch sides and protest as well, although other members of the army were very violent towards the protesters. Shah was finally forced to flee the country January of 1979.

Poverty and the Division of Social Class in Iran

Poverty in Iran resulted was obvious by the lack of access to essential services and goods, like health services and water that was safe to drink. There was overcrowding, many homeless, and lots of health problems. Children were severely underweight, and many adults were estimated to die before they reached age 45. Different areas in and the entire cities themselves, contrasted greatly in quality, and resulted in residential segregation. This lead to an increase in the amount of violence against women, and against the poor; making the poverty much worse.

Social class depended on political connections, not so much on wealth. If you were able to make high-level decisions, you had high prestige. Wealth was still important, but it was closely related with access to politics. For example, politically affluent people, like in the Senate (Majlis), were also owners of big industrial and commercial businesses. You had to be part of a high-class family to access political power, and therefore elite families were tied together by marriages.

Later on before the revolution, the importance of wealth was less important, and it the wealthy upper classes were no longer always the ones with political power. Instead, religious power was the requirement for entry into the elite society. This way, the new members with political power were not members of the old social elite.

The middle class included several different kinds of people: small business owners, bazaar merchants, professionals, teachers, and military officers, to name a few. The middle class was divided between those who had a “Western” education and had a secular outlook, and those religious citizens who were suspicious of the “western” education. There was a high value placed on getting a foreign education, and the political elite who were educated were forced to take Islamic courses in order to keep their jobs.

The working class consisted of many different kinds of workers, including those in the oil industry, construction, mechanics, and artisans. The amount of factory workers dominated however, and represented 25% of the total employee work force of Iran. In this class there was a hierarchy based on a person’s labor skills. Skilled construction workers, like carpenters, for example, made more money than, and looked down upon the large number of unskilled workers.

The three main factors that distinguished members in the lower class were their work of manual labor, poor living conditions, and high illiteracy rate. Even in this group, the members were divided. There were lower class citizens who had jobs, being street cleaners, servants, porters, gardeners, laundry workers, etc; and then there were those who did not have any employment.

For those unemployed, and even some of the members who did have jobs, the lower class performed a lot of begging. Out of disparity, some resorted to smuggling, selling drugs, prostitution, and gambling.

Religious figures

In 1921 Reza Pahlavi began the Pahlavi Dynasty. He was forced to abdicate in 1941 by Britain and the USSR for his relations with Germany. His son, Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, was permitted to assume the throne. Reza Shah commandeered great power although he was easily manipulated. In the 1950’s Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini had been designated a supreme religious leader and in 1964 his outspoken condemnation of the Shah resulted in his exile. He settled in Iraq until Saddam Hussein forced him to leave.

In 1967 Reza Shah crowns himself Emperor of Iran, which caused resentment in many sectors of society the intellectual, academic, religious and political. The Shah believed himself in the lineage of the Kings of the ancient Persian Empire and among other things replaced the Islamic calendar with an “imperial” one. Religious leaders feared loosing their traditional authority and claimed the Shah was in violation of the constitution which, with a representative government, limited the Kings power.

With the discovery of oil and the revenues it produced the Shah modernized Iran socially and economically but not democratically. The Shah suppressed opponents most noticeably and violently with the intelligence agency SAVAK. In the mid-1970’s this reached a pinnacle and the Islamic leaders, most noticeably Ayatollah Khomeini used Islamic principles to focus this discontent and called for an overthrow of the Shah. This occurred in 1979 and Ayatollah Khomeini returned to Iran from France to be Chief of State and ultimate ruler of a new theocratic republic guided by Islamic principles.

--Yasmin

Group members: Allie, Emmy, Nanette, and Ariel

Posted by lcisperez at October 19, 2005 08:36 AM

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Posted by: owecqkvcw at May 29, 2008 01:22 PM

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