Iran
IranIran is a country located in the Middle East. The main
source of income for the country is oil, the one object that had
greatly influenced its history. Iran’s present government is run
as an Islamic Republic. A president, cabinet, judicial branch,
and Majilesor or legislative branch, makes up the governmental
positions. A revolution that overthrew the monarch, which was
set in 1930, lasted over 15 years. 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,
symptoms, rising fever, crisis, and convalescence occurred.
Numerous symptoms led to the crumbling downfall of Reza Shah
Pahlavi, ruler of Iran until 1978. One of these symptoms is
rising expectations which can be seen during the 1960’s and 70’s.
The rich Shah cleared the way for the land reform law, enacted in
1962. The land minority had to give up its land to the
government, and among those stripped of land, were the Shi’ah
Muslims. Iran’s power structure was radically changed in a
program termed the “White Revolution”. On January 26, 1963, the
White Revolution was endorsed by the nation. By 1971, when land
distribution ended, about 2,500,000 families of the farm
population benefited from the reforms. From 1960-72 the
percentage of owner occupied farmland in Iran rose from 26 to 78
percent. Per capita income rose from $176 in 1960 to $2,500 in
1978. From 1970-77 the gross national product was reported to
increase to an annual rate of 7.8% (”Iran” 896). As a result of
this thriving economy, the income gap rapidly widened. Exclusive
homes, extravagant restaurants, and night clubs and streets
loaded with expensive automobiles served as daily reminders of a
growing income spread. This created a perfect environment for
many conflicts to arise between the classes.
Iran’s elite class consisted of wealthy land owners,
intelligencia, military leaders, politicians, and diplomats. The
Elite continued to support the monarchy and the Shah. The
peasants were victim of...
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