In Iran Islamic politics went even further and completely overthrew the monarchy that the Pahlavi had established in the 1920s. The name Pahlavi that the monarchy chose for itself had Sassanist origins. And that is ancient pre-Islamic Persia, which the monarchy sought to emphasize as a way of demonstrating its secular, pre-Islamic character. The crowning of the Pahlavi monarchy in the 1920s was implemented, as we have all ready seen, with British indirect approval. And this contributed to the image of the regimen from the outset as one that enjoyed foreign support and approval. This always had a negative influence on the legitimacy of the Pahlavis in the eyes of the Persian people. Riza Shah however was also deeply influenced by Kemal Ataturk of Turkey. And he therefore, like in Turkey, sought rapid modernization, the creation of a modern army, transportation and communication networks that would create a centralized government. And promote Iranian nationalism based on the country's pre-Islamic Persian greatness. In 1929, a law was passed on Western clothing. And in 1935 European hats were required too. Certainly taking a leaf out of the Turkish Camelist Republic's book. But Iran was far less prepared for this kind of forced westernization. Iran after all had been far less exposed to the West during the 19th century when the Ottomans underwent their more intensive reforms. The Iranians also had a less westernized elite to implement the reforms and a much stronger religious establishment to resist them. In World War II, important changes took place in Iran. Riza Shah was an admirer of Hitler in the 1930s. And during the second World War, Iran was occupied by Soviet, US, and British forces. And the allies forced Riza to abdicate and to have his son Muhammad Riza Shah succeed him in 1941. After the war, anti-Western sentiment was very powerful in Iran. Particularly demanding the nationalization of the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company. One of the key figures leading the campaign was Muhammad Musaddeq. A prominent critic of the Shah's dictatorship. In March 1951, the Nationalization Bill was passed in Parliament ending Musaddeq's leadership. He became so popular and influential that the Shah had no choice but to make him Prime Minister. Musaddeq remained in office for two years until 1953. Iranian oil in the meantime was boycotted by Western nations, leading to a major economic crisis in Iran, causing much local discontent. The Shah tried to dismiss Musaddeq in August 1953, but failed, as Musaddeq simply refused to step down. Massive demonstrations in Musaddeq's favor forced the Shah to briefly flee the country, as the monarchy seemed to be about to fall. But the army supported the Shah and removed Musaddeq. And the removal of Musaddeq is widely believed to be actually engineered by the CIA, which is probably true in this particular case. And the Shah returned from his brief exile to resume control. An international consortium was formed to manage the export of Iranian oil in agreement with the Iranian government. The crisis was over, but the price for this solution was the image of the Shah increasingly dependent on foreign support. In January 1963, the Shah initiated what was called the White Revolution. This included a moderate land reform and economic and social reforms. An education corps was established to reduce illiteracy from 80 to 50% within a decade. It was an attempt, according to the White Revolution, to bureaucratize the ulama and to expand Western-style secular education. A health corps was to raise standards of public health. But the White Revolution had only limited success. The landed aristocracy and the ulama were never happy with these reforms. Ayatollah Khomeini was vocally critical of secular westernizing nature of the reforms and he was forced into exile as of late 1964. The reforms didn't do very much for the expanding rural population, which continued to swell the ranks of the urban poor. Urbanization and the growing disaffection of the urban poor in an inflationary economy with an ever rising cost of living was an ever increasing liability for the regime. In 1971 the Shah initiated the celebrations of the Persian monarchy starting with Cyrus the Great. Celebrating 2,500 years of the Persian monarchy, that is, beginning 1,200 years before the advent of Islam. In 1976, a new Persian calendar starting with Cyrus the Great was also initiated, later cancelled after protests by the religious authorities. The religious provocations, both in the celebrations of 1971 and the issue of the Persian calendar, were typical of the relationship between the shah and the ulama. Which were deteriorating constantly because of his emphasis on Iran's secular pre-Islamic past. The extent of opposition was increased even further by the ineffective use of the oil wealth of the early 1970s and its social inequalities. The oil wealth led to massive corruption, social injustice, and waste. And the unrestrained spending spree that started in 1973 with the beginning of the huge oil revenues after the hiking prices by the oil producing countries was terrible mismanaged. And three years later came to a sudden halt, causing wide spread unemployment and suffering, especially amongst the masses of the urban poor.
