Background of the Revolution

Empress Farah Pahlavi
H.I.M. Mohammad Reza Pahlavi

Pahlavi Dynasty:

• 1925 – 1979
  
  
• Time of rapid Westernization and foreign influence which ultimately contributed to the government's downfall
  
  
• After the fall of the dynasty a conservative backlash erased most of the Pahlavi achievements
  

1940’s the Shah Comes to Power:

• Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi
  
  
• Came to power in 1941
  
  
• Held power until 1979 revolution
  
  
• Wanted to modernize and westernize his country
  
  
  
  

1960s: Rise of Ayatollah Khomeini:

• Was a Shi`i Muslim cleric and marja
  
  
• Political leader of the Iranian Revolution
  
  
• Wanted to overthrow the Shah of Iran
  
  
• Was considered a high spiritual leader to many Shi'a Muslims
  
  

• Lived in exile for fifteen years in Iraq and later on in France
  
  
• Returned to Iran February 1, 1979
  
  
• Following the Revolution, Khomeini became Supreme Leader of Iran
  
  

1970s: Pre-revolutionary Conditions and Events Inside Iran:

• By late 1974 there was great inflation caused by oil production
  
  
• Many people lost their jobs
  
  
• Resulting unemployment affected the thousands of recent poor and unskilled migrants
  
  
  

Oppositions Groups and Organizations:

• Three major types: constitutionalist, Marxist, and Islamist
  
  
• Constitutionalists wanted to revive constitutional monarchy including free elections
  
  
• Marxists wanted to defeat the dynasty by assassination and guerilla war
  
  
• Islamists used a cultural approach to fight the Shah