Iran was never an official colony of the European powers, however, in 1908 a British company discovered Iran’s oil supply, and this sparked Iran’s communication with the industrialized world (“Iranian Revolution Facts, History, Chronology, Outcome.”). The Shah, who is Iran’s leader, agreed to give the British the ability to search and sell the oil. In 1921, there was a coup d’état that was done by the army general, Reza Shah (“Iranian Revolution Facts, History, Chronology, Outcome.”). He was unpopular with many members of Iran’s community because he began to westernize the country, which went against many religious and societal beliefs. In 1963 the new Shah, who was the son of Reza Shah, began the White Revolution (“Iran Profile – Timeline”). This plan was meant to be for “land reform and social and economic modernization” (“Iran Profile – Timeline”) but, was met with much criticism from clergy members and one in particular, Ayatollah Khomeini. He spoke out strongly against him and many people agreed with Ayatollah Khomeini, but he was exiled in 1964 for speaking out (Afary). The Shah used the SAVAK, his secret police, in the late 1960’s to continue his authoritarian rule and to keep opposition movements at bay (“Iran Profile – Timeline”). The oil boom in the 1070’s made the Shah very rich, but the regular people of Iran suffered from high inflation and were struggling to survive (Afary). In January of 1978, the spark for the revolution occurred when a Tehran-based newspaper, Ettela’at, published an article that criticized Khomeini (Afary). This caused many Iranian students and youth to begin protesting. The protests grew and the Shah decided he must take action, which was very brutal and left many injured or dead. Shi’a Islam has a tradition to hold memorials 40 days after someone has passed away, so after the 40 days the memorials were held, which then created a ripple effect of more protests and violence, which continued until the summer of 1978 (Afary). This was the beginning of the Islamic revolution, which later included events like the terrorist attack to a cinema and Black Friday, which will be discussed in Persepolis, along with many of the social effects of war and the regime.
Works Cited
“Iran Profile – Timeline.” BBC News, BBC, 6 Jan. 2020, www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-14542438.
“Iranian Revolution Facts, History, Chronology, Outcome.” School History, 4 Feb. 2021, schoolhistory.co.uk/notes/iranian-revolution/.
Afary, Janet. “Iranian Revolution.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 20 Jan. 2021, www.britannica.com/event/Iranian-Revolution.
Thanks for your post, Abby! It was helpful to give background on what led up to the Islamic Revolution, since Persepolis takes place during this time. Some of the history that Satrapi discussed confused me as I read, but this post helped to clear up exactly what happened. Also, it was interesting to learn about the Shi’a tradition of memorials, since I had never heard about it before.
Thank you for the informative presentation! This overview of Iran’s political and governmental history is really important in helping to understand the events happening in Persepolis. It’s clear that power in Iran has changed hands multiple times over the years and has had significant impacts on the lives of Iranians. It is interesting to consider how Iran’s goal of “modernization” was met with significant resistance and completely changed their structure of government.
Thank you for the background of these events. Reading this better helped me understand the political climate of Persepolis and the events in the novel. It is interesting how in the moves to “modernize” the country, the people were hurt the most with consequences still being felt today.
Thank you for the much needed background on the events leading up to this week’s subject. We usually see an influx of philosophical or reading-based context. Getting the main events summed up is a great way to prepare for the book. This is especially important when the subject involves a topic that is not well known in western spheres of education.
Hello Abby, this is great work it allows me to understand what is going to be happening within this weeks reading. This would allow me to understand more in-depth the situation of what would be the outcome of such a drastic change and problems that occur with communication about oil or something that can affect the environment of their society. This clears up some confusion I had within the reading and the situation and ideas of the people that wanted to make changes for their society.
This was very informative and had helped me a great deal in this weeks reading. Although I am still confused on some events that had occurred, you did a great job with the amount of detail and citations involved.
Hi Abby. Thank you for this presentation; it has provided me with a better understanding of Persepolis. I had little to no understanding of the events before the Islamic Revolution, but your post provided great clarity to me. I can sympathize with the protestors due to the Shah’s authoritative leadership. To me, it seems like the Shah family was mainly focused on self-gain and would do anything to work toward that goal, even if it negatively affected Iranian citizens. It is unfortunate that when the Shah stepped down, other devastating events were soon to follow.
This was a great post and very informative. It gave me a better perspective on the issue, and it helped a lot with this week’s reading. I find it interesting how these issues are able to last so long. It truly is devastating to all the people who are involved.
Thanks for the great post Abby! Your insight as to why there was such a feeling of revolution among the people of Iran was real helpful. With power changing hands so often and with the Shah’s oppressive rule, something was bound to occur. While the people wanted to modernize, they were met with resistance. This also helps to add clarity to why the country has been in such turmoil even before there were multiple international presences involved.