Muhammad Reza Shah Research Paper

Revolutions are often messy affairs. Typically the deposition of a government is one something that is carried out without fierce opposition from those in power. Throughout the 20th century the world had seen a steady reduction in the number of monarchies in power. After WW2 the united states and the soviet union both somewhat agreed that monarchs were not the best systems of government. The united States in particular advocated for the spread of democratically elected leaders. This however contracted greatly with the CIA’s overthrow of democratically elected prime minister of Iran Mohammad Mosaddegh in 1953. () The CIA chose to replace Mosaddegh with a monarch named Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi. The reign of Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi was matched

Growing up in the wake of WW2 the shah sought to utilize Iran's strategic geographic location along with its vast oil reserves to become a regional superpower. He was able to successfully accomplish this through careful cooperation with developed western powers. The shah knew that he was in a vulnerable position if he tried to directly oppose actions of the british and Americans therefore he worked closely with both nations as an ally. To some these actions may have made it seem that the Shah was merely a puppet of the west. The reality is much more complicated- through cooperation with the west the shah was able to acquire goods and access technology that had never been available for a middle eastern nation. The shah had to make certain concessions- keenly he accepted the fact that Iranian oil would be valuable for relatively cheap prices to the west. However in exchange for the nation's oil he was able to acquire impressive new technologies and investment into the nation. During the 10 year period before the revolution Iran experienced average yearly economic growth in excess of 10 percent! Additionally the shah was able to even cooperate with the united states to commission the building of Iran’s first nuclear power plant through the atoms for peace program. Furthermore under the monarchy the nation was able to defend the nation from its sunni neighbors. This was feat was

During the revolution the american embassy was stormed and over 60 hostages were taken and held for over 400 days. The hostages were eventually released however the United States chose to initiate critical and debilitating sanctions on the country. This included the suspension of military equipment and training to iran. This combined with the fact that many senior military officials were purged by the newly formed revolutionary guard meant that the country was dangerously unprepared for an attack. This attack came in 1980 when Iran's neighbor and longtime enemy utilized the chaos in the country to invade. This led to a disastrous 8 year war that ended in no gains for either side and over 1000000 total dead. This failure to respond quickly to iraqi attacks during the early stages of the war is directly the result of revolutionary leaders being incompetent and ill prepared to truly seize control of the country. The sanctions not only reduced the state of the country's military but ensured that for the next several decades iran would no longer be able to play a pivotal role in the region. In response to the instability in Iran western powers began to supply and arm Iran’s geopolitical rivals. This combined with the inability of iran to export oil meant that for years the country would have to become increasingly