INTA 2XXX Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Iranian Revolution
1 Mar 2013
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Document Summary
The political left had been suppressed in iran in an agreement by the shah and the us to keep the ussr"s influence out. After the revolution, there was no political left to counterbalance islamic tendencies in the country. Oil revenues in the 70s went to excessive projects, armaments, and corruption. Iran had the 5th largest military in the world at the time. The shahs reforms drained the treasury and led to massive inflation: ayatollah khomeini and several prominent clerics opposed secular reforms. In context: ottoman empire had been in retreat: young, ambitious, military officers were angry at constant retreats and slow industrialization in turkey, fundamentalists brought ottoman empire down even faster. The shah"s regime was more personalized he created the military himself: different from turks, shah was a monarchy, the regime in iran was less institutionalized.
