Mohammad Reza Pahlavi’s rule from 1953 to 1979 was marked by supreme autocratic control. From the fall of Mossadegh until the end of his reign, the Shah was primarily concerned with consolidating his power and economic development. These two aspects of his reign alienated the Iranian people from the Shah and initiated the Islamic Revolution.
After the Shah reclaimed his throne from Mossadegh’s control, he became obsessed with destroying any possible threat to his power. The Shah’s main power base was the military, police, and United States government. The Shah invested a great deal of money into the military personal and programs in order to secure their loyalty. The Shah gave many benefits to his military and created an elite hierarchy within them. During this time the Shah created bodies like the Imperial Inspectorate, which was directly controlled by and only answered to him. The Shah also took measures to insure his legislative autonomy. To widen his support base and weaken the power of opposition groups, Iranian youth, especially university graduates, were abundantly employed by the government. The government also employed former members of the opposition parties, Tudeh and National Front. Puppet parties, headed by loyal supporters of the Shah, such as Melliyun and Mardom, were set up in the place of any valid opposition party. The Shah’s Rastakhiz party dominated the country’s single-party system. Opponents of the Shah were suppressed. The Shah ruled according to his personal inclinations rather than the prescribed laws, and his unpredictability also contributed to the public’s alienation. Scapegoats, like Prime Minister Hoveyda (1977), were blamed for the Shah’s unpopular political actions. Another government official, Hasan Arsanjani was sent abroad because he was becoming too popular among the peasants. In addition to the Shah’s legislative autocracy, the central government also controlled much of the press and judiciary.
The increasing formation of a professional middle class also posed a threat to the Shah’s control. This class was not eager to accept the traditional control of the monarchy and formed a large percentage of the opposition parties, Tudeh and National Front. Political demonstrations and unrest took place several times at the University of Tehran in the early 1960s. With the White Revolution (1963), the Shah attempted to win support from the professional middle class. The land reform policy that came under the White Revolution entailed “nationalization of forests and pastures; public sale of state owned factories to finance land reform; profit sharing in industry; reform of electoral laws to include women; creation of the Literacy Corps, Health Corps, and rural courts of justice; nationalization of waterways; and education reforms”.2 Religiously owned land was also included in the program, thereby cutting into a main source of the Church’s revenue. Landowners and peasants also lost much of their independence to the land reform program. Ultimately, the program increased the Shah’s control over the landowners, peasants, and Majlis.
The second defining characteristic of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi’s rule was economic development. The Shah transformed the Iranian economic structure as he worked on economic expansion. Unfortunately, his policy turned Iran into a dependent, consumer nation. Ever since the Shah regained power in 1953, he was dependent on the support of foreign powers, namely the United States. The Shah was radically different from his predecessors in that he did not have the same xenophobic outlook. Subsequently, by the early 1970s, foreign investment had flooded into Iran and modern enterprises had vastly increased. The Shah encouraged this foreign investment and ignored local economic development, making Iran dependent on foreign foods, services and goods. The land reform program is a prime example of the Shah’s folly in the economic sphere. The program did not succeed in the redistribution of wealth, nor did it increase productivity. The failure of land reform to increase productivity, and the overwhelming focus on industrialization and economic expansion, made Iran insufficient in feedings its own people. This fundamental failure further increased Iran’s foreign dependence.
Absolute control, and economic expansion, the Shah’s two main foci, ultimately backfired and caused his fall. This primarily occurred because the Shah’s second mainstay, economic development, did not win the support of the people, and he, being the absolute monarch, was the only one to blame.