You want to know how it all started in Iran. Here is how.
Shah of Iran, Mohamed Reza, posing w. son Prince Reza & wife Farah wearing crown jewels & embroidered robes during coronation. Location: Tehran, Iran. Date taken: 1967. Photographer: Dmitri Kessel
Empress Farah wearing her new crown leaving coronation ceremony of her husband Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlevi. Location: Tehran, Iran. Date taken: October 1967. Photographer: Carlo Bavagnoli
Crown Prince Reza marching in cadet uniform during ceremony attending coronation of his father Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlevi. Location: Tehran, Iran. Date taken: October 1967. Photographer: Carlo Bavagnoli
(2L-R): Sweden's Prince Bertil, England's Princess Margaret, Iran's Prince Golam Reza Pahlevi, and Italy's ex-queen Marie Jose at civil wedding ceremony of Belgium's King Baudoin to Fabiola. Location: Belgium. Date taken: 1961. Photographer: Hank Walker
(fore L-R) England's Princess Margaret w. Sweden's Prince Bertil and (rear L-R) Italy's ex-queen Marie Jose w. Iran's Prince Golam Reza Pahlevi at civil wedding ceremony of Belgium's King Baudoin to Fabiola. Location: Belgium. Date taken: 1961. Photographer: Hank Walker
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re: mohammed reza pahlevi, shah of iran, holder of the peacock throne, 1967 in Life Magazine.
You have to contextualize the 1967 stuff.
In 1963, Iran was rocked by political turmoil, most of it stirred up by a cranky old priest named Khomeini who came out against the West, Israel and the Shah, and was arrested and deported to Iraq for his troubles. The Shah very nearly was toppled by the ferment. After than, SAVAK the secret police was strengthened, new limits placed on the political and religious expressions, and the Shah looked for ways to increase the loyalty of the population.
One was was to increase nationalist pride in the Iranian past by looking back to the Achaeminids and Sassanids, in short, to the pre-Muslim past of Iran. The Shah tried to glorify Iran's role as a great empire stretching back 2500 years, and to erase its muslim history with a pan-persian past.
That was why he has such fancy coronation–he wanted to remind his subjects of Cyrus the Great.
Pahlevi was always nervous about being overthrown. He'd spent three years waiting for the CIA to reinstall him during Mossadeq in 1951-53.
The bottom line to the US was he was a faithful ally in the region. 30 years without the Shah has been disastrous for the US in the Middle East, and lead directly to Afghanistan, the arming of the mujaheddin and the two gulf wars as well as the Carter and Bush doctrines.
–art kyriazis
Art, thank you very much for the history lesson. Particularly the connection between the first Afghan eruption and the Khomeini revolution is somehting that I never completely recognized. That Afghan eruption and the Iran Revolution was the key political events of the last 50 years. It lead to the accelerated collapse of CCCP, Carter to Regan succession, Regan economic revolution in USA. Iraq Iran war and 9/11. Both Israeli wars in Lebanon. This Afghan and Iraq war and now the potential nuclear eruption. Indeed the world would have been immensely better with the Shah.
I totally agree that Iran would be far better wit a Shah and the Crown Prince is mature and well trained to take on a leadership role for Iran and return what is really the persian Gulf to her glory days! There is no one better suited for this task!
Perhaps I may take a slightly different perspective of the history and the results of the Shah.
The cold-war conflict resulted in non-western nations being forced to take up sides with either the US lead west/NATO block or the Soviet-block. To support that hold on them, millions upon millions of dollars and military assets was handed over and frankly corruption was the result. The Shah of Iran succumbed to this.
As correctly stated above, events like in Afghanistan and even before, created a larger gulf between the population and the elite ruling class of Iran. Whilst poverty and ever-increasing political brutality became the day-to-day life of the average Iranian, the elite closed in on itself and if anything became more dillussional about its power, influence and most of all – support. Most of us have seen the Shah’s comments about how the people love him, support him and that all was well – he lied to himself as much as he did to the 60 Minutes interviewer.
The poor of Iran, rural conservatives, were always the first to suffer but when the middle-class became disenfranchised the support-base tilted towards revolution. Revolutions do not occur though on unhappiness with its leadership – it reqires an ideology and an agenda. Radical conservatism, in the likes of Ayatollah Khomeini was not new but two things changed. The first was this increasing brutality and the obvious interference by the US’s CIA in the affairs of the country – it simply was impossible to ignore and hide, and the denials left the bulk of the population angry. The second factor was that Khomeini was willing to merge his agenda and ideals with that of revolutionary militancy. This unholy alliance has been the excuse and example for radical clerics for the future that we all know and suffer from now – militant Islamists. These two factors of creating an environment ripe for revolution and an ideology with a militant revolutionary structure was sufficient for the Shah’s regime to fall.
If one can sum up the net result of the Shah’s regime from what it allowed and thus created – it is responsible for not onlly losing power and the creating of the totalitarian semi-theocratic run Islamic Republic of Iran – but to a degree it helped spawn militant Islamist power. It sent a signal to every radical cleric and Muslim militant terrorist group to form into alliances. That they have the capacity to propogate through the poor and dissilussioned bulk of the world’s Muslim population by claiming and appealing to support the basic and most important factors of their life – hunger, education, freedom and most of all – their faith.
A regime under the Shah may or may not have been a future enemy, a revolution may in fact have happened later on regardless, it could have become a secular dictatorship such as in Iraq. There are some good arguments that perhaps the Shah may have continued but his son may have been smarter and more fair – that is all now speculation. We have to deal with the existing scenario more than anything else – fight radicalism and if you follow the lines of logic, the enemy of radicalism is normality with vigilance. Evertime a radical claims something and is proven wrong, his support base flounders. The attempts by nations to have a normal relationship with the Irianian regime now was such a blow to the radical leadership of that country – that it created an uprising of the middle-class. Though that up-rising failed, a message is now clear of what the people really want and the next elections will not be the same. Similarly, the opportunity for normality in Afghanistan is becoming visible and the militias that sided with the Pushtun Taliban militiants are starting to change allegence.
Yes, the Iranian Revolution, caused by the excesses of the Shah’s regime is probably globally the most single political event since the end of the Second World War. More than the creation of the Israel, the fall of the Berlin War and the end of the Cold War.
Excuse my terrible language skills, …. French is my second language, not English (so much for being typically Dutch). Berlin War? er……Berlin Wall!
Oh, forgot to mention, great photos – as a lover of history such images show so many things. I am Dutch but lived in Brussels for four years and had the pleasure of meeting King and Queen Fabiola a few months before he died. The images of the Queen Marie-Jose and Princess Elizabeth are priceless.
“Yes, the Iranian Revolution, caused by the excesses of the Shah’s regime is probably globally the most single political event since the end of the Second World War. More than the creation of the Israel, the fall of the Berlin War and the end of the Cold War.”
Donny, you obviously don’t know what you’re talking about! What “excesses” are you referring to? The Shah and his family were subjected to the most brutal propaganda campaign in those days, and I guess that that’s where you get your misinformation from. Because the truth is that few other royal families lived as modestly as the Shah and his family! If you don’t believe me, you can travel to Tehran and visit the small and modest palaces they lived in! The Iranian experience has taught me to never believe anything before I see it with my own eyes! So many lies have been said, and continue to be said, about Iran in those days!
Then I suspect that you represent a propoganda machine yourself. Having been there, worked there I to can say I have seen and learnt what had happened, which in turn makes me wonder why you can imagine what you said.
Yes many monarchs, corrupt and excessive existed before, during and even after those times, all well documented, confirmed and logged into the framework of history that will never be erased.
It is amazing that some elements either through agenda, politics or because they or their parents were part of that corruption and excesses can still show face and without looking embarassed (as they deserve to be) can say that it did not exist. Like a certain Madame Marcos of the Phillipines, the family of the former Congoleze dictator and countless others, still stating that the murders, excesses and ludicrous power-mongering did not exist. Well, we all know the truth.
I repeat, the Shah of Iran was one of those that crossed the line and not only destroyed a great dynasty and throne, but as well as that was the cause of the ugly combination of radical religous fanaticism and political militancy that is now the scurge of this era.
Donny: well, siding with NATO (1. World) or Soviets (2. World)? Where did you forgot so called Neutrals (3. World)? Bandung Conference, 1955. If you then say that there are (appearent or real) Friendships here and there, I agree. But missing out the III. Block, is a huge Mistake.
Good old days…
which ood days?
days that the god of iran was us?
this days were good?
I need pictures shah and family
These pictures belong to Astmargrany servants are like America and Britain, which thankfully they were expelled from Islamic Iran
Go America and the discomfort that other dies can the country to Byard
America in the world of code ye
Shah was really much better than this government of iran i really wished if he would be still our king that he is before better than this ahmadi nijat and everyone
hello,hi,hey,whatever when people greet each other say;we are just one humane being in this world.if you say no who else do you know?!thats it we are alone if we arent together or worse than alone is against each other,the fact that people together needs organization never hide in the history whether shah or king organize people or government do it,if there isnt any unity in any society that society wouldnt stay if shah or government not be honest with people,not provide what people want,and keep bloody money that should be within all people,people lose their trust to him or that government,the fact is people lose their trusts on shah so they force him to go out of his position because he was not trustful shah more,and also it may happens once againe in the history,actually rules of this world are constant and never change they just pass on history,iranian may face something the same as what happend 32 years very soon if this path that government and other forces and leather of Iran chose continued the path of hiding truth;the point is that people chose whats the government should be appear and also they chose what to disappear if there is enough people to do it!
and also donny you shouldnt relate all happening in Iraq or Afghanistan to irans revolution!each of them have a long story that too many dudes take part in them those dude soon will reveal soon!!
GOD Bless him! :)
Iran would not have been so radical had it not for the brazen interference of USA after the fall of its stool pigeon the Shah. Who knows, if USA did not impose the Iraq war, the IRI would not have survived.
But again, stupid Americans, they only know the guns. In everything they do, they make the IRI stronger each and every day. The sanctions, for instance, openned a whole lot of possibilities at industrialization and daring inventions into nano technologies, laser, ballistic missiles etc.
Had USA assumed normal relations and descreet interference, these things would never have happened. They are still doing it!
Right, everything is American fault, nothing to do with the Iranians, fundamentalism, terror, clash of cultures, etc. I bet the 8 year war between Iraq and Iran is also the American fault?
وای بر این ایران که امروز داریم
خوش بود دیروزمان با بدبهاش
سلام بر انقلاب اسلامی
درود بر رهبر انقلاب
مرگ بر شاه که اموال مردم را به تاراج برد. ثروت ایرانیان را خرج عیاشیش کرد.
مرگ بر آمریکا – رژیم صهیونیستی و انگلیس
همه چیمون خوب میشد اگجه دولتمون خوب می موند
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