Iran Between Two Revolutions is a landmark study. In it, Ervand Abrahamian provides a well-researched and well-argued account of Iran's history from the nineteenth-century to the fall of the Shah in 1979.
The nineteenth-century marked a shift in Iran's history in which the country would end a period of relative isolation. In part, this would be forced upon the country by foreign invasions from Russia and Britain, who compelled the Shahs of Iran's Qajar dynasty (1789-1925) to make significant economic concessions. From its dominant position militarily, Britain dismissed Iranian tariffs on imports as "disrupting the natural laws of free trade."
Rather than protecting Iran's industry, Naser al-Din Shah (1848-1896) sought to attract foreign investment. Russia invested in Iran's telegraph, railroad, roads, and fishing industries. The British secured deals in Iranian banking, mines, and telegraph lines.
The Shahs of the Qajar dynasty faced the balancing act of appeasing foreign investors while placating domestic merchants. Naser al-Din Shah's attempt in 1891 to provide the British with a "fifty-year monopoly over the distribution and exportation of tobacco" caused a general strike in the leading bazaars. The eagerness of the Shah to make foreign concessions at the expense of domestic merchants prompted a Qazvin merchant to ask, "Have the people of Iran died that the government is auctioning away their inheritance?"
These grievances and others led to Iran's Constitutional Revolution (1905-1911). Although the constitution was to have a lasting impact in Iran, internal infighting and conflicts over the role of the Shah in the new government led to civil war, which prompted the military intervention of the British and Russians. The conflict also led to the military and political rise of Reza Shah (1925-1941), who declared that a "constitutional monarchy was the best bulwark against Bolshevism."
Reza Shah greatly expanded Iran's military and government bureaucracy and tried to limit foreign economic influence, "although failing to reduce the influence of the Iran-Anglo oil company." He also became the wealthiest man in the country and acquired (by legal or illegal means) vast landholdings, "which financed the establishment of royal hotels, casinos, palaces, companies, charities" and foundations. Attempting to Westernize Iran, the Shah mandated the forced unveiling of women. For men, the Shah required the wearing of European brimmed hats, intentionally selected "to interfere in the Muslim rule of prayer, which requires the faithful to touch the ground with their foreheads." The unpopular Shah's reign ended in 1941 with the Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran, with the rationale of "opening a new corridor to Russia, eliminating German agents, and safeguarding oil installations."
Between 1941 to 1953, Iran enjoyed a contentious but open and democratic government. Yet while Mohammad Reza Shah (1941-1979) remained formally out of power, he retained influence and authority. Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh (1951-1953) sought to limit the Shah's authority over the military, wanting the role of the monarchy to be purely ceremonial as in Britain. Mosaddegh also sought to nationalize Iran's oil industry and reduce the size of the military. In doing so, he united a "secret committee" of "disgruntled" Iranian military officers, the British secret service, and the American Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Mosaddegh was removed from power through a military coup.
With help from the CIA, FBI, and Israeli intelligence, the Shah established an internal security force known as SAVAK. Its agents and spies allowed him to root out his opposition, especially the Marxists Tudeh Party. The Shah's power would remain relatively unchallenged until 1960 when deficit spending (started in 1954) began to weaken the economy. Seeing "liberal reforms as the best guarantees against communist revolutions," the Kennedy administration "offered $85" million on the condition that the Shah institute land and governmental reforms. The ensuing political liberalization permitted protests, which in 1963 introduced Ayatallah Ruhallah Khomeini as a leading critic of the Shah.
Khomeini had a talent for selecting issues with broad appeal and avoiding other issues. He avoided issues like "land reform and women's rights." Still, he attacked the Shah on "corruption, rigging elections, violating constitutional laws, stifling the press and the political parties, destroying the independence of the university, [and] "neglecting the economic needs of merchants." Forced into exile in 1963, Khomeini began calling for the Shah's removal in the late 1960s.
In exile, Khomeini continued to talk in noncommital "generalities of throwing out the imperialists and granting "Islamic justice" for "the poor, helping farmers," [and] "protecting working masses." In public, "Khomeini did not publicly refer to his work on Islamic government; on the contrary, his entourage later disclaimed this work, arguing that it was either a SAVAK forgery or the rough notes of a student listener." Khomeini's justice rhetoric sounded similar to high school and university students to that of Ali Shariati.
Ali Shariati, a "Paris-educated sociologist," became a popular lecturer in Iran from 1967 to 1972. Shariati's Islamic-Marxist thought has arguable similarities to the liberation theology of black nationalists in the States and Catholicism in Central America. Shariati rejected the notion of Iran returning to its pre-Islamic past. Iran needed to return to its Islamic roots. For Shariati, this faith was not about Islamic beliefs "in God, the soul and the afterlife, but rather the willingness to take concrete action for the truth." SAVAK arrested Shariati in 1972, but transcriptions and tapes of his lectures circulated widely among students.
Oil revenues from the mid-1960s to the 1970s enabled rapid economic growth and helped the Shah to keep his critics at bay. Unlike Mosaddegh, the Shah did not insist on nationalizing Iranian oil. He agreed to a profit-sharing arrangement "with a consortium formed of British Petroleum, the former owners of AIOC [Iran-Anglo], and eight other European and American oil companies." Billions in oil profits helped to expand Iran's military, railways, roads, and cities.
While the economic growth was impressive, it was also uneven. Tehran's rapid growth created problems of overcrowding. And, "despite the vast oil revenues, Tehran, a city of over 4 million, still had no proper sewage system, no subway system, and no proper public transport system." Adding royal insult to these injuries, the Shah's younger brother suggested that those unhappy with Tehran's traffic should travel by helicopter.
As oil revenues continued to pour in, political storm clouds began to appear on the horizon. Faced with international charges of human rights abuses, the Shah balanced appeasing human rights critics, permitting greater political dissent, and maintaining an image of stability to allies. On top of this, the Shah managed inflation by significantly slowing construction projects, thereby harming the urban working class.
In 1975, the Shah made Iran a one-party state with the establishment of the Resurgence party. A party document declared the Shah to be a "teacher and spiritual leader" who "guides the spirit and thought and hearts of people." In a 1976 interview, the Shah declared that "no other nation" had given its leader "such a carte-blanche."
The political fallout of the Resurgence party and its overarching authority helped to undermine the Shah. "By the end of 1975, twenty-two prominent poets, novelists, professors, theater directors, and filmmakers were in jail for criticizing the regime." Also, the Shah lost the support of the bazaar class "by setting up state corporations to import and distribute basic foods, especially wheat, sugar, and meat."
As the street demonstrations started, the Shah struggled to maintain authority over the army. Some in the military eventually sided with the revolution. However, it was the army's decision late in the revolution to declare neutrality that was arguably the most decisive factor in the Shah's downfall.
All in all, this is an excellent book deserving of a wide audience. I hope my summary did it justice.
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