Katie Dodgen, Bennett Cate, and Corbin Cox The Shah Katie Dodgen, Bennett Cate, and Corbin Cox

Beginning of Life http://eds.a.ebscohost.com/eds/ebookviewer/ebook/bmxlYmtfXzMwNTk3Nl9fQU41?s id=3a0d0111-58e7-4c5e-861f- 788f5961d550@sessionmgr4009&vid=4&format=EB&rid=8 Mohammad Reza and his twin sister were second born to their family in 1919, but Mohammad was the first son. Mohammad Reza was only two years old when a coup d’etat placed his father in power in 1921 At the age of six his father Reza Shah was made King, and he crowned prince. He was a very sickly child: “He contracted almost all the diseases that children were likely to get in a traditional society and came close to dying from typhoid”(Afkhami). Like all children his age, he attended military training in full uniform. It was commanded by his father that he was given no special treatment.

Beginning of Power Mohammed was twenty-two when we came into power as the Shah and ”proved to be much more cooperative with the British and Russians” than his father (Habeeb 39). Mohammed lost his power from 1951 to 1953 due to the fact that Iranians began to gain nationalism and “wanted more control over their oil resources and the profits these resources produced,” which Mohammed Mossadeq promised; therefore, the Iranians supported Mossadeq instead of the Shah (Habeeb 40). The Shah then appointed Mohammed Mossadeq as Prime Minister The United States and Britain didn’t support this, so they pushed forces into Iran than have the Shah gain power again. It worked. The Shah gained his power again in August of 1953.

Mid Reign The Shah felt threatened by the Soviet Union after he regained power and “in 1955 he joined a military alliance with the United States and accepted large- scale U.S. military and economic assistance” (Habeeb 41). In 1963 Mohammed “launched a new economic reform and modernization program” called the White Revolution (Habeeb 41). It emphasized education, literacy, and equal sharing of landholdings. Clergyman preached against the Shah and were arrested (including Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini). During the early 1970´s the Shah went on various trips to powerful countries and made many agreements with them to gain power and security. While the Shah was on trips, Khomeini was gaining support from Iranians.

End of His Reign Because “[t]he shah had spent so much of the country’s oil wealth on weapons,” people began to protest against the shah (Habeeb 42). The protests turned violent in 1978 and occurred in almost all of Iran’s major cities. These rebellions were caused by Khomeini’s protesters. The shah announced that he was leaving on a short vacation on January 16, 1979. Khomeini arrived at the Tehran Airport on February 1,1979, and declared himself as the Supreme Leader on April 1, 1979. During this time the shah lived and Egypt and was allowed to go to the United States for medical treatment for cancer. He died on July 27, 1980, due to cancer.

During Iranian Revolution of 1979 https://web.stanford.edu/class/e297c/war_peace/middleeast/hiranianrev.html Shah didn’t make agriculture or rural development a priority He followed islam but religious leaders disagreed with his interpretation of the Koran Many citizens became malcontent with the way the Shah was ruling Many factors such as transportation problems, energy shortages, inflation,and government corruption helped lead up to a revolution Revolution started on September 8, 1978 when security officers opened fire on members of the Tehran working class and students while gathered at Jaleh Square

1979 Revolution Continued American “President Jimmy Carter made a public statement in which he expressed his uncertainty concerning the Shah’s ability to maintain the throne” (Ansari) The Shah had felt betrayed and could not decide whether to flee or stay in Iran The Shah fled for Egypt with his family on January 16th, 1979.

An odd Pastime... Mohammad Shah had an obsession with supercars http://jalopnik.com/5589043/the-shah-of-irans-amazing-treasure-trove-of-supercars Mohammad Shah had an obsession with supercars He used national funds to amass a collection of rare and customized cars He could often be found driving at extreme speeds on streets blocked off by his private security. After the Shah was no longer in power, the cars no longer had any use. Some of the cars ended up elsewhere, but “most of the trove is still kicking in Iran, dumped into a glorified warehouse with the grandiose name of National Car Museum of Iran”(Orosz).

Works Cited Afkhami, Gholam R. The Life And Times Of The Shah. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2009. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost). Web. 16 Feb. 2017. Ansari, Ali. "Iranian Revolution of 1979." Iranian Revolution of 1979. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Feb. 2017. Habeeb, William Mark. Iran. Philadelphia, PA: Mason Crest, 2016. Print. Orosz, Peter. "The Shah of Iran's Amazing Treasure Trove of Supercars." Jalopnik. Jalopnik.com, 22 July 2010. Web. 17 Feb. 2017.