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Take a look at these amazing photos of Iran before the revolutionhttps://www.businessinsider.in/take-a-look-at-these-amazing-photos-of-iran-before-the-revolution/from-1941-to-1979-iran-was-ruled-by-king-mohammad-reza-pahlavi-the-shah-/slidelist/46807682.cms2021-07-26T12:46:14+05:30

Take a look at these amazing photos of Iran before the revolution

Jul 26, 2021, 12:46 IST

From 1941 to 1979, Iran was ruled by King Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the Shah.

Due to Iran's large supply of oil, proximity to India, and sharing a border with the Soviet Union, Britain and the US fully backed the Iranian government.

However, even before the Islamic Revolution, the Shah's grip on power was unsteady.

Communists and religious members of society disliked the Shah and his pro-Western government.

In 1953, the Shah had to flee Iran after a western backed coup to overthrow Iranian Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh failed. A second coup succeeded in overthrowing Mosaddegh, who wanted to nationalize the Iranian oil industry to Britain's chagrin, and the Shah returned to the country.

Like Ataturk in Turkey, Reza Shah undertook a series of reforms aimed at turning Iran into a modern westernized nation.

These reforms included the structuring of Iran around a central Persian identity, the often brutal suppression of tribes and their laws in exchange for strong a central government, and the expansion of woman's rights.

Like Ataturk, Reza Shah attempted to make religious observation subservient to the state.

Part of Iran's method of achieving this was the banning of veils in public.

Women were also encouraged to attend school and receive an education.

Although Reza Shah's intentions were to turn Iran into a modern Western state, his bans on religious garments alienated and frustrated religious conservatives and traditionalists.

Despite the backlash of religiously observant members of society, the Shah managed to create a cosmopolitan seeming city life.

Women and men mixed freely, and educational opportunities were greatly extended. Western clothing and norms also became ingrained into large segments of the Iranian population.

Leading the charge for westernization was the Iranian royal family. Pictured below is Empress Soraya.

Under the royal family's invitations, Iran became a popular destination for celebrities and heads of state. Here, an Italian actress and her husband visit a sports competition as guests of Iranian Princess Ashraf.

The Iranian royal family likewise reciprocated and widely toured the world's capitals. Here, the Shah and his wife met with Winston Churchill in London.

Towards the end of the Shah's reign, the royal family attempted to rally the country around an increasingly historic nationalism based on the preceding Persian empires.

In 1967 the Shah took the old Persian title "Shahanshah," or King of Kings, at a coronation ceremony in Tehran.

Government funded celebrations were also launched throughout the country to honor the Persian roots of Iran. Here, gymnasts take part in a celebration in 1975 honoring the founding of the Persian Empire.

Despite Iran's views of the past, the government continued to value education and child development.

Tehran funded Iranians to study abroad in Europe, and schools and clinics were built throughout the Iranian countryside to care for poorer children as part of the Shah's "White Revolution."

High oil prices and relative Middle Eastern stability contributed to a growing business class in the major Iranian cities. Here, bumper to bumper traffic is seen in Tehran.

Here, Iranians swim in an octagonal swimming pool at the guest house of Iranian National Oil Company.

By 1975, Reza Shah abolished the multi-party system of Iran and concentrated ever greater amounts of power in his own hands under the government's permitted Rastakhiz (Resurrection) party.

By January 16, 1979, Reza Shah fled Iran during the Iranian Revolution. The revolution started off as a popular movement fueled by outrage against government extravagance, corruption, brutality, and the suppression of individual rights before being taken over by Ayatollah Khomeini.

You've seen Iran before the revolution ...

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