The economic modernization and the Islamic revolution – Part two

Thus, due to the economic modernization in Iran during the Pahlavi era, the new middle class and the industrial working class were created and, of these two social classes, the new middle class wanted to participate in the process of political decision-making.
2-The question of political participation on part of the new social classes:
According to Huntington's theory of the new social strata which rejects the result of the modernization process, of the groups which have been called to participate in the economic process, the new middle class wants more than other sectors to participate in the political system because of political consciousness in that has been created in this class. Huntington Political consciousness, in Huntington’s theory, is a factor that brings the new social classes that have been created by the process of modernization into political decision-making. As was stated earlier in this study, the political awareness of the indicators was used here to assess the question of political participation. These indicators include: the growth rate of the spread of literacy and reading books, which are discussed in detail to explain each one. The increased political awareness was the result of the increase in the literacy rate in the country. According to the census figures, the number of people who could read and write in the whole nation was 14.9 percent in1335 and reached 47.5 in 1355.
The percentage of literacy in the country
1355 1350 1347 1345 1335 Year
47/5 36/9 33/4 29/4 14/9 percent
Source: Statistical Center of Iran, censuses for the year 35, 45, 55, Statistical Yearbook, 1350, 1351.
In addition, the increase in the literacy level led to the increase in the total number of public libraries.
The total number of public libraries
1357 1356 1355 1354 1352 1351 Year
373 369 351 328 312 301 the number of public libraries
Source: The planning and budgeting organization, the situation of public libraries in Iran, Page 25.
With the rise in the education level and the total number of public libraries, reading and demanding books was also on the rise. According to a study conducted by the Statistical Center of Iran in 1351, the percentage of book purchases were related to variables such as employment and education. The results of this study indicate that the books were mostly bought in terms of the education level by the university graduates, and also most of the buyers of the books in terms of occupation, were students and then, in the second place, they were business owners and employees.
According to table figures provided by the Statistical Center of Iran in terms of education levels, those who are university graduates, with 83.3 percent, were ranked the highest in the study of the books with about 83.3% and then, in the second place, people with high school completion degrees formed about 61% of the book readers. Recent studies also show that in terms of the total number of books read by 40/2 percent of those who have read more than 10 books were university graduates and those who were high school graduates were in the next place.
Topics studied or the books bought by subject and in the study were also tested according to buyers. According to figures from the tables provided by the Statistical Centre of Iran, for those who were university graduates, the books they had purchased were primarily related to literature that was about 39.9 percent and 17.6 percent of the books were also related to the Social Sciences.
According to the above figures, it can be noticed that, dues to an increase in the literacy rate in Iran, and the growth of reading books especially among the university students and the civil employees the extent of political and social consciousness in the society had increased. In fact, the type of books read by this group of educated people, according to a survey by the Statistical Center of Iran was conducted in the winter of 1351 and showed that the majority of students are interested in reading books about social issues and this indicates the growth of social and political consciousness of the time.
The increase in political consciousness in Iran is concerned with other factors such as communist revolutions, especially the Russian Revolution of 1917, the Chinese revolution, the Cuban Revolution and the struggle of the Algerian people and the spread of Marxist literature, especially among educated youth. The political events such as the oil nationalization movement, the coup of August 28 1332, the trial and banishment of Dr. Mosadegh, the suppression of the uprising of 15 June 1342 and in particular the role of political awareness, especially among university graduates provided the grounds for dissatisfaction with the tyranny among the youth. This caused a group of them to show their opposition to the dictatorship of the Pahlavi regime.
Because the Pahlavi regime refused to accept the request for participation on part of these groups and prevented the growth of the political parties that could become the center of independent power, and suppressed these groups, especially after the crackdown which occurred in 15 June 1342, they began to adopt an armed struggle and recognized the Shah as the sole person responsible for all the shortcomings and thus objected to the monarchy.
As Huntington writes, in the new middle class circles, monarchy is not a popular idea. Regardless of how supportive they are towards the social and economic policies of the new monarchs, they oppose to the institution of monarchy and they consider the king's reforms to be inadequate and belated and insincere which are believed to be done to maintain the status quo.
Among the new middle class active groups whose origin was in the same social class, we can name the group of 53 people, The Tudeh Party (the part of the Masses), the National Resistance Movement, the National Front, the People's Mujahedeen, the people’s Fadaiian, the party of Islamic nations and the God worshiping socialists. The governmental response to the requests of these groups were imprisonment, exile, torture and execution.
The rate of literacy / the working force of the industry sector / Year
14/9 2/1 23 35
29/4 27/1 26/7 45
47/5 34/2 31/7 55
Source: censuses of the years 35, 45, 55
As seen in the table above, with increasing the employed work force, working in the industry and services during the years 1355-1335, the literacy rate which is the parameter for political participation is an indicator of the demand had increased. The new social classes increased their demands for political participation.
The repressed requests for the participation and the preparation of the revolutionary conditions
Huntington's theory of repression of the groups demanding political participation by the monarchy and the inability to attract the participation of political groups creates a crisis of legitimacy and provides for the creation of revolutionary conditions.
From the perspective of functionalist theories, a revolutionary situation arises when the use of force to suppress the opposition forces is increased sharply. The answer to the question why there is need to use the coercive forces to suppress the opposition forces can be found within the paradox between the concentration of power and expansion of political participation.
Huntington believes that the new king relies on the army as a key instrument to successfully pursue the modernization in the country and thus increases the expenses of the military forces. By increasing the number of security forces and also increasing military expenses, the new king to succeed in its efforts and maintain the survival of the monarchy should rely more on repression by the security forces. The logical consequence of these two is a rebellion or the creation of revolutionary conditions.
During the Pahlavi regime, the army was one of the levers of power to suppress the dissidents. The establishment of the Iranian military and the reforms done in the military terms were of the important activities during the Reza Shah era. Compulsory military service was declared in 1305 and with the increased number of the troops, nine divisions of the army were established in nine provinces and, in addition to this, five other smaller divisions were independently stationed in other areas of the country. In this era, the army forces were broken down into the air force, the navy and the ground forces and the equipment and other facilities needed by the military were supplied by starting the weapon factories. In addition to the growth and development of the army, starting military training and establishing military schools became especially important. Reza Shah’s reliance on the army and strengthening it, on the one hand, increased his power to secure his authority and maintain stability and security and repress the opposition forces and, on the other hand, prepared the necessary conditions for the establishment of security and reconstruction in Iran.
According to available statistics and figures, the number of the armed forces in the last two decades of the Pahlavi dynasty had increased more dramatically. The total number of the armed forces in 1342 was about 200 thousand and this number in 1356 exceeded 410 thousand people. In the meantime, the number of police forces increased from 25 thousand to 60 thousand officers.
Table 6: The number of armed forces in terms of force in different years
The total number of the armed forces / the gendarmerie / the commando units / the Imperial Guard / Army Air Force / the Navy / the ground forces
1342 200000 180000 75000 2000 25000 2000 2000
1356 410000 200000 100000 25000 60000 17000 8000
Source: Mohammad Sodagar, the development of capitalist relations in Iran, Page 126
In addition, according to the figures published in the Journal of The Military Balance, the total number of the armed forces from 211,500 in 1973-1974 reached the number of 300,000 during the years 1977-1976. Moreover, the ratio of the armed forces reached from 68% to 88% to the whole population. reached.
Table 7: military participation in different years
The number of armed forces to the population (percent) / the population / the number of armed forces / year
68% 30/805/000 211/500 1974-1973
73% 32/215/000 238/000 1976-1975
75% 33/180/000 250/000 1977-1976
88% of 300,000 33/810/000 1977-1976
Source: 1977-1974 Military Balance
Increasing the military budget has been another important factor in this study to assess the revolutionary conditions. According to the available figures and statistics, Iran's military budget in 1300 was 90 million Rials and in 1320, the budget exceeded 593/121/524. The budget which was declared explicitly for the armed forces which was also reported in the budget bill for the years 1350, 1356, 1357, show that the enormous military expenditures have increased by about 15 percent during the years 1357-1348.
1357 1356 1355 1354 1353 1352 1351 1350 1349 1348 Year
700000 561000 566000 476000 215000 142000 91000 77499 58657 47632 defense budget
Source: The organization for budget and planning, the budget for the years 1350, 1356, 1357
According to the statistics provided by the Statistical Yearbook which is published in journal of The Military Balance, the Iranian defense budget from the years 1977-1973 went beyond 6/660/000 from a former budget of 1/365/340 Rials. The above information and figures show that in the Pahlavi era with increased demand for political participation, the military participation had increased.
Another organization used for the crackdown of the opposition groups, in addition to the army, was the security and intelligence agencies of the country (i.e., SAVAK). The organization was formed by the army intelligence commanders and officers who had been trained in torturing and interrogating the dissidents of the monarchy and, from the very beginning, it was a protective coverage for the army and its directors were mainly selected from the army generals. The main purpose of SAVAK was protecting the Shah against the internal and external opposition groups and provide information on their plans and meetings.
Taking advantage of SAVAK, Shah was able to remove all of his opponents from the scene of politics during his rule. SAVAK became more active after the uprising of 15 June. This is due to the adoption of armed struggle by the groups that were opposed to the Shah. During the thirteen years that Hoveyda was the Prime Minister in Iran, SAVAK boosted its attempts to form search teams to follow and influence the opposition members, and identify and arrest the opposition groups. So, until 1354, all the opposition groups (including the Freedom Movement of Iran, the National Front, The People’s Mujaheddin organization, the party of the Islamic Nations Party, and the Socialists) were excluded from the political scene.
With the openness of the political atmosphere, the groups that were violently removed from the political scene re-entered the political scene and by writing open letters and holding poetry nights continued to criticize the government's authoritarian practices. The response to the criticism of the Shah's rule was a strict military rule, curfews, and repression of the mass protests of the people. Shah did not respond to any requests from his opponents and even his own government at the last minute refused to accept a coalition government.
With the loss of confidence of the ordinary people towards the monarchy and the undermining of the legitimacy of the king in the eyes of the majority of the people, the legitimacy crisis grew stronger in Iran. With the departure of the Shah from Iran, the opposition was intensified by the struggle against monarchy and with the wise leadership of Imam Khomeini and the revolutionary ideology from Islam, the conditions for the revolutionary mobilization of the Islamic revolution was prepared.
Forming a conclusion from the study of the hypothesis
Creating the revolutionary conditions in Iran that led to the Islamic revolution has been the result and offshoot of several factors that must be addressed one by one. This article seeks to answer the question which is, how the policies of the Pahlavi modernization prepared the necessary grounds for a revolutionary condition. The hypothesis that was thoroughly investigated here was that the emergence of the new middle classes and the related strata as a result of the economic modernization and renewal called for more political participation which ultimately helped to create a revolutionary situation.
To examine and test this hypothesis, first of all, the concepts were theoretically and operationally defined and using the figures and statistics, they were closely compared and related.
The following table shows the variables associated with this hypothesis:
The rate of literacy / the percentage of the total population to the percentage of workers employed in the military / the percentage of the population working in the service sector / the percentage of the population serving in industries / year
24/3 37 24/8 68% in 1352
- 26.9 25.8 73% in 1353
- 75% 27.5 9.28 in 1354
47/5 34/2 31/8 88% in 1355
As can be seen in the table above, the percentage of employed population in the services sector and industries has increased during the years 1355-1352 process, so that the percentage of the workers employed in the service sector and industry rose from 24.3 percent to 31.8 percent. In those years, the percentage of literacy in the country also rose from 37 percent to 47.5 percent.
Accordingly, the new classes in the Pahlavi era that were the result of the process of economic modernization, with the growth of political consciousness (the index of which has been considered the growth in literacy rate) called for more political participation, but because of the concentrated power by the monarchy, this call for the political participation of the people was suppressed. In Iran during the Pahlavi era, the promises for free elections, the freedom of speech, removing censorship and creating independent parties were never realized.
Although at some point of time, Shah had to form governmental parties but even within these parties he tried to create splits and differences to prevent them from becoming powerful.
The royal government to suppress the growing anti-monarchy groups that had resorted to armed struggle tried to strengthen the army and the security forces and increased the military budgets and there was an increase in the working personnel in the army. With the increasing demand for political participation, the Pahlavi rule required the use of coercive force to suppress these groups and to strengthen SAVAK to prosecute and arrest such groups. As coincided with the emergence of the dissident groups such as the people’s Mujahhadin, the People's Fedayeen organization, the devoted socialists, and the Islamic United Party for Freedom Movement which was an overseas branch, the military involvement increased over the years, so that law enforcement cooperation from 68% reached 88%. Also in the years 1356-1342 the number of the members of the military forces increased from 250 thousand to 600 thousand people. With increased military cooperation and the development of the actions of SAVAK, all of the opposition groups that were active prior to 1354 were identified, arrested, imprisoned or executed.
With the change in the international attitudes toward the Shah's regime, particularly the Amnesty International that accused the Shah's regime of human rights violations and citizens, the opposition groups abroad began to take advantage of this opportunity to launch protests against the Shah's regime denouncing the regime's crimes. At home, the members of the new middle class university students, opposition intellectuals, writers, human rights activists were using this opportunity by writing open letters to criticize the Shah's regime and his actions. For example, on 22 Khordad 1356, an open letter from the leaders of the National Front (Karim Sanjabi, doctor Bakhtiar, Dariush Forouhar) came out that addressed the king about the chaotic situation and the way in which the management was responsible for the country's crisis and the letter had asked the Shah for absolute compliance to the constitutionalism, respect for the constitution, and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This is new tendency was especially effective among the middle classes who defended constitutional reform. On 26 Khordad 1356, a group of writers, poets and translators in an open letter addressed to Hoveyda, asked for the elimination of censorship of the press. In October 1356, a group of writers and poets held poetry nights in the Cultural Society of Iran and Germany, where some poems with political themes were read aloud and this drew a large number of people and was turned into a center of anti-regime protests. In December 1356, 29 political. Religious, and legal figures declared the establishment of the Iranian Committee for the Defense of Freedom and Human Rights and in a letter to UN Secretary-General asked them to assist the organization in achieving freedom and democracy in Iran.
In January 1356, the human rights policy was declared by the US president (Jimmy Carter), and according to this new policy, the countries in which human rights were ignored did not receive US economic aid and arms.
The Shah’s regime was aware of the turning points of the view of the international community, which was initially expressed implicitly and then publicly, decided to reduce repression and surveillance. In fact, in late 1355, 357 prisoners were released from jail. In March of the same year, the Red Cross visited 20 prisons and 3,000 cells. In April 1356, foreign lawyers were allowed to supervise the trial of 11 dissidents who were accused of assassination attempts. In January 1356, with the publication of an article insulting Imam Khomeini in the newspaper ‘Etela’at’ the public fury against the Shah was raised. Following the insertion of this article, students from Qom seminaries closed their courses and held protests in the streets with slogans against the government and marched to the houses of the religious authorities. The protests were crushed by the security forces. As a result, troops clash with the protesters and in two days more than 70 people were killed.
Newspaper article and Qom events and other occasions caused the new middle class to lose control of the events and the elements of the traditional middle class and particularly the clergy took control of the opposition.
Therefore, with the increased military participation, the legitimacy and credibility of the monarchy in the eyes of the majority of the population were lost. By creating an open space for political groups that were forcibly removed from the political scene, they joined the political activities again and paved the way for the emergence of a revolutionary situation. With the charismatic leadership of Imam Khomeini and the revolutionary Islamic ideology, different groups were mobilized the people against the monarchy was toppled by them.