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Introduction |
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The last days of the year 1978 used to carry an unborn baby, absolutely unique, whose delivery time was not known to anyone and who no one ever could guess what would look like. All the outsiders, filled with wonder, used to witness unending events, occurred in Iran. None of the strategies which were expected to or had prospered to stop uprisings in the streets and the rebels, would not seem to be able to overcome this unique happening. In practice, not only could the use of the massacres in the streets, carrying the loud cry of a blatant violence, flourish nor did reforms aimed at changing the cabinet, consigning authority to those who had accredited the legitimacy of the dominant power, gain any success, but also they played an effective part to facilitate the process of the Revolution, leaving those who had hatched out the plots in complete bewilderment. An unexpected spirit seemed to have emerged, the widespread shadow of which covered everywhere and every one, from the ones residing in the remotest areas to the once living inside the ruling regime. Nothing could ever resist against the swift and powerful movement which astonished everyone and all. And that is what we refer to as the spirit of revolution. This is, of course, more or less prevalent in many other revolutions as well, yet, the holy and spiritual aspects associated with the Revolution in Iran are considered as the most distinctive feature. This was portrayed by Michele Foco, the French philosopher, as "The revolution of an spirit in a spirit-free world and the first post modernist revolution, which has ever occurred on the earth. A series of efforts, in effect, had started which was indicative of a bid to find out spiritual answers for obsolete relations, the death bell of which had been tolled by the regime itself Being very much proud of the ample income earned through the sale of oil, relying on the strong status quo of his military force, suppressing all his armed dissidents successfully who had been organized in some small intellectual groups, and winning the international support, Shah, like Louis XIV (1) chanted that the himself was the government. Shah who believed in reliance on foreign states as the only strategy to maintain power, was immensely pleased with his diplomacy. Despite the cold war between the East and the West, he saw himself as the only power that had been accredited by the West, while he could enjoy a close relation with the East.(2). Owing to his supposedly successful diplomacy, he had been assured that nothing could ever threaten his power. Yet, he could not imagine what his fate could be like. The crisis emitted its signals. The regime was doomed to death. As it is true for all the dictators, Shah failed to have a realistic look at the society lie had been informed of a likely storm which, since a long time ago, was to shake his thrown. Yet, having failed to understand the real nature of the message of the Revolution, he declared a martial law, after he had admitted that he had heard the message. Under the regime, the Iranian society had been entangled with three important crises. The crisis of justice had its roots in the social relations and the living standards of people. Although the general economic situation of the country had improved, thanks to the rise in the price of oil in 1973, the people residing in the towns and villages did not enjoy suitable opportunities in having access to the facilities, mainly because the countrys capital used to be distributed improperly among the people. The social discrimination, too, helped to form a disgusting image of the regime among the people. The crisis of participation stood as the second problem, the regime had faced with. As regards social status, especially city construction, the country had undergone dramatic changes. Entering into a new stage, the economy of the country was converted from a traditional system into capitalism. The educated generation wished to play a more active part to determine his fate. The main reasons for that could be sought in constant immigration of the peasants to cities, the transfer of capital from agriculture sector into industry and commercial services, the improvement in the higher education, the increase in the number of the educated people, the growth in the social and political knowledge- which helped the religions forces and nationalists to work actively in universities and mosques - and the expansion of communication and mass media. Having been seriously threatened the regime; however, looked unable to satisfy the young generations requests through the changes in its political system. Like many other dictators, Shah thought countrys territory belonged to him and all the people were a part of his property, as it is the case in the totalitarian systems. He could not, even tactically, agree with the peoples participation in very elementary levels of decision making process. (3) Shah could not bear the city, village and provincial councils. Although he had not succeeded to develop a strong structure in which he could practice a single-party totalitarian government, he disagreed that minority and majority parties rights - merely as a predetermined show - should have been maintained. Thus, depriving the most loyal people in his government from decision-making, the totalitarian regime felt it was necessary for Shah to personally involve in making decision, no matter how trivial it was. The bureaucracy, originated from the unnecessary administrative formalities, led to a tremendous delay in public affairs, which increased the dissidents anger. The third crisis the regime faced with, were a moral and a spiritual one, which had shaken the legitimacy of the regime before the public opinion. Shah decided to change the ethic principles of the society. Through this, he wished to uproot the religious principles as well as the traditions in which the majority of people believed. A part of the societys ethics collapsed and some people tried to approach individualism and establish a close relation with the central power to survive. The committed ones, however, tried to establish a powerful resistance group against Shahs policies. It seems quite natural for the people - residing in a society the ethical patterns of which has undergone drastic changes -to think selfishly of their own interests and feel careless to the societys public affairs. Carelessness was encouraged by the regime as well. People are alienated from one another if they are limited to their own private lives. Threatened by the fear of falling into a lower social class, all the people in the society try to improve their own standard of living. This naturally yields a society, which owns every thing but stability. It is in a totalitarian government in which the peoples greatest inspirations encompass interest in profit making, eagerness to well-paid jobs, making money through any possible method and looking for a comfortable life. In order to cope with such a situation, the regime will naturally try to belittle the ethical standards of the society to distract their attention away from the social trends. Yet, the Iranian society by nature could not avoid rejecting individualism - prevailed in social relations - which had been originated from the western negative attitudes. The society still had the potential for co-operation, freedom seeking, human values, and a bid to approach prosperity. Having encountered with the three aforementioned crises, the people resorted to a prominent figure - after they had got hopeless by the regime because its failure in satisfying their needs - who had warned the regime of the consequences of its policies nearly 1 5 years ago. People could trust Imam Khomeinis leadership, since they could understand that what he had predicted earlier had come true then. Iranians do not welcome a political leader so simply. Yet, they are prepared to sacrifice all they own if they believe in someones capabilities. The approach put forward by Imam against the crises was welcomed by the majority. In addition it has, in effect, been his unique approach, which has led the main strategies of the revolution so far. As regards the first crisis, Imam put emphasis on paying more attention to the oppressed people. To develop his approach he had, in fact, resorted to the holy Quran, which pictures the attention to the poor as a must promising that in a religious utopia the poor will get the power seat. Unlike many other politicians, Imam had proved, in practice as well, that he loved abiding by this idea. He used to lead a very simple way of living both in exile and after that. His practice, rejection of luxury and paying attention to the proper amounts of consuming goods had astonished all the world media and observes. It was his method of rejecting materialistic way of living which had given him such a strong spiritual position making him quite influential among the people. Every body believed that he would seriously follow his attempts in improving the living standards of the poor, an idea, which he used to pursue until the end of his life. As regards the second crisis, too, Imam prospered to discover the solution among the people saying that the votes that the peoples votes are considered as the last word. Since his idea of respecting there election counted as a democratic response to the requests posed by the people in Iran, it led one the biggest uprisings among the people in 1979 which made a history in it own right. All the analysts, both, pros and cons admitted that no other revolution gad ever happened in the world with such a large scale mobilization of a variety of social strata. This time, the Revolution was not carried out by the intellectuals, elite or the armed forces. Yet, the strong ocean of a variety of strata was conducting the uprisings in the light of the leadership of Imam who had called on them to realize their own pure nature. The massive participation of the people was not merely limited to the collapse of the regime, since, later too, the people could bear all the political crises and pressures inflicted upon them, through their active presence in the government which was still in its infancy. Unlike all the other revolutions. Imam called for the general election to establish, shape and organize all the required principles. The elections - as it is the case for all the revolutions in the world - were carried out by "Peoples Commission" or "Revolution Council" Imam; however, disagreed with all the revolutionary figures who rejected the necessity of the election believing that people should be allowed to play an active role in the decision-making process. Therefore, he immediately started institutionalizing the Revolution, which is considered as a distinctive feature in comparison with other revolutions of the word. In the first years of the Revolution, the Islamic Council Assembly (the parliament) was formed, the constitution was passed and the president was elected through direct votes of the people. The leader, too, was elected in an indirect method of election through the Khobregan Assembly the representatives of which had earlier been elected by the people. Imams excellent approach against the third crises; however, stands as a distinctive feature. Since Imam introduced a spiritual method against the crises, all the intellectual movements of the world of Islam were terribly astonished. The intellectuals had come to understand that modernism had reached a deadlock. The optimistic approach of the enlightenment age had failed. The utopia they had dreamt of had not come true, leaving them confined and alienated. Getting access to a spiritual agent could provide a better meaning for the peoples lives and could rescue those who felt drowned in nihilism. The beliefs, behavior and spiritual excitements among the people promised not only the Muslims but also all the humanity that they could now satisfy their spiritual needs. That was why the analysts used to entitle the revolution as the "Revolution by the name of God". Dealing with diplomacy the people had promised to reject selfishness. The Revolutions achievement and expansion of freedom were not solely limited to making relationship among the people or merely encouraging the active participation of them in the society, yet, it brought such an immense enthusiasms that the people believed they had prospered to change history on their own right, and given their lives a new concept. The spiritual aspect of the Revolution had; in effect, addressed the revival of the human personality. The great emphasis placed upon the ethical origination of the policies and the importance of the ethical values and standards as regards all social and economic aspects of life comprised the basis of the Islamic Revolution. It was these unique features of the Revolution which created self-confidence among the Muslims and taught them that the treasure they were looking for was there, within their access. The teachings proclaimed the spiritual message of the Revolution, Meanwhile, the collapse in the left-wing ideologies and utopias and the real failure of the tendencies to the West all facilitated the revival and uplifting of the genuine values. The main ingredients of the Revolutions principle motto; that is," Freedom, Independence and Islamic Republic " manifested the responses of the Revolution against the three crises. In order to evaluate the success of the revolutionary movements, we would see it as essential to have a brief review of the most prominent events occurred in the last two decades: |
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[Introduction | Imposed War | Stability | Today | Culture & Art | Politics | |
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