Iranian Background

Question 1

What ethnicity are Iranians and what do they speak?

Answer 1

ethnicity- Persian not Arab

language- Farsi/Persian not Arabic

Question 2

What did the Safavid dynasty do?

Answer 2

made Shia Islam the official state religion in Iran

Question 3

What did the Qajar Dynasty do?

Answer 3

gave the Muslim clergy political power

Question 4

Who are the Shia?

Answer 4

majority of Muslims in Iran and Iraq
a sect of Sunni that disagree over who should be the first Caliph among others
party of the oppressed looking for social justice

Question 5

Who are the Sunni

Answer 5

majority of Muslims in the world

wealthy and powerful

Question 6

What did the 1906 Revolution do?

Answer 6

forced Qajars to accept constitution
created parliament put limits on the King
made Shia Islam the official state religion
protected rights of minority

Question 7

How did the Revolution of 1906 fail?

Answer 7

Russia and Britain were working to keep Persia weak in order to dominate the region- wanted oil
Clergy withdrew support- selfish
Shah worked against it

Question 8

How did WWI affect the conflict?

Answer 8

European rivalries increased because discovery of oil
Britain established BP and won concessions from Iranian gov.
Forced a change in dynasty by supporting Reza Kahn in a coup

Question 9

What did the Pahlavi Dynasty do?

Answer 9

Reza Shah (Khan) tried to turn Persia into a modern, westernized state
His dictatorial oppression angered the

Question 10

Who was Reza Shah?

Answer 10

1st Shah of Pahlavi dynasty
supported by British in modernizing and westernizing Persia
dictatorial oppression got him abdicated during WWII

Question 11

Who was Mohammed Reza Shah?

Answer 11

son of Reza Shah
by 1979 becomes a dictator and employs a ruthless secret police
abolishes two party political system and replaces it with Resurgence Party
forced to leave Iran after 1979 revolution

Question 12

Who are the Tudeh?

Answer 12

Iranian Communist Party led by Prime Minister (Mohammed Mosaddegh)
nationalized oil industry

Question 13

How did Britain react to nationalization of oil industry?

Answer 13

led operation to get rid of Mosaddegh and communism

supported in this by Shia clergy (contradictory)

Question 14

What was the White Revolution and its results?

Answer 14

top down modernization led by the monarchy
rights gained, peaceful
money invested in oil and infrastructure
middle-class built through education
women protected and respected

Question 15

Who was Khomeini?

Answer 15

a Shia cleric- member of the clergy- opposed to the revolution
leader of New Islamic Republic of Iran

Question 16

What was Khomeini’s response to the White Revolution?

Answer 16

religious (fundamentalist) response to liberal revolution
opposed to- rights for women, lack of social justice, sale of oil to Israel, constitutional abuses
believes King’s power goes against Islam- God in charge

Question 17

How did the 1979 Revolution begin?

Answer 17

as protests for social justice
economy- educated people w/o jobs
Western influence- protect own culture
corrupt regime

Question 18

How did the protests grow?

Answer 18

in retaliation to violent response from gov.
NOT Islam
NOT want for fundamentalist state

Question 19

How did Khomeini rule the New Islamic Republic of Iran?

Answer 19

under belief that a religious scholar (himself) should have ultimate gov. authority

Question 20

Is Iran a democracy?

Answer 20

despite elections like a democracy ultimate authority is God -> theocracy