Incapacitated by Education: The Role of Education in the Fall of Mohammed Reza Shah

Abstract

The Iranian revolution of 1979 was a cataclysmic event that forever changed the course of history. While the events that preceded the overthrow of Mohammed Reza Shah Pahlavi have been studied at great length, there is one aspect in particular that has been ignored, education. This paper seeks to examine the adverse effects that the problems within the educational sector had on the fall of Mohammed Reza. Although he invested an enormous amount of time and money into creating a strong educational system for his people, he encountered problems that ultimately contributed to his demise. It was these both these problems and their effects that helped make Iran ripe for revolution from 1977 to 1979. This paper will seek to examine the advances made, shortcomings, and the problems that resulted as a result of Mohammed Reza's desire to educate his people. While his intentions were good, the advancements that he made in the educational sector adversely affected his reign and contributed to his fall from power.