It is said that there are four pillars to the Iranian state. The first is the Shah who provides guidance to the nation. The second is the beauracracy which runs the affairs of the state, the third is the army that enforces the Shah’s iron will, the fourth is the ulema who act independently of the Shah. Muhammad Reza Shah had set his sights on destroying one of the pillars of Iranian society and the Iranian state. And it would be his downfall.
The opposition rapidly coalesced around the National Front. A coalition of communists, socialists, nationalists, social democrats, anarchists, liberals, labor unions and the ulema. A broad left coalition had begun to move to unseat the Shah advocating what they called Islamic socialism. The idea that socialism should be implemented in Iran in accordance with Islamic principles.
They called the monarchy inherently unIslamic, a form of government condemned in the Holy Quaran. They said that the highest priority for a Islamic government was social justice. That it is only by how a society treats its poorest members that it may be judged. They made reference to zakat and khums the taxes paid by Muslims to help the poor, the orphans, the widows and heralded it as a early form of socialism. They held up the ideals of the blacksmith Kava in his resistance against the monarch, and the martyrdom of Hussein at Karbala. They held that the Shah had failed to uphold the principles of justice, that he had failed to perform his duties, and that he must be overthrown.
The leaders of the movement were two men, leader of the Tudeh Party, Soleiman Mohsen Eskandari and leader of the nationalists Mohammed Mossedqh. Both called for general resistance and the militant wing of the Tuedh Party was mobilized for action.
Gilan Province
Gilan long a hotbed of revolutionary sentiment was the first to erupt in riots. It started in the city Bandar-e Anzali a sea port city on the Caspian. Screaming mobs attacked Imperial government buildings. The Shah's seal and crest were torn down and trampled by the mob. The Imperial bureaucrat were dragged out of the buildings, kicked and beaten and the buildings were torched. The local garrison commander, himself a socialist watched the scene languidly and ordered his troops to march to Azerbaijan to join with forces gathering in Tabriz.
Tabriz, Azerbaijan
Iranian Azerbaijan had always been the center of radical movements. For the Shias during the time of Shah Ismail, for the radical liberals during the Constitutional Revolution. Not surprisingly Azerbaijan became a center for the Tudeh Party, Tabriz was quickly seized as was the surrounding areas.
It was in Tabriz that the revolutionaries met to decide their next course of action before ultimately settling on marching on Tehran.
Isfahan
Ishfahan a major industrial center Iran, had labor unions organized by Tudeh. The textile and Mazadran railroad workers broke into open revolt and seized the factories and railroads. Barricades went up throughout the city and fighting broke out against Imperial troops.
Qom
Students and clergymen poured out of the mosques and seminaries of this ancient religious center in protest. The troops the Shah had sent to suppress the demonstration refused to fire on the ulema and turned their weapons against their own captains.
Tehran
Tehran erupted into violence when news of the Shah’s massacre of ulema broke out. Bloody fighting broke out between die hard elements of the Shah’s Imperial Guard and local rebels.
Ultimately revolutionary forces from Gilan and Azerbaijan broke into Tehran and stormed the Imperial Palace. The Shah and the entire royal family were placed under arrest. Along with the rest of the nobility. The army agreed to lay down their arms.
In Tehran the new Islamic Socialist Republic of Iran was declared as the sickle and hammer rose over the capital.
The opposition rapidly coalesced around the National Front. A coalition of communists, socialists, nationalists, social democrats, anarchists, liberals, labor unions and the ulema. A broad left coalition had begun to move to unseat the Shah advocating what they called Islamic socialism. The idea that socialism should be implemented in Iran in accordance with Islamic principles.
They called the monarchy inherently unIslamic, a form of government condemned in the Holy Quaran. They said that the highest priority for a Islamic government was social justice. That it is only by how a society treats its poorest members that it may be judged. They made reference to zakat and khums the taxes paid by Muslims to help the poor, the orphans, the widows and heralded it as a early form of socialism. They held up the ideals of the blacksmith Kava in his resistance against the monarch, and the martyrdom of Hussein at Karbala. They held that the Shah had failed to uphold the principles of justice, that he had failed to perform his duties, and that he must be overthrown.
The leaders of the movement were two men, leader of the Tudeh Party, Soleiman Mohsen Eskandari and leader of the nationalists Mohammed Mossedqh. Both called for general resistance and the militant wing of the Tuedh Party was mobilized for action.
Gilan Province
Gilan long a hotbed of revolutionary sentiment was the first to erupt in riots. It started in the city Bandar-e Anzali a sea port city on the Caspian. Screaming mobs attacked Imperial government buildings. The Shah's seal and crest were torn down and trampled by the mob. The Imperial bureaucrat were dragged out of the buildings, kicked and beaten and the buildings were torched. The local garrison commander, himself a socialist watched the scene languidly and ordered his troops to march to Azerbaijan to join with forces gathering in Tabriz.
Tabriz, Azerbaijan
Iranian Azerbaijan had always been the center of radical movements. For the Shias during the time of Shah Ismail, for the radical liberals during the Constitutional Revolution. Not surprisingly Azerbaijan became a center for the Tudeh Party, Tabriz was quickly seized as was the surrounding areas.
It was in Tabriz that the revolutionaries met to decide their next course of action before ultimately settling on marching on Tehran.
Isfahan
Ishfahan a major industrial center Iran, had labor unions organized by Tudeh. The textile and Mazadran railroad workers broke into open revolt and seized the factories and railroads. Barricades went up throughout the city and fighting broke out against Imperial troops.
Qom
Students and clergymen poured out of the mosques and seminaries of this ancient religious center in protest. The troops the Shah had sent to suppress the demonstration refused to fire on the ulema and turned their weapons against their own captains.
Tehran
Tehran erupted into violence when news of the Shah’s massacre of ulema broke out. Bloody fighting broke out between die hard elements of the Shah’s Imperial Guard and local rebels.
Ultimately revolutionary forces from Gilan and Azerbaijan broke into Tehran and stormed the Imperial Palace. The Shah and the entire royal family were placed under arrest. Along with the rest of the nobility. The army agreed to lay down their arms.
In Tehran the new Islamic Socialist Republic of Iran was declared as the sickle and hammer rose over the capital.
