Short haircuts and miniskirts: how Iran lived during the last check just 40 years ago

The Islamic Republic of Iran until 1979 was called the Shahanshah State of Iran, headed by rulers from the Pahlavi dynasty. The last shah of Iran, Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, led the country since 1941 and went down in history as an active reformer oriented towards the Western world.

Reza Pahlavi, the father of the last Shah, headed for the modernization and industrialization of the country back in the 1920s. This policy was continued by his son Mohammed, who ascended the throne under difficult circumstances. At the beginning of World War II, British and Soviet troops occupied Iran, fearing a German presence in the region. Later, when the allies decided on the independence of Iran and withdrew the troops, Mohammed Reza Pahlavi ascended the throne.

The last shah of Iran received an excellent education. At the age of 17, he graduated from a boarding school in Switzerland, and then studied at the officers' school in Tehran for two years. Having ascended the throne at the age of 21, the young Shah faced many domestic political contradictions, survived the assassination attempt and coup d'etat. But in the end, he managed to concentrate power in his hands, and the Shah headed for the reform and modernization of the country.

Foreign experts were invited to Iran for the design and construction of industrial facilities. Particularly close was the cooperation of Iran with the USSR and the socialist countries of Europe. Actively built enterprises of light industry and engineering complex. In addition to industrialization, a large-scale land reform was carried out, as a result of which more than half of the Iranian peasants became owners of their own land.

In social terms, the life of the Iranians has also changed significantly. This was especially true of women who, at the time of the last Shah, enjoyed perhaps the broadest rights in the history of the country. Women could receive education on a par with men, dressed in the latest European fashion and could appear on the beaches in swimsuits. In addition, women took an active part in the political, cultural and social life of the country.

During the reign of the last Shah of Iran, difficult times came. He was forced to maneuver between strong foreign political forces in the person of England, the USSR and the USA. The stumbling block in this matter at that time was Iranian oil. As a result of the agreements reached, Iran received 50% of the profit from oil production in its territory, which was occupied by the International Oil Consortium. And after the nationalization of the consortium in 1951, Iran’s revenues from oil sales to Europe increased significantly.

But the completely safe economic and social situation in the country did not save the Shah and his government from the revolution that happened in 1979. The last shah of Iran died in exile, a year after he left his country, and was buried in Egypt.

Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi was married three times, and he officially divorced his first two wives due to the fact that they could not give birth to his heir. And only the third wife of Shah Farah Diba gave birth to two sons. The eldest of them, Reza Kir Pahlavi, today is the head of the Pahlavi house and lives in the United States.