The White Revolution

Restored to power and backed by the United States, Mohammad Reza Shah pursued an aggressive top-down modernization program he called the White Revolution, beginning in 1963. The program included:

• Land reform: large landlords (often closely tied to religious institutions) were dispossessed and land was redistributed to peasants
• Profit sharing for industrial workers
• Nationalization of forests and pastures
• Female suffrage and women's rights expansions
• Literacy corps: educated young people sent to rural villages to teach
• Privatization of state industries
• Health corps for rural areas
• Construction of major infrastructure projects financed by booming oil revenues

The White Revolution genuinely modernized parts of Iran. Cities like Tehran were transformed. Women gained legal rights. Urban middle classes grew. Universities expanded. By the 1970s, Iran was militarily the dominant power in the Persian Gulf, with the most advanced weaponry America would sell.