FEBRUARY REVOLUTION VS. IRANIAN REVOLUTION

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FEBRUARY REVOLUTIONVS.IRANIAN REVOLUTION
Never doubt that a small, committed group of
citizens can change the world. Indeed, its the
only thing that ever has. -Margaret Mead

• Amitty Tucker and Caitlin McKibben

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Marxism

• Social and economic theories of Karl Marx and
  Friedrich Engels
• System of socialism
• Public ownership of the means of
• production, distribution, and exchange
• Peoples only resource is their ability
• to work
• The bourgeoisies should have
• more influence
• Step below communism

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Shiite Islam

• Second largest sect of Islam
• Legitimists found mostly in Iran, Iraq, and India
• Supporters of Ali, the son-in-law of Muhammad
• Waiting for the twelfth imam
• More fanatical and account for roughly fifteen
  percent of all Muslims

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Shiite Islam
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Build Up to February Revolution

• 1904 - 1905 War with Japan which they lost
• Nicholas created a constitution and elected the
  Duma but then reverted to original ways
• 1914 Russia unsuccessfully invaded Germany
• 1916 Russians ran out of vital supplies needed
  to fuel their large army
• Due to lack of manpower, Russias civilians
  suffered
• Neglected railroads, rotting crops widespread
  hunger
• 1916 (winter) Factory workers and housewives
  lined up in front of stores for food
• Tsar Nicholas II continued to live luxuriously
• Civil unrest due to social fragmentation/stagnatio
  n
• Economic disaster caused by Nicholas II

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Build Up to Iranian Revolution

• 1921 Reza Khan overthrew Kajar Dynasty
• 1925 Reza Shah Pahlavi established the Pahlavi
  Dynasty
• Westernization began
• 1941 Britain and Soviet Union occupied areas to
  protect oil fields from Germans
• Allied presence caused Reza Shah Pahlavi to
  abdicate
• Muhammad Reza Shah succeeded throne 1941
• Withdrawal of Allied troops
• 1950s Oil crisis
• Shah opened negotiations for greatest profit
  margin in oil for Iran
• 1961 Shah dissolved Parliament
• Resentment of Pahlavi autocracy USA
  involvement
• Social fragmentation and unequal distribution of
  wealth

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Potent Personalities

• Russia Peasants
• Factory Workers
• Soldiers
• Women
• Nicholas II
• Alexander Kerensky
• Marxist
• Mensheviks
• Bolsheviks
• Vladimir Lenin
• Cheka

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Potent Personalities

• Mohammad Reza Shah
• Ayatollah Khomeini
• Beni Sadr
• Mohammad Ali Rajai
• Ali Khamenei
• Hojatoleslam Seyed Ali Khamenei
• Hojatolislam Said Ali Khamenei
• Hojatoleslam Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani
• Hojatoleslam Mohammad Khatami
• Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

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The February Revolution

• March, 1917 (February by old calendar)
  Petrograd (St. Petersburg) ran out of food
• Housewives and women factory workers demonstrated
• Soldiers mutinied and joined striking workers
• Formed soviets (councils) to take over factories
  and barracks
• Nicholas abdicated the throne
• Parliamentary parties, led by Alexander Kerensky,
  formed a Provisional Government
• Beginning of February Revolution

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The February Revolution

• Revolutionary Factions
• Social Revolutionaries advocated the
  redistribution of land to the peasants
• Social Democrats Marxists
• Mensheviks advocated electoral politics in the
  form and traditions of European Socialists had
  large following among intellectuals and factory
  workers
• Bolsheviks Marxist radicals, led by Vladimir
  Lenin
• Lenin believed his party should lead the
  revolution as opposed to waiting around for one
• April 1917 Lenin arrived in Petrograd and
  announced his program of reform
• Immediate peace, all power to the soviets, and
  transfer of land to peasants and factory workers
• Popular

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The February Revolution

• Kerensky ordered another offensive against the
  Germans
• Men began throwing away their rifles and walking
  back to their villages
• Government lost what little support it had
• The October Revolution (November on modern
  calendar) began when the Bolsheviks rose up and
  took over Petrograd
• Sudden move surprised rival revolutionary groups
• Lenin, who was more interested in power than
  Marxist doctrine, overthrew the Provisional
  Government and arrested all political rivals

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The February Revolution

• http//www.history.com/media.do?idtdih_mar08_broa
  dbandactionclip

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The Iranian Revolution

• Widespread opposition to Mohammad Reza Shah
  despite prosperity
• Fueled by conservative Muslims
• Directed by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini from
  France
• Repressive
• Westernization of Iran was reversed
• 1979 Khomeini established an Islamic Republic
  the Shah removed
• Khomeini became Valy-e-Faqih (supreme spiritual
  leader) of Iran
• Executed hundreds of Shah supporters
• Gender discrimination
• VERY Anti-American

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The Iranian Revolution

• 1979 Militant Iranians stormed US embassy in
  Teheran taking 66 Americans hostage
• 1980 Iraq (Saddam Husain) massively invaded
  Iran which severely reduced Irans oil production
  
• Iraq had Soviet weapons and Iran had US weapons
• Beni Sadr elected president
• 1981 Beni Sadr was overthrown by Ayatollah
  Khomeini and Mohammad Ali Rajai (killed) was
  elected president
• Hojatoleslam Seyed Ali Khamenei elected president
  
• Islamic Republican Party
• 13 hostages released while 53 others held until
  agreement was reached in 1981 where US exchanged
  money military equipment to Iran
• 1982 Iraqi forces driven out of Iran and Ali
  Khamenei resigned as president

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The Iranian Revolution

• 1988 Cease fire between Iran and Iraq
• 1989 Khomeini died and Hojatolislam Said Ali
  Khamenei became Iran's supreme leader and
  Hojatoleslam Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani elected
  president
• Iran's relations with the West improved
• 1997 Hojatoleslam Mohammad Khatami elected
  president and sought to normalize relationship
  with West and move toward democracy
• Opposed by conservatives
• 2005 Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
• elected president
• Opposed to the West

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Women in the Russian Revolution

• Played key role in bringing about change
• Staged demonstrations alongside men
• Housewives and women factory workers
• Womens Day celebrated by the Socialist which
  transformed into a riot
• Military lost control of the situation
• Suffered under Bolsheviks just like men

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Women in the Iranian Revolution

• Women did not play a major role in the Iranian
  Revolution
• Over-looked
• Under Ayatollah Khomeini women were forced to
  dress more conservatively
• Womens rights depended on who was in power at
  the time and how they viewed womens place in
  society
• How radical leaders were
• Relations with West

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Short Term Effects

• Bolsheviks nationalized private land and ordered
  peasants to hand over crops without compensation
• Peasants resisted
• Bolsheviks took over factories and drafted
  workers into compulsory labor brigades
• Lenin enforced his rule with the creation of
  Cheka
• Due to the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk between
  Germany the Bolsheviks, peace was established,
  but Russia lost land containing one-third of its
  population wealth
• Poland, Finland, and Baltic states including,
  Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia
• Colonies in Central Asia and Caucasus temporarily
  broke away

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Long Term Effects

• Established the Communist Party in Russia
• Laid the foundations of the communist era and the
  establishment of the USSR
• Lead to the USSRs goal to spread communism to
  the rest of the world
• Long, long term effects the Cold War

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General Effects

• Due to the nature of the Iranian Revolution, the
  short term and long term effects of the
  revolution are essentially the same
• Electoral system still unfair
• Fluctuating relations with the West
• Continued opposition to secular government
• Shiite Muslims in Iran still control country
• Moved away from a monarch-like system towards
  democracy

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Similarities

• They were both successful in their attempts to
  bring about reform
• Both were brought about by extremist factions
• Both began with civil unrest
• Social fragmentation was a prevalent cause in
  both revolutions
• Both isolated themselves for a time with Western
  society in some way

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Differences

• The February Revolution was a peoples revolution
  in which the populous of the country acted out
  against the government
• The Iranian Revolution was a movement by a small
  number of individual who overthrew the
  established regime
• In the February Revolution, women played a key
  role, unlike the Iranian Revolution
• The Iranian Revolution is ongoing and is evident
  in everyday society
• The Iranian Revolution sought political reform
  with religious justification
• The February Revolution focused on social reform

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Works Cited

• http//www.iranchamber.com
• http//novaonline.nvcc.edu
• http//thenagain.info
• The Earth and Its People