The “White Revolution” of the Shah of Iran
The post-referendum events were accompanied by certain political cataclysms
On January 9, 1963, Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi announced a six-point reform program. The provisions of the reform were:
1. Land reform and abolition of feudalism.
2. Nationalization of forests and pastures.
3. Sale of state enterprises.
4. Giving women the right to vote and to be elected.
5. Workers have a share in the income of the enterprises in which they work.
6. Establishment of the Education Corps to eradicate illiteracy.
Since the late 1950s, the Shah has been thinking of radical reforms to address and modernize Iran’s socio-economic backwardness. However, the announcement of such reforms was delayed due to the fact that they will undoubtedly face resistance. One of the main articles of the reform was the land reform, which would affect the interests of the clergy as well as the large landowners. Because in Iran, 20 percent of arable land was waqf land and was at the disposal of the ulema.
The first clash between the government and the clergy took place in October 1962. A decree on local elections signed by the Asadullah Alam government gave women the right to vote and to be elected. In addition, those who were to be chosen were to be sworn in the Bible, not the heavenly book.
The clergy protested. They believed that this would allow the Baha’is to swear allegiance to the Qur’an. Two great mujtahids, Gulpeygani and Shariatmadari, as well as Ayatollah Khomeini, wrote a letter to the Shah protesting. Shah also withdrew and the decree was revoked. Women did not have the right to vote, and the Koran, the Bible, the Torah, and the Avesta could still be used to swear.
However, it was decided to introduce women’s suffrage along with more popular measures such as land reform, and to hold a referendum to gain popular support.
The historic reform program, known as the White Revolution, was put to a referendum on January 26, 1963. Despite its positive nature, the entire opposition community – the National Front, the Iranian Freedom Movement, Tudeh and others. oppose reforms. Khomeini called for a boycott of the “un-Islamic” referendum.
According to official results, more than 5.5 million people took part in the referendum, and 99.93% of them said “yes” to the reforms. Only 4,115 people answered in the negative. It should be noted that the voting was not secret. Those who said “yes” had to put white paper in the box, and those who said “no” had to put green paper. The reform proposal was generally popular, but one of the reasons it received so many votes was secrecy.
The events after the referendum were accompanied by certain political cataclysms, as I mentioned in the article “Iran before the revolution.” The coup resulted in the deportation of Ruhollah Khomeini from Iran, and the Shah’s regime was able to take control of the situation.
In the following years, the White Revolution, to which 13 more articles were added, produced a number of positive results. But at the same time there were many negative consequences due to other factors. All this eventually led to an increase in protests, a bloody revolution and the overthrow of the monarchy.
Twenty percent of the land fund, as we have said, belonged to foundations, 50 percent to large landowners, 10 percent to the state, and only 20 percent to free peasants. According to the law, the feudal lords could have a maximum of one village. Minister of Agriculture Hasan Arsanjani said: “We will start with those who own 150 villages, the only talents are those who take drugs and beat the villagers.” In the following years, more specific measures were applied: one person could have only a maximum of 30 hectares of irrigated and 200 hectares of non-irrigated (paddy farming) land.
The government bought more land from the feudal lords at a “fair price” and sold it to the peasants at a 30% discount. At that time, the villagers were given a 25-year loan at a very low interest rate. As a result, millions of peasants became landowners, despite fierce resistance from the feudal lords, who sometimes even assassinated them to intimidate them.
The nationalization of forests and pastures prevented the exploitation and deforestation of these areas. During the White Revolution, 9 million trees were planted, and 28,000 hectares of green space was laid around cities and highways.
The purpose of selling state-owned enterprises was, on the one hand, to achieve more effective management of them, and, on the other hand, to obtain funding for land reform. As a result, 55 plants were transformed into joint stock companies and sold.
For the first time since the 1963 elections, six women were represented in parliament. By the end of the monarchy, the number of women in the three other parliaments was 7, 17 and 20. Farrukhru Parsa became the first female minister in the history of Iran in 1968, becoming Minister of Education.
Workers began to receive a share of the profits of the enterprises in which they worked. In 1977, 530,000 workers in private and state-owned enterprises earned 12 billion rials from their profits, which was equivalent to their 1-2 months’ salary. This made the workers interested in the productivity of their labor.
Before the White Revolution, the situation in education was dire. In 1958, 67.2 percent of men and 87.8 percent of women over the age of 15 were illiterate. While 75 percent of the population lived in rural areas and 25 percent in urban areas, only 24 percent of teachers taught in rural areas and 76 percent in urban areas.
Before the White Revolution, the situation in education was dire. In 1958, 67.2 percent of men and 87.8 percent of women over the age of 15 were illiterate. While 75 percent of the population lived in rural areas and 25 percent in urban areas, only 24 percent of teachers taught in rural areas and 76 percent in urban areas.
To meet the needs of the village for teachers, an organization called the “Education Corps” was established. Instead of serving in the army, high school graduates went to the countryside to teach. Sometimes they continued to teach on a paid basis after military service. Girls were also involved in the education corps.
In 1966, school education was defined as 12 years and was divided into primary, secondary and higher education. Primary education was free and compulsory. More than 3,000 schools were built in Iran during the White Revolution. In 1978, the illiteracy rate among men and women fell to 44.2 percent and 53 percent, respectively.
The Shah encouraged the opening of leading universities. Following the example of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Aryamehr University of Technology (now Sharif University of Technology) was established in 1966, and its branch in Isfahan was opened in 1977, which has now become an independent Isfahan University of Technology. Opened in 1946, Shiraz University was restructured based on the experience of American Ivy League universities.
In total, if in 1953 there were 4 universities with 14,500 students, in 1977 there were more than 154,000 students in 16 universities. In addition, another 100,000 Iranians studied in Western countries (50,000 in the United States) on basic, special, and short-term programs, some of which were funded by the state.
In the following years, 13 more items were added to the White Revolution. The first was the creation of the Health Corps. In this case, the principles of creating an educational corps were used. Young people who received medical services spent their military service in the cities and villages of the province, providing medical services to the population. Along with the medical faculties of the National University of Iran and the University of Tehran, a separate University of Medical Sciences was opened in 1973.
The Reconstruction and Development Corps was established on the same basis. Agricultural specialists, construction, road and energy engineers were sent to the provinces. The Education, Health, Reconstruction and Development Corps have significantly eliminated the backwardness of the Iranian countryside.
Rising oil prices after the 1973 Mashar Day war allowed the Shah’s regime to increase social measures. Free higher education could also be obtained in exchange for certain obligations. From kindergarteners to 14-year-old schoolchildren, they were provided with free meals once a day. Mothers in need and babies under the age of two could also get free food.
Other provisions of the White Revolution included judicial and administrative reform, the nationalization of water resources, the improvement of cities, the introduction of social security measures and insurance, the granting of workers the right to own shares in industrial enterprises, and the fight against inflation.
Reforms have led to Iran’s dynamic development. The country ranked second in Asia in terms of growth rates, behind only Japan. In the first 10 years after the White Revolution, the gross national product increased 3.6 times. New industries emerged – ferrous and nonferrous metallurgy, mechanical engineering, chemical and gas industries, and others. In the early 1970s, industrial output grew by 20%. The following table shows the difference in the production of some industrial products: