The Iranian Revolution occurred because of inflation, modernization and repression, followed by the slightest bit of freedom. The Shah Muhammad Reza Pahlavi's dissenters, especially Khomeini, were able to spread their message of their dissatisfaction with the Shah. The Revolution was the event that many dissatisfied Iranians had hoped for. It was massive and widespread, and extraordinarily effective, despite many casualties. However, despite the immediate effectiveness of the Revolution, its benefits were not long lasting. Despite this, the Iranian Revolution displayed the power of the people and their ability to seize power for themselves.
At the beginning of the Iranian Revolution, Shah Muhammad Reza Pahlavi ruled Iran. He was an authoritarian monarch, but desperately wanted modernization for Iran. One of the types of reform that the Shah instituted was land reform, because he desired the rapid industrialization of Iran and the mechanization of agriculture. It was executed in four phases. The first phase, from 1962-1964, focused on limiting landownership to one entire village or to the equivalent of one village in different estates owned by the landowners. Mechanized lands, groves, plantations, orchards, and homesteads were exempted from divisions regardless of their size. The peasants who received land were required to become members of the state-run rural cooperatives. The law required the landowners to sell their land to the peasants based on the pervious year's tax paid to the government. The government would compensate the landowners over a fifteen-year period. The peasants were to pay the government within fifteen years with ten percent interest. By the end of the first stage the power of the landlords in the villages was effectively broken and replaced with ever-increasing power of the state. However, there were significant loopholes, which enabled many landlords to avoid the division of their lands.
