Iran Before 1979

1,920s

Essay · 1921–1941

Reza Shah and the making of the Pahlavi state, 1921–1941

A soldier took power in 1921, ended the Qajar dynasty in 1925 and spent sixteen years building a centralised state, with roads, railways and schools, and with little tolerance for opposition. 14 November 2026

1,930s

Essay · 1928–1941

Hats, veils and the state: dress under Reza Shah

In the 1930s the state decided what Iranians should wear. For some it meant new freedoms, for many it meant coercion, and for the clergy and the devout it meant humiliation. 14 November 2026

1,940s

Essay · 1941–1949

The 1940s: occupation, a new shah, new ideas

With the old shah gone and foreign troops in the country, Iran in the 1940s was a place of open politics, new parties and anxious questions about oil and independence. 14 November 2026

1,950s

Essay · 1951–1953

Oil, Mossadegh and 1953: two readings of a coup

In August 1953 a government that had nationalised oil was overthrown. Historians agree that Britain and the United States took part. They disagree on how much it mattered. 14 November 2026

1,960s

Essay · 1925–1979

Women's lives in Iran, 1925–1979: laws, schools, workplaces and limits

Between 1925 and 1979 the law, schooling and work changed for many Iranian women. The changes were real, uneven and contested, and women themselves held very different views of them. 14 November 2026

Essay · 1960–1969

The 1960s: the White Revolution and its limits

In 1963 the shah announced a programme of reforms from above, from land reform to votes for women. It changed the countryside and the cities, and it left deep disagreements. 14 November 2026

1,970s

Essay · 1970–1979

The 1970s: oil boom, celebrations and unrest

A fourfold rise in oil income paid for grand plans and grand parties. It also produced inflation, inequality and a state with fewer and fewer ways to listen. 14 November 2026

Critical perspectives

Voices and evidence that complicate the official story of the period.

Essay · 1953–1979

Critical perspectives: censorship, SAVAK and the opposition

A picture of Iran before 1979 that leaves out repression is incomplete. So is one that leaves out everything else. This is the first in a standing series on what the state's critics said and what the records show. 14 November 2026