Was the Shah of Iran a good leader?

Which one, you mean Mohammed Reza Pahlavi?

My impression is that he's a Willy-tier failiure from pop culture

>>2685042
Objectively false. While nowhere near as based as his father, he was (at least towards the end of his reign) an ardent nationalist and good leader.

>>2684999
It's not so much that he pushed people toward religion, but that while he was deaf to the wants of his people the clerics stepped up to tell the people what they wanted to hear.

>>2685191
>arden nationalist
>good
being nationalist in a country like Iran is a good way to stir up discontent

>>2687227
Clerics manipulated the poor and pushed aside other parties and factions i.e. secular college and university students, communists, socialists, etc...once the revolution went down to take power and usurp authority.

>>2684999
He was at first a decent ruler but became weak and complacent and it took foreign intervention from the Americans and British to remove his Prime Minister and main political enemy, Mossadegh. After that, in what you can call his "second" reign, he became autocratic, more hands on, and increasingly despotic like creating the SAVAK and breaking human rights at time.

I think we can ALL agree that the last Pahlavi Shah was nowhere was good a ruler as his father was.

>>2685191
>Nationalist
>on the 2500 anniversary of the foundation of the Persian Empire he had a party that was purely him and Western leaders
>all while the common man starved
The Guy only cared about "Persian heritage" because he wanted the West to accept him, he even admits it

File: 1490884626250.jpg (20KB, 600x336px) Image search: [Google]

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>>2687330
>all while the common man starved

>>2687294
Disagree, the White Reforms came closer to the end of his reign and were considered successful (if over ambitious)

>>2687236
t. faggot

>>2687587
They were successful in the sense it made the life of the iranians better, but it was a political failure as it did not earn their loyalty and encouraged them to actually sympathize with muh shia religious elite.

>>2687599
Not enough propaganda desu

>>2684999
WE WUZ ACHAEMENIDZ N SHIET.

He's like the king of L.A. Iranians who go "I'M PERSIAN, NOT IRANIAN."

>>2687668
Funny thing is that if those guys ever managed to gain power the Country would split apart for the first time in 500 years.

>>2687596
Iran is only 50% Persian, you'll get a lot of people mad if you start favoring them really ostentatiously

>>2687236
>>2687680

That's why you go for civic nationalism instead of ethnic nationalism. For Iran it's easy, because there is a geography-facilitated historical identity that you can base the Iranian identity on.

>>2687676
Iran did split apart though, after the death of Nader Shah.

>>2684999
>Now go home and get your fucking shinebox
>I did 20 years!

>>2687330
>the common man starved
In other news water is wet.

>>2684999
From what I know he was a terrible ruler who was oppressive towards his people. It's hard to swallow, but the Islamic republic is wondrous compared to what was before.

>>2684999
He was a fucken disgrace!

Very flawed, of course, but I always found it odd how most Westerners, from all across the political spectrum, seem to take the IR's version of history at face value.

>>2687236
A country like Iran naturally gravitates towards nationalism you retard, been around for over 2000 years

>>2688181
Holy shit, this

>>2687236
>>2688383
This, they feel like special snowflakes compared to the other muslim nations because they were kangz of kangz before mohammad showed up. Actually on that subject, you'd think the Iraqi should feel the same way because they wuz lord of the universe n shiet.

>>2688417

The reason is language, Iraqis speak Arabic, Iranians don't, language is probably the most important factor behind culture/identity. Iraqi Assyrians, for example, do feel connected to their ancient past, because they kept their religion and language.

Same reason Turks, Kurds, etc. feel like special snowflakes.

>>2684999
Having a secret police force that tortures people automatically disqualifies someone from being worthy of being considered a good leader.

>>2684999
leme tell ya a couple'l tree tings

File: mohammad-mosaddegh-history-of-iran.jpg (103KB, 920x537px) Image search: [Google]

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>>2684999
He can rot in Hell as far as I am concerned.

>>2687236
how so? iranians are all patriotic of their country, even azeri iranians love iran more than turkey and azebaijan

the nato/zionist divide and conquer will never work in iran

>>2687587
What the Shah did not expect was that the White Revolution lead to new social tensions that helped create many of the problems the Shah had been trying to avoid. The Shah's reforms more than quadrupled the combined size of the two classes that had posed the most challenges to his monarchy in the past—the intelligentsia and the urban working class. Their resentment towards the Shah also grew since they were now stripped of organizations that had represented them in the past, such as political parties, professional associations, trade unions, and independent newspapers. Land reform, instead of allying the peasants with the government, produced large numbers of independent farmers and landless laborers who became loose political cannons, with no feeling of loyalty to the Shah. Many of the masses felt resentment towards the increasingly corrupt government; their loyalty to the clergy, who were seen as more concerned with the fate of the populace, remained consistent or increased. As Ervand Abrahamian pointed out, "The White Revolution had been designed to preempt a Red Revolution. Instead, it paved the way for an Islamic Revolution."

>>2687785
objectively best post