From 1953 to 1975, Iran underwent a dramatic transformation.
Muhammad Reza Shah pursued an aggressive
Western-oriented socioeconomic modernization program,
known as the White Revolution (1963-1977), and
an aggressive expansion of the state.15 During this time,
the shah carried out much of the work that his father—
Reza Shah Pahlavi—had abandoned when he was forced
to leave power in 1941, including an intense push to expand
three crucial sectors of the state: the military, the
bureaucracy, and the court patronage system. In many
ways, Muhammad Reza Shah set up an even more centralized
state than his father had by taking major steps
to advance the country’s military, infrastructure, industry,
and external trade, while advocating for land reforms and
state-sponsored scholarships to Iranian students.