Persepolis vocab and context

​Persepolis Background and Vocabulary

Take notes on paper or in your online notebook.

Multiple Choice

Which country is Iran?

• A

• B

• C

• D

Multiple Choice

Iran was previously known as

• Persia

• Constantinople

• Ceylon

• Burma

Multiple Choice

Following a revolution in 1979, Iran became an Islamic Republic when the monarchy was overthrown and ______ assumed political power.

• a cadre of oligarchs

• religious clerics

• a radical communist movement

• socialist anarchists

Multiple Choice

Before 1979, what was the title of the ruler of Iran?

• King

• Ayatollah

• President

• Shah

​Important titles and people

Shah: title of emperors/kings of Iran

​Mohammed Reza Shah: Last shah of Iran (known as the Shah); secular; progressive; pro-Western; authoritarian

Ayatollah: ​honorific title for high-ranking clergy in Iran and Iraq

Ayatollah Khomeini: founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran; opposed the Shah (his progress was "an attack on Islam") and exiled for 14 years, returned to lead the revolution; Iran's supreme ruler from 1979 to 1989 (known as the Ayatollah);

​Important Terms

Theocracy and Secularism

​Theocracy: a system of government in which one or more deities are recognized as supreme ruling authorities (government by religion)

Iran = Islamic Republic

​

Secularism: ​separation of state from religious institutions

a form of religion that ​

​upholds belief in the strict, literal interpretation of scripture

Fundamentalism

Nationalism

​ideology based on the premise that an individual's loyalty and devotion to the nation-state surpass other individual or group interests

Multiple Choice

True or false: The Islamic Revolution in Iran created a theocracy.

• True

• False

The Iranian secret police, domestic security, and intelligence service

--established by M​ohammad Reza Shah with the help of the U.S.

SAVAK

A secretly plotted and suddenly executed attempt to overthrow a government, usually violent

​Putsch

​Other Terms

Multiple Choice

What did people dislike about the Shah?

• His economic policies and autocratic style

• His beard

• His traditional values based on Islamic fundamentalism

• His inability to form diplomatic ties with the West

• Fire in a crowded movie theater

• Building doused with fuel, doors barred

• ​Between 370-470 people died (numbers are disputed)

• Each side blamed each other (SAVAK and Islamic activists)

• Triggered the revolution​

Cinema Rex Fire

from

pro-Western secular authoritarian monarchy (Shah)

to

anti-Western ​theocracy (Ayatollah Khomeini)

The Revolution

The Ayatollah's Changes

• ​Rewrote the constitution to exclude secular politicians

• Banned opposition groups

• Replaced secular laws with Islamic laws

• Islamized education curriculum

• Enforced Islamic dress code

• Banned any music that wasn't martial or religious

Poll

If you were in Iran in the 1970s and had to choose between the two sides, which type of government do you think you'd prefer?

• pro-Western secular authoritarian monarchy

• anti-Western theocracy

​What about Marji's family?

Which side were they on during the revolution?

Religion of Ancient Persia

​Monotheistic

Belief in free will and judgment after death​, focus on duality

Ahura Mazda--supreme being, lord of wisdom​​

Zoroaster ​(prophet)

Only 100,000(ish) followers today​

Zoroastrianism

Monotheistic

Allah​

​Koran

Prophet ​Muhammad

More than two billion followers​

​Islam

​Religion in Iran

​Other Allusions

Multiple Choice

What do Leon Trotsky, Karl Marx, Fidel Castro, and Che Guevara have in common?

• They were all Russian.

• They were all communist or socialist revolutionaries.

• They were all religious fundamentalists.

• They were all welcomed into the U.S. when exiled from their own countries.

More -isms

Communism: means of production are owned by the state; no individual ownership; ideally, a classless system

Socialism: individuals own property, but share equally in economic resources as allocated by a democratically-elected government; classes exist, but differences are diminished

Capitalism: ​means of production are owned by individuals; stark difference in the classes

Iran's Economy

Iran has a mixed economy

• Large percentage under government control, such as oil and gas production

• Some private ownership​

Multiple Choice

America is a _____ country.

• Communist

• Socialist

• Capitalist

• Theocratic