Throughout the 20th century, many revolutions took place. Countries divided by politics, land, resources and religion have fought hard to reconcile these things. Religion and resources played a particularly important role in the revolutions of the Middle East. The Iranian Revolution of 1979, sometimes called the Islamic Revolution, was one that shook the Muslim world in the Middle East. Taking place just before the Iran-Iraq War, the revolution led revolutionaries to establish a theocratic republic based on the Quran. Before the revolution, a shah ruled Iran as the head of a monarchy. However, his mismanagement of his country's resources and his lax attitude towards religious customs caused the people to rebel. During World War II, the United States, with its allies, brought to power a new shah to rule Iran. They chose Mohammed Rez Pahlavi to replace his father Rez Shah Pahlavi in ​​the Iranian monarchy. Mohammed Rez Shah Pahlavi took steps to rule the country, but not always for the best. As a secular Muslim, he quickly angered the Shiite population due to his strong beliefs in Westernization and secularization of Iran. The White Revolution is an extreme example of his goal of westernizing the country. Occurring in the middle of his reign, the White Revolution was a Westernization ploy on the part of the Shah, leading to the redistribution of land and the liberation of women's rights. Shiite Muslims contradicted the events, saying the policy went against the country's Islamic beliefs. To further irritate the people, the Shah changed the country's calendar from an Islamic calendar to an imperial calendar, thereby changing the first day of...... middle of paper ...... are from powerful enemies. These things caused the Iranian people to dislike Americans and the kindness shown to the Shah. The Iranian Revolution impacted the Middle East and caused unrest in other countries. This ended an era of monarchical rule in Iran and returned it to its Islamic traditions and practices, as they should be. The Islamic Republic continues to govern successfully today, demonstrating the successes of the overthrow of the Shah and his government by Ayatollah Khomeini and Shia Muslims. Over time, the new government, still bitter about the kindness the Americans had shown the Shah, began to rebuild its relationship with the powerful country and now worked together in the United Nations. Many revolutions took place in the 20th century, good and bad, but the Iranian revolution was one that certainly ended for the better..