Numerous revolutions took place throughout the 20th century. Countries divided by politics, land, resources and religion have struggled hard to reconcile these things. Both religion and resources have played particularly important roles in Middle Eastern revolutions. The Iranian Revolution of 1979, sometimes called the Islamic Revolution, was one that shook the Muslim world of the Middle East. Occurring shortly before the Iran-Iraq War, the revolution led revolutionaries to establish a theocratic republic based on the Quran. In the period before the revolution, a shah ruled the country of Iran at the head of a monarchy. However, due to the country's mismanagement of resources and its lax attitude towards religious customs, the people rebelled. During World War II the United States, along with its allies, brought a new Shah to power to rule Iran. They chose Mohammed Rez Pahlavi to replace his father Rez Shah Pahlavi in ​​the Iranian monarchy. Mohammed Rez Shah Pahlavi took action with his new government of the country, but not always for the better. As a secular Muslim, he quickly angered the Shiite population due to his strong beliefs about the Westernization and secularization of Iran. An extreme example of his goal of Westernizing the country was the White Revolution. Occurring midway through his rule, the White Revolution was a Westernization ploy by the Shah, leading to the redistribution of land and the liberation of women's rights. Shia Muslims contradicted these events, claiming that this policy went against the country's Islamic beliefs. To further anger the people, the Shah changed the country's calendar from an Islamic calendar to an imperial calendar, thus changing the first day from... middle of paper... powerful enemies. These things made the Iranian people not appreciate the Americans and the kindness shown to the Shah. The Iranian Revolution impacted the Middle East and caused unrest among other countries. He ended a period 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 embittered by the kindness of the Americans towards the Shah, began to rebuild relations with the powerful country and is now working together as part of the United Nations. Many revolutions took place in the 20th century, both good and bad, but the Iranian one was definitely a revolution that ended for the better.