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The Mexican Revolution, sometimes called the '''Mexican Revolution of 1910''', was a violent social and cultural movement, colored by Socialist , Nationalist , and Anarchist tendencies. It began with the popular rejection of Dictator Porfirio Díaz Mori in 1910 and continued even after the promulgation of a new Constitution in 1917. Violence continued until the late 1920s, ending only when the Partido Nacional Revolucionario (which later became the Partido Revolucionario Institucional or "PRI") sealed its monopoly on political power in and after 1928. Even after that, the idea that the Revolution was "ongoing" was reinforced in party doctrine and national thought with its notional division into an "armed phase" and an "institutional phase". The "institutional phase" rhetoric began to disappear from official discourse only under President Carlos Salinas De Gortari in the late 1980s. The Mexican Revolution was a violent social and cultural movement which brought the beginning of changes in Mexico . The changes in turn brought a sense of freedom to the citizens of its country. The revolution started because of the actions of the Mexican President Porfirio Díaz. His regime not only favoured the involvement of the United States in Mexican life, it was centered on expanding the Mexican economy. If successful, this would have eventually classified Mexico as a Capitalist country but in the end would have harmed the peasant class which populated most of Mexico. The Diaz regime can be considered the main cause of the revolution but the governments who followed him can be seen as factors in the continuation of the revolution. Francisco Madero , Victoriano Huerta , Pancho Villa and Venustiano Carranza were all important individuals in the revolution because of the role they played in attaining a stable government in Mexico. All four leaders were important in gaining a sense of what was important to the people of Mexican and what was needed in gaining stability and freedom in Mexico. Emiliano Zapata can be seen as a Mexican hero because of the stand he took against Porfirio Diaz . Zapata helped the peasant class take back their land and regain Mexico as their own nation. These individuals are significant when classifying important individuals who were seen in the revolution. The Zapatistas were members of Zapata’s revolutionary Guerilla groups. They took their name from Zapata who led these groups into attaining a stable Mexico. These guerilla groups were important in involving the Mexican population in their government. Guerilla groups were seen all across Latin America and were highly effective because of their ability to organize and attack in small groups. The effects of the Diaz regime were greatly felt in Agrarian Land Reform . Laws were implemented to benefit foreign investors. The Diaz regime confiscated large sections of land from the people of Mexico. The Mexican Revolution saw new agrarian land laws passed to give back the people what was rightfully theirs. The laws were seen as an important step in achieving a stable government and country. The involvement of women in the Mexican Revolution was substantial, especially because of the way they were regarded in the early 1900’s. Women took part in politics and in life on the battlefields. This was a significant advancement for women because their role in the revolution became as important as a male role. The United States also played a vital role in the Mexican Revolution. Early on they wanted to stabilize the Diaz government to ensure that relations between the two countries would remain stable. This would also ensure that the foreign trade between the two countries would remain. United States Involvement in the Mexican Revolution began as monitoring the revolution and ended in militaristic intervention. Further, the Mexican Revolution influenced the United States with the increase in immigrants from Mexico to the U.S. and their push for change in Mexico from across the border. The role the Mexican Catholic Church during the Revolution is also an important aspect because of the many transformations it takes. The Roman Catholic Church in Mexico has a very influential role during the course of Mexican history. This role is greatly altered during the course of the revolution. The Youth Movement in any revolution is important because youth are seen as the future of a nation. In Mexico, the results were not very positive because the many university students had been given the title of anti-revolutionaries. They were accused of non-accepting of the ideals and beliefs of the revolution. Mexican culture, such as Cinema , Music and Literature , was also a driving factor in gaining support during the revolution. All parts of the culture were organized to show people that change was needed in order to gain a free Mexico. Mexican nationalism was an evident theme among most music, cinema and literature because of the way it could persuade people to join the fight. The Mexican Revolution is found to be similar to the many revolutions of Latin America. The revolution was one of the first to recognize labor rights, which made it a significant event in the world’s history. THE END OF PORFIRIATO After Benito Juarez ’s death in 1872 , Porfirio Diaz wanted to take over as Mexico ’s leader. Both men were allies and had fought against the French in the Battle Of Puebla , but once Juarez rose to power in Mexico, Diaz tried to unseat him. Diaz began his reign as president and dictator of Mexico in 1876 until 1911 when Francisco Madero succeeded him. Diaz’s time in office is remembered for the advances he brought in industry and modernization at the expense of human rights and liberal reforms. The era of Porfirio Diaz’s government from 1876-1911 is known as Porfiriato . Diaz had a strict “No Re-election” policy in which presidents could not serve in back to back terms in office. He followed this rule when he stepped down after his first term to Manuel Gonzalez , one of his underlings. The new president’s period in office was marked by corruption and official incompetence, so that when Diaz stepped up in the next election he was a welcome replacement. In future elections, Diaz would conveniently put aside his “No Re-election” slogan and ran for president in every election. Diaz became the dictator he had warned the people of and against. Through the army, the rurales, and gangs of thugs he frighten people into voting for him. If bullying citizens into voting for him failed, he simply rigged the votes in his favour. By using force to stay in office, Diaz knew he was violating Mexico’s constitution as well as his own liberal beliefs, but he justified his act by claiming Mexico was not yet ready to govern itself. Only he knew what was best for his country and he enforced his belief with a strong hand; Order, followed by Progress was the watchwords of his rule. While Diaz’s presidency was characterized by promotion of industry and the pacification of the country, it came at the expense of the working and farmer/peasant classes, which generally suffered extreme exploitation. The Mexican economy took a great leap during the Porfiriato, especially through the encouragement of construction such as factories, roads, dams, industries, and better farms. This resulted in the rise of an urban proletariat and the influx of foreign capital (principally from the United States .) Progress came at a heavy price though since civil liberties, such as freedom of the press, were suspended under the Porfiriato. The growing influence of United States involvement, was a constant problem for Diaz since most land in Mexico had been lost to the United States. As a result, wealth, political power, and access to education were concentrated in just a handful of families with large estates as well as some companies of foreign origin (mostly from the United Kingdom , France , and the United States). An important consequence of Diaz’s actions taken in power were the changes and eventual set backs he made to land reforms. New land laws virtually undid all the hard work leaders, such as Juarez, before him at done causing no peasant or farmer to claim his own land unless he held a formal legal title. Small farmers were helpless, and angry. A change of power would be necessary if Mexico was ever to continue being successful. From this cause, many leaders including Francisco Madero, Pancho Villa and Emiliano Zapata would launch a revolution against Diaz, escalating into the eventual Mexican Revolution . The end of the Porfiriato is by most historians documented as the beginning of the Mexican Revolution. In a 1908 interview with the U.S. journalist James Creelman, Díaz stated that Mexico was ready for democracy and elections and that he would step down and allow other candidates to compete for the presidency. Francisco I. Madero answered the call for candidates. Although Madero was very similar to Díaz in his ideology, he hoped for other elites in Mexico to rule alongside the President, unlike Díaz. Díaz, however, did not approve of Madero and had him jailed on election day in 1910, provoking the Mexican Revolution. FRANCISCO I. MADERO'S PRESIDENCY Francisco I. Madero in 1910, stated that he would be running in the next election against Diaz for leadership of Mexico. In order to ensure Madero did not win, Diaz had him thrown in jail and declared himself the winner. Madero soon escaped and fled for a short period of time to the United States . On November 20th , 1910 , Madero issued the Plan De San Luis Potosi , which declared the Diaz’s regime illegal and initiated a revolution against Porfirio Diaz . Madero’s promise of Agrarian Reform s attracted many of the peasants throughout Mexico and was able to gain much needed support from them in order to remove Diaz from power. Madero's army with the assistance of the Indians fought Diaz's army and had a bit of success. Diaz's was gradually losing control of Mexico and his administration started to fall apart. In a separate tactic, Diaz jailed Madero since he worried that Madero could potientially win the election and taking over control of Mexico. Once he was released mass amounts of public protest occurred due to the election fraud with Diaz created. The desire to removed Diaz was so great, that many native Indians and different leaders during this time were in support of Madero and fought on his side. On May 21st , 1911 an agreement was made that stated Diaz would abdicate his rule and be replaced by Madero, after Madero had defeated the weak federal army months earlier. An overwhelming majority elected Francisco I. Madero in 1911 president of Mexico. He was able to establish a liberal democracy and received strong support from the United States and popular leaders such as Zapata and Pancho Villa . Madero was a weak leader and quickly lost much of his support while he was in power. His refusal to enact land reforms caused a break with Zapata who announced the Plan De Ayala , which called for the return of lands “usurped by the hacendados” ( Hacienda owners) and which demanded an armed conflict against the government. The rural working class, who had supported Madero, now took up arms supporting Zapata. The people’s support of Madero quickly deteriorated. His time as leader was short lived and came to an end after General Victoriano Huerta , who was previously appointed as Madero’s commander in chief, when Madero first claimed power, staged the coup d’etat. Following Huerta’s Coup D'état , Madero was forced to resign. Francisco Madero, along with vice president José María Pino Suárez , were both executed less than a week later. '' VICTORIANO HUERTA'S REIGN In early 1913, Huerta, who commanded the armed forces, conspired with U.S. Ambassador Henry Lane Wilson to remove Madero from power. La Decena Tragica was an event, which ten days of sporadic fighting occurred between federal troops led by Victoriano Huerta and Diaz’s conservative rebel forces, which still operated in Mexico. This fighting would stop when Huerta and Henry Lane Wilson met and signed the “Pact of Embassy” in which they agreed to conspire against Madero to install Huerta as president. When Huerta gained power and became president of Mexico , most powers around the world acknowledged him as the rightful leader, however incoming president of the United States , Woodrow Wilson , refused to recognize Huerta as the leader. Henry Lane Wilson was soon removed from office for his On March 26th , 1914 , Venustiano Carranza issued the Plan De Guadalupe , which was a refusal to recognize Huerta as president and called for a declaration of war between the two factions. Leaders such as Villa, Zapata, Carranza and Obregón led the fighting against Huerta. In April of that year, American opposition to Huerta had reached its peak when American forces seized Vera Cruz . In late July, this situation worsened for Huerta and he was forced to vacate the presidency and flee to Puerto Mexico. Legacy After Huerta vacated the presidency, he soon left for Spain where he would make his new home, only later to return and try to establish another counterrevolution inside Mexico. The German Government , which favoured the Huerta while in power, considered him to be very important to the war that was breaking out in Europe at this time. If Huerta could establish himself once again as leader of Mexico, which the German government hoped for, the United States would be distracted on both fronts and would give the Germans an advantage and a better chance to win the war. Huerta then moved to the United States and this operation of holding down another revolution inside Mexico begun and was funded by the German government. The United States government, along with the newly elected president Pancho Villa , became worried upon his arrival and set up a counter surveillance system to watch Huerta’s every move and make sure that Huerta would not gain entry into Mexico and bring about another counterrevolution. The United States government along with Pancho Villa’s forces refused at all costs to let this happen. Victoriano Huerta would not survive long enough to re-enter into Mexico and bring about the Counterrevolution . He was stopped in Texas, by the United States government and was kept there under house arrest, until he died in early 1916. PANCHO VILLA Francisco "Pancho" Villa came from the northern state of Durango and was one of the leaders of the Mexican revolution. Villa along with the support of the Villistas joined the ranks of the Madero movement. His army of Villistas participated in many battles such as the attack of Ciudad Juárez in 1911 (which overthrew Porfirio Díaz and gave Madero power), the Battle Of Celaya and many others. In 1911 Pancho Villa served under Victoriano Huerta who appointed him chief military commander. During this period Huerta and Villa became rivals. In 1912 when Villa’s men seized a horse and Villa decided to keep it for himself, Huerta ordered Villa’s execution for subordination. The execution of Villa as ordered by Huerta did not occur due to the intervention by Raul Madero, who was brother of President Madero. Villa was jailed in Mexico City and then escaped to the United States and soon after the assassination of President Madero he returned with a group of companions to fight Huerta. By 1913 that group had become the base of Villa’s División del Norte, which was an army led by Villa which also had a substantial number of American members. Villa and his army along with Carranza and Obregón joined in resistance to the Huerta dictatorship. Villa and Carranza had very different ways of thinking and became enemies. When Carranza took control in 1914, Villa formed a rebellion. In 1915 Villa took part in two of the most important battles during the revolution which were the two engagements in the Battle of Celaya, one which took part from the 6-7 and the other from the 13-15 of April 1915. Villa was defeated by Obregón in the Battle of Celaya which was one of the bloodiest battles during the revolution, one in which Carranza emerged as winner of the war and seized power. A Short time after, the US recognized Carranza as president of Mexico and on March 9, 1916 Villa crossed the US-Mexico border and attacked Columbus, New Mexico . During this attack there were eighteen Americans killed and ninety of Villa’s men, and this made the US look at Villa as more of a bandit than a revolutionary. This caused an unsuccessful pursue to locate Villa by US troops. In 1920 Adolfo de la Huerta signed a peace treaty with Villa. Soon after Villa surrendered and retired from the revolution. Villa was later killed in 1923 when his car was showered with bullets. VENUSTIANO CARRANZA Venustuano Carranza became head of the new president of Mexico in 1914, after he overthrew the Huerta government. He was driven out of Mexico City by Villa and Zapata in 1915, but later gained the support of the masses by the development of a program of social and agarian reform. He was then elected as president of Mexico in 1917. In an attempt to restrain the slaughter, Carranza, formed the Constitutional Army with an eye towards bringing peace via adoption of the majority of the rebel social demands into the new constitution. He managed to incorporate most of these demands into the new Constitution Of 1917 . The constitution adressed foreign ownership of resources, an organized labour code, the role of the Roman Catholic Church in education and land reform. Although his intensions were good, the Carranza government did not last or enforce many of the reforms in the Constitution of 1917, and caused greater decentralization of power. In 1920 , General Álvaro Obregón who had served as Minister of War and of the Navy, revolted against Carranza along with other leading generals Plutarco Elías Calles and Adolfo De La Huerta . Carranza was assassinated on May 21, 1920; Carranza had already had Zapata killed in 1919. EMILIANO ZAPATA | |||
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