Mexican Revolution

The Mexican Revolution or Mexican Civil War, was a conflict ranging from 1910, with the rejection of dictator Porfirio Díaz Mori to 1920, with the rise of the Partido Revolucionario Institucional or "PRI". Some scholars maintain that the revolution idea has not fully disappeared from the Mexican psyche. A small number claim the revolution never ended and continues to this day.

Causes

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 but also was centered on expanding the Mexican economy. If successful, this would have eventually classified Mexico as a capitalist country. The Díaz 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 Mexico and what was needed to gain stability and freedom in Mexico. Emiliano Zapata can be seen as a Mexican hero because of the stand he took against Porfirio Díaz. 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 Díaz regime were greatly felt in agrarian land reform. Laws were implemented to benefit foreign investors. The Díaz 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 20th century. 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 Díaz 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 was 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 being unaccepting 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 Porfirio's Rule

After Benito Juárez’s death in 1872, Porfirio Díaz 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 Juárez rose to power in Mexico, Díaz tried to unseat him. Díaz began his reign as president and dictator of Mexico in 1876 until 1911 when Francisco Madero succeeded him. Díaz’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 Díaz’s government from 1876-1911 is known as Porfiriato. Díaz 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 Díaz stepped up in the next election he was a welcome replacement. In future elections, Díaz would conveniently put aside his “No Re-election” slogan and ran for president in every election. Díaz became the dictator he had warned the people of and against. Through the army, the rurales, and gangs of thugs he frightened 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, Díaz 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 Díaz’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 Díaz 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 Díaz’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 Juárez, 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 Díaz, 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 Díaz for leadership of Mexico. In order to ensure Madero did not win, Díaz 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 20, 1910, Madero issued the Plan de San Luis Potosi, which declared the Díaz regime illegal and initiated a revolution against Porfirio Díaz.

Madero’s promise of agrarian reforms attracted many of the peasants throughout Mexico, and he was able to gain much needed support from them in order to remove Díaz from power. Madero's army with the assistance of the Indians fought Díaz's army and had a bit of success. Díaz's army was gradually losing control of Mexico and his administration started to fall apart. In a separate tactic, Díaz jailed Madero since he was worried that Madero could potentially win the election and take over control of Mexico. Once he was released mass amounts of public protest occurred due to the election fraud which Díaz created. The desire to remove Díaz 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 21, 1911 an agreement was made that stated Díaz 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 president of Mexico in 1911. 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 a 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 Díaz’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.

On March 26, 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 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 Venustiano Carranza, 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 Venustiano Carranza’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 insubordination. The execution of Villa as ordered by Huerta did not occur due to the intervention by Raúl 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 (Northern Division), 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 6-7 April and the other from the 13-15 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 pursuit to locate Villa by US troops. In 1920, Adolfo de la Huerta signed a peace treaty with Villa, and Villa 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 addressed foreign ownership of resources, an organized labour code, the role of the Roman Catholic Church in education and land reform. Although his intentions 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

Emiliano Zapata Salazar (August 8, 1879 – April 10, 1919) was a leading figure in the Mexican Revolution against the dictatorship of Porfirio Díaz that broke out in 1910. He is considered to be one of the outstanding national heroes of Mexico; the Zapatistas, a revolutionary movement based in the state of Chiapas, take their name from him. Towns, streets, and housing developments called "Emiliano Zapata" are common across the country and he has, at times, been depicted on Mexican banknotes. There are controversies on the portrayal of Emiliano Zapata and his followers, on whether they were bandits or revolutionaries. Many Mexican Presidents, including Porfirio Díaz and Venustiano Carranza, identified Zapata as a womanizer, barbarian, terrorist, and bandit. Conservative media nicknamed Zapata ‘The Attila of the South’. To many Mexicans, specifically the peasant and indigenous citizens, Zapata was a practical revolutionary who sought the implementation of liberties and agrarian rights outlined in the Plan de Ayala. He was a realist with the goal of achieving political and economic emancipation of the peasants in Southern Mexico, and leading them out of severe poverty.

Zapatistas

Zapatista originally referred to a member of the revolutionary guerrilla movement founded around 1910 by Zapata, whose Liberation Army of the South (Ejército Libertador del Sur) fought during the Mexican Revolution for the redistribution of agricultural land. Zapata, his army and allies, including Pancho Villa at one point, fought for agrarian reform in Mexico and specifically the establishment of communal land rights for Mexico's indigenous population.

The majority of Zapata’s supporters were the indigenous peasants, usually local, from Morelos and surronding towns. But there were intellectuals from urban areas who also joined the Zapatistas, and played a significant part in their movement, specifically the structure and communication of the Zapatista ambitions. Zapata received only a few years of limited education in Morelos, and thus the educated members from foreign towns played a large role in expressing Zapata’s political aims. These urban intellectuals were known as ‘city boys’, and were predominately young males. They were influenced in joining the Zapatistas due to many reasons, including curiosity, sympathy, and ambition. Zapata agreed that politics should be left up to the intellectuals, but also kept his role in proclaiming the Zapatista ideology. The city boys also provided medical care, helped promote and instruct the Zapatista ideology, created an agrarian reform, aided in rebuilding destroyed villages by government forces, formed manifestos, and sent messages from Zapata to other revolutionary leaders. Zapata’s compadre Otilio Montaño was one of the most prominent city boys. Before the revolution he was a professor, and during the revolution he taught Zapatismo, recruited citizens, and wrote the Plan de Ayala. Other well known city boys were Abraham Martinez, Manuel Palafox, Antonio Díaz Soto y Gama, Pablo Torres Burgos, Gildardo Magaña, Dolores Jimenez y Muro, Enrique Villa, and Genaro Amezcua.

Zapatista Women

Many women were involved and supported the Zapatistas. Since Zapata’s political ambitions and campaign were usually local, the women were able to aid the Zapatista soldiers from their homes, and provided them with tortillas. There were also female Zapatista soldiers since the beginning of the revolution. When Zapata met with President Madero on July 12, 1911, he was accompanied by his troops. Amongst these troops were female soldiers, and some of them were officers. Some women were the leaders of bandit gangs during and before the revolution. Women joined the Zapatistas as soldiers for various reasons, including retaliation for dead family members or merely to perform raids. Perhaps the most popular Zapatista female soldier was Margarita Neri, who participated as a Zapatista commander.

Although many female soldiers fought bravely as Zapatista soldiers, were killed in battle, and others continued to wear men's clothing and carry pistols long after the Revolution ended, La Coronela Maria de la Luz Espinosa Barrera was one of the very few who received a pension as a veteran of the Mexican Revolution.

Agrarian Land Refrom

Under the Porfiriato rule, the rural peasants suffered the most. The regime confiscated large sections of land which resulted in many landless farmers. In 1883 a land law was passed which gave ownership of more than 27.5 million hectares of land to foreign companies. By 1894, one fifth of Mexico was owned by businesses from abroad. Many wealthy families also possessed land resulting in many rural peasants working on the property as slaves to their owners. In 1910, the beginning of the revolution, about one half of the rural population called a plantation (settlement or colony) home.

Women in the Mexican Revolution

Women during the Mexican Revolution were held under the shadow of men and had occupied the roles of wife and ultimate care givers. The Mexican Civil Code which was passed in 1884, restricted the limitations of women at home and in the workplace. The code created inequalities amongst women and ethnic minorities suffering politically, socially, economically and religiously under the Porfirian regime. For decades there have been myths circulating that portray Mexican women as timid and passive beings whose contribution and involvement in the Mexican Revolution was minimal. The truth however is that Mexican women were active participants in the Mexican Revolution, one of the most recognized social uprisings of the twentieth century. Women's involvement in the revolution had an immense impact on the shaping of Mexican society during the revolutionary period. Mexican women were essential to the revolution in a number of ways. They were involved in politics, were strong advocates for the causes they believed in, and participated in life on the battlefields. The female political figures were probably the most important and influential women in the Mexican Revolution. They were prominent political activists, thinkers, writers, figures, role models, and were fearless in their pursuit of their goals, often resulting in confinement. The Mexican Revolution had many movements focusing on dealing with the urban and middle class societies, who had finally gained the upper hand resulting in a new Revolutionary Constitution in 1917.

United States Involvement

Decisions were made prior to the revolution that the U.S. would aid only civil leaders who enforced neutral laws. The U.S. decided that they would react to the revolution through intervention only if Mexican military endangered the lives or property of North Americans. Because of the attention the Mexican Revolution had in the United States, political parties tried to make the Revolution a political issue during the 1916 election. Some politicians like Theodore Roosevelt believed that the U.S. should step in during the revolution which they felt would solve Mexico’s problems. In the end, U.S. policies towards Mexico were unsympathetic, at times hostile and the U.S. became internationalist in the war they initially wanted only to monitor.

The Catholic Church during the Mexican Revolution

During the period of 1876 to 1911, relations between the Catholic Church and the Mexican government were stable. The Catholic Church intended on having steady relations since they wanted to increase their political hold in Mexico. Porfirio Díaz had a keen interest in relations with the church since he was worried about the American expansionist threat. Porfirio Díaz has been quoted as saying:

“Persecution of the Church, whether or not the clergy enter into the matter, means war, and such a war that the Government can win it only against its own people, through the humiliating, despotic, costly and dangerous support of the United States. Without its religion, Mexico is irretrievably lost.”

Youth Movement

As the Mexican revolution progressed the status of the University changed several times, each time the movement of its students changed as well. Under different university directors, different revolutionary ideals were forced upon the student body. In many cases the curriculum and daily table would change as well. With each change however the existence and importance of youth groups became more crucial to the fight of the youth. The university’s students made up the bulk of the youth movement, which was mainly composed of the educated youth. However during the revolution the youth were viewed as anti-revolutionary due to the image of the university as a safe haven for the rich and privileged. There was continual outside pressure for the university and its youth to become revolutionary, and accept the ideals and beliefs of the revolution.

The National University of Mexico was founded by Gabino Barreda, who served as the Secretary of Public Instruction under Porfirio Díaz. Despite the schools dogma to include higher education for Mexicans it was continually attacked during the revolution, starting in 1912 when porfiristas and liberals joined in an attempt to suppress the influence of the University. During the opening stages of the revolution students began to unit to form student organizations, the first were the medical students in 1910, the year the revolution began. In the following years, the University was suppressed by the government little by little; this led to the focus of student protest being against the government by the 1920s. The youth movements of the revolution were mainly confined to schools and mainly the National University of Mexico; however youth culture also found methods of expression aside from student protest. Many young Mexicans used the mediums of art, music, and poetry to express their opinions on the revolution. These mediums however often lacked the strength to fight against the governments desire to suppress them.

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