Mexican Revolution
The Mexican Revolution was a civil war which took place in Mexico between 1910 and 1920. It was the most violent and viciously-fought armed conflict in the history of Latin America. Not only did it put an end to the dictatorship of Porfirio Diaz and Huerta but also to a feudal-type economy, where extremely wealthy land owners exploited and overworked peasants, who lived miserably in the shackles of serfdom.
Causes
Basically, there were two causes of the Mexican Revolution; one political, and the other social. 1) political: the autocracy of President Porfirio Diaz and the electoral frauds he arranged to perpetuate himself in power as he had been in office for more than 30 years, since 1876; 2) social: the adverse economic predicament of the Mexican peasants who were forced to work for a very low pay on the “haciendas” (rich man’s ranch).
Summary
The Mexican Revolution began in November 1910, when presidential candidate Francisco Madero rose up against the long rule of Porfirio Díaz, demanding honest and transparent elections. Madero was supported by other revolutionaries, such as Pancho Villa and Emiliano Zapata, who demanded agrarian reforms to relieve the dire straits in which the landless Mexican peasants were bogged down in.
Having been defeated at the battle of Ciudad Juarez in May 1911, Porfirio Díaz abdicated and went into exile after signing the Treaty of Ciudad Juarez. The liberal government established under Francisco Madero tried to implement a series of political and social reforms, an important component of which was the breaking up of large estates and the parceling out of sections to the landless peasants. However, in 1913, Madero was assassinated in a counter-revolution on behalf of the landholders, led by General Victoriano Huerta, who set up a reactionary regime with himself as provisional president. Although American Ambassador to Mexico, Henry Lane Wilson, who had been appointed as such in 1909 during the Taft Administration, had backed Huerta’s coup de’etat against Madero, Woodrow Wilson Administration refused to recognize the new regime, stating that Victoriano Huerta did not represent the will of the Mexican people.
As a result of Madero assassination, his friend Venustiano Carranza revolted against the Huerta’s regime. Three revolutionary armies fought against Huerta’s army: the Constitutionalist Army of Carranza, under the command of Alvaro Obregon, the Division of the North, led by Pancho Villa, and the Liberating Army of the South, commanded by Emiliano Zapata. After the vicious Battle of Zacatecas (June 23, 1914), in which Pancho Villa defeated the government forces, General Victoriano Huerta was forced to resign and go into exile as the Constitutionalist Venustiano Carranza took office and a new constitution was passed. In 1917, Carranza was elected president by the Mexican people. Nevertheless, the Mexican Revolution continued as Pancho Villa and Emiliano Zapata rebelled against Carranza government. After four years of fierce battles, the Northern Division of Villa and the Southern Army of Zapata were defeated by the Federal Army, under General Obregon. In 1919, Emiliano Zapata was killed in an ambush, and Pancho Villa was assassinated in 1923.
Below, Pancho Villa and his Division of the North troops right before the 2nd Battle of Torreon in March 1914
A French-made 75mm gun M1897 used by Carranza’s Army
Real footage of the Mexican Revolution vicious fighting (video).
