WASHMUN IX Mexican Revolution of 1910 Joint Crisis Committee: United States Government

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1 WASHMUN IX Mexican Revolution of 1910 Joint Crisis Committee: United States Government Chaired by: Liam Webster and Cory Dudka

2 Committee Overview The Mexican Revolution committee is a joint crisis committee. There will be three committees that play a role in this simulation: the Díaz committee, the rebels committee, and the United States committee. As this joint crisis committee is also a historical committee, the conference will pick up in October 1910 and go forth from there. There are three types of directives that may be submitted: committee, personal, and joint directives. Committee directives can be created by one or more delegates and should be presented to the entire committee. These directives must be passed by a simple majority of the committee. Personal directives are created by one delegate and joint directives are created by two or more delegates. Both personal and joint directives do not have to be presented to the committee. All directives are submitted to the crisis staff and must be approved by them in order to pass. Position papers are required for this committee. Your paper should include a very brief summary of the issue (do not include events after 1910), your position s view on the topic, and your suggested solutions. Positions papers do not have to exceed 1-2 pages and should be written in a readable font. By WASHMUN policy, any paper without a bibliography will be considered plagiarized. Background on Mexican Political Climate The Mexican Revolutionary war was a defining moment in Mexican history. Before the revolution, Mexico was ruled by Porfirio Diaz, a general and politician who was known for his corruption and civil oppression.

3 After settling land claims with the United States, Diaz was able to gain legitimacy for his government and quickly began opening Mexico up to foreign investors. During the late 19th century, Diaz issued many civil works projects, such as expanding railroad and telegraph lines as well as modernizing steam-powered locomotives. While on the outside it appeared as if these projects were designed to help the Mexican people, in reality most only benefited the wealthy Mexican businessmen and foreign investors who funneled Diaz money. This form of patronage became the hallmark of the Diaz regime and was heightened during the 1880s, as new laws allowed the government to covertly take away lands from its citizens and distribute them to its political allies. As resistance began to mount against Diaz s actions, it was dealt with via the policy known as pan o palo, meaning bread or the stick, through which Diaz and his thugs threatened violence if anyone questioned their rule. Diaz stepped down after his first term was over, keeping his initial campaign promise to not seek reelection. However, after his successor, Manuel Gonzalez, went through his term marked by corruption and scandals, Diaz decided to run again for the presidency in Winning by a landslide, despite it being illegal to run for re-election, Diaz began his second term by reforming the constitution to give him more power and removing restrictions on re-election for his future four term reign.

4 By the early 20th century, the political and economic climate within Mexico was more fragile than ever. Due to his excessive patronage, Diaz had managed to transfer nearly 90% of Mexico s natural resources and communication and transportation services to outside investors, primarily in the United States. This, along with the continued oppression of the working class, led to an increase in anti-government sentiments throughout all Mexican provinces. As the decade carried on, strikes began to become not just more common, but also violent as Diaz would frequently have his military execute non-complying workers in order to maintain control. This all came to a head by 1910, when rumors began to circulate that Diaz himself would be stepping down and allowing more democratic elections. While this led political opposition parties, such as the Mexican Liberal Party, to push forward candidates for elected positions, the rumors turned out to be unfounded as Diaz declared himself the winner of an illegitimate election in This move blatantly showed the lack of democracy in Mexico, so leading opposition leaders such as Francisco I. Madero (who ran against Diaz and refused to accept the false results) to call for armed rebellion. Protecting Economic Interests in Mexico United States involvement in Mexico prior to the Revolutionary War was very contradictory and controversial. The United States Government tended to support those who had power in the Mexican Government, regardless of their legitimacy. The main concern of the United States, specifically under Taft s administration (1909

5 - 1913), was protecting the lives and property of US nationals living in Mexico. Taft sent troops to the US-Mexican border to monitor the situation, but to not intervene in the conflict. As the 19th century came to a close, the industrial revolution hit the United States at full force. As major industries began to boom, the need for new sources of natural resources increased. Coupled with laissez-faire market policies, large U.S. businesses began putting pressure on the federal government to take a more imperialistic foreign policy standpoint. By the turn of the 20th century, the United States began expanding into markets all over the globe. In Latin America, the US created what was known as the Big Brother policy, with the aim of exerting more direct influence over Central and South American markets in order to open them up to US investors. During the last decades of the 19th century, the U.S. viewed the Diaz regime with optimism due to its favorable foreign trade and investment policies. As unrest grew in Mexico in the first decade of the 20th century, business leaders began to fear that more progressive 1 2 Mexicans like Francisco Madero and Emiliano Zapata would threaten their supply chains and 3 wealth. Given the amount of U.S. investment in Mexico accrued over the Diaz regime, the threat 4 of the seizure of American company assets would be enough cause for significant government action. In addition, any armed resistance near the U.S. border could easily result in conflict 1 Madero was the leader of the anti-reelection movement. As a wealthy Mexican, he used his power to fight against many of Diaz s oppressive and violent policies while also calling for major government reform through a revitalized liberal constitution. 2 A local political figure from one of the poorest regions in Mexico. Well known for supporting the lower class and detesting the corruption and socio-economic class polarization that Diaz had created. 3 Mexico at the time contained copious amounts of untapped natural resources. These resources, such as metals, were the prime target of American companies as they would be cheap to process and easy to transport given Mexico s adjacency to the United States. American operations in Mexico, such as Cananea Copper Mine, dominated Mexican regions due to their need for cheap labor and manipulation of the local landscape via railroads. 4 Operations such as the Cananea Copper Mine were the prime target of many Diaz opponents because of their disruptive and oppressive effect on the lives of impoverished Mexicans.

6 overflowing into the United States. This would most certainly result in some degree of military action from the U.S. government. Committee Mission The overall goal of the United States committee is to promote and protect American economic interests in Mexico while addressing the lack of democracy and ongoing violence. As revolution is brewing, this may mean finding a way to de-escalate the conflict between the pro-government forces and the revolutionaries. How the United States gets involved is up to you, though it is imperative that any actions protect American economic interests. Guiding Information: When preparing position papers for your delegate, consider their stances on the Mexican Government as a whole, willingness to give foreign aid and special economic and political interests. Additionally, try to research the domestic policy of the U.S. in order to get an understanding of other key issues in being debated at the time. In terms of your directives, try to focus on very specific methods to achieve your delegate s goals. This is important as vague and broad directives won t help to solve the issue! An example of a good, specific method that could be used in a clause would be: Regulating the arms trade in Mexico by establishing export quotas on munitions and firearms. This would lead to a decrease in weapons within the region, making violence harder. A bad example would be simply reducing weapons in México as it is an extremely vague statement and would thus be infeasible.

7 Questions to Consider 1. In what ways does the United States economically and politically influence Mexico, and how can that be used to control the outcome of this conflict? 2. What are the consequences of sending troops into Mexico? How can the US manipulate the situation without military action? 3. What are the consequences of a regime change in Mexico for U.S. business and diplomacy? 4. How would the U.S. justify military action in Mexico if armed conflict breaks out? Bibliography John Womack, Jr. "The Mexican Revolution" in Mexico Since Independence, ed. Leslie Bethell. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 1991, p "President Porfirio Diaz." PBS. Accessed April 12, Keller, Renata. "U.S.-Mexican Relations from Independence to the Present." Oxford Research Encyclopedia of American History. June 08, Accessed April 12, e-269. Keller, Renata. "U.S.-Mexican Relations from Independence to the Present." Oxford Research Encyclopedia of American History. June 08, Accessed April 12, e-269. Positions 1. Jacob M. Dickinson (Secretary of War) 2. John J. Pershing (Commander of the 8th Brigade of US Army) 3. Frank Friday Fletcher (Rear Admiral of US Navy) 4. William Jennings Bryan (Secretary of State) 5. Thomas R. Marshall (Vice President) 6. Champ Clark (Speaker of the House) 7. William Cornell Greene (American Entrepreneur) 8. Ricardo Flores Magón (Social Reform Activist) 9. Henry A. du Pont (US Senator (R) - Delaware)

8 10. Chauncey Depew (US Senator (R) - New York) 11. Augustus Octavius Bacon (US Senator (D) - Georgia) 12. Robert M. La Follette (US Senator (R) - Wisconsin) 13. Henry Lane Wilson (US Ambassador to Mexico) 14. John D. Rockefeller Jr. (American Businessman) 15. Theodore Roosevelt (Former US President)