10 year civil war ( ), U.S. concerns owned 20% of the nation s territory. individual rights), and also influenced by the outbreak of WWI

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1 MEXICAN REVOLUTION 10 year civil war ( ), U.S. concerns owned 20% of the nation s territory. Caused primarily by internal forces (growing nationalist resentment and individual rights), and also influenced by the outbreak of WWI Main goal: land reform The economy increasingly depended on exports, but lacked adequate investment funds dictatorship 1910 Porfirio Díaz, who had been in power since 1876, was 80 and went up against Francisco Madero who believed that some moderate democratic political reforms would relieve social tensions and allow the government to continue its economic development with a minimum of popular unrest. Madero was arrested due to a rigged election and Díaz was put back in power. Madero was released from prison, he called for a revolt. Díaz built railroads under his rule Rebellions In the north, small farmers, railroaders, and cowboys coalesced under the form bandit, Pancho Villa. In the southern province of Morelos, an area of old conflicts between American Indian communities and large sugar estates, a peasant-based guerilla movements began under Emiliano Zapata. Goal: land reform and was expressed in his motto Tierra y Libertad (Land and Liberty)

2 After Díaz was then driven out of power and Madero was brought in. His moderate programs could not solve anything, though, so Zapata rose in revolt. In 1913 a military coup removed Madero from government and he was then assassinated. General Victoriano Huerta sought to impose a Díaz-type dictatorship supported by the large landowners, the army, and the foreign companies. Villa and Zapata rose again against the government and were joined by other middle-class political opponents of Huerta s illegal rule. In 1914 Huerta was forced from power and an extended period of warfare followed. In 1915, Alvaro Obregon emerged as the new leader. By 1920 the civil war had ended and Mexico began to consolidate the changes that had taken place. Obregon was elected president in that year. He was followed by a series of presidents from the new revolutionary elite who tried to consolidate the new regime. 1.5 million died, major industries destroyed and ranching and farming were disrupted. Changes President Lazaro Cardenas distributed 40 million aces, most in the form of communal holdings (ejidos). The government also launched an extensive program of primary and especially rural education.

3 Justification What were the changes in the structure of government? Formerly controlled by foreign powers that controlled vast sectors of the economy. The former dictatorship transformed into a democratic government which focused on the benefit of its people rather than its economy. Workers were given representation in government, and the government began to develop education reform in all parts of the country. Institutionalized a new regime by creating a one-party system, called the Party of the Institutionalized Revolution (PRI). To what extent did the leaders borrow ideas, tactics, anything from one another? The extent in leaders borrowing ideas, tactics, or anything from one another was not great. While the United States did try to intervene diplomatically and militarily by a short-lived U.S. seizure of Veracruz in The outcome was a mission fail due to the United States sending an expeditionary force into Mexico to catch Pancho Villa and not catching him. What changes were there in citizenship? In individual rights? What economic and social changes were there? An economic change was the Mexican Constitution of 1917 which promised land reform, limited the foreign ownership of key resources, and guaranteed the rights of workers. Also placed restrictions on clerical education and church ownership of property, and promised educational reforms. Workers who were mobilized were organized in national confederation and were given representation in the government. A social change was Mexico attempted to Indianize the nation through secular school that emphasized nationalism and a vision of the Mexican past that florified its American Indian heritage and denounced Western capitalism.

4 What groups gained and what groups lost? The government lost, and the revolutionaries won. The revolutionaries won by overthrowing the government many times until one leader who rose above everyone was fit enough to serve his people. What was the fate of the losers in the revolutionary struggle? The fate of the losers in the revolutionary struggle was a new form of government and a new leader. The form of government was PRI. It was also almost like a multiparty democracy in theory, reality the PRI controlled politicas and, by accommodation and sometimes repression, maintained its hold on national political life. What was the fate of the institution of slavery? There was no slavery, but rather political instability. Comparison This revolution had some of the same qualities as the French and American revolutions but also distincted itself from the others in many ways. This revolution had been, for the the most part, accepted by the whole nation as a movement that needed to occur. Diaz had developed enemies from all socioeconomic backgrounds and was finally outed in This more closely aligned with the French revolution due to the persistent call for reform of government and class system. They were not looking to separate themselves from another, like the American revolution, but, instead, reform the system that they lived in. This was a complete revolution. The new

5 governments put in power revised worker conditions and new opportunities for unhappy elites. Mexico experienced major land reform and constant changes in their constitution. Global Impact Since World War I had been going on during this time, much of the attention that would have gone toward the Mexican Revolution was shifted toward the war effort; however, historians can deduce what led up to what Mexico is today. During the time of great trade and commerce, Mexico was still trying to establish a government that everyone could be content with. This proved to be very difficult, and, in turn, Mexico fell behind in trade and industry which led to a bad economy. Mexico s effect on the world was severely lessened due to political instability as well as the US annexation of the northern part of Mexico later on.

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