The Mexican Revolution
The Mexican Revolution was brought on by, among other
factors, tremendous disagreement among the Mexican people
over the dictatorship of President Porfirio Diaz, who, all
told, stayed in office for thirty one years. During that
span, power was concentrated in the hands of a select few;
the people had no power to express their opinions or select
their public officials. Wealth was likewise concentrated in
the hands of the few, and injustice was everywhere, in the
cities and the countryside alike.
Early in the 20th Century, a new generation of young
leaders arose who wanted to participate in the political
life of their country, but they were denied the opportunity
by the officials who were already entrenched in power and
who were not about to give it up. This group of young
leaders believed that they could assume their proper role
in Mexican politics once President Diaz announced publicly
that Mexico was ready for democracy. Although the Mexican
Constitution called for public election and other
institutions of democracy, Diaz and his supporters used
their political and economic resources to stay in power
indefinitely.
Francisco I. Madero was one of the strongest believers that
President Diaz should renounce his power and not seek re-
election. Together with other young reformers, Madero
created the "Anti-reeleccionista" Party, which he
represented in subsequent presidential elections. Between
elections, Madero travelled throughout the country,
campaigning for his ideas. Francisco I. Madero was a firm
supporter of democracy and of making government subject to
the strict limits of the law, and the success of Madero's
movement made him a threat in the eyes of President Diaz.
Shortly before the elections of 1910, Madero was
apprehended in Monterrey and imprisoned in San Luis Potosi.
Learning of Diaz's re-election, Madero fled to the United
States in October of 1910. In exile, he issued the "Plan of
San Luis," a manifesto which declared that the elections
had been a fraud and that he would not recognize Porfirio
Diaz as the legitimate President of the Republic.
Instead, Madero make the daring move of declaring himself
President Pro-Temp until new elections could be held.
Madero promised to return all land which had been
confiscated from the peasants, and he called for universal
voting rights and for a limit of one term for the president.
Madero's call for an uprising on November 20th, 1910,
marked the beginning of the Mexican Revolution.
On November 14th, in Cuchillo Parado in the state of
Chihuahua, Toribio Ortega and a small group of followers
took up arms. On the 18th in Puebla, Diaz's authorities
uncovered preparations for an uprising in the home of the
brothers Maximo and Aquiles Serdan, who where made to pay
with their lives. Back in Chihuahua, Madero was able to
persuade Pascual Orozco and Francisco Villa to join the
revolution. Though they had no military experience, Orozco
and Villa proved to be excellent strategists, and they
earned the allegiance of the people of northern Mexico,
who were particularly unhappy about the abusive ranchers
and landlords who ran the North.
In March of 1911, Emiliano Zapata led the uprising of the
peasants of Morelos to claim their rights over local land
and water. At the same time, armed revolt began in many
other parts of the country. The "Maderista" troops, and
the national anger which inspired them, defeated the army
of Diaz within six months. The decisive victory of the
Mexican Revolution was the capture of Ciudad Juarez, just
across the river from El Paso, by Orozco and Villa.
Porfirio Diaz then resigned as President and fled to exile
in France, where he died in 1915.
With the collapse of the Diaz regime, the Mexican Congress
elected Francisco Leon De La Barra as President Pro-Temp
and called for national popular elections, which resulted
in the victory of Francisco I. Madero as President and Jose
Maria Pino Suarez as Vice-President.