The+Mexican+Revolution

= = =The Mexican Revolution! (1910-1917)=

__Causes:__
 * Power structure in traditional Mexican society
 * The Church had lots of power
 * (very powerful landlord) owned land and buildings worked by mestizos and indians
 * responsible for social services: education (very basic), charities, ECT
 * Caudillos - military leaders
 * they rose up through ranks in military school. They were very powerful
 * Haciendados (land owners)
 * abused power
 * used rurales (???)
 * Droit de seignor - very feudal, right of landlord, had a right to have sex with anyone
 * Military controlled by haciendados
 * wouldn't cultivate all of the land and exported most of the food
 * lead to resentment from the peasants working the land
 * gained land by taking it from the ejidos (the natives)
 * for the ejidos, the land was owned by the community, not by one person
 * Foreigners - especially US and British oil companies
 * investment companies from the US and Europe (mainly UK) who provided wages but took wealth out of the country.
 * They encourages Mexican leaders to keep a status quo that was good for their profits in terms of low wages
 * used many bribes and payed very little
 * Society and culture
 * urban working class had :
 * no job security and the government supported richer people
 * no protective legislation
 * child labor
 * poor working conditions
 * poor diet - high in starch
 * low life expectancy
 * illiterate - church and state didn't educate masses: 1-2% of population was educated
 * lived in shacks
 * domestic service had better living conditions ever though they were like slaves
 * middle class
 * shop keepers usually
 * usually lived above their stores/business
 * very few private baths
 * dirty water
 * wealthy
 * palatial homes
 * private baths
 * 20-25 servants
 * most had country homes as well

Previous leaders: - Benito Juarez (mexico's lincoln) became president after santa ana and had the intention of improving things - Suarez and Lerdo made the constitution of 1857 which allowed freedom of speech, press and religion and they improved the education, They wanted to make education secular but the church and military didn't like that so they took them out of power - Porfirio Diaz (leader at beginning of Rev) came from the caudillo class. He seized power by overthrowing the gov in November 1876 and was called "El Perpeto" which means ???. He didn't like the previous reforms.
 * Diaz Pros:**
 * 1) Payed of Mexico's debt from foreign oil companies and mining concessions
 * 2) Improved the sanitation system and health (mainly in Mexico City)
 * 3) stopped flooding in the capital by building levi systems
 * 4) built railroads BUT they were subsidized by the British and Americans, BUT it was ultimately good
 * 5) Encouraged more foreign investment
 * 6) Improved harbors and docks in Veracruz and Tampico
 * 7) Increased the population
 * Diaz Cons:**
 * 1) He was a dictator
 * 2) he had a fake election - it was fixed so he won
 * 3) Used military to maintain order - very brutal --> abuse of power
 * 4) Cientificos (advisors) were racist and biased against the ejidos
 * 5) believed strongly in social darwinism and they used that to justify the rich oppression of the poor
 * 6) Haciendados grew exponentially, illegally taking lands from peasants
 * 7) 85% of the population was illiterate
 * 8) no freedom of press

- sucked up to the rich - payed off newspapers - political appointments - gave friends political jobs - church helped him by preaching that the people should be obedient to God and Diaz
 * How did he stay in power?**

- Flores Magon Brothers - wanted reform and wanted freedom of press/speech and 8 hour work days and opportunity and access to land and the end of company storyes - labor unrest
 * Critics**
 * began in copper mines in 1905
 * the americans who worked there got payed more for the same job and the mexicans got mad
 * mexicans struck when col. Greene refused to arbitrate
 * he brought in soldiers
 * fighting started and so he brought in arizona rangers to put down labor strike
 * Diaz didn't do anything because he's pro-foriegners
 * supported the foreigners over his own country
 * they captured who they thought were the leaders and when the rurales came the leaders were hung
 * Rio Blanco Textile Mills 1906
 * similar problems
 * workers got together and wrote Diaz a letter explaining what was going on - they thought he would help them
 * they begin to strike
 * Diaz learns about strike and favor the imperialists
 * Jan 6 - strike
 * mens wives were refused at the company stores and they got mad so they fought over the food - no store credit/income cut
 * other women got mad and then the soldiers came and killed a lot of the women and children
 * made diaz look very bad
 * says he'll step down (but doesn't)

Immediate cause - 1910 Diaz claimed in an interview that he wouldn't run to re-election so Madero said he would run. - Diaz changed his mind and ran and won because it was still fixed - **Plan of San Luis Potosti 1910**
 * went to San Antonion to write it
 * No re-election was the __main__ issue for Madero - he didn't care about the other problems which caused problems with the revolutionaries

- bandit and hero - from Chihuahua (north) - his sister was raped by a haciendado - strong man if you were good at riding horses, shooting, and had lots of women and kids --> **Machismo culture** - claimed he didn't do anything bad in the revolution - believed in traditional roles for women - right hand man = **//Felipe Angeles//** --> acted as Villa's brain because he was very well educated. he helped him plan and execute military triumphs - left hand man = **//Rodolfo Fierro//** --> blood thirsty and killed many people for no reason
 * __Villa__**

__**Zapata**__ - from Morelos (center) - excellent horseman - all about land-distribution - mayor of his village and was angry of their land being stripped from them - __Madero__ //chooses// Zapata, Villa, and Orozco to help fight the revolution

__**Orozco**__ - people loved him - 1st fought for Madero - interested in power - he and Villa worked together then went separate ways

__**Huerta**__ - Diaz' main military advisor - He then worked for Madero - Then he took over Mexico

soldaderas - women who fought and followed the camps


 * //__Stages in Revolution__//**
 * 1) Diaz 1910 - his overthrow
 * 2) Madero 1911-1913 - his overthrow
 * 3) Huerta (military commander of Diaz) 1913-1914 - his overthrow
 * 4) civil war 1914-1917
 * 5) Carranza takes over in 1919

Benton was a British landowner who stole a lot of land and was very bad. Villa asked Benton for tax to help his troops but he didn't help Villa so he was killed and it became a big international scandal Carranza settled the problem
 * __Benton murder__**


 * //__Stage 1: (against Diaz)__//**
 * __**Revolution begins on November 18, 1910**__
 * It's made of the mid-lower classes
 * all in Chihuahua
 * Orozco was main leader and Villa was under his command
 * used hit-and-run tactics
 * more success gave him more followers
 * attacked haciendas, took over, and moved on to the next one
 * 3 crucial groups:
 * provincial elites - led by Madero
 * rural working class - led by haciendados
 * campasinos and workers - led by Villa and Orozco
 * all have different goal but are all opposed to Diaz --> led to uncomfortable alliance
 * US (Taft) sends 20,000 troops to border to make sure they didn't cross
 * US plays a key role because many Americans were in North and haciendados were scared of them
 * par to the reason they were willing to work with the pesants
 * __ALL__ leaders were worried about US intervention --> didn't want foreigners involved
 * **May 11 Madero and Diaz sign truce**
 * Diaz thinks this is good but Villa and Orozco get mad
 * 8-9 May 1911 Villa and Orozco capture Juaréz
 * a few days later, Zapata captures ___ in south Mexico
 * people start the chant "Viva Zapata!"
 * Both captures were in response to the truce; horrible battle, very gruesome
 * Diaz claimed he could have survived if there hadn't been fighting in the south
 * **May 21 - Treaty of Juaréz**
 * ends revolution - signed by car headlights
 * Diaz leaves Mexico and his Vice President becomes the interim president until the election
 * Urban doters: many jails breaks
 * led to programs targeting the minorities against the Spanish and Chinese
 * In the Battle of __ 200 Chinese were killed
 * May 25 1911 Diaz resigns but has machine guns on square and many people are killed (~200 killed and 1000 wounded)
 * Diaz says "Madero has unleashed a tiger, let's see if he can control it."


 * __//Stage 2: (against Madero)//__**
 * Madero had many problems because he tried to please everyone, therefore not pleasing anyone
 * **Madero was elected October 1911**
 * felt pressure from all three groups
 * They all wanted different things concerning the land
 * **Zapata wrote the Plan of Ayala November 1911: denounces Madero because he betrayed his revolutionary ideals, it embodies Madero's Plan of San Luis Potosi, and Zapata sets up his plans for land reform**
 * begins uprising starting with Orozco in the North in 1912 (March - October)
 * big fight about army and disarming rebels/revolutionaries
 * Madero partially disarms troops
 * Madero practices nepotism - placing family in high ranking positions
 * The US likes Madero in power because of Henry Lane Wilson - US ambassador of Mexico, they were drinking buds
 * By 1913 rebellions were spreading everywhere
 * **February 13 attempted coup of Madero by Felix Diaz - nephew of Diaz**
 * Huerta puts Madero in jail and then kills him and takes over
 * US (Pres. Wilson) gets very angry about this
 * Huerta wants to become dictator and put down the revolution
 * Revolutionaries HATED Huerta -- especially Villa
 * Villa was always fighting Huerta


 * __//Stage 3: (Huerta regime)//__**
 * has strict authoritarian rule; like Diaz' rule
 * Increased taxes on the haciendados
 * made army bigger, 50,000 --> 150,00, because he thought revolutionaries would stop if they were in the army
 * started 131 schools
 * had free seed delivered to peasants
 * no freedom
 * Villa and Zapata hated Huerta which caused more revolution
 * Madero supporters were killed under Huerta; he was ruthless
 * Rebellions:
 * Villa - Chihuahua
 * Obregon - Sonora
 * Carranza - Coahilla
 * Zapata - Morelos
 * Obregon was probably a genius - could memorize/count card, and used trig for battle plans
 * he became interested in the revolution with the death of Madero
 * In a battle he lost his arm by grenade so he tried to kill himself and failed (which is good because he becomes pres.)
 * Huerta has support from the military, church, and Diaz supporters but the revolutionaries had respect/support from everyone else
 * He refused to compromise
 * Wilson didn't like how he ruled
 * US refused to recognize him so he couldn't get arms from them
 * US gives arms to Villa and Carranza
 * Huerta has an obviously false election
 * There were many economic problems because many mines were American and they didn't want to work with all of the rebellions going on
 * led to inflation, instability, and unharvested fields
 * **Tampico Affair April 9, 1914**- Federales arrest US party os American sailors. Mexican commander let's them go but Tampico commander (Henry Mayor) says he wants a 21 gun solute and a written apology (US Nationalism)
 * Huerta says no - pride issue
 * Wilson makes sure Huerta can't get arms from Germany in Veracruz
 * April 21 1914 fight at Veracruz because Mexicans wanted their arms
 * US occupation of Veracruz and US implemented a huge clean-up policy
 * made things worse in revolution
 * Huerta goes to Zapata and Carranza to go against the US but Zapata say no
 * Huerta starts a huge campaign against Zapata
 * Huerta lost many battles in the north and things were looking very bad for him
 * Torreón October 2, 1914 - won by Villa by sheer machismo and calvary charges
 * Zacatecas June 23, 1914 - won by Villa; many killings - one of the bloodiest battles
 * Angeles stopped many of the killings (even though there already were a lot)
 * Typhoid Fever broke out because of all the bodies so the dead bodies had to be burned
 * **Huerta had to resign on July 8, 1914.**
 * Starts class warfare 1914-1916)

//__**Stage 4: (civil war 1914-1916)**__// >> The convention was intended to little the differences between the "big four" warlords who played the biggest roles in overthrowing Huerta: [|Pancho Villa], [|Emiliano Zapata] , [|Venustiano Carranza] and [|Alvaro Obregon]. [|[1]] From the onset, however, the Convention was dominated by the Villistas, who imposed their points of view on the other delegates. The supporters of [|Emiliano Zapata] did not arrive until 26 October (a delegation of 26, led by [|Paulino Martínez] and [|Antonio Díaz Soto y Gama] ). The Convention declared itself [|sovereign], elected General [|Eulalio Gutiérrez Ortiz] as President of Republic, and appointed Villa commander of the Conventionalist Army, which then took up arms against Carranza's Constitutionalists. [|[2]] Due to the disagreements that Carrazana had with Zapata and Villa, the three refused to attend the convention and little developed as a result. [|[1]] >> After the meeting, the newly reconciled Villa and Zapata entered Mexico City on 6 December, at the head of an army of 60,000 men. Carranza and his supporters consequently fled to [|Veracruz].
 * The 3 groups split up
 * Carranza represents elite - constitutionalist
 * Obregon represents the middle class - constitutionalist
 * Zapata represents the peons and rural working class - poor/rural class
 * Villa represents the landless and poor - poor/rural class
 * Zapata is very interested in land reforms and distributing land so when he took over haciendas he immediately distributes the land to all of the peasants
 * **Convention of Aguascalientes October 10-November 9 1914 called by Carranza**
 * Constitutionalists were more conservative and didn't want as many changes
 * When Zapata showed up (Oct. 26), there was a problem because Zapata didn't accept Carranza as a leader (not sure if this is right)
 * Zapata proceeded to remind everyone __why__ they fought the revolution and of the spirit of the revolution
 * this turns the whole convention to be pro-Zapata
 * General Guttierez was recommended as the new leader
 * From Wikipedia:
 * Caranza's followers wanted a legit constitution with some reforms
 * Villa's people had a strong military but not a strong program
 * Obregon's people were nationalist, anti-clarist, middle class
 * Zapata's people wanted reform, mainly land reform
 * many people choose their side based on geography, except with Obregon
 * US gave arms to Caranza because the US felt like they could work with him and was more diplomatic
 * problems: in north, Carranza negotiated which the US liked
 * **Villa blew up John Walker Kirby's mine and Carranza negotiates that he gets his mine back**
 * Villa and Zapata didn't like that Carranza gave the Americans the mine back
 * US didn't like Zapata because they heard Huerta's rumors about him
 * Urban workers sided with Caranza and Obregon because they looked more professional
 * Obregon beat Villa because he changed his battle plan and Villa didn't change his battle plan
 * Villa goes crazy after he loses
 * Villa stops train with supplies going to Caranza and killed American workers and heard in Columbus that NM had supplies for Caranza and so Villa went and attacked
 * the US didn't like this especially because Villa's info was wrong - there was nothing in NM
 * **Punitive Expedition 1916-1917 When General Pershing chases Pancho Villa**
 * US spent $130 million to find Villa
 * everyone mad about situation
 * Villa wasn't captured but other raiders were
 * Villa was mad because Caranza let Americans in
 * Caranza was uncomfortable with US troops there
 * Wilson was mad at Caranza because he wasn't doing anything to help the Americans
 * **Caranza becomes president in 1917**
 * he passes a liberal constitution which is very anti-clarical
 * priests must be native
 * civil marriages are done by the government
 * clergy can't make political parties
 * primary education leaves church and becomes free and secular
 * land that was illegally sieged is returned
 * congress and judicial system would be established
 * in reality:
 * little land was distributed
 * army was used to put down strikes
 * teacher's salaries were lowered
 * dropped many of the social programs started by Huerta
 * Zapata assassinated in 1918 and Villa in 1920
 * 1 labor union was made

__**Results of the Revolution**__ - broke up old political monopolies and replaced them with young ambitious men - power stayed with only a few people but the people who had power changed - a little democratization led to more people getting jobs from merit rather than family - most landowning aristocracy didn't have __as much__ influence as 1910 and some lost land to revolutionaries - popular attitudes changed: more people dressed in traditional mexican clothes and there was less class difference - sex morality became freer and got more empowerment - promiscuity and diseases grew - people moved around mexico more often - high death toll - 300,000 died from flu - the major people died violently