Introduction

Revolutionpopularly refers to any

violence, upheaval or change of
government.
--a relatively rapid and fundamental
transformation of the basic structures of
society, politics, economics, usually
accompanied by violenceMarshall Eakin
Key terms violent, fundamental, and rapid
Profound and fundamental

American Revolution 1776

France in 1789
Haiti in 1791
Russia in 1917
China in 1949

Many revolutions [in the popular sense] in

LA
Only a handful have succeeded in seizing
power and fundamentally transform a nation
--Mexico and Cuba
In both of these cases, however the initial
revolutionary upheaval ran its course fairly
quickly and . . . More enduring and
successful change faded over decades as
authoritarian regimes settled in

In Guatemala and Nicaragua, the initial

revolution was blunted by US intervention
for fear of Soviet satellites in LA
Guatemala 1954touched off decades of civil war
Nicaragua 1980s produced civil wars
Bolivia 1950sput into place one of the most
sweeping land reforms in LA

At the core all five revolutions sought to

transform the nation through an assault on
the most important economic institution in
Latin Americaland tenure.
Those who control the land dominate the
colonies or nations.
Small land holding elite dominate the
political scene, economies and social
structures

By the 20th century absentee landholders

[US and GB]
The key to revolutionary transformation
seize control of the landholdings, and
redistributing wealth to the poor through
state control of the land or through land
redistribution projects.

Uruguay

Violent and nearly ungovernable in the 19th

century
Mostly of European descent,
1 of 50 were literate
Revolutionary change led by the oligarchists
1880s-1900 under the influence of the
Horace Mann and other educators,
education reform begins in earnest

1903-7; 11-15Reformist Jose Batlle y

Ordoez (Colorado Party) gives women the
right to vote and establishes a welfare state
8 hour work day
Old age pension

disestablishes the church and abolishes the

death penalty during two terms as president.
No conscription [draft], small, insignificant
army
Diversified the economy

Mexican Revolution

The first great social revolution of the 20th

century
Civil war 1910-1920
1-2 million perished
1920first socialist constitution of the 20 th
century

Prohibited foreign control of natural resources

Guaranteed rights to workers
Severely limited the power of the Catholic Church
in the affairs of the nation

The revolution put into power the Partido

Revolucionario Institucional PRI that would
rule Mexico until the end of the 20th century.
The Indian to the status of a national icon
and declared the Spanish, and the US as the
great villains of Mexican history

While the Mexican aristocracy mimicked

European ways and open Mexico to foreign
investment most Mexicans lived with
alarming poverty.
In 1900 29 % of male children died within
one year and 25% of the population was
literate.
Some estimate that the average
purchasing power of Mexicans in 1910 was
quarter that of what it had been in 1810.

Diaz decide that Mexico

was ready to return to
democracy and called
for elections in 1910.
Francisco Madero, the
owner of a large
estancia and a US
educated aristocrat who
openly supported a new
constitution and
democratic change
challenged Diaz.
Diaz had Madero
imprisoned in Monterrey
for the election

After being released from prison Madero

went into exile in the United States where
he wrote the Plan de San Luis
The Plan basically claimed that Diaz was
not the legitimate leader of Mexico and
that the election had been a fraud.
Upon returning to Mexico Madero claimed
he was the President Pro-Temp until new
elections could be held.
As President Pro-Temp Madero claimed
that he would return all confiscated land to
peasants and ensure universal male
suffrage.

Madero enlisted Pancho Villa and Pascual

Orzoco to join the revolution.
Soon all hell broke loose and different
groups throughout Mexico joined the
revolution by overthrowing local leaders
One prominent revolutionary leader,
Emiliano Zapata, led peasants in Morelos
with the promise to return to them land
and water rights.
Within 6 month the Diaz regime fell and
Diaz exiled himself to France

1910-13 fall of Diaz, reformers take power

Madero hopes to institute a truly representative,
democratic republic
General Victoriano Huerta leads the enemies of
change

1913-14counterrevolution
Huerta overthrows and executes Madero

In 1913 General Victoriano Huerta

overthrew the Madero government by
assassinating him.
Huerta, a general under Madero in the
Mexican army, rose to power with
Maderos death and with the hope of
restoring the Porfirato.
Huerta rise to power initiated the truly
revolutionary phase of the Mexican
revolution.

Upon assuming the Presidency of Mexico Madero allowed

Diazs military forces to remain in the military with the
assumption that they had learned their lesson.
He told Emiliano Zapata that lands taken from Indian
villages by hacendados could not be returned by force.
Madero did increase funding on education, openly
supported a plan to return lands to Indians and supported
trade unionism
Large oil companies (American owned), large land owners
and others in the economic elite waged a war of words
against Madero in the Mexican press which inspired
rebellion
One former general under Diaz tried to over throw Diaz,
another cattle rancher upset with a law that limited land
possession to 20 square miles, Pascual Orozco also tried to
overthrow him but was defeated by Pancho Villas forces
who remained loyal to Madero

1914-1917 the fiercest and bloodiest phase

of the revolution
Huerta overthrown
The revolutionary leaders [Pancho Villa,
Emiliano Zapata, Venustiano Carranza and
Alvaro Obregn] turned their armies against
each other

Disillusioned with the slow pace of change under

Maderos leadership, Zapata continued the
revolution by advancing his own plan, the Plad de
Ayala.
In the Plan de Ayala Zapata writes that Madero had
no intentions other than to satisfy his personal
ambitions, boundless instincts as a tyrant, and his
profound disrespect for the constitution of 1857.
Zapata went onto promise small largely indigenous
land holders that they would be returned their
properties taken by their oppressors.
It should be noted that Madero was the owner of an
enormous estancia and had appointed many
members of his family to his government

Villa organized small landholders, cowboys

and the unemployed in the north to join the
revolution and Zapata organized the small
largely indigenous landholders of the south
as the government was forced to deal with
a two fronted revolution for radical social
change that called for widespread land
redistribution.

Carranza, a wealthy landholder like

Madero organized a third army, mostly of
Mexicos elite to contest Huertas
presidency. In his Plan de Guadalupe
(March 1913) Carranza declared himself the
First Chief of the Constitutional Army, but
said nothing about socio-economic
conditions that propelled Villa and
especially Zapata.

Huerta resigned as President in 1914 after

the US refused to recognized him as a
President and sent troops to Veracruz.
Obregon joined Carranza as a military
strategist. Together they defeated Villas
forces in the North and ultimately
assassinated Zapata in the South.

The Mexican constitution of 1917

empowered the government to redistribute
land, recognized labors right to organize,
subjected the church to new restrictions.
Carranza assumed to the presidency in
1917, but resigned after trying to rig the
first election under the new constitution.
Obregon succeeded Carranza and
organized the Partido Nacional
Revolucionario now known as the Partido
Revolucionario Institucional

Lazaro Cardenas born in Michoacn, Mexico in

1895
best candidate to achieve this reform.
He was a strong believer in creating a powerful,
unified state and soon became the leader of a
radical agrarista faction. These characteristics
helped in his nomination. As soon as he achieved
the presidency, he began by promoting labor
organization and the establishment of a national
labor confederation; he went as far as
encouraging labor strikes.
1934forces all foreign companies to exchange property
owners for 50 year leases, increase wages, train nationals
for managerial posts.
1937nationalizes foreign investments in natural
resources (petroleum)

Nationalization of the oil industry

Transfer of more than 45 million acres of
land to the power
The near monopoly of political power by the
PRI
A socialist orientation by the politicians that
followed

Check out these websites to explore

different aspects of the revolution:
http://runyon.lib.utexas.edu/conflict.html
http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/mex-re
volution.htm
http://www.wfu.edu/history/StudentWork/fy
sprojects/kmason/second.htm
http://www.corridos.org/Default.asp?Langu
age=S