Title: Mexican Revolution
1Mexican Revolution
2Military Phase
3Fall of Diaz
- Causes
- Economic recession / U.S. depression 1906-1907
- Food crisis 1907-1910 (crop failures)
- Workers strikes
- 1906 Consolidated Copper Mine
- 1907 Textile workers
- Agitation of middle class reformers
- Dissatisfaction of some large landholders /
capitalists (Madero)
4Francisco Madero
5Francisco Madero
- Leading critic of Diaz political machine
- Family was part of elite social class with
political and economic ties to Diaz - Agreed with Diaz liberal economic policies but
wanted liberal political movement - Insisted 1910 V.P. candidate come from outside
Diaz clique - Ran for president in 1910 when Diaz ignored V.P.
request
6Francisco Madero cont.
- Ran under Anti-Reelectionist Party ticket
- Diaz jailed over 5000 supporters and Madero
himself just before election - Plan of San Luis Potosi
7Plan of San Luis Potosi
- Written by Madero while in jail
- Published once he was in Texas
- Provisions
- Declared that 1910 elections were null and void
- Madero assumed title of Provisional President
- Called for free elections when conditions
permitted
8Supporters
9Pancho Villa - north
10Venustiano Carranza - north
11Emiliano Zapata - south
12Alvaro Obregon - north
13Pasqual Orozco - north
14Treaty of Ciudad Juarez
- Issued after capture of Juarez
- Diaz flees
- Provisions
- Ended hostilities
- Resignation of Diaz
- Placed Francisco de la Berra in as provisional
president
15Madero takes power
- Madero elected in 1912
- Quickly is at odds with Zapata over land reform
- Plan of Ayala announced by Zapata
- Bernardo Reyes (Diaz aide) Felix Diaz (nephew)
attempt revolt - Madero cant deal with the many decisions, at the
mercy of aides (Huerta is commander of military)
16Emiliano Zapata
- Agrarian Revolutionary
- Slogan of Tierra y Libertad
- Leader of landless peasants
- Called for return of land that had been taken
during land concentration of Diaz - Quickly became disillusioned with Madero
17Plan de Ayala
- All foreign owned lands would be seized
- All lands previously taken from villages would be
returned (ejidos) - 1/3 of all land held by friendly hacendados
taken for redistribution - All lands owned by enemies of Zapata movement
would be taken
18Maderos Fall
- Coup led by Victoriano Huerta aided by American
ambassador Henry Lane Wilson - Revolt aided by release of Reyes and Felix Diaz
(bombard Mexico City) - La Decena Tragica
- Madero is killed February 1913
- Huerta assumes control
19Victoriano Huerta
- Served as General for Diaz
- Never recognized by Woodrow Wilson due to method
of gaining power - Henry Lane Wilson is recalled
- U.S. aids Huertas opponents
- Wanted to reestablish a form of Diaz regime
- Could never gain full control
20U.S. Intervention
- U.S. continually opposes Huerta regime
- Tampico incident
- Veracruz occupation
- Other Mexican leaders reacted against U.S.
actions (we were expecting their support) - Huerta had to pull troops away from Revolution to
Veracruz, leaves him vulnerable
21Huertas Fall
- Blames U.S.
- Forced into exile by Zapatistas, Pancho Villa,
Carranza and U.S. - Later attempts revolt from U.S. and is arrested
and jailed
22Pancho Villa
- Also agrarian revolutionary with different land
reform plan - All land confiscated would be used for revolution
by government and distributed after revolution
ends - Supporters were small ranchers, cowboys and other
unemployed - Created well equiped and well paid professional
army - Most formidable of Carranzas military opponents
23Venustiano Carranza
- Governor of state of Coahuila
- Dissident member of landowning elite
- Believed Mexico needed energetic middle class
- Huertas most dangerous enemy
- Issues Plan de Guadalupe (March 1913) to counter
Plan de Ayala - Took control of Mexico City in July 1914
24Plan de Guadalupe
- Carranza assumed leadership of rebellion against
Huerta - Declared Huertas claim to power to be
illegitimate - Delcared himself First Chief of the
Constitutionalist Army - Followed by edicts stating (Obregon)
- restoration of ejidos and establishing national
agrarian commision - called for improved conditions of poor
25Aguascaliente Convention
- Convention of Zapatas, Villas and Carranzas
supporters - Carranza moves to Veracruz for safety
- Villas troops take control of convention hall
- Villas suicide statement
- Adopts Plan de Ayala
- Conventionists v. Constitutionalists
26Carranza consolidates power
- Chaos during this period
- Obregon defeats Villa with Villa returning to the
north and Zapata continuing to attack in the
south - Carranza moves to Mexico City
- Call for a constitutional convention in 1916
- Constitutional convention takes place in 1917
27U.S. Expedition
- Pancho Villa, reacting to embargo, raids
Columbus, NM - Woodrow Wilson sends General Pershing into Mexico
to capture and punish Villa - Carranza opposes action, sees this as a "foreign
invasion" of Mexico - Expedition is unsuccessful and finally recalled
28Constitutional Convention
- Call for a constitutional convention in 1916
- Convention takes place in 1917
- Carranza presents draft of recommendations that
show little social change, no agrarian reform and
limited regard for labor - Control of Convention taken by radicals
29Constitution of 1917
- Final document was more liberal than Carranza had
intended - Major clauses
- Article 3 - Secular education
- Article 27 - Land reform
- Article 123 - Labor reform
- Article 130 - Restrictions on Church
30Article 3
- Compulsory elementary education
- Public education will be free
- Prohibited religion from having any influence in
public education
31Article 27
- Nation is the original owner of all lands, waters
and subsoil - State could expropriate with compensation
- All acts passed since the Land Law of 1856
transferring ownership of the ejidos was null and
void
32Article 123
- 8 hour work day
- Prohibited child labor
- Equal pay for equal work
- Wages must be paid in legal tender not goods,
tokens or vouchers (end the tienda de raya) - Right to bargain collectively, organize and strike
33Article 130
- Nation can not create law establishing religion
- Marriage was a civil contract
- Only individuals born in Mexico can be
"ministers" - Limited property ownership by church
34Carranza's final years
- Moved to the right
- Did not fully implement the Constitution
- Received de jure recognition from the U.S.
- Remained neutral in World War I
- Zimmerman Telegram
- Announced that Article 27 was retroactive (U.S.
very upset)
35Carranza's Fall
- Carranza's term ends in 1920
- He supports Ignacio Bonillas (ambassador to the
U.S.) who he could control - Obregon comes out of retirement to run
- Carranza attempts to manipulate electoral process
in favor of Bonillas - Obregon and Adolfo de la Huerta led revolt to
oust Carranza
36Carranza's Fall (cont)
- Carranza loads train full of bullion and heads
for Veracruz - Train is attacked
- Carranza excapes to mountains but is trapped and
murdered there - Adolfo de la Huerta is named interim president
37Reform Phase
38Obregon's presidency
- Elected to office in special election, assumes
control in November 1920 - Pragmatic business approach to government
- Sought accomodation with all groups except
reactionary clergy and landlords - Modern version of "pan o palo
39Obregon's Policies
- Land reform
- Labor
- Education
- Indigenismo
- U.S. relationship
40Land Reform
- Agrarian reform was useful safety valve for
peasant discontent - Created national agrarian commission which
oversaw state commissions - Power to expropriate hacendado land for landless
villages - Paid for with 20 year bonds
- Reform proceeded slowly due to
- Litigation by landlords
41Land Reform (cont)
- Armed resistance by landlords
- Opposition by clergy
- 3 million acres distributed
- 320 million acres in hands of hacendados
- Even with land, failure occurred as government
did not provide seeds, tools, adequate credit or
training
42Labor
- Encouraged labor to organize
- Confederacion Regional Obrera Mexicana (CROM) -
labor union headed by Luis Morones - Ties to Samuel Gompers and the AFL in the United
States - Semi-official status, supported by the government
- Coopted by Obregon
43Education
- Jose Vasconcelos - Secretary of Education
- Created new type of rural school, La Casa del
Pueblo (The House of the People) - Designed to serve all of village
- Three Rs, art, music, sports, theater,
instruction in sanitation and agriculture - Idealistic but at times unprepared teachers
- Itinerant teachers were sent to train those in
the villages
44Education (cont)
- Murals on public buildings
- Conflict between new secular schools and
religious schools - Priest denounced secular education
- Obregon did not enforce Article 3 of the
Constitution (ban on religious primary schools) - In the absence of state resources better to be
taught by priest than stay illiterate
45Indigenismo
- Reassessment of Indian cultural heritage, pushing
the greatness of old Indian arts - Manuel Gamio - director of Office of Anthropology
(1st in Americas) - Study of Teotihuacan
- Preserve restore cultural heritage
- Amass data for sound plan of economic and social
recovery - Partisans of Revolution idealized Aztec Mexico
46U.S. Relationship
- Problem with retroactivity of Article 27 (Obregon
will not openly state nonretroactivity) - U.S. withholds diplomatic recognition of the
Obregon government - Obregon compromises
- threat of counterrevolutionary coup against
selection of Plutarco Calles as successor
47U.S. Relationship (cont)
- Bucareli Agreement - August 1923
- Obregon confirms nonretroactivity
- U.S. gives formal recognition to Obregon
government - Coup attempt - December 1923
- put down coup with military supplies purchased
from the U.S.
48Calles' Presidency
- Dominates the next decade of Mexican politics
- Continued on foundations of Obregon
- Radical rhetoric - pragmatic policy
49Calles' Economic and Land Policies
- Rapid growth of national capitalism
- Creation of National Bank
- strengthens fiscal/monetary policy
- National Road Commission organized
- National Electric Codes enacted
- stimulates growth of construction and consumer
goods industries
50Calles' Economic and Land Policies (cont)
- Aid given to industry (foreign and domestic)
- protective tariffs
- subsidies
- Land reform
- distribution increased from Obregon
- over twice as much land distributed 8 million
hectares - problems
- Hacendados were able to choose the land they gave
up, most of it was not arable - Calles did not provide tools or other items to
make the land productive
51Calles' Economic and Land Policies (cont
- Government bank was created to lend money to
ejidos - 4/5 of money went to the hacendados because of
superior credit ratings - Land reform judged a failure because the grain
production of 1930 was below the production of
1910 - Calles concluded peasant proprietorship was not
economically desirable and ended land
redistribution
52Labor
- Trade unions serve two purposes
- keep growing power of capitalism in check
- barricade in the event of attack on capitalists
- Labor began to split from CROM form independent
unions - disillusioned with corrupt leaders and low wages
53Conflict with U.S.
- Calles welcomed foreign capital but believed that
Mexico had the right to regulate the conditions
surrounding it - 1925 dispute over land ownership
54Conflict with U.S. (cont.)
- Mexican Congress passes laws implementing Article
27 - Oil ownership becomes a lease arrangement
- exchange title for 50 year concession (lease
agreement) - possible 30 year renewal
- possible further extension
55- Mexican view
- Eliminated vagueness and gave oil companies firm
titles. Stopped calls for outright
nationalization of oil
56- Oil Company view
- Law was confiscatory, they threatened to drill
without confirming concessions
57Conflict with U.S. (cont.)
- American hardliners were "saber rattling"
- American ambassador "there is little white blood
in Calle's government" - Secretary of State Kellog stated that there were
"Bolshevik aims in Mexico and Latin America"
58Conflict with U.S. (cont.)
- Intervention was stopped by arguments from
- progressive senators
- press, church, academic groups
- realization that war with Mexico would have
little national support
59Conflict with U.S. (cont.)
- Dwight Morrow appointed Ambassador to Mexico
- Negotiated an understanding with Calles
concerning the time limitation on concessions - Mexican Supreme Court ruled that aspect of the
law unconstitutional - Crisis was averted
- Law still provided for confirmatory concessions
and reaffirmed national ownership of the subsoil
60Religious Conflict
- Church v. modernizing thrust of the Revolution
- January 1926 the church heirarchy disavowed the
Constitution - Calles enforces dormant anti-clerical clauses of
the Constitution - Calles law
- registration of priests
- closing of all religious primary schools
61Religious Conflict
- Church suspended all services in Mexico and
boycotted all goods except necessities - Militant Catholics took up arms - Cristeros
(Catholic guerrillas) - government schools and young teachers were
targets - government repression was severe
62Presidential Election 1928
- Deal between Calles and Obregon
- supporters in Congress change the Constitution to
allow former presidents to be reelected after one
term - term was extended from 4 to 6 years
63Presidential Election 1928 (cont.)
- Two opponents for the office conspire against
Obregon and Calles - Calles has them arrested and shot
- Obregon is elected, then three weeks later he is
assassinated by a fanatical Cristero in Mexico
City
64Calles - "El jefe maximo"
- Calles places three different men in the office
of president to fulfill Obregon's term but he is
the power behind the office. Each one resigns
after displeasing "el jefe" - Military uprising is crushed in 1929, the "last
hurrah" of the military caudillos
65National Revolutionary Party (PNR)
- Calles institutionalizes the rule of the
"revolutionary family" (military and political
leaders since 1920) - Under different names this party has been ruling
Mexico since 1929. - Their official presidential candidate had never
lost until the election of Vincente Fox, the
present president of Mexico.
66National Revolutionary Party (PNR)
- After consolidating power the "revolutionary
family" turns conservative - shift concides with beginning of the Great
Depression - By 1933 a progressive wing of PNR emerges with
General Lazaro Cardenas as leader of the
reformers - has been a part of the inner circle of the party
- 1930 was named Party Chairmen
67National Revolutionary Party (PNR)
- 1934 elections Cardenas is nominated by the Party
( with Calles blessing) for the presidency - seen as a concession to reformers in the party
- Calles thought he would remain loyal
- cabinet was hand picked by Calles
68Cardenas' Programs
- Established a Six Year Plan
- Mexican Revolution continues under Cardenas
- Established a spirit of service in the
bureaucracy - Closed down the gambling houses
- Cut his own salary in 1/2
69Agrarian Reform
- Land distribution on large scale
- Ejido was the focal point of agrarian reform
- land given to both the ejido (communal) and the
rancho (individual land) - where appropriate large collective farms were
established - government provided seeds, machinery and credit
70Agrarian Reform (cont.)
- 45 million acres of land distributed
- productivity was increased
- Structural defects of reforms
- conceived to satisfy land hunger instead of real
agricultural development - ejidal parcel was very small
- land distributed was often of poor quality
- technical assistance was often inadequate
71Labor Reform
- Corrupts leaders are removed
- Confederacion de Trobajadores Mexicanos (CTM)
replaces CROM - Strikes supported by government (where
appropriate)
72Fall of Calles
- All of these actions angered Calles, he begin to
plot against Cardenas - Cardenas calls for the resignation of the cabinet
and forms and new Anti - Calles cabinet - By 1935 Cardenas is the master of Mexico.
- 1936 Calles is deported for "plotting against the
government"
73PRM - Party of the Mexican Revolution
- Cardenas reorganized and purged the party of
Calles influence. - It emerges as the PRM
- The three pillars of this party are labor, the
peasantry and the army.
74Oil Crisis
- American and British oil companies v. workers
unions - Strike leads to arbitration
- Arbitration finding is scaled down from original
union demands but the companies refuse to settle - March 18, 1938 Cardenas nationalized the oil
companies
75Oil Crisis (cont.)
- Economic Independence
- Action was not a precedent, 90 of mining was
still in foreign hands - U.S. took no strong action due to
- Good Neighbor Policy being in effect under
Franklin Roosevelt - Ambassador to Mexico understood Cardenas policy
and reasons
76Oil Crisis (cont.)
- Timing of the move was also fortunate
- War in Europe was looming
- Cardenas announced Mexico would pay all just
claims
77Cardenas Presidency was the highwater mark for
the reform movement
78In 1940 election, Avila Camancho, loyal to
Cardenas but more conservative, was elected
president