Following the liberation of Mexico from the rule of the French imposed Emperor Maximillian, Benito Juarez, the first Amerindian Mexican President came to power. After his rule was up, Mexico began a long period of dicatorship under President Porfirio Diaz. In 1910, the Mexican Revolution began. This revolution is not a single war but rather a series of many wars on differnt fronts led by rebel leaders on horseback. Among the rebel leaders were Pancho Villa and Pascual Orozco. In these series of civil wars, different rebel leaders were often assassinated by the rival groups.
The following information is taken from the website:
http://www.mexconnect.com/MEX/austin/revolution.html.
"Francisco I. Madero was one of the strongest believers that President Diaz should renounce his power and not seek re-election." Madero and others created the ''Anti-reeleccionista'' Party. He respresented this party in future elections. This party believed that there should be short two year terms of President. However, the short term Presidents were often controlled by a party boss.
A firm supporter of democracy, Madero believed in "making government subject to the strict limits of the law". For this reason, President Diaz viewed him as a threat. Prior to the elections of 1910, "Madero was apprehended in Monterrey and imprisoned in San Luis Potosi". He fled to the United States soon after. While 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".Madero declared himself "'President Pro-Temp' until new elections could be held". He was commited to returning to the peasants their land which had been confiscated and universal suffrage. This marked the beginning of the Mexican Revolution. A small group of followers took up arms in the State of Chihuahua. "Back in Chihuahua, Madero was able to persuade Pascual Orozco and Francisco Villa to join the revolution", despite the fact that they had no "military experience". The people of Northern Mexico gave them their loyalty due to their excellent roles as strategists. The locals there were fed up with "the abusive ranchers and landlords who ran the North".
Emiliano Zapata led a local peasant uprising in March of 1911. He was fighting for land and water rights. His followes were called the Zapatistas. In other parts of the country, other revolts took place. "The 'Maderista' troops, and the national anger which inspired them, defeated the army of Diaz within six months." The Revolution was one with the capture of Ciudad Juarez, just across the border with El Paso, Texas, at the hands of Orozco and Villa. Upon his defeat, Porfirio Diaz resigned as President and he "fled to exile in France, where he died in 1915".
At the fall of Diaz's 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.".
The new Mexican Government eventually evolved into a one party system which lasted much of the 20th Century. It was a Marxist regime which nationalized the oil industry and seized all oil fields from foreign investors and had them put into the control of the government monopoly PEMEX. This led to resentment from foreign investors, especially those from the United States, and Mexico's oil industry was subject to boycott by the United States. Mexico was also subject to American intervention at times during the Revolution.
Topic: The Mexican Revolution (Read 1743 times)