Mexican Revolution

1
Mexican Revolution
2
Military Phase
3
Fall 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)

4
Francisco Madero
5
Francisco 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

6
Francisco Madero cont.

• Ran under Anti-Reelectionist Party ticket
• Diaz jailed over 5000 supporters and Madero
  himself just before election
• Plan of San Luis Potosi

7
Plan 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

8
Supporters
9
Pancho Villa - north
10
Venustiano Carranza - north
11
Emiliano Zapata - south
12
Alvaro Obregon - north
13
Pasqual Orozco - north
14
Treaty 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

15
Madero 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)

16
Emiliano 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

17
Plan 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

18
Maderos 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

19
Victoriano 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

20
U.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

21
Huertas 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

22
Pancho 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

23
Venustiano 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

24
Plan 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

25
Aguascaliente 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

26
Carranza 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

27
U.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

28
Constitutional 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

29
Constitution 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

30
Article 3

• Compulsory elementary education
• Public education will be free
• Prohibited religion from having any influence in
  public education

31
Article 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

32
Article 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

33
Article 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

34
Carranza'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)

35
Carranza'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

36
Carranza'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

37
Reform Phase
38
Obregon'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

39
Obregon's Policies

• Land reform
• Labor
• Education
• Indigenismo
• U.S. relationship

40
Land 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

41
Land 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

42
Labor

• 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

43
Education

• 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

44
Education (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

45
Indigenismo

• 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

46
U.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

47
U.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.

48
Calles' Presidency

• Dominates the next decade of Mexican politics
• Continued on foundations of Obregon
• Radical rhetoric - pragmatic policy

49
Calles' 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

50
Calles' 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

51
Calles' 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

52
Labor

• 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

53
Conflict 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

54
Conflict 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

57
Conflict 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"

58
Conflict 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

59
Conflict 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

60
Religious 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

61
Religious 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

62
Presidential 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

63
Presidential 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

64
Calles - "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

65
National 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.

66
National 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

67
National 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

68
Cardenas' 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

69
Agrarian 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

70
Agrarian 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

71
Labor Reform

• Corrupts leaders are removed
• Confederacion de Trobajadores Mexicanos (CTM)
  replaces CROM
• Strikes supported by government (where
  appropriate)

72
Fall 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"

73
PRM - 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.

74
Oil 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

75
Oil 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

76
Oil Crisis (cont.)

• Timing of the move was also fortunate
• War in Europe was looming
• Cardenas announced Mexico would pay all just
  claims

77
Cardenas Presidency was the highwater mark for
the reform movement
78
In 1940 election, Avila Camancho, loyal to
Cardenas but more conservative, was elected
president