Changes in Power
Learning Objective
Explain how internal and external factors contributed to change in various states after 1900.
Reading Questions
Explain how internal and external factors contributed to change in various states after 1900.
Reading Questions
- What were some of the economic conditions that led to the Mexican Revolution?
- What political conditions lead to the Mexican Revolution?
- What role did the United States and Europe play in the Mexican Revolution?
- What role did Pacho Villa and Zapata play in the revolution?
- What is one similarity between the Chinese Revolution and the Mexican Revolution?
- Why could a historian say that the Mexican Revolution achieved some of its initial goals? What were the limitations of the Revolution?
Mexican Revolution 1910-1921
The Mexican Revolution was a civil war that spanned ten years, and in which 900,000 people lost their lives. The Revolution began with a call to arms on 20th November 1910 to overthrow the current ruler and dictator Porfirio Díaz Mori. Porfirio Díaz ran for president unopposed in the elections. He was president of Mexico from 1877 to 1880 and from 1884 to 1911.
Díaz wanted to develop Mexico into an industrial and modernized country. While he worked on implementing a capitalist society building factories, dams, and roads and allowing foreign capitalists to build railroads the rural workers and peasants suffered greatly. In an attempt to strengthen ties with the United States and other influential foreign interests, Díaz allocated land, once belonging to the people of Mexico, to wealthy foreigners. The Diaz family and his supporters took advantage of the opportunities to increase their wealth by acquiring large tracts of land. In addition to this, no Mexican was able to own land unless they had a formal legal title. Foreigners in plantations created working conditions for Mexicans similar to those of slavery. |
The Diaz presidency also saw the rights of factory workers diminish. Factory owners could fire or hire workers at will. The government did not intervene directly in the improvement of basic working conditions. The Mexican government had no laws permitted for salaries, or prices, or working hours.
In 1910, Francisco Madero ran for office. Diaz feared a loss to Madero. Diaz had Madero thrown in jail. Díaz declared himself the winner, claiming Madero had only received 221 votes. Diaz then had Madero exiled to the US. Madero called for a Revolution while in exile. Leaders like Francisco Villa in the northern part of Mexico and Emiliano Zapata rose up in arms demanding land reform.
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Diaz resigned after five months. Madero returned to Mexico and was elected president. However, he failed to enact any of the land reforms he promised so the fighting continued. Francisco Madero was killed in 1911. General Victoriano Huerta declared himself president. This caused the rebellious leaders to continue fighting.
The fighting continued. Zapata was assassinated and so was Villa. Eventually Alvaro Obregon brought some peace to the country ending the revolution. Obregon did slowly redistribute land. However, the land distributed was consisting of forests, pastures, mountainous land, and other uncultivable land. The Revolution did achieve one thing. Mexico replaced a government that conservative looking out for the interest of the 1% and replaced it with one more responsive to the needs of the working classes. As such, it did represent a significant weakening of the conservatism.
If you don't feel like reading, you can answer the questions by watching the video below:
If you don't feel like reading, you can answer the questions by watching the video below: