The Mexican Revolution : A Movement Of The Middle Class

After the people of Mexico freed themselves from Spanish control, they faced difficulties trying to officially establish themselves as a country. Despite their independence, Mexico had to also live with the aftermath of Spanish colonialism. Part of the aftermath included socio-political issues amongst the Mexican people. In an effort to establish themselves as a nation, they first had to free themselves from a Spanish ideology, for Mexico truly was not free after their independence. The socio-political predicaments contribute to the evolution of modern day Mexico.

The loss of material and economic productivity in the war for Independence had long-lasting economic consequences on Mexico. It severely damaged agriculture, commerce, industry, and mining sectors. The most severe blow to the Mexican economy was the loss of capital; money either fled the country or was withdrawn from circulation . After the war, Mexico fell into 50 years of economic depression. The speedy rehabilitation of the mining sector would have aided national recovery greatly, but both financial and technical problems hindered its recovery until the 1880s. Because Mexico lagged behind the rest of the world for half a century, great economic advances were needed towards the turn of the century.

After Diaz had won by a landslide, he released Madero from prison. Madero promptly fled to San Antonio, Texas to plan a revolution. There he wrote the Plan of St. Luis Potosi, which said that the election was fraudulent and that he was the provisional president of Mexico. The plan was purely political and Madero planned to have a completely democratic government. The plan said nothing about changing the situation for farmers and peasants. However, rural peasants latched onto the plan, thinking that Madero would also reform the country economically and socially. There were many revolutions carried out under Madero's flag, specifically revolutions carried out by Pancho Villa and Emiliano Zapata.

The Mexican revolution started in 1910 and by 1940, all fights and revolutions were resolved (history.com). The revolution was led by several men including Francisco Madero, Pascual Orozco, Pancho Villa and Emiliano Zapata. The mexican revolution started because of political issues. At this time Diaz is the president. There was an election for the presidency and Madero was running against Diaz. Madero was becoming very popular and Diaz was fearful of losing the election. This fear led Diaz to putting Madero in prison (mexicanhistory.org). Madero broke out of jail. He wanted to warn the people of Mexico of the corruption in the election.

Following the fall of Díaz in 1911, the ban on labor unions was lifted, and several unions began to develop throughout the country. The close interaction between government officials and labor union officials began early in the history of labor unions in Mexico. Starting in 1914, during the revolution in Mexico, an established labor organization, the Casa del Obrero Mundial, agreed to fight for the side of the Mexican President, under the condition that he promise to help them organize branches of their unions in every city that was conquered (Otero, 1999). The government and unions remained loyal to one another until a protest occurred in 1916 by the union, demanding wages to be paid in gold or silver. Carranza arrested the leaders of the protest, and began the support of a new labor union, the Confederación Regional Obrera Mexicana (CROM), under the condition that they would be subservient to the government.

During the Mexican Revolution there were many prominent figures that emerged during the long struggle. Some of the figures had a positive impact on the region, and some others a very negative impact on the people of Mexico and their quest for an uncorrupted government. One figure that stands out in the border region between Mexico and The United States during this time is General Francisco “Pancho” Villa. To understand Pancho Villa’s significant role during this uprising it is important to understand who Villa was prior to the revolution, and what acts lead to his rise to power.

During the Mexican Revolution, Mexico as a nation torn in many directions, people gave up simple farming lives to take up arms against causes that many of them did not fully understand. Gender roles during the period in Mexico were exceptionally degrading towards women. Having little more rights than slaves and treated as trophies or property more than human beings, women role in society was nothing near that of a man’s. In The Underdogs, Mariano Anzuela highlights the issue of gender roles by continuously illustrating the punitive role of women and their mistreatment. Augmenting Anzuelas work with citations from Oscar Lewis and Stephanie Smith will paint a picture of the degrading gender roles for women during the Mexican Revolution. Highlighted points brought up by Azuela are how men speak with and treat women, women’s place in society, and general disregard for women’s feelings.

José de la Cruz Porfirio Diaz Mori, the 29th president of Mexico, opened Mexico to foreign investors and companies who exploited Mexico’s resources such as land, copper, gold, silver, water, and cheap labor for corporate gain. This caused economic instability in the way that Mexico placed power in the hands of large corporations and Mexican politicians.

The Mexican Revolution began as a protest against the dictatorship and policies of Porfirio Díaz. He ran a 34 year dictatorship and his policies favored the wealthy families that monopolized economic and political power in Mexico. There were very few wealthy Mexicans and they were typically the politicians of cities, landowners, and foreign investors. Diaz suppressed the press and all the worker strikes that asked for better wages and better treatment. In the state of Veracruz, textile workers rioted in January 1907 at the huge Río Blanco factory which was at the time the largest in the world, protesting against their unfair

     There was a huge revolution in the country of Mexico that started in the year 1910, led by Porfirio Diaz, the president of Mexico in 1910. In the 1860’s Diaz was important to Mexican politics and then was elected president in 1877. Diaz said that he would only be president for one year and then would resign, but after four years he was re-elected as the President of Mexico. Porfirio Diaz and the Mexican revolution had a huge impact on the country of Mexico that is still felt in some places today.

This is largely due to the fact that Diaz gave away the country's wealth to buy the loyalty of some, by gifts of haciendas (large estates), concessions or cash. Under his leadership, the gap between the rich and the poor grew undoubtedly larger due to his disregard of democratic principles and the common folk, and his acute determination to keep his dictatorship by any means possible. One of the most renowned opposition leaders of Diaz at the time was the European-educated Francisco Madero. Madero led a series of strikes in resistance to Diaz across the country and eventually ran against him in the election for presidency in 1911. Although Madero had a significant number of votes, Diaz had him imprisoned because he felt the people of Mexico were not ready for democracy, and feared the loss of his own presidency. Madero was not released until after the election so that votes could be tabulated in favour of Diaz. When released from prison, Madero continued to fight against his former adversary. Madero led the first phase of the armed revolution which resulted in Diaz's defeat and to his own presidency reign until 1913. It was during this time that many of the folk heroes of the Revolution emerged, including Francisco "Pancho" Villa of the North, and Emiliano Zapata of the South. In 1913 Madero was assassinated by A Mexican general by the name of Victoriano Huerta. Victoriano and his federal army was defeated in a coalition of armies led by Alvara Obregon, who took

Mexico suffered ten years of war, suffering, and turmoil. Mexican leaders during 1910-1920 were unable to hold the country together and a revolution consumed the nation. The Mexican people grew tired of political greed, lack of support, and unequal treatment. Several leaders such as President Diaz would prove to be a man of one interest, himself. Others would quickly rise against him and attempt to claim the presidency. General Huerta and Francisco

An interview given by Diaz in 1908 was read by Francisco I. Madero and he was inspired to gather supporters to defeat Diaz in the 1910 election. In the interview Diaz said that he thought Mexico could handle free elections by 1910 (Summary 4). Madero was a strong believer in democracy and realized that Diaz had a monopoly with the government. Madero thought that Diaz should step down from office (Consul General 1-2). By the time 1910 came around Madero had inspired many citizens and had quite a group of followers. His chances for election were very good and Diaz got scared. Right before the elections in 1910, Diaz falsely accused Madero and had him thrown in jail. Diaz is once again elected as president. Madero was soon released and, learning of Diaz’s reelection, he fled to Texas (Summary 4). While there he stated that the elections were illegitimate and that he was the President Pro-Temp until new elections could be held (Consul General 2). He also wrote a document, which called for a revolt on November 20, 1910 which marks the start of the Mexican Revolution (Summary 5).

The Mexican Revolution lasted more than a decade (1910-24). The Revolution led to consecutive Mexican turmoil, from civil conflicts in the 1920s to radical economic changes in the 1930s. The novel takes place during the Revolution War, and this is what encyclodedia has to say about the Mexican Revolution,

The book is a non-fiction book written by, Alan Knight and was Published on May 5, 1980.The Mexican Revolution began in 1910, it began as a movement of a middle-class protest against the long standing dictatorship of Porfirio DIaz. In 1876, Diaz, an Indian general in the Mexican Army, took control of the nation and continued to be elected until 1910, he also had held power in 1876-1911. From 1884 to 1911, he was an unofficial ruler from 1880 to 1884, he was a respected political leader. In 1908, DIaz had an interview with an United States journalist James Creelman, and Diaz told James that would be ready for free elections in 1910, so in 1910, Diaz promised the people that he was going to let there be free elections. Porfirio Diaz was born