Mexican Revolution

The Mexican Revolution

The Mexican revolution came as the result of an unorganized country that did not had its ideas really clear when they fought for their independence. The terrible leaders and dictatorships that favored a selected group of people did not bring the people the satisfaction they needed and they were ‘forced’ to fight until they got an acceptable government that would respond to their needs.

Background

1. Post-Independence

The Mexican independence was won over a war against the Spanish crown led by great patriot leaders such as Miguel Hidalgo or Jose Maria Morelos. By that time Mexico owned most of Central America and what it is now United States territory. Because of negligent leaders and an unstable government the country reduced its size leaving the people and the economy not so satisfied or stable.

As a good example we have Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna who ruled under an authoritarian leadership that weakened Mexico until it finally ended with Benito Juarez, who was the first leader that brought Mexico a victory against the French invasion in which Porfirio Diaz makes his first appearance as a successful leader during the battle of Puebla (5 de mayo, 1862).

2. The Mexican Empire:

Mexico had gone through several ‘civil wars’ that in 1860 led them to make some decisions such as copying the French and general European monarchy setting as king of Mexico the Archduke Maximilian. What was known as Mexican Empire lasted from 1864 to 1867. It was created by the Mexican Congress with the support of Napoleon III of France and ended with Benito Juarez who got the people’s support and withdrew him from power and murdered him, starting an insurrection that had the idea of a government for the people that would favor Land and Liberty.

Causes

The causes for the Mexican civil war date back to the times of independence since these conflicts were the result of accumulated discomfort.

The causes can be classified in the following:

• Political: Mexico did not have a stable government or even a regime that could be used as reference for new presidents. They had been suffering since their independence, a series of negligent presidents that weren’t able to reform Mexico for good. The most remarkable political cause was the Porfiriato: a period in which a single president, Porfirio Diaz was in power for almost 30 years. The political ideas at that time weren’t democratic at all and used to favor just the elites which caused great discomfort to most of the people.

• Social: people from the proletariat were treated as goods, unable to have their own lands and accumulate money. Territories were owned by approximately 10% of the Mexican population which left the other 90% excluded from every ownership rights. Lower classes demanded freedom from pseudo feudalism and property rights which they did not quite have since they worked for food and shelter only.

Porfirio Diaz

Born in Oaxaca on September 15th 1830, Porfirio Diaz was part of a very religious mestizo family. He was meant to become a priest but changed his mind and studied law at the ‘Instituto de Ciencias y Artes’.

When he was about to finish his career, he signed up to fight against the United States on the Mexican-American war (1846).

Later, he participates on the Reform War supporting Benito Juarez and fighting the government of Maximilian I, emperor of Mexico. This war lasted from 1858 to 1860.

On 1871, he launches the Plan de Noria against the reelection of Benito Juarez and on 1876 he up rises against Lerdo de Tejada with the Tuxtepec plan and gets to power. A year later on 1872, he is elected

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