Page 1 of 43 IB HL History Mr. Blackmon Mexican Revolution: The

Home , Emiliano Zapata, Enrique Creel, Felipe Angeles, Luis Terrazas, Manuel Palafox, Maximato

IB HL History Mr. Blackmon

Mexican Revolution: The Constructive Phase 1920-40 A Brief Sketch

All quotes are from Meyer, Michael C. and Sherman, William L. The Course of Mexican History. 4th Ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 1991. unless otherwise stated

Event Date Significance

Presidency of 1920-1924 His administration faced the post World War I depression. Alvaro Obregón Mexico was the 3rd largest producer of petroleum in the world. This will certainly not reduce US interest Obregón: José Vasconcelos institutes a vigorous program of rural education. His purpose (at this time) Education was to integrate the Indians into mainstream mestizo society, to incorporate them into a raza cósmica. (Meyer 572-3) Vasconcelos and Vasconcelos employed the Muralists– Diego Rivera, José Clemente Orozco, and David Alfaro the Muralists Siqueiros– to decorate buildings with works that would also educate. Obregón: Obregón could not enforce the complete secularization of education because he lacked the Education resources to dispense with the Church.

To prevent himself from being perceived as pro-Church, he encouraged Protestant missionaries to enter the country.

Page 1 of 43 Event Date Significance

Obregón: Labor Obregón favored CROM over any other union organization. Morones chose to moderate his positions rather than risk being crushed. Membership rose from 50,000 in 1920 to 1,200,000 in 1924. (Meyer 575) Obregón: Obregón is cautious. He did not wish to disrupt the hacienda system. Redistribution of the land Agrarian Reform would result in reduced productivity, and he also wished to avoid that.

Land redistribution is very modest: 3,000,000 acres. Obregón and the Oil and US property in Mexico dominated relationship. US businessmen, such as Harry Sinclair, US Edward L. Doheny, and Secretary of the Interior Albert Fall (all of whom branded in the Teapot Dome Scandal that wracked the extremely pro-business Warren G. Harding) were concerned that US properties would be seized under Article 27.

As a result of pressure from oil interests, Harding refused to recognize the Obregón government until 1923.

Obregón’s problem is that he needed oil revenue (especially with the post-war depression) but could not cave in to US pressure for political reasons.

Mexican Supreme Court decisions provided a compromise, using the principle of “positive acts” prior to 1917.

The principle is then ratified in the Bucareli Agreements in 1923, which obtained Obregón diplomatic recognition. ((577-79)

Page 2 of 43 Event Date Significance

Obregón and Villa had been bought off in 1920 with a hacienda, but he is assassinated in 1923. Rebellion Obregón chose to support Plutarco Calles for President, which triggered violence from conservatives and Catholics, who feared Calles might be genuinely radical. However, US recognition allowed Obregón to crush the opposition. (580) Obregón “had been slow to implement the reforms promised by the Constitution. . . . [T]hrough shrewd pragmatism he had co-opted the radical thrust of the Revolution, and, while occasionally yielding to the rhetoric of reform, he had not done much to alter the sustaining structure of society.” (580) The Plutarco 1924-1934 Calles had a liberal reputation, and inherits a stronger economy than did Obregón. As time went Calles Years on, Calles became increasingly domineering and dictatorial. (582-3) Calles: Agrarian Calles redistributed 8,000,000 acres. Most of this land goes to the ejido rather than to Reform individuals. Agricultural productivity declined as a result of this, so Calles began irrigation projects, established agricultural schools, and began to extend agricultural credit to small farmers. (583) Calles: Labor Like Obregón, Calles favored CROM over all other unions. CROM’s membership continued to rise, and members were elected to Congress.

By 1928, Luis Morones was a wealthy man, and it seems evident that the “system” had co-opted him. (584)

Page 3 of 43 Event Date Significance

Calles: Vasconcelos’ program is continued, with heavy emphasis on the teaching of Spanish to Indians. Education and Health Sanitation and health is improved. Vaccination programs are begun, and food vendors (bakeries, butcher shops, dairies, cantinas, etc.) Begin to be inspected. (585) Calles and the US fears over the expropriation of US companies under Article 27 continued. The US US Ambassador was deeply hostile, and convinced that a Bolshevist plot existed to take our property.

Calles responds to pressure by having a bill passed that repeated the Bucareli Agreements, but for a limited period (50 years).

In 1927, Dwight Morrow was sent to Mexico as Ambassador. Morrow was more conciliatory, even learning Spanish. Morrow proves a sensitive negotiator, and is able to receive favorable rulings from Mexican courts while carefully observing Mexico’s “full legal sovereignty, even when the interests of United States citizens were involved.” (587)

Page 4 of 43 Event Date Significance

The Cristero 1926-29 Calles decided to enforce the anti-clerical articles of the Constitution of 1917. Rebellion When the archbishop of Mexico told an interviewer that, in all conscience, a Catholic could not accept the Constitution, Calles replied by deporting foreign priests and nuns, closing church schools, and ordering all priests to register with civil authorities.

The archbishop ordered a strike. For 3 years, the sacraments could not be obtained in Mexico. (587)

The war that erupted became vicious. The Cristeros rallied to the call of Viva Cristo Rey!

In 1928, with his term coming to an end, Calles supported the election of Alvaro Obregón, thinking Obregón would repay the favor in 1934. Obregón, however, was assassinated by a Cristero. The Maximato 1929-1934 Calles, following Obregón’s death, continued as the power in Mexico, but he chose to be a puppet master–the Jefe Máximo

Calles reorganizes the revolutionary party as the Partido Nacional Revolucionario (PNR) PNR would change its name but control the government for the rest of the century.

Calles shifts the Revolution strongly to the right.

Page 5 of 43 Event Date Significance

The Maximato Calles co-opted the military by giving the generals a larger share in PNR. and the Military Ambassador Morrow helped negotiate an end to the Cristero Rebellion. The government agreed that it would not attack the integrity of the Church or prohibit religious instruction within the Church grounds. The archbishop called the strike off. The Maximato Land redistribution slows. The Terrazas-Creel Clan was able to re-purchase land previously lost. and Agrarian Reform Rural education is de-emphasized. The government withdrew support for CROM.

Morones was exposed as corrupt.

“The anti-Communist hysteria reached its apex in 1930 and 1931, years that witnessed the aberrance of the Gold Shirts, a fascist inspired organization of thugs whose self-appointed task was to terrorize all Communists and Jews.” (592) The Presidency 1934-1940 Calles engineered the election of Lázaro Cárdenas, thinking that he would be another puppet. of Lázaro Cárdenas

Page 6 of 43 Event Date Significance

Cárdenas and “Agrarian reform more than anything else dominated the administration’s concern during the first Agrarian Reform few years. . . . Cárdenas early made up his to fulfill twenty years of promises. . . . . [B]y the time his term expired, he had distributed 49 million acres, about twice as much as all his predecessors combined. By 1940 approximately one third of the Mexican population had received land under the agrarian reform program. In fact, most of Mexico’s arable land had been redistributed. Only the large cattle haciendas on arid or semiarid land remained untouched.

“The vast majority of the land distributed did not go to individuals or even heads of households but rather to the communal ejidos.” (598-9)

The largest ejido was Laguna, with 8,000,000 acres. The complex grew cotton, maize, wheat and alfalfa, provided schools and had a hospital. Cárdenas created the Banco de Crédito Ejidal to provide loans for the small farmers. Its performance is weakened by a population which grew faster than its assets, and by favoritism in its loans. Still, this is a very positive step–agrarian reform must go beyond merely redistributing the land. Economically, the ejidos were not as efficient, and agricultural production declined.

However, “Cárdenas’ dedication to agrarian reform spelled the demise of the traditional hacienda complex in Mexico. Millions of peasants were given a new faith in the revolutionary concept. . . . the type of servitude that had bound hacendado and peón for centuries was broken by 1940. . . . If the ejido system was an economic failure, it was a political and social success.” (600)

Page 7 of 43 Event Date Significance

Cárdenas and the Cárdenas is clearly anti-clerical. He instituted a socialist curriculum into the schools, which Church angered the Church. When he added sex education, the Church became still more incensed.

In response, he backed off the sex education, and softened the socialist education by emphasizing positive attitudes and avoiding anti-religious propaganda.

Another Cristero revolt is avoided. Cárdenas and Twice as much money is appropriated for rural education than any previous president. Education Rapid population growth and high inflation however meant that the literacy rate actually seems to have fallen. The government could not keep up. Cárdenas and Cárdenas supported the creation of a new labor organization, the Confederación de Labor Trabajadores de México, (CTM) under the leadership of Vicente Lombardo Toledano

CTM set to improve the wage structure in Mexico

Page 8 of 43 Event Date Significance

Cárdenas and the 1936 In 1936, Mexican workers at US owned fields went on strike. The companies refused to Nationalization negotiate with the strikers. The strike began to damage the economy, so Cárdenas ordered of the US Oil arbitration. The arbitration board ruled in favor of the strikers, ordering a 33% increase in pay Companies and improvements in the pension and welfare system. The companies appealed to the Mexican Supreme Court. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the arbitrator.

The companies continued to defy the ruling, whereupon Cárdenas ruled that they had defied Mexican sovereignty and nationalized the holdings.

A storm of protest erupted in the US, with the oil companies, led by Standard Oil, urging intervention to prevent this Communist conspiracy.

But the President is Franklin D. Roosevelt, who has proposed the Good Neighbor Policy. FDR refused to intervene, and instead insisted that the oil companies seek compensation through negotiations. They eventually settled for $24 million. Cárdenas 1938 PNR is reorganized as PRM (Partido Revolucionario Mexicano) It consisted of representatives Reorganizes the from the military, labor, agrarian and popular sectors. Party PRM is the official party, and Mexico remained a single party state. (606)

Page 9 of 43 Event Date Significance

Cárdenas’ Last 1939-1940 Population growth, inflation, and a weak economy made his last years difficult. Social programs Years in Office had to be cut.

Petróleos Mexicanos (PEMEX) was formed as a government oil company, but its equipment was old and US companies would not sell it spare parts.

In 1940, Cárdenas supported a conservative, Manuel Avila Camacho, as president. “[T]he Cárdenas administration was remarkable . . . for what it had done. It saw the end of one age and the beginning of another. Cárdenas had finally broken the back of the hacienda system, had fostered an impressive program of rural education, had seen that the labor movement was cleaned up and that it was reorganized into a new, powerful union, and had struck a sharp blow for Mexican economic nationalism when he failed to be bludgeoned by the oil companies.

“By 1940 most of the goals envisioned by the revolutionaries of 1910 had been reached, and they would have regarded Cárdenas’s efforts as a vindication of their sacrifices.” (606-7)

IB HL History Mr. Blackmon

The Mexican Revolution: The Military Phase 1910-1920 A Brief Sketch

All quotes are from Meyer, Michael C. and Sherman, William L. The Course of Mexican History. 4th Ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 1991. unless otherwise stated

Page 10 of 43 Event Date Significance Election Fraud Election fraud was more than rife, justice a farce.

Díaz began to be referred to as Don Perpetuo or Porfiriopoxtli Disaffection of The Flores Magon brothers (Jésus and Enrique) became outspoken opponents, publishing Some Liberals Regeneración.

They were forced into exile to San Antonio, Texas. An attempted assassination led them to move to St. Louis. The Liberal 1906 Published from St. Louis Plan • freedom of speech • freedom of the press • suppression of the jefes politicos • secularization of education • nationalization of church property • abolition of the death penalty (except for treason) • educational reform in favor of the poor • prison reform • * hour work day and a 6 day work week • abolition of the tienda de raya • payment to all workers in legal tender • prohibition of child labor • Redistribution of all uncultivated lands to peasants • an agricultural credit bank • restoration of ejidal lands Cananea 1906 The strike was against William Greene’s Consolidated Cananea Copper Company. Greene called Strike in Arizona Rangers, who invaded Mexico who violently broke the strike.

Page 11 of 43 Event Date Significance Rio Blanco 1907 Conditions in the Rio Blanco mills were abysmal. The workers appealed to Díaz in vain. When Textile Strike the tienda de raya refused wives of strikers credit for food, violence broke out. Troops arrived to crush the strike by violence. The Creelman 1908 Díaz granted an interview to an American journalist in which he promised not to run for re-election Interview and stated that he welcomed an opposition party in Mexico. He doesn’t really mean this, but others took him at his word. Francisco 1910 Madero came from a family of hacendados, and was educated in the France and the US. He is Madero and influenced by the Progressive movement in the US. As a hacendado, he was noted for the concern the Anti-Re- he had for his peones’ welfare. electionist Campaign Madero saw Mexico’s problems as primarily political. Until constitutional and democratic processes could be restored, no progress was possible. He is not a revolutionary as much as he is a reformer. (464-5)

Madero wrote The Presidential Succession of 1910 to express his opposition

Díaz once again manipulated the election, and was amazingly re-elected again. The Plan de 1910 “ ‘I declare the last election illegal and accordingly the republic, being without rulers, I assume the San Luis provisional presidency of the republic until designate their rulers pursuant in the law.’” (499) Potosí Madero’s call for rebellion triggered a revolution and civil war. Rebels: 1910 In Chihuahua, Orozco had clashed with the Terrazas-Creel clan Pascual He attracts another charismatic leader of political bandits, Pancho Villa. Orozco, Jr. Madero left the military decisions to Orozco, Villa and others.

Page 12 of 43 Event Date Significance Capture of 1911 Orozco and Villa presented Madero with an important victory, but the immediate aftermath Ciudad Juarez revealed personal tensions among the revolutionaries. Treaty of 1911 Federal troops began deserting. Díaz chose to arrange for his resignation in a month and sailed off Ciudad Juarez to enjoy his retirement in Europe.

The Porfiriato is over. The Presidency May to The provisional government was largely made up of Porfiristas. of León de la November Barra 1911 Emiliano Zapata’s life was centered in the village of Anenecuilco in Morelos, which had existed since before Zapata: the conquest. The village had been locked in a lawsuit against the local hacendado for a very long Tierra y time. (The actual legal case for the village was unassailable; Díaz’ cronies suppressed the evidence, Liberdad! and their delay allowed the hacendado to take concrete actions to illegally seize the village’s land.)

Zapata was literate, charismatic, a magnificent horseman, a notorious womanizer, fearless and eloquent (i.e. he had the machismo to exercise leadership)

Not only did Zapata appeal to villagers in Spanish, but he also addressed them in their native tongue, Náhuatl. Some idea of his charisma may be gained by his statement, “I prefer to die on my feet than to live on my knees.” (“Prefiero morir de pie . . . que vivir de robillas.”) Zapata and Zapata met Madero to plea for justice for the Indians. Madero insisted that he disband his army, Madero which angered Zapata, since the Federal troops were still led by Porfiristas. Nevertheless, agreed.

The peace was shattered when Gen. Victoriano Huerta’s troops fired on Zapatistas.

Page 13 of 43 Event Date Significance Presidency of 1911-12 Meyer notes that the Mexican Revolution meant different things to different people. Madero was Francisco too moderate to make many people happy. Madero He establishes a National Agrarian Commission, which however, accomplished very little.

A Department of Labor was established but put in the hands of a conservative.

Juan Francisco Moncaleano, a Spanish anarchist, organized a union, but strikes were dispersed by troops.

Madero did nothing to increase funding for education. Revolts Against 1911-12 General Bernardo Reyes, a reactionary, led a revolt in the North. Emilio Vázquez Gómez led Madero another revolt in Chihuahua, also in the North.. Pascual Orozco defeated the Vazquistas.

Félix Díaz, a nephew of Porfirio’s, led a counter-revolutionary revolt in Veracruz. He was captured and brought to Mexico City, where Madero commuted his death sentence to imprisonment. Plan 1912 Orozco now turned against Madero. Orozquista • 10 hour workday • restrictions on child labor • higher wages • suppression of the tienda de raya • nationalization of railroads • Land illegally seized to be returned • Homestead rights to be applied retroactively • Government owned land to be distributed • Land owned by hacendados but not cultivated to be redistributed

Page 14 of 43 Event Date Significance The Plan de November Zapata declared revolt against the government. Ayala 1911 “ ‘The lands, woods, and water that the landlords, cientificos, or bosses have usurped . . . will be immediately restored to the villages or citizens who hold the corresponding titles to them . . . . lands, woods, and water are monopolized in a few hands .. . one-third of these properties will be expropriated, with indemnification, so that the villages and citizens of Mexico may obtain ejidos, town sites and fields.’ ” (514-5) The Decena February 9, Reactionary military units released Reyes and Díaz from prison. Street fighting broke out. Madero Trágica 1913 appointed Victoriano Huerta to defend the government. The Pact of the February US Ambassador Henry Lane Wilson regarded himself as a servant of American business interests. Embassy 18, 1913 Wilson brought Reyes, Díaz, and Huerta together

Huerta seized Madero. Madero was then shot.

Victoriano Huerta proclaimed himself president. Venustiano Carranza announces he will oppose Huerta from Coahuila. Carranza Pancho Villa Villa announces he will oppose Huerta from Chihuahua

Alvaro Obregón announces he will oppose Huerta from Sonora Obregón

Page 15 of 43 Event Date Significance The Plan de Carranza, Obregón and Villa agreed that the Huerta government was illegitimate and recognized Guadalupe Carranza as Madero’s successor. The plan is entirely political, not social. (524-5)

A Constitutionalist Army is formed. Huerta dramatically expanded his army by forced levies, and used political assassination. Bitter civil war wracked the country, with the depredations against ordinary citizens increasing.

Huerta must fight the Constitutionalists in the North and the Zapatistas in the South, which stretched him thin. Woodrow 1913 The new US President, Woodrow Wilson, refused to recognize Huerta’s government, over-ruling Wilson and the urging of Henry Lane Wilson. Suspecting Amb. Wilson’s judgement, he sent his own envoy to Huerta Mexico, but chose a man who did not speak Spanish. Pres. Wilson replaced Amb. Wilson, but chose an ambassador who did not speak Spanish either. The new ambassador was ignorant, ill- informed, and bigoted.

Woodrow Wilson is determined that Huerta must go.

Page 16 of 43 Event Date Significance Wilson 1913-14 Wilson’s first choice was to allow assistance to the Constitutionalists via the common border. Supports the Constitu- tionalists

Page 17 of 43 Event Date Significance US Intervention 1914 A trivial incident involving US sailors at Tampico and Huerta’s forces angered Wilson. His (rather childish) demands for an apology spiraled out of control. Wilson ordered the occupation of Veracruz by the US Navy.

Huerta had to shift forces to face the Americans, who, he feared, would march on Mexico City. The US had no such plans. But US occupation cut off tariff revenue from Huerta, who was also in serious financial difficulty.

The Constitutionalists condemned the US intervention (they didn’t like gringos on their soil either) but used the opportunity put even more pressure on Huerta militarily.

Huerta decides to resign on July 8, 1914. The Constitutionalists have triumphed. The 1914 Carranza soon found that the revolution was splintered. The Convention of Aguascalientes was Convention of called to select a new President. Aguascalientes The Convention divided between delegations loyal to Zapata and Villa, on the one hand, and Carranza and Obregón on the other.

“The underlying issue was whether the Revolution was going to follow the politically oriented Plans of San Luis Potosí and Guadalupe or the agrarian Plan de Ayala.” (536)

When the Convention chose Eulalio Gutiérrez, Carranza withdrew to Veracruz. Villa meets December “The Centaur of the North” and the “Attila of the South” met in Mexico City. But they are unable Zapata 1914 to build a lasting coalition based upon genuine coordination. Anarchy The Conventionists gave up Mexico City; Carranza governed from Veracruz; Zapata was in the South, and Villa claimed to govern the entire nation from Chihuahua.

Page 18 of 43 Event Date Significance The Battle of April 1915 Villa is very badly defeated by Alvaro Obregón at Celaya. Villa charged recklessly with cavalry; Celaya Obregón responded with artillery and machine guns.

Wilson now decided to extend recognition to the Constitutionalists (Carranza). Villa Attacks March, Villa was furious at Wilson’s decision, and raids the US at Columbus, New Mexico. The town was the US 1916 destroyed and 18 Americans killed. The Pershing 1916- The political furor led Wilson to despatch a punitive force into Mexico to catch Villa, on the Expedition January grounds that Carranza did not control that part of the border. Catching Villa proved impossible; the 1917 terrain was rugged, and Villa was a hero.

Skirmishes between Carrancistas and Pershing occurred. Wilson, who was becoming worried about a war with Germany, ordered Pershing to withdraw. The 1917 The Querétaro Convention met to write a new constitution. Much of the text was pushed by Constitution of Francisco Múgica. 1917 Article 3 Article 3: Free, obligatory, secular education Other anti-clerical provisions: Marriage is a civil ceremony; religious organizations have no special legal status; priests are considered ordinary citizens; worship outside the church is banned; State legislatures could determine the maximum number of priests in the state; all priests must be native-born; clergy are prohibited from forming political parties; clergy must register with the government; all new church buildings must be approved by the state.

Page 19 of 43 Event Date Significance Article 27 Article 27: restoration of lands seized illegally.

Private ownership of land no longer seen as a right but as a privilege.

If land did not serve a socially useful function, it may be expropriated by the state. Article 123 Article 123: • an 8 hour work day, a 6 day workweek, a minimum wage, and equal pay for equal work, regardless of sex or nationality. • labor and capital have the right to organize. • Labor has the right to bargain collectively and to strike. The Carranza 1917-20 Carranza confused a change in government with a change in society (545) Presidency Despite Article 27, he distributed only 450,000 acres of land. (545)

In 1915 and again in 1916, Carranza used troops to suppress strikes.

With respect to the Constitution, Carranza’s philosophy was Obedezco pero no cumplo. (550) CROM 1917 Luis Morones founded the first national union, the Confederación Regional Obrera Mexicana Mexico and 1917 Carranza was determined to keep Mexico neutral in the war, and so he rejected Alfred World War I Zimmermann’s offer of an alliance.

A wise decision. A very wise decision.

Page 20 of 43 Event Date Significance The Zapatistas “The fighting in Morelos was relentless–perhaps the most terrible of the entire Revolution.” in Morelos Zapata: “ ‘you turned the struggle to your own advantage and that of your friends who helped you rise and then shared the booty–riches, honors, businesses, banquets, sumptuous feasts, bacchanals, orgies. . . . It never occurred to you that the Revolution was fought for the benefit of the great masses, for the legions of the oppressed whom you motivated by your harangues. It was a magnificent pretext, and a brilliant recourse for you to oppress and deceive. . . . .In the agrarian matter you have given or rented our haciendas to your favorites. The old land holdings . . . have been taken over by new landlords . . . and the people mocked in their hopes.’ “ (548) Assassination 1919 Carranza decided to lure Zapata into a trap by having a unit offer to mutiny. When Zapata came to of Zapata discuss the terms, he was ambushed and murdered. Death of 1920 Carranza attempted to name his own successor in 1920, which led Alvaro Obregón and Plutarco Carranza Elías Calles to rebel.

The Plan de Agua Prieta was proclaimed and an army marched on Mexico City. Carranza was forced to flee, and was murdered by one of his own guards.

IB HL History Mr. Blackmon

Villa and Zapata: A Comparison

Material herein included stolen shamelessly from Krauze and McLynn

Page 21 of 43 Emiliano Zapata Pancho Villa Background Born in the village of Anenecuilco in Morelos province. He was a mule driver and successful farmer before the Revolution. Personal Qualities Possessed in abundance the machismo needed to Also possessed in abundance the machismo needed to exercise leadership. He was handsome, exercise leadership. He was a strong, athletic man, a courageous, a superb horseman, a renowned lover, superb horseman (he did not walk anywhere when he who loved to wear fancy charro outfits. could ride), a deadly shot with a firearm and a man of exceptional physical toughness and courage. Like “I can pardon those who kill or steal because Zapata, he was a compulsive womanizer. “Villa neither perhaps they do it out of greed. But I can never smoked nor drank and used no drugs.” (McLynn 70) He pardon a traitor.” (McLynn 120) was manic-depressive, and capable of abrupt switches from loud friendliness to murderous rages. Witnesses described his eyes as hypnotic.

Like Zapata, he was intensely loyal to his men, and he expected the same loyalty from them. Betrayal was unforgivable.

Page 22 of 43 Emiliano Zapata Pancho Villa Influences / Otilio Montaño, a teacher who admired the Russian Silvestre Terrazas, Abraham González, Felipe Angeles. Advisers anarchist Peter Kropotkin. Less positively, his feared body guard, Rodolfo Fierro, who was universally considered a psychopath. Fierro Manuel Palafox, who was a very able administrator did not use threats or raise his voice, employed restrained gestures in his speech. Villa’s men called him el Carnicero.

McLynn and Krauze both record an incident in which Fierro had 200 (or 300) prisoners released 10 at a time. They were told that if they could run the 100 yards to the walls of the prison and scale them, they could live. Using a pistol, he shot 199 (or 299) of them dead. He suffered a cramp in his trigger finger which allowed one to get away. (Krauze 318, McLynn 199)

Page 23 of 43 Emiliano Zapata Pancho Villa The Local Morelos was dominated by sugar planters who, in Northern Mexico has a dramatically different economy. Situation an effort to modernize their holdings, which Sonora and Chihuahua (where much of the fighting required expensive machinery, decided to do so by would take place) have traditions of federalism, squeezing the peasants extremely hard. opposition to national authority, and of military self- reliance. The Porfirista governor, Pablo “Escandón openly, blatantly and bigotedly favored the planters against Water was the crucial factor in the economy; most of the the villagers . . . . The owners of the sugar land is desert. The economy included ranching and plantations were now free to declare open season mining. Both Sonora and Chihuahua have common on the villages. . . . In 1909 more and more villages borders with the US, which provided a source of were deprived of water, their cattle stolen, their supplies, weapons, and ammunition, as well as a refuge lands fenced off, and all appeals to political or in need. judicial authorities were ignored. It was now clear that Escandón aimed to break the pueblos as Sonora had been wracked by war to the knife against the institutions, leaving an almost Marxian division Yaquis, who were fighting for their cultural existence. between the plantocracy and a vast body of The Yaquis were formidable fighters, and rebellion still dispossessed ex-villagers who had only their labor simmered in 1900. (McLynn 53-54) to sell.” (McLynn 46-47) Chihuahua had been terrorized since the 1830's by the Apache: Cochise and Mangas Colorado of the Chiricahuas, Victorio, Delgadito and Nana of the Mimbres, as well as Geronimo. Luis Terrazas had cemented his leadership role in Chihuahua by trapping and destroying Victorio. The culture of Chihuahua was martial. (McLynn 55-58)

Economically, the Terrazas-Creel clan controlled almost all jobs via their great estates and the Banco Minero de

Page 24 of 43 Emiliano Zapata Pancho Villa The Terrazas-Creel clan was either “broker or partner in all foreign investment schemes in the state.” (McLynn 64) Diaz coopted them by appointing Enrique Creel as governor. “Creel turned on [the villagers and colonists] ruthlessly. He and his family coveted new land so that they could make a killing from land speculation. The key was the new railways, for the Mexican Northwestern line, the Kansas Orient and the Pacific Railroad were all laying new track through Chihuahua . In 1904-5 Creel passed two laws of special moment: the first replaced heads of municipalities with officials appointed by the governor; the second . . . so that the state, not the federal government, became the final arbiter in the case of expropriation of village lands. Creel’s hatred of the free villages was noteworthy. . . . In short, Creel was a genuine cientifico ideologue.” (McLynn 66)

First, his expropriations created “a new class of landless labourers,” then he refused to acknowledge customary rights of the military colonies.

The US depression of 1908 hit Chihuahua very hard as mines closed as the price of silver and copper dropped; food prices shot up, and Creel responded by raising taxes on the peasants (but not the hacendados). (McLynn 67)

Page 25 of 43 Emiliano Zapata Pancho Villa Reasons for Zapata is all about land reform. When the people There are three different versions: the Black, White, and Becoming a of Anenecuilco protested the illegal seizure of Epic Legends. “The black legend makes Villa out as a Revolutionary fields and water belonging to them by the local double-dyed psychopath, motivated only by hatred and hacendado, the reply was, “If the people of revenge; the white is that he was a simple man wanting a Anenecuilco want to sow their seed, let them sow it simple life who was catapulted reluctantly into a in a flowerpot, because they will get no land even revolutionary milieu; and the epic that he was no bandit on the barren slope of a hill.” lusting only after loot but a genuine Robin Hood, desirous of righting wrongs, taking from the rich to give The village reply to the governor was “We are to the poor.” (McLynn 61) willing to recognize whoever the owner of said lands may turn out to be . . . . but we wish to sow The author of the epic legend is John Reed, the socialist on said lands so as not to suffer, because the American journalist who would later write Ten Days sowing is what gives us life, from which we draw That Shook the World. Reed does concede that our livelihood and that of our families.” (Krauze between 1901-9, Villa certainly murdered 4 men and 277) participated in at least 10 premeditated crimes.

A more sophisticated explanation lies in Villa’s relationship with the Terrazas-Creel clan. The courageous journalist Silvestre Terrazas exposed the corruption in Chihuahua, and Villa met him in 1910. Later that year, he met Madero’s representative in Chihuahua, Abraham González, and fell under his spell.

The Terrazas-Creel clan identified Villa as an enemy due to his connection with Silvestre Terrazas and Abraham González. At the same time, McLynn notes, Villa had become politicized by these two. (69-70)

Page 26 of 43 Emiliano Zapata Pancho Villa Military Tactics Zapata fights guerrilla-style war. His bands were Villa’s army was all-cavalry, made up of men who were and Strategy small, some 30 - 200 men. The commander might accustomed to weapons and a hard, outdoor life. It was be a woman, called coronela or capitana. Their therefore a very mobile force. He inspired men by war was primarily a war of raids. personal example.

Fighting in Morelos was brutal, bloody, and On behalf of the Constitutionalists, Villa’s División del extremely destructive. Opponents such as Norte seized the rail hub at Torreón in 1913. Later that Victoriano Huerta, Juvencio Robles, and Pablo year, he seized Ciudad Juarez, which gave the González were extremely ruthless. Executions, Constitutionalists access to the customs post at the US hostages, resettlement, looting, rape and burning border. He used the railroads effectively, not only to were common coin. move men but also to provide medical care.

When pressure was too severe, Zapata would “American observers conceded that the fighting spirit, withdraw to the most forbidding territory, and then stoicism and endurance of the villistas went beyond return when pressure eased. anything even the US Marines could match. . . . The villista warrior could live off the land, encumbered by The inability to easily supply himself with weapons nothing more than arms, ammunition, canteen and a and ammunition was a critical disadvantage. single blanket. Villa’s use of trains impressed all Morelos had no easy access to supplies from the observers. . . . One of the reasons morale was so high US. was that Villa allowed his men to take wives, mistresses, and girlfriends on campaigns with them. . . . Women He supported his armies by “taxes” on hacendados. also took up arms and fought as soldaderas.” (McLynn 208-9) Zapata’s was “an army divided into small units, mindful of its Indian roots and devoted to religion.” Villa cultivated good relations with peasants, paying (Krauze 296) cash for services. (McLynn 59)

Page 27 of 43 Emiliano Zapata Pancho Villa Men joined Villa “to defend local autonomy; to regain village land; out of revenge for previous bad treatment by hacendados; because of unemployment; as an alternative to regular work; or simply to get easy pickings of loot, money, drink, and women.” (McLynn 206) Political Policies Plan de Ayala: (1) “restitution to the ‘pueblos or Villa was an “effective” governor of Chihuahua from citizens who hold the proper deeds” of “lands, 1913-14. (McLynn 190) This is the time period to judge mountains and waters usurped by the hacendados, what his policies were. cientificos, or caciques.’ (2) “Furthermore, a third of the ‘lands, mountains and waters’ monopolized by these owners would be expropriated–but with compensation–so that the pueblos and citizens could make use of them and ‘improve in every way . . . the lack of prosperity and well-being among Mexicans.’ (3) “Those who directly or indirectly ‘resisted this program’ would have their holdings nationalized and two-thirds of their former wealth . . . would then be applied to ‘paying war indemnities–pensions for widows and orphans of the victims who fall in the struggle for this Program.” (Krauze 288)

Page 28 of 43 Emiliano Zapata Pancho Villa Tierra y “The land will be our own possession, it will Villa told John Reed that he had three priorities: his Liberdad! belong to all the people–the land our ancestors troops, children, and the poor. (McLynn 190) held and that the fingers on paws that crushed us snatched away from us.” Manifesto issued in Náhuatl by Zapata in 1918 Economic “The dream of Zapatista redemption was to create a While land reform was important, the nature of the land Policies mosaic of small autonomous holdings whose and the economy gave it a different priority and owners would be united by a strong sense of approach. The pastoral economy and shortage of water community” (Krauze 288) meant that land units had to be very large.

Page 29 of 43 Emiliano Zapata Pancho Villa In 1914, Zapata issued an agrarian decree which Villa expropriated the estates of rancheros who fled, was more radical than the Plan de Ayala. “The selling the cattle to the US, Cuba, and Europe and using nationalization of enemy possessions would for the the money to fund his army and government. These first time extend to urban property and–also for the confiscations were not compensated; but McLynn argues first time–forms of ownership wre to be established that, since the rancheros had always undervalued their that recalled the Aztec calpulli (shared communal lands to evade taxes, that seizure was more a ownership of land). In embryo, this was a call for “sequestration” than an “expropriation.” (192) the ejido, an institution that would later develop out of the Mexican Revolution and involve the Rancheros who supported him kept their estates. collective ownership and cultivation of fields. . . . “ (Krauze 291) Some of the estates were given to his supporters, simply to keep them loyal and happy. Silvestre Terrazas was authorized to distribute land at his discretion, but seized Terrazas-Creel land was reserved as a military colony. (McLynn 193)

Although he is best known in the US for his later attacks in New Mexico, in this period he was scrupulous to protect the persons and property of foreigners, especially US citizens. US support was important to him. And in fact, he did not definitively lose that support until the Battle of Celayo proved to Woodrow Wilson that Villa would be the loser in the civil war.

So far as personal wealth was concerned, Villa’s regime was noted for little corruption, in contrast to Carranza’s.

Page 30 of 43 Emiliano Zapata Pancho Villa Zapata’s land distribution would lead to more Villa’s land program “enjoying the proximity to the subsistence agriculture. USA, both exported and redistributed the profits away from the peasantry.” (McLynn 194)

McLynn argues that under Zapata, the state in McLynn argues that in Chihuahua, the state was Morelos was “withering away” “stronger than ever, intervening at all points in economic and social life.” (194) Religious Policies “Religious devotion was another vital aspect of Villa was very anti-clerical. Priests were beaten up, Zapatismo.” (Krauze 297) The Virgin of arrested, and shot. Churches were desecrated. Guadalupe was displayed on their banners. Priests were not persecuted, and many supported the revolutionaries.

Page 31 of 43 Emiliano Zapata Pancho Villa Social Policies “Another notable feature of that war of wandering “He provided pensions [for widows and orphans], free villages was its bias toward indigenous values and food and cheap mat for his followers and their families. consequent respect for the Indians.” (Krauze 296) He cut the cost of food and other basics, organized distribution and rationing, punished all abuses by death Zapata frequently addressed village in Náhuatl. and set his army to work on infrastructure projects–repairing railways, telephones and telegraph lines, running electrification projects, streetcars, the water supply and even slaughterhouses. He also sent his men south to harvest the cotton crop in Durango.” (McLynn 190; cf also Krauze 315-6)

Villa loved children and was intensely committed to education. He built 100 schools, decreed there should be a school for each hacienda, increased teacher salaries [now there’s a hero!] built a military college, and decreed that all homeless children should be found a home and a school. (McLynn 190) Social groups which suffered severely under Villa included Spaniards and Chinese.

Villa’s men engaged in considerable looting, arson and rape. Attitude toward From a conversation between Villa and Zapata in From a conversation between Villa and Zapata in 1914: land reform 1914: “They feel so much love for the land.” “Well, we should give the people these bits of land they (Krauze 294-5) want.”

Page 32 of 43 Emiliano Zapata Pancho Villa Attitude toward Conversation on the occasion of the famous power photograph in Mexico City, when Villa sat in the President’s chair. Villa: “Now it’s your turn.” Zapata: “I didn’t fight for that. I fought to get the lands back. I don’t care about politics.” (Krauze 295) Intellectual Conversation between Zapata and Enrique Villa: Villa to John Reed: “Socialism, is it a thing?” (Krauze Influences “Emiliano, what do you think of communism?” 315) “Explain to me what that is.” “For example, all of the people of a village farm . . . their lands together and then they distribute the harvest equally.” “Who makes the distribution?” “A representative, or a council elected by the community.” “”Well, look, as far as I am concerned, if any ‘somebody’ . . . would try to dispose of the fruits of my own labor in that way . . . I would fill him full of bullets.” (Krauze 298)

Works Cited

Krauze, Enrique. Mexico: Biography of Power: A History of Modern Mexico 1810-1996. Translated Hank Heifetz. New York: Harper Perennial, 1997.

McLynn, Frank. Villa and Zapata: A History of the Mexican Revolution. New York: Carroll and Graf Publishers. 2000.

Page 33 of 43 IB HL History Mr. Blackmon

Mexican Revolution: The Constructive Phase 1920-40 A Brief Sketch

All quotes are from Meyer, Michael C. and Sherman, William L. The Course of Mexican History. 4th Ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 1991. unless otherwise stated

Event Date Significance

To prevent himself from being perceived as pro-Church, he encouraged Protestant missionaries to enter the country.

Page 34 of 43 Event Date Significance

As a result of pressure from oil interests, Harding refused to recognize the Obregón government until 1923.

Obregón’s problem is that he needed oil revenue (especially with the post-war depression) but could not cave in to US pressure for political reasons.

Mexican Supreme Court decisions provided a compromise, using the principle of “positive acts” prior to 1917.

The principle is then ratified in the Bucareli Agreements in 1923, which obtained Obregón diplomatic recognition. ((577-79)

Page 35 of 43 Event Date Significance

By 1928, Luis Morones was a wealthy man, and it seems evident that the “system” had co-opted him. (584)

Page 36 of 43 Event Date Significance

Calles responds to pressure by having a bill passed that repeated the Bucareli Agreements, but for a limited period (50 years).

Page 37 of 43 Event Date Significance

The archbishop ordered a strike. For 3 years, the sacraments could not be obtained in Mexico. (587)

The war that erupted became vicious. The Cristeros rallied to the call of Viva Cristo Rey!

Calles reorganizes the revolutionary party as the Partido Nacional Revolucionario (PNR) PNR would change its name but control the government for the rest of the century.

Calles shifts the Revolution strongly to the right.

Page 38 of 43 Event Date Significance

Morones was exposed as corrupt.

Page 39 of 43 Event Date Significance

“The vast majority of the land distributed did not go to individuals or even heads of households but rather to the communal ejidos.” (598-9)

Page 40 of 43 Event Date Significance

In response, he backed off the sex education, and softened the socialist education by emphasizing positive attitudes and avoiding anti-religious propaganda.

CTM set to improve the wage structure in Mexico

Page 41 of 43 Event Date Significance

The companies continued to defy the ruling, whereupon Cárdenas ruled that they had defied Mexican sovereignty and nationalized the holdings.

A storm of protest erupted in the US, with the oil companies, led by Standard Oil, urging intervention to prevent this Communist conspiracy.

Page 42 of 43 Event Date Significance

Cárdenas’ Last 1939-1940 Population growth, inflation, and a weak economy made his last years difficult. Social programs Years in Office had to be cut.

Petróleos Mexicanos (PEMEX) was formed as a government oil company, but its equipment was old and US companies would not sell it spare parts.

“By 1940 most of the goals envisioned by the revolutionaries of 1910 had been reached, and they would have regarded Cárdenas’s efforts as a vindication of their sacrifices.” (606-7)

Page 43 of 43