Yong

THE MEXICAN REVOLUTION

Causes of the Revolution:

Economic

The distribution of land in Mexico by 1910 was starkly unequal.

  • The campesino peasant class was the dominant class distinction within Mexico 95% of rural dwellers did not own their own land
  • Foreign entities such as the United States owned 20% of the land in Mexico
  • The Roman Catholic Church also had an economic monopoly, owning 25% of Mexican land
  • The prosperous elite had an overwhelmingly imbalanced take on property: 1000 elite families owned the majority of the land in Mexico; 2 of these elite families owned over 24 million acres alone
  • The ejido class worked communally owned fields; less than 10% of them owned the land on which they lived and farmed
  • Overall, there were 330 million acres of land which was in private hands, available for redistribution.
  • An economy reminiscent of colonial mercantilism with vestiges of feudalism prevented the growth of democracy and suppressed the masses.

Between 1876 and 1910 there were no wage raises to account for the exceeding rate of inflation, leading to a decrease in real wages and the economic prosperity of Mexican citizens.

  • The average buying power of the Mexican by 1910 had decreased significantly in comparison to the buying power of the Mexican in 1876, though there had been no changes in wages. This was due to the inflation Mexico was experiencing during this long period of time
  • As more land passed into the control of a small minority, the vast majority of the rural people saw their real wages and standard of living decline.

Economic Recession of 1906-1908

  • From 1906-1908 Mexico experienced a drought with vast food shortages.
  • Though the Diaz regime had successfully stimulated the growth of commercial agriculture, the decline in real wages and the suppression of the masses led to high unemployment rates that spawned protest and strikes.
  • The Diaz regime saw an increase in the suppression of civil rights, such as the right of workers to strike as well as freedom of speech. Therefore, there was violent repression of these strikes despite the depravity of the situation at the cost of the rural dwellers.

Political

Diaz’s leadership was a dictatorship characterized by violent suppression of political dissent, no civil rights (assembly, religion, speech), and rigged/unfair/fixed elections.

Course of the Revolution (aims and roles of leaders/effects):

Madero was one of the earliest leaders of the revolution; he was more of a revolutionary than a reformer though he did attempt some reforms; he didn’t actually instate much of these reforms.

He established the Plan de San Luis Potosi

  • The results of the 1910 election were null/void
  • Declared himself provisional president
  • Called for armed removal of Diaz
  • There were vague references to economic reform

Madero wanted classical liberalism

  • Less government control over economy
  • He launched his revolution from Texas and was eventually joined by a militia of Villa, Obregon, Orozco, Carranza in the north and Zapata in the south.
  • As rebel forces advanced on Mexico City, Diaz agreed to the Treaty of Juarez. He was only a moderate since he faced pressure from the leftist for land reforms and from the right who didn’t like the rights he gave to workers.

He won the free open election in 1912

Madero’s presidency (1912-1913)

  • He recognized the right of workers to unionize, bargain collectively, strike in an effort to secure greater wages, less working hours, and safer working conditions.
  • He was reluctant to redistribute land
  • Concern over loss of agricultural productivity
  • Economies of scale (large scale produces more)
  • Peasants lacked capital and technology
  • He created circumstances for free/fair elections; gave freedom of speech and press

Revolts against Madero

  • The left (radical): did not redistribute enough land (Zapata led uprising in the south)
  • The right (revolutionary, conservative): too much was changed, such as worker’s rights

Huerta was a rightist who led opposition against Madero’s government; was a revolutionary more than a reformer.

He was a career officer in the Mexican international army that served under Diaz; he had been Diaz’s general who enforced the genocidal wars. He continued to a be a key military leader under Madero.

He became a champion of the revolution who wanted to advance his own tide. With the help of Diaz’s nephew and American Ambassador Henry Lee Wilson, he arranged a coup to overthrow Madero.

Huerta’s Dictatorship (1913-1914)

  • He made almost no reforms as he was wanted to restore the institutions of Diaz. His leadership was mostly characterized by uprisings, strains on government financing.
  • Later the U.S. offered aid to Zapata, Carranza, Obregon, and Villa to end Huerta’s government
  • U.S. agreed to stop selling weapons to Huerta’s government.
  • U.S. also isolated his government form European allies.

Carranza (Moderate) is best known for the Constitution of 1917 which proposed many reforms however; he never really implemented many of these reforms which make him more of a revolutionary.

As a constitutionalist, Carranza wanted to enforce the constitution of 1856.

His 1913 Plan of Guadelupe called for arms for the overthrow of Huerta. However, he was silent on land reforms but he eventually added Adiciones which called for the immediate restoration of all ejido lands; this would help him gain a broader support base.

He help draft the Constition of 1917 which had basis for land reform, education, labor changes, and relationship between church and state

Even though Carranza did enforce article 27 and advanced the rights of women (civil divorce, owning property), Carranza’s presidency was marked by a general rightward shift: very little land was redistributed; large estates were given to allies, primary labor union in Mexico was shut down. Warfare continued. He even tried to put Bonillas in power in order to maintain control.

Pancho Villa and Zapata (Radical) were both revolutionaries whose plans for reforms never really took root throughout Mexico.

Zapata made the Plan of Ayala in response to Madero’s failure. This called for the immediate restoration of all lands taken from the ejidos since 1856 as less than 10% of ejidos actually owned the land they lived on. Also, the cooperating hacendados would only lose 1/3 of their land. Villa also had a land reform plan in which the government owned the usurped land until the revolution was over.

The difference arose from the economies of the two areas. The north relied mostly on cattle which required large tracts of land. It would have been uneconomical to distribute northern land.

Villa also had massive educational reforms. Both these leaders were revolutionaries and never implemented their massive reforms throughout Mexico.

Their Aguascaliente convention also planned radical reforms on land, but it never took root.

Both were prominent fighters in the revolution. They both fought against Diaz and eventually helped to overthrow Huerta.

Panco Villa ruled Chihuahua for 10 years.

  • Government officials would operate large communal lands taken from the hacendados until the revolution was over and then would redistribute to individual families
  • The profits from farms went to pensions for orphans, widows, and veterans of war.

Obregon (Moderate) came to power in the 1920 and was of very humble origins. He was one of the first of many reformers though his reforms were very small. His presidency marked the beginning of a political reformation period.

After Carranza had left office, he tried to implant Bonillas in power, however, Obregon prevented this by taking over Mexico City. He had fairly won the presidency.

He redistributed 3 million acres of land (out of 330 milliong acres of available land) which happened slowly due to the lack of funds for compensation, fears that productivity would go down, and opposition from church and hacendados in the form of litigation and force.

Obregon also supported non-retroactivity but did not formalize it in a treaty.

CROM was also part of labor reforms program as it was co-opted by the government; however, there were only very moderate reforms which didn’t make much a difference.

Obregon’s educational reform funded for public schools and teacher education programs (which led to increased literacy of workers and unified ideology) but did not enforce anti-clerical components due to a lack of teachers

He also increased indigenismo awareness; 4000 new rural teachers were trained.

Calles, another reformer, further implemented reforms in Mexico.

Though he saw land distribution as a pressure valve, Called distributed twice as much land as Obregon.

He formed the national bank which was set to provide ejidos with credit/tools/seeds

But 80% of loadns went to hacendados, whom decided which plots of land to give up

Agricultural productivity keeps decreasing and eventually stopped land redistribution.

After the R.C.C. declared After R.C. C. declared they wanted removal of the restrictions on the church in the constitution, Calles enforced CALLES LAW

  • Enforced the Constitution mainly: regulations made toward the church in the constitution or punished by death, fine

When implement Article 27, Calles require owners of leases to exchange their titles for 50yr concessions, eventually due to U.S. INTERVENTION, a 30 year renewal, but no Mexican oil well lasted over 80 years so technically, U.S still had control over oil

The U.S. threatened to take away trade in order to control Mexican productions like oil and mining (which could have dramatically aided Mexico economically, quickening reforms, shortening the revolution)

Cardenas carried reformers further than his predecessors; he was an important reformer.

He did redistribute a lot of land (45 million acres to almost 12000 villages). He raised wages and morale.

He reorganized the national bank.

He also nationalized oil (PEMEX) in 1938 which allowed Mexico access to cheap and plentiful oil. This stimulated industrialization and limited foreign control over land and resources. Nationalizing oil also provided funds for carrying out land, labor, and educational reforms.

He was a supporter for women’s rights; A legislature for women’s rights was approved in 1939 (it was not officially passed until 1953); supported Indian culture and education like Calles.

He also adopted tariffs to protect Mexican investments above that of foreign influences. Labor unions came back and wages were set up (re-implemented Article 123). CRT replaced CROM, which was less corrupt and more effective. PRM replaced PNR.

Despite his shortcomings like the lack of effective agricultural units and increased dependency of peasants on public authorities, Cardenas had more reforms than many of his predecessors.

Constitution of 1917:

The economic causes of the Mexican Revolution included the oppositions to foreign influences, inflation, crop failures and recession, and, most importantly, the unequal distribution of land throughout Mexico. Resolutions to these economic problems were stated, but may not have been implemented, in the Constitution of 1917 via articles 3, 27, 123, and 130.

1)The Mexican economy suffered from undue foreign influence

a)Foreigners had control over many mining sites, oilrigs, railroads (infrastructure), and many utilities. Most importantly, foreigners owned about 20% of Mexican land.

b)These foreigners were usually Americans.

c)The Mexicans did not embrace foreign influence because this meant that the foreigners were making profits off of Mexican property and the Mexicans did not like this idea. This is an example of nationalism.

d)The Constitution of 1917 attempted to solve this economic problem in Article 27.

i)Supported land reform and property rights

ii)Said that the Mexican government is the rightful owner of Mexican land, subsoil, and water masses. Therefore, the Mexican government could expropriate foreign land as desired with compensation.

iii)This was a way to reinforce nationalism throughout Mexico.

2)“Real wages” decreased compared to the inflation rates between 1876 and 1910

a)For the people in urban areas, money was earned through wages

b)Real wages are wages adjusted for inflation

c)For example, if inflation was 39%, when the wages of the urban workers increased a lower percentage. This resulted in the inability of urban workers to buy bare necessities. Hence, workers were getting poorer because the wage increases don’t match the rate of inflation.

d)The Constitution of 1917 attempted to solve this economic problem in Article 123.

i)Provided 8 hour workday

ii)Secured childbirth benefits of women, including paid prenatal and post natal maternity leave. It also required companies that employed over 50 women to have and on-site daycare.

iii)It also abolished the tienda de raya (company stores) and required companies to pay workers in legal tender and not coupons or tickets to company store.

iv)Gave workers right to unionize, bargain collectively, and strike.

3)The most important economic problem was that there was an unequal distribution of land throughout Mexico.

a)The majority of the land was in the hands of 1000 families in Mexico.

b)2 families collectively owned 24 million acres of land.

c)The church owned 25% of land, in which they rented out to people of faith for money. Thus, the church was acting as a landlord.

d)Foreigners owned 25% of land.

e)95% of campesinos owned no land.

f)90% of ejidos owned no land.

g)The Constitution of 1917 attempted to solve this problem with Article 27.

i)Required that the government expropriated and returned all ejido land that had been seized since 1856.

ii)This article really supported full widespread land reform.

iii)Once the land was returned, however, the land would be the property of the Government.

h)The Constitution of 1917 attempted to solve this problem with Article 27.

i)Placed severe restrictions on the right of religious organizations to own land, so that the church could not act as a landlord as a business to gain money.

4)Article 3 of the Constitution forbade religious corporations and ministers from establishing or conducting schools.

5)Womens revolutionaries: articles 34 and 35 – less than 20% of women worked for wages- so constitution banned them from voting because they would be seduced by catholic church.

The Constitution standards were not immediately met by succeeding Presidents of Mexico.

Carranaza only redistributed a trifling amount to the villages. He returned many confiscated haciendas to their former owners; others he returned to his favorite generals. He essentially replaced the old oligarchy with a new one. He also closed down major labor unions. However he did resist U.S. instance to give guarantees that Article 27 would not be implemented against foreign interests and he gave more property rights for women.

 Obregon was more dedicated to following the Constitution’s policies; however, he mainly saw land redistribution as a safety valve for peasant revolts. He distributed basically on an as-needed basis to satisfy the rural dwellers, 3 million acres of the 320 available for redistribution. Pressures from the U.S. to apply Article 27 nonretroactively induced Obregon to attain a court ruling that made unconstitutional any attempt to apply article 27 against foreign interests retroactively. This defeated the purpose of the Constitution’s measures.

Calles redistributed 6 million acres of the available land but did not specify whether the lands had to be arable or not. Thus much of the peasant class was given unproductive land. The bank he established to help the ejidos loaned only to the hacendados.

 Cardenas placed land reform in the ejido favor as prime importance. At the end of his presidency he had redistributed 45 million acres of land. His greatest accomplishment in adhering to the Constitution of 1917 was his nationalization of oil in 1938. Cardenas nationalized oil after oil companies refused to accept a minimum wage for the workers. The nationalization of oil provided cheap plentiful fuel for Mexican industry and heightened nationalism; however, 90% of Mexican mining industry still remained in foreign hands.

Role of USA:

Due to the United States’ intervention and desire to influence the course of the Mexican Revolution, the war lasted longer than it would have and its main result was Mexico’s breaking away from foreign influence.

The United States intervened or attempted to during all the different presidencies hoping to create changes all for their benefit.

Diaz’s Presidency

The U.S. government wasn’t pleased with Diaz’s regime around the end of his rule. Diaz began to fear North American domination of investments in Mexico, threatening Mexican economic and political independence. So he began to favor British over US capitalists in the grant of concessions.

Madero’s Presidency

US hoped that Madero would show a more positive attitude with the US and so could be the next president of Mexico.

Madero actually caused his own downfall. His version of democracy gave the masses an illusion of power and participation in political life but vesting all the decision making in the hands of an elite. He eventually lost the support of the peasantry when he failed to carry out the agrarian reform he promised, and with that he lost his most faithful ally, Zapata.

He lost support from the US. He refused to show special favors to American capitalists and warned that the concessions and the system given by Diaz was now gone. The US was fully alienated.

The US ambassador to Mexico Henry Lane Wilson became increasingly hostile to Madero. In 1912 a 100,000 American troops were stationed along the border and threats were made to Madero throughout the year saying the US will intervene if his gov’t failed to protect the lives and property of Americans. He was in charge of the coup d’etat, which was led by Huerta, who later ordered Madero’s killing.

Henry Lane Wilson sent Madero a protest against the conduct of military operations in Mexico City because they threatened American life and property, and at his urging the British, German, and Spanish representatives sent similar demands. He demanded that the Mexican gov’t negotiate with other warring parties otherwise the marines would come to Mexican ports. Wilson and other foreign diplomats forced Madero to resign.