Mexican democracy HOA Exam prep

The emergence of democratic states

What conditions led to its establishment

The development/change of democracy

Impact of democracy on society

Porfiriato

Politics

• Porfirio Diaz (Dictator) 1876- 1911. Would not allow for for re-election , no universal voting rights, and separation of church and state.

• 1880 hand picked his successor but returned to the political realm

• 1884- changed the Constitution to allow for re-elections and rigged the elections until 1911 to maintain power.

• Government based on cietntificos, government focused on science and not politics (positivism) they were not selected by elections but instead on knowledge or skills.

• Very little people had suffrage most who did were privileged, this resulted in a corrupt political system that was unrepresentative of the majority of people.

• Diaz announced he wound not run for re-election this opened up a number of candidates from multiple parties he later changed his mind and jailed all the candidates including Francisco Madero.

Economics

• Economic stability was Diaz’s main goal.

• Focused on industry and improving transportation- 15,000 mile railroad built by the government.

• Allowed foreign companies to mine coal and oil, US companies in particular well over ¾ of the the mines and almost all oil.

• Haciendas were allowed to thrive and grow, continued to be worked by peons who were treated unfairly.

• The growth of haciendas led to more land being taken from the poor and indigenous people. Land became concentrated to the elite landowners which increased the price of land and forced the poor to sell, many of which went to US based companies.

Society

• Industrialization and modernization but very little regard for human rights.

• Poor working conditions with low wages, long hours

• High infant mortality rate because of bad living conditions

• Diaz and his government often took the side of foreign capitalists in any disputes over land and labor.

• The upper and middle class benefited materially from industrialization and there was a lot of divide.

VOCAB

Ejidos- communal land holdings that many indigenous groups owned together. Farmed to provide for their entire community. Under the Porfiriato, the lands were often taken away and sold to foreign companies. Madero’s goal in the Plan De San Luis Potosi included giving back the ejido lands to those who it rightfully belonged to.

Rurales- rural police that Diaz used to enforce his rule. many peasants feared them, madero kept them and resulted in his rule being labeled as “Porfirisimo without Porfirio”

Francisco Madero

• The “Father of the Mexican Revolution” because he went against Diaz in the 1910 election. He ran and imprisoned. He said the election was rigged in the Plan de San Luis Potosi which he laid out his goals which appealed to peasants and middle class professionals

• His plan gained him the support of Emiliano Zapata and Pancho Villa and galvanized people to fight.

• 1911 Treaty of Ciudad Juarez Madero became president. However, he did not go through many of his promises made in then plan and was assisanated in a plot orchestrated by Victoriano Huerta and US ambassador Henry Lane Wilson. Also Diaz agreed to step down and Madero ordered Villa and Zapata to put down their weapons, Zapata refused because he Madero had not made good on his promises

• Department of Labor- Mostly conservative staff who did not support labor right’s and focused on appeasing the land and factory owners instead. Workers would go on strikes. Madero negotiated few wage deals but for the most part they system represented the people who did not need government protection.

Plan de San Luis Potosi

1. democracy

2. fair elections

3. removal of diaz and his men (cientificos)

4. Restore indigenous lands

5. dealing with economic inequalities in Mexico

6. no re-election of government officials

7. government listens to the people

8. 1910 elections were rigged so they should be considered null and void.

9. Madero becomes President

10. November 20, 1910 call to arms for Mexicans to fight. When the revolution should begin according to Madero ( did not actually happen) Revolution actually did not begin until 1911.

Battles

Battle of Cautla

• in the south, Diaz realized he could not win and began thinking about resigning ( did not)

Battle of Parral

• After this battle, Villa was put under the command of Victoriano Huerta. Together they defeated Orozco and Huerta became Commander in Chief, he used the power toarrest Villa. This made Villa go against Madero

Battle of Ciudad Juarez

• Pancho Vila helped Pascual orozco capture Ciduad Juarez and resulted in Diaz’s choice to go into exile. He signed the Treaty of Jueraz which paved the way for Madero to go into power.

Pascual Orozco

• Fought in the North and aided Madero’s run for power. Tensions between him and Villa because Villa replaced him as commander of northern troops for being better. Orozco led a revolt against Madero and was stopped by Villa and Huerta, losing credibility.

Emiliano Zapata

• From Morelos, he became the General of the Southern Army. Focused on land reform and appealed to landless peasants. Held in high regard by many, however had no ambitions of ruling the nation he simply wanted peace and for his people have their land back.

• Helped Madero get into power, however in 1911 he published the Plan de Ayala after noticing Madero was not keeping his promises. Full -scale land reform and revolt against Madero.

• 1913 Madero dies- Zapata fights against Huerta. 1914 Convention of Aguascalientes- allies with Villa against Carranza. They fell of when Villa’s men went on violent rampages killing and raping.

• Carranza had a vendeta against Zapata and succeeded in killing him 1919.

10 Tragic Days

February 9-19 1913 Huerta and US ambassador Henry Lane WIlson plotted against Madero. Huerta put down an uprising he had Diaz’s brother stir up and signed a treaty removing Madero from power ending Maderos rule. Madero and Pino Suarez his VP were assassinated.

Pancho Villa

• Led northern armies, better military leader than Orozco.

• “Bandit” who fought for small farmers, industrial workers, and more.

• Claudillo- enjoyed violence ( reason why Obregon did not like him)

• Was not necessarily focused on land reform or democracy and instead wanted Northern Mexico to be able to focus on their needs without the federal government- seen as Robin Hood who helped the poor.

After Diaz

• When Orozco tuned on Madero, Villa fought against Orozco (Battle of Chihuaha and Parral)

• After Villa’s defeat in Parral he was put under the command of Huerta by Madero. Huerta did not like him and had him arrested he got out.

• Villa was liked by the US government, he was careful to protect US property in Mexico. The US in gratitude sold him weapons and ammunition, the poor of the North began to see him as someone who could change their lives for the better.

Villa and Carranza

• Although Villa and Carranza supported each other, tensions rose when Carranza started to fear Villa was becoming too popular; often butted heads.

• Carranza sent Obregon to outmaneuver Villa= more tension. Convention of Aguascalientes 1914- Villa’s intention was to get Carranza declared an enemy of the Revolution. Led to Obregon helping Carranza rather than going against. After this Villa asked Zapata for an alliance

Sighhh back to Madero- Porfirismo without Porfirio

• Relied on the rurales to enforced rule in countryside

• Ley Fuga- shoot suspected criminals on sight

• Many cientificos were allowed to keep their positions

• Demobilized most of the revolutionary armies during the Treaty of Ciudad Juarez which meant that he was under the protection of the federal army (did not support him)

Carranza and Plan de Guadalupe

• 1913- Huerta gaines control however, Carranza rises against him

• PUblished Plan de Guadalupe and called for political reform. The overthrow of Huerta and respect for the 1957 Mexican Consitution. ( ignored issues of land reform)

  • basically a declaration of war against Huerta and declared himself the true leader of Mexico

• Set up a revolutionary government HQ in Veracruz the same place the US and Mexico faced-off. He fought off the US invasion that led to Huerta’s resignation.

• Lots of tension between him and Villa the Us stopped supplying Villa with weapons and instead gave them to Carranza. He replaced Villa with Obregon sent him to Mexico City to beat Villa there bc whoever controls Mexico City controls the entire country.

Victoriano Huerta

• Drunk military commander who gained prominence under Madero and helped put him in power by fighting Diaz and Orozco.

• He backstabbed Madero because he wanted to be President (Started a coup) he was supported by Henry lane wilson who thought he would make a good leader. He ad Madero and Pino Suarrez (VP) removed from power and killed. He declared himself president (Carranza and Villa Did not like him so they joined forces to get rid of him) The US did not either, they refused to recognize his government. Wilson sent a ship to Veracruz to monitor and caused conflict, Huerta apologized to the US not wanting the US to intervene, scared he resigned and ran away in exile to Jamaica.

Constitutionalists Vs. Conventionalists

• Constitution

  • some land reforms

  • decreased power of the Catholic Church

  • Worker’s rights

  • international trade regulations

  • more power for the federal government

  • strong constitution

• Conventionalists

  • strong land reform led by the people

  • no changes to church power

Villa, Carranza, Zapata sent reps to Convention of of Aguascalientes, Only Obregon actually showed up.

The Carrancistas were conservative and wanted political, not social reforms:
they did not want to impact business owners to foreign investment. They wanted strong central
government - even more power afforded to the Executive than was afforded in the 1857 Constitution.
They did not want to include any social reforms in the Constitution itself, as they believed that they could
pass laws to support social reform later. They wanted to slightly modify the 1857 Constitution to make it
work better.

President of Mexico in 1917. As president, he ignored most of the
Constitution because it was more radical than he expected. He had a momentous task ahead of him:
stabilizing a very unstable Mexico (Six years of war left crops unharvested, fields destroyed, mines and
factories closed

1919, Álvaro Obregón announced he would run as
president in 1920. Technically, Carranza's term in office had started in 1914 when he declared himself
president. Obregón accused Carranza of betraying the Revolution; the military backed Obregón.
Carranza tried to flee to Veracruz and was killed by Obregón's supporters en route. His train was
ambushed. Obregón may have called for this.

Constitution

Article 2- Rights of indigenous people must be respected, can run for office. Some say this established equality, while other’s said it eroded away at indigenous culture by forcing them to speak Spanish. Good= created a broader Mexican identity.

Article 3- Education for kids, faced opposition from the Church

Article 83- not elected for second terms, a presidential term was 6 years.

Article 27

• all and belonged to the Mexican government. The government could give and take away land and only Mexican people and Mexican companies could acquire ownership of lands and resources. Religious institutions could no longer own the land

• gave indigenous people the hope of getting their land back. Foreign companies were afraid they would lose investment but did not happen until Calles became President.

Article 123- 8-hour work day, equal pay, over-time and other labor protections.

Article 130- Catholic Church was a legal entity. Priests allowed to vote and participate in politics, religiouseducation forbidden in public schools

Alvaro Obregon

• 1919 Obregon announced he would run as President in 1920. He accused Carranza of betraying the revolution he tried to flee but was killed by Obregonistas. He won election by a landslide he promised to end corruption and but violence from the revolution behind.

• Mexico’s economy was heavily reliant on foreign oil ownership and the Treaty of Bucaleri meant foreign companies that already owned property could keep it.

• Obregón chose a former Zapatista as the Minister of Agriculture, responsible for organizing land
  distribution. However, the Ministry of Agriculture was fairly unsuccessful. The average wait time to receive
  land was 4 years. Less than 1/3 of the people who applied for land received it and the land that was
  handed out tended to be of poor quality. Obregón set up the National Agrarian Commission to study the
  issue of land reform, but it did not accomplish anything. Obregón ensured that the rich kept their land,
  including himself. He gave more land than Carranza, but this was not saying much. In order to pay back
  the $1 million in debt Mexico owed to foreign nations, Obregón slashed funding for loan programs that
  would give peasants money to buy tools and seed to cultivate the land

Jose Vasconcelos

= Vasconcelos believed that indigenous traditions were holding Mexico back from making
progress as a modern nation. He wanted to bring the indigenous people into modern society and
help them to see themselves as Mexican. On the one hand, he wanted to improve literacy and teach
everyone in Mexico about the great revolutionary history. On the other hand, he was quite racist and
determined to eliminate much of the indigenous cultures. He was an advocate for teaching Mexican
culture, and did not want women baking US cakes, for example, but sent readers to indigenous
community full of works by the likes of Dante and Homer. He seemed either confused about what
constituted Mexican Identity, or in denial that Mexican Identity should be based on the indigenous
cultures who had flourished there long before the conquest. He built hundreds of libraries and stocked
them with hundreds of books, but did not focus on actually improving literacy. His rural schools
focused on traditional subjects, which likely included reading, but also on the dangers of alcohol and
the importance of hygiene. His model was paternalistic and focused more on what he thought the
indigenous needed; he never asked what the indigenous people most needed. He focused on a
"aesthetic culture" which attempted to rid Mexican culture of foreign influence, but ironically, he
focused more on foreign than nataive culture: Spanish over indigenous languages, classically trained
artists over indigenous art forms, to name a few

Plutarco Calles MAXIMATO

• In office for 1 term followed by a series of hand-picked leaders. He was a puppet-master for 6 years aka Maximato. 1924-1934

• Created National Bank of Mexico to regulate currency and help stabilize the economy.

• Supported Article 27 which removed foreign powers from Mexico. The US was angered and nearly went to war

• Laws

  • 1. No foreign priests allowed in Mexico
    2. All education to be controlled by the State
    3. Monastic orders forbidden
    4. Priests not to preach disobedience to the nation's laws
    5. Respect to be shown for the government
    6. All religious publications to be apolitical (have no political message)
    7. No political meetings allowed in churches
    8. All religious ceremonies to take place only in churches, under the government's supervision
    9. No religious clothing to be worn outside of the church
    10. Municipal (local) authorities fined if they did not enforce these laws

Cardenas

Calles' political party, the National Revolutionary Party (PNR). Cárdenas was more left leaning than
other presidential hopefuls had been, so Calles put him forward as a candidate to appease the leftwing
members of the PNR who were anxious to have a new kind of leader. Calles thought he could
control Cárdenas. Cárdenas campaigned like no other presidential hopeful had in Mexico:

Cárdenas faced opposition from the Church, land owners whose land was being redistributed
and even from some ejido members who were still poor despite their land gains. Saturnino Cedillo, the
former Minister of Agriculture under Cárdenas, but also a small landowner who did not want to give up his
land, tried to lead a revolt against Cárdenas, claiming that the central government was trying to control
too much of peoples' personal lives. Cárdenas created the Bureau of Small Landholdings to help protect
appropriate amounts of land for small farmers - removed the base for Cedillo's revolt. Cedillo was
executed - unclear if Cárdenas had anything to do with it