HI 233 Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Francisco I. Madero, Promised Land, Anti-Clericalism
Revolutions in Mexico
World War I created a breakdown of European order and created crises elsewhere in the world.
What internal and external forces created the conditions for revolution? What social groups
propelled these revolutions and what did they hope to achieve? What were the consequences of
these revolutions?
● Note: Peoples on the periphery asserted a desire to be free from a global, political and
economic system that kept the subordinate to industrialized, superior parts of the world
Mexican Revolution
● From 1876 to 1910, Porfirio Diaz ruled Mexico and had taken power in time when
Mexico had a very poor population
○ During his rule, Mexico’s economy and technology greatly improved, but it was
controlled by Mexican elite and businessmen
○ The mass of Mexican people did not benefit from the economy, and lived in very
poor villages
● Began in 1910 when Diaz decided to run for election again after promising not to, so his
opposition, Francisco Madero, called for the overthrow of Diaz
○ In 1911, this uprising happened and forced Diaz to resign
● Madero came into power, but the revolutionary actors did not feel as if a simple
replacement of power was enough; they wanted more
○ An initial transformation was not enough, and the first new set of leaders are seen
as insufficiently committed to radical change
○ This often leads to another revolution, and it did in Mexico
● Emiliano Zapata and Pancho Villa rose up against Madero and ongoing conflict was
between these groups and the government
Revolutionary Objectives
● From Emiliano Zapata’s “Plan of Ayala”…
○ The revolutionary government was going to seize a third of the land from the
wealthy, but with compensation for it
○ They were going to redistribute the land to the peasants that needed it in order to
make a decent living
○ Said that if the people the land was taken from were against the revolution, there
would be no compensation as these people did not deserve it
○ Proposes controls on how much land the Church can own
○ Aims to limit Church influence in society and education
● Praxedis Guerrero was particularly worried with Yankee imperialism and those imposing
on Mexican sovereignty
○ Mexico was constantly being exploited by foreign power
○ Internally, Mexico was being dominated by a small elite and externally, they were
dominated by others
● Pancho Villa called for expanded education, nationalized property, radical anti-clerical
reform to eliminate the influence of the Mexican Church
○ Was concerned with Spanish (wanted to get rid of them for the damage they had
done over the past centuries), American and British interventions too
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Document Summary
World war i created a breakdown of european order and created crises elsewhere in the world. Note: peoples on the periphery asserted a desire to be free from a global, political and economic system that kept the subordinate to industrialized, superior parts of the world. From 1876 to 1910, porfirio diaz ruled mexico and had taken power in time when. During his rule, mexico"s economy and technology greatly improved, but it was controlled by mexican elite and businessmen. The mass of mexican people did not benefit from the economy, and lived in very poor villages. Began in 1910 when diaz decided to run for election again after promising not to, so his opposition, francisco madero, called for the overthrow of diaz. In 1911, this uprising happened and forced diaz to resign. Madero came into power, but the revolutionary actors did not feel as if a simple replacement of power was enough; they wanted more.
