53-742: Felicistas were the supporters of Félix Díaz , nephew of former president Porfirio Diaz , who opposed the Madero and Carranza governments in Mexican rebellions between 1912 and 1920. This article about a political organization is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This Mexican history article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Porfirio Diaz José de la Cruz Porfirio Díaz Mori GCB ( English: / ˈ d iː ə s / DEE -əss or / ˈ d iː æ z / DEE -az , Spanish: [poɾˈfiɾjo ˈði.as] ; 15 September 1830 – 2 July 1915),
106-576: A barracks revolt in Oaxaca City, but the Ayutla movement ultimately triumphed by August 1855, when Santa Anna resigned, subsequently fleeing the nation. Juan Álvarez was elected president in October 1855 and his administration inaugurated what would come to be known as La Reforma an unprecedented attempt to pass through progressive constitutional reforms for Mexico culminating in the promulgation of
159-543: A group of technocrats known as científicos ("scientists"), whose economic policies benefited a circle of allies and foreign investors, helping hacendados consolidate large estates, often through violent means and legal abuse. These policies grew increasingly unpopular, resulting in civil repression and regional conflicts, as well as strikes and uprisings from labor and the peasantry, groups that did not share in Mexico's growth. Despite public statements in 1908 favoring
212-423: A lack of popular support and began to pressure him to abdicate. French authorities considered forming an alternative Liberal government, more accommodating, and less humiliating to French interests than Juárez, and Díaz was proposed but ultimately rejected as a candidate to lead such a government due to his loyalty to Juárez. The alternative government scheme never materialized, Maximilian refused to abdicate, and
265-556: A raid upon the capital and Díaz left his congressional seat to join Ignacio Mejía and Jesús González Ortega in once more defending the city. At Xalatlaco , Díaz without waiting for orders fell upon the forces of Marquez and won a notable victory. The Conservative forces were scattered and fled into the hills. At the opening of the Second French Intervention, in which France would attempt to overthrow
318-483: A return to democracy and not running again for office, Díaz reversed himself and ran in the 1910 election . Díaz, then 80 years old, failed to institutionalize presidential succession, triggering a political crisis between the científicos and the followers of General Bernardo Reyes , allied with the military and peripheral regions of Mexico. After Díaz declared himself the winner for an eighth term, his electoral opponent, wealthy estate owner Francisco I. Madero , issued
371-514: Is unknown. 15 September is an important date in Mexican history, the eve of Miguel Hidalgo 's Grito de Dolores , which triggered the Mexican War of Independence in 1810. After Díaz became president, it would become customary to commemorate the Grito de Dolores on the eve of its anniversary. Díaz's father, José Díaz, was a Criollo (a Mexican of predominantly Spanish ancestry). José Díaz
424-584: The Battle of Miahuatlán on 3 October, and then advanced upon Oaxaca City which surrendered by 1 November 1866. Most of southern Mexico except for certain areas of Yucatan were now back in the hands of the Mexican Republic. Díaz now concentrated his forces in northern Oaxaca, Vera Cruz, Mexico, and Puebla for future operations. On 9 March 1867, Díaz began the Third Battle of Puebla , subjecting
477-774: The Constitution of 1857 . Conservative Party resistance ended up triggering the outbreak of the Reform War in late 1857, at the same time when Díaz's old mentor, Benito Juarez became president. The Conservatives set up their rival government in opposition to Juarez and the Liberals. Díaz at this time was still in Oaxaca. He had previously accepted a commission as captain in the National Guard in December 1856. As
530-593: The Liberal government of Mariano Arista and raised Santa Anna for what would turn out to be his final dictatorship. Many prominent Liberals were expelled from the country, including Benito Juarez who found refuge in New Orleans. Don Marcos Perez was arrested, but Díaz was able to communicate with him in prison with the help of Díaz's brother Félix. In March 1854 the Plan of Ayutla broke out against Santa Anna led by
583-520: The Mexican Republic and replace it with a client monarchy, Díaz had advanced to the rank of general and was in command of an infantry brigade. He was present at the first engagement of the war when he lost three-fourths of his men after the French attacked his brigade in the state of Veracruz . He retreated and joined up with the forces of Ignacio Zaragoza to continue harassing the enemy in
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#1732773008220636-542: The Mexican-American War broke out, and Díaz joined an Oaxacan military battalion. He practiced drills and attended lectures on tactics and strategy at the Institute of Arts and Sciences , but he never saw combat by the time the war ended in 1848. By 1849, Díaz decided that he did not have a vocation to the priesthood and over the objections of his family decided to switch his studies to law. He gained
689-747: The Plan of San Luis Potosí calling for armed rebellion against Díaz, leading to the outbreak of the Mexican Revolution . In May 1911, after the Federal Army suffered several defeats against the forces supporting Madero, Díaz resigned in the Treaty of Ciudad Juárez and went into exile in Paris, where he died four years later. Porfirio Díaz was the sixth of seven children, baptized on 15 September 1830, in Oaxaca, Mexico , but his exact date of birth
742-509: The Reform War . During the Second French Intervention in Mexico , Díaz fought in the Battle of Puebla in 1862, which temporarily repulsed the invaders, but was captured when the French besieged the city with reinforcements a year later. He escaped captivity and made his way to Oaxaca City , becoming political and military commander over all of Southern Mexico, and successfully resisting French efforts to advance upon
795-466: The 20,000 troops commanded by Ortega. The Mexican defenders would hold out for two months from 16 March to 17 May in 1863, until they ran out of provisions. Against the advice of Díaz who suggested an offense, Ortega simply maintained a policy of defense, until the city was stormed. As street fighting broke out at the beginning of April, Díaz was in command of the most exposed quarter of the city made up of seventeen blocks, and he made his headquarters at
848-717: The French Intervention, Forey who had once fought against Díaz at Puebla, criticized Bazaine for not having had Díaz shot immediately upon capturing him. Throughout late 1865, as the French were still unable to secure the entire country, Napoleon III was led to the conclusion that France had gotten involved in a military quagmire. At the opening of the French Chambers in January 1866, he announced his intention of withdrawing French troops from Mexico. The French considered Emperor Maximilian to be doomed due to
901-506: The French administration and the military of the conquered Mexican territories fell upon Marshal Bazaine , already present with the expedition, who officially assumed his post on 1 October 1862. By October 1863 Díaz was placed in charge of the Eastern division of the Mexican military with command over 3000 men. General Díaz proceeded to sweep through the states of Queretaro , Michoacan , and Mexico , into Guerrero , proceeding to capture
954-467: The French as a means of receiving the military aid that would return them to power. Díaz would once again have to fight many of the men he once faced in the Reform War such as Leonardo Márquez and the ex-Conservative president Miguel Miramon . Eventually, Porfirio Díaz as well would be personally asked to join the French, an offer which he would refuse. The French loss at the Battle of Puebla delayed
1007-527: The French left him in Mexico to his fate, the last French troops departing by March 1867. When Díaz returned to Oaxaca in late 1865, he found his army of the South dispersed, and enemy forces controlling the Oaxacan coast along with Tehuantepec . By Spring, 1866, Díaz had gained some victories, aided by local uprisings. He began to focus on cutting off communications between Oaxaca City and Veracruz Díaz won
1060-466: The French march into the interior of Mexico by a year while Lorencez awaited reinforcements from France. Meanwhile, Díaz had been made military governor of the Veracruz district. Soon after the Battle of Puebla, General Zaragoza died of typhus and was replaced in his command by Jesús González Ortega . A second French siege of Puebla was this time led by Élie Frédéric Forey with 26,000 men, against
1113-556: The French were repulsed by attacks of Mexican cavalry and infantry. During the battle, Díaz was not present at the hill but rather on the plains to the right of the Mexican front, where he repulsed another French attack. General Díaz pursued the French on their retreat to the Hacienda San Jose Renteria until recalled by Zaragoza. The French attributed their defeat at Puebla to a lack of Conservative Party support. The Mexican monarchist expatriates who had given
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#17327730082201166-533: The Liberal caudillo Juan Álvarez . After openly expressing support for Álvarez, Díaz was forced to flee Oaxaca City and joined up with the Liberal partisan, Francisco Herrera. Authorities managed to attack and disperse Herrera's troops, and Díaz once more had to flee, but the Ayutla movement was increasingly growing in strength. When the Liberals captured Oaxaca City, Díaz was made subprefect of Ixtlan . As sub-prefect Díaz helped in an ill-fated effort to put down
1219-418: The October elections came and went with Lerdo winning an overwhelming majority of votes, Díaz realized that his case was hopeless and finally submitted unconditionally before the amnesty in late October. Cient%C3%ADfico The Científicos (from Spanish : "scientists" or "those scientifically oriented") were a circle of technocratic advisors to President of Mexico Porfirio Díaz . Steeped in
1272-735: The Reform War broke out, he maintained his command in Ixtlan, until the Conservative General Marcelino Cobos defeated the Liberal forces in Oaxaca in January 1858 Díaz was shot in the leg and would not recover for four months. Díaz rejoined the war and was present when Cobos was defeated in Xalapa in February 1858. Diaz was subsequently named Governor and Military Commandant of the district of Tehuantepec . He
1325-508: The capital he did not attack, and a seventy-day standoff ensued. Meanwhile, the Siege of Querétaro against Emperor Maximilian's headquarters was ongoing and ultimately ended by May 14 in a Liberal victory. Even after Maximilian had been captured, Leonardo Márquez was stalling for time at Mexico City, but hope for the imperialists was running out. Márquez' officer General O’Horan went to meet Díaz without authorization and offered to surrender
1378-533: The city Díaz ordered his military bakers to begin supplying the city's starving population with food. He placed the city under martial law to prevent looting but also began a house-by-house search for any remaining imperialist officers. Márquez would never be found and he successfully escaped the country to find refuge in Cuba. Díaz declared himself a candidate for presidential elections scheduled for August 1867 Meanwhile, President Juarez proposed certain amendments to
1431-551: The city and by April 25, Forey was contemplating suspending military operations until larger siege guns could arrive. Despite the ongoing stalemate, the French were reassured by the knowledge that the Mexicans were running out of food and supplies. Díaz, among other officers, managed to escape before even arriving in Veracruz. Díaz then headed for Mexico City to report to President Benito Juárez . The president prepared to depart Mexico City and commissioned Díaz to raise troops for
1484-456: The city to an attack much like the one he had once defended it from, taking the city by 2 April. Díaz spared the troops, but ordered the execution of the officers, taunting them by saying that “even though they had not lived like men, they could die like men”. All that remained of the Empire were Querétaro City , where Maximilian and his leading generals were present, Mexico City, and Veracruz,
1537-418: The city, warning Díaz that Márquez was about the escape, but Díaz rejected the offer. On 20 June, the day after Maximilian had been executed, Díaz ordered a barrage of artillery against the positions of the enemy, and his observers suddenly began to notice white flags of surrender. The remaining imperialist officers were arrested and it was discovered that Márquez had disappeared the day before. Upon occupying
1590-419: The command of Díaz managed in the Battle of San Juan Bautista to back the capital of Tabasco , in February 1864. Díaz's hold was consolidated enough that he began making excursions into Veracruz, and Minatitlán was taken by 28 March 1864. Meanwhile, French control over central Mexico was rapidly expanding, and by March 1864 President Juárez had fled to Monterrey . Even as the northern military situation
1643-412: The constitution, and opponents of them began to coalesce around Diaz's campaign. Juárez subsequently won the presidential election and began a new term scheduled to end on 30 November 1871. Juárez controversially once more declared his candidacy for the 1871 elections which he won again against Díaz. Supporters of Díaz accused the government of engaging in election fraud, refused to recognize Juárez as
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1696-699: The defense of the city. It was such an important republican stronghold, that Bazaine himself assumed command of the operation in person. By February 1865, the French had surrounded the city with siege materials and 7000 troops. An assault was scheduled for 9 February. Due to mass desertions which left him outnumbered ten to one, Díaz chose not to fight, instead surrendering unconditionally. Díaz and his officers were taken prisoner and sent to Puebla . After being kept seven months in Puebla, Díaz managed to escape from French confinement yet again and returned to Oaxaca. When news of this reached Paris, former commander of
1749-455: The effort. His command over the forces of Oaxaca was passed down to Cristóbal Salinas. Díaz's old mentor Marcos Perez fell into a quarrel with Salinas over his strategy, and Díaz failed to mediate. Juarez replaced Salinas with Vicente Rosas Landa, but the Liberals in Oaxaca were defeated at the hands of Cobos in November 1859. Díaz and Salinas found refuge in the mountains of Ixtlan. While
1802-447: The elderly Liberal caudillo, and former president of Mexico, Juan Álvarez . By the end of the year, the French were making scouting expeditions and building roads to make further attempts south. Finally, in early 1865, a French expedition against Díaz's base of operations in Oaxaca City set out under General Courtois d’Hurbal by way of Yanhuitlan . Díaz evacuated Oaxaca City and began to build barricades while commanding 6000 troops for
1855-509: The fortune of the Liberals appeared to be at a low ebb at Oaxaca, the Conservatives as a whole at this point, were losing the war throughout the entire country, rapidly being drained of funds and resources. This helped Díaz and Salinas take back Oaxaca City by August 1860. Díaz was promoted to colonel and transferred from the National Guard to the regular army. He was present at the decisive Battle of Calpulalpan , which decisively ended
1908-412: The friendship of Don Marcos Pérez and Indigenous judge and professor of law at the Institute of Arts and Sciences through which Díaz also came to know his future colleague and president of Mexico, Benito Juárez who was at that time Governor of Oaxaca. Díaz passed his first examination in civil and canon law in 1853, at the age of 23. In that same year however, a Conservative Party coup overthrew
1961-437: The idea of a Mexican monarchy to Napoleon III had also been working independently of any Mexican authority or political party. When the French invaders arrived in Mexico they found the Conservatives reluctant to help the French in establishing a monarchy and proclaiming their loyalty to the type of centralist republic they had once established in Mexico. However, the Conservatives were increasingly won over to collaborate with
2014-625: The latter two which had, through Díaz’ capture of Puebla, been cut off from communications with each other. Leonardo Márquez had been sent from Queretaro to relieve the siege of Puebla, but he was too late. Díaz pursued Márquez and a skirmish ensued on 8 April, but Márquez got away and made it back to Mexico City Díaz now focused on taking back Mexico City and succeeded in seizing Chapultepec Castle , Maximilian's former residence, from its remaining imperial defenders, subsequently making it his headquarters. Díaz now had Mexico City surrounded with 28,000 troops yet being concerned with preventing damage to
2067-479: The legitimate president, and prepared to take up arms. The subsequent insurrection would come to be known as the Plan de la Noria from the eponymous Oaxacan town in which the revolution was proclaimed on 8 November 1871. Supporting revolts flared up across the country, but Juárez sustained himself against them until dying in office on 18 July 1872, the presidency passing on to the legal successor Sebastian Lerdo de Tejada . President Lerdo offered an amnesty to
2120-565: The military district of Queretaro . After capturing Mexico City in June 1863, Dubois de Saligny, Napoleon's representative, appointed the members of a Mexican puppet government tasked with ratifying French intentions of establishing a monarchy. On 8 July 1863, this so-called Assembly of Notables resolved to change the nation into a monarchy, inviting Napoleon's candidate, Maximilian of Habsburg , to become Emperor of Mexico. In August, Forey and Saligny were recalled to France, and command over
2173-552: The principle of no re-election. Díaz succeeded in seizing power, ousting Lerdo in a coup in 1876 , with the help of his political supporters, and was elected in 1877 . In 1880, he stepped down and his political ally Manuel González was elected president, serving from 1880 to 1884. In 1884, Díaz abandoned the idea of no re-election and held office continuously until 1911. A controversial figure in Mexican history, Díaz's regime ended political instability and achieved growth after decades of economic stagnation. He and his allies comprised
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2226-581: The rebels in July 1872, an offer which many commanders subsequently took. Díaz himself refused it, and on 1 August, sent a letter to the president urging a modification of the amnesty terms and urging an extension for upcoming presidential elections in October ostensibly to allow rebellious regions to fully participate. The president was unyielding but so was Díaz, who urged Lerdo, in a later communication to also initiate constitutional reforms to prohibit presidential reelection. As more rebel commanders yielded and
2279-713: The region, until Oaxaca City fell before a French siege in 1865. Díaz once more escaped captivity seven months later and rejoined the army of the Mexican Republic as the Second Mexican Empire disintegrated in the wake of the French departure. As Emperor Maximilian made a last stand in Querétaro , Díaz was in command of the forces that took back Mexico City in June 1867. During the era of the Restored Republic , he subsequently revolted against presidents Benito Juárez and Sebastián Lerdo de Tejada on
2332-435: The rich silver-bearing town of Taxco on 29 October. Díaz then proceeded south toward Oaxaca recruiting more men on the way until his forces had swelled to 8000 troops. The state of Oaxaca would be his main base of operations for the rest of the war. Porfirio Díaz was now not only the military but also the political commander over all unoccupied territories south of Veracruz. As the French made encroachments, forces under
2385-413: The strongest point of the district which was a large building known as the meson de San Marcos . As Díaz planned his defenses, the French advanced with artillery and cannonballs began to crash through the building. As French zouaves poured through the breaches, they were repulsed every time, and by the evening Díaz had regained complete control over his headquarters. Similar scenes occurred throughout
2438-438: The vicinity of Orizaba . Díaz and Zaragoza were forced to retreat before ending up in the city of Puebla by 3 May. On the morning of 5 May, Díaz was in command of the Oaxaca battalion , guarding one of the roads leading into Puebla. Commander of the French forces, Charles de Lorencez ordered his troops to ascend a hill overlooking the town for a direct attack upon the forts of Loreto and Guadalupe. The ascent failed, and
2491-505: The war in favor of the Liberals. The victorious President Juarez reentered the capital in January 1861. Díaz also joined the national congress as a deputy from Ocotlan . The Conservative government had ceased to operate and its president, Miguel Miramon had fled the nation, but Conservative guerillas were still active in the countryside. In June 1861, the Conservative General Leonardo Márquez made
2544-462: Was a Mexican general , politician, and dictator who served on three separate occasions as President of Mexico , a total of over 30 years, from 28 November 1876 to 6 December 1876, 17 February 1877 to 1 December 1880, and 1 December 1884 to 25 May 1911. The entire period from 1876 to 1911 is often referred to as the Porfiriato , and has been characterized as a de facto dictatorship . Díaz
2597-470: Was an illiterate dependiente , or workman employed by a firm of merchants. In 1808, he had married Patrona Mori, whose mother was Mixtec , and whose father could trace his ancestry from Asturias . Eventually, Jose de la Cruz had saved enough to start planting agave , and he opened a wayside inn in Oaxaca City to sell the products of his business. Jose de la Cruz died in 1833 of cholera when Díaz
2650-543: Was born to a Oaxacan family of modest means. He initially studied to become a priest but eventually switched his studies to law, and among his mentors was the future President of Mexico, Benito Juárez . Díaz increasingly became active in Liberal Party politics fighting with the Liberals to overthrow Santa Anna in the Plan of Ayutla , and also fighting on their side against the Conservative Party in
2703-471: Was dire, Díaz still maintained a solid hold over Guerrero , Oaxaca , Tabasco , and Chiapas . Meanwhile, Emperor Maximilian and his wife Charlotte, now Empress of Mexico finally arrived in Mexico City on 12 June 1864. By December 1864, forces under Díaz had taken back the port of Acapulco . The French still struggled to make any inroads south against the forces commanded by Díaz and his lieutenant,
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#17327730082202756-695: Was given command over 150 men and tasked with raising funds and receiving arms imported from the United States. Díaz chose the coast town of Juchitán de Zaragoza as his headquarters and exercised his command for two years. For winning repeated victories against the Conservatives he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel. At the beginning of 1860, Díaz went to the aid of the Liberal general José María Díaz Ordaz in defending Oaxaca City against Cobos. The latter fell upon Díaz at Mitla on 20 January and defeated him, but Cobos retreated as Ordaz arrived with reinforcements, only for Ordaz to lose his life in
2809-517: Was only three years old. Patrona Mori began to manage the inn while raising her multiple children. The young Díaz was sent to primary school at the age of 6 and at one point was apprenticed to a carpenter. In 1845, at the age of fifteen, Díaz entered the Colegio Seminario Conciliar de Oaxaca , to study for the priesthood, sponsored by his godfather, José Agustín Domínguez, canon of and eventually Bishop of Oaxaca. In 1846,
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