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115-572: The Villa Museum and its extensive collection of memorabilia of Villa's life, as well as souvenirs and documents relating to other revolutionary leaders, was turned over to the Mexican government in 1981 upon the death of Mrs. Villa. One may view the saddles of the 'Centaur of the North', as Villa was styled. These common saddles are known as the McClellan saddle, developed by General George Brinton . It

230-407: A "military mission" to Europe, distancing him from Mexico and potential political supporters. "The potential challenge from Reyes would remain one of Díaz's political obsessions through the rest of the decade, which ultimately blinded him to the danger of the challenge of Francisco Madero's anti-re-electionist campaign." In 1910, Francisco I. Madero , a young man from a wealthy landowning family in

345-414: A combination of bribes and other economic lures for those he could not confront militarily. He divided Mexico into eleven military zones, whose boundaries did not correspond to state boundaries. To prevent collusion between the state governors, whom he appointed, and military commanders, he rotated commanders on a regular basis so that they could not build a local power base. By a variety of means, he reduced

460-414: A coup to oppose the re-election of Sebastián Lerdo de Tejada , he could not run for re-election in 1880. His close ally, General Manuel González , was elected president (1880–1884). Díaz saw himself as indispensable, and after that interruption, he ran for the presidency again and served in office continuously until 1911. The constitution had been amended to allow unlimited presidential re-election. During

575-524: A legal framework and began murdering political opponents while battling revolutionary forces that had united in opposition to his regime. Federal Army The Federal Army ( Spanish : Ejército Federal ), also known as the Federales (English: Federals ) in popular culture, was the army of Mexico from 1876 to 1914 during the Porfiriato , the rule of President Porfirio Díaz , and during

690-464: A major socioeconomic revolution but offered hopes of change for many disadvantaged Mexicans. The plan strongly opposed militarism in Mexico as it was constituted under Díaz, calling on Federal Army generals to resign before true democracy could prevail in Mexico. Madero realized he needed a revolutionary armed force, enticing men to join with the promise of formal rank, and encouraged Federales to join

805-670: A mass conscription ( leva ), of men on the streets by his press-gangs. Press-gangs would capture men as they left church or pull them from cinemas. Very few of the men under his command were volunteers and many deserted the army. Huerta tried improving morale by increasing pay in May 1913 by 50%. At the same time 382 military cadets were given commissions and attempts were made to increase the number of cadets in training. Federal army generals were often corrupt and guilty of undermining morale with poor leadership. Some were so corrupt their dealings extended as far as selling ammunition, food and uniforms to

920-572: A million acres). Many Mexicans became landless peasants laboring on these vast estates or industrial workers toiling long hours for low wages. Foreign companies (mostly from the United Kingdom, France, and the U.S.) also exercised influence in Mexico. Díaz had legitimacy as a leader through his battlefield accomplishments. He knew that the long tradition of military intervention in politics and its resistance to civilian control would prove challenging to his remaining in power. He set about curbing

1035-431: A political machine, first working with regional strongmen and bringing them into his regime, then replacing them with jefes políticos (political bosses) who were loyal to him. He skillfully managed political conflict and reined in tendencies toward autonomy. He appointed several military officers to state governorships, including General Bernardo Reyes , who became governor of the northern state of Nuevo León , but over

1150-578: A powerful figure for conservative forces opposing the Madero regime. During the Orozco revolt, the governor of Chihuahua mobilized the state militia to support the Federal Army. Pancho Villa , now a colonel in the militia, was called up at this time. In mid-April, at the head of 400 irregular troops, he joined the forces commanded by Huerta. Huerta, however, viewed Villa as an ambitious competitor. During

1265-484: A powerful military union in the north and, although they were not especially committed to Madero, took Mexicali and Chihuahua City . These victories encouraged alliances with other revolutionary leaders, including Villa. Against Madero's wishes, Orozco and Villa fought for and won Ciudad Juárez, bordering El Paso , Texas, on the south side of the Rio Grande . Madero's call to action had unanticipated results, such as

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1380-466: A respectable revolutionary, with the explanation that Orozco had not reached the legal age to serve as governor, a tactic that was "a useful constitutional alibi for thwarting the ambitions of young, popular, revolutionary leaders". Madero had put Orozco in charge of the large force of rurales in Chihuahua, but to a gifted revolutionary fighter who had helped bring about Díaz's fall, Madero's reward

1495-547: A short period to San Antonio, Texas . Díaz was announced the winner of the election by a "landslide". On 5 October 1910, Madero issued a "letter from jail", known as the Plan de San Luis Potosí , with its main slogan Sufragio Efectivo, No Re-elección ("effective voting, no re-election"). It declared the Díaz presidency illegal and called for a revolt against him, starting on 20 November 1910. Madero's political plan did not outline

1610-680: A story told by Pancho Villa , a leader who had defeated Díaz's army and forced his resignation and exile, he told Madero at a banquet in Ciudad Juárez in 1911, "You [Madero], sir, have destroyed the revolution ... It's simple: this bunch of dandies have made a fool of you, and this will eventually cost us our necks, yours included." Ignoring the warning, Madero increasingly relied on the Federal Army as armed rebellions broke out in Mexico in 1911–12, with particularly threatening insurrections led by Emiliano Zapata in Morelos and Pascual Orozco in

1725-412: A term ending in 1920. He attempted to impose a civilian successor, prompting northern revolutionary generals to rebel. Carranza fled Mexico City and was killed. From 1920 to 1940, revolutionary generals held the office of president, each completing their terms (except from 1928-1934). This was a period when state power became more centralized, and revolutionary reform implemented, bringing the military under

1840-747: A visit to Huerta's headquarters in June 1912, after an incident in which he refused to return a number of stolen horses, Villa was imprisoned on charges of insubordination and robbery and sentenced to death. Raúl Madero, the President's brother, intervened to save Villa's life. Jailed in Mexico City, Villa escaped and fled to the United States, later to return and play a major role in the civil wars of 1913–1915. There were other rebellions, one led by Bernardo Reyes and another by Félix Díaz , nephew of

1955-589: Is a photograph of Rafael Mendoza, a native of Maderas, Chihuahua, who during the Mexican Revolution invented the first air-cooled machine gun, capable of firing 250 rounds per minute. In another showcase, known as the Tragic Room, museum visitors are able to witness the death of General Villa. There is a display that shows the map of the route Villa took before his assassination, and his death mask, taken three hours after his death. On display throughout

2070-609: Is reportedly buried in the Monumento a la Revolución in Mexico City . The house was constructed between 1905 and 1907. It is in Chihuahua , Mexico, at 3010, Colonia Santa Rosa. By 1911 the house could no longer fulfill his needs. When Villa was governor of Chihuahua in early 1914, he began to remodel and enlarge the area making it a residence known as "Quinta Luz", in honor of his wife, Señora doña Luz Corral. The works of

2185-476: The 1910 presidential election and Díaz jailed him, Madero called for an armed uprising against Díaz in the Plan of San Luis Potosí . Rebellions broke out first in Morelos and then to a much greater extent in northern Mexico. The Federal Army could not suppress the widespread uprisings, showing the military's weakness and encouraging the rebels. Díaz resigned in May 1911 and went into exile, an interim government

2300-680: The Magonista rebellion of 1911 in Baja California. With the Federal Army defeated in several battles with irregular, voluntary forces, Díaz's government began negotiations with the revolutionaries in the north. In historian Edwin Lieuwen's assessment, "Victors always attribute their success to their own heroic deeds and superior fighting abilities ... In the spring of 1911, armed bands under self-appointed chiefs arose all over

2415-717: The Mexican Liberal Party ( Partido Liberal de México ) drew up a radical program of reform, specifically addressing what they considered to be the worst aspects of the Díaz regime. Most prominent in the PLM were Ricardo Flores Magón and his two brothers, Enrique and Jesús . They, along with Luis Cabrera and Antonio Díaz Soto y Gama , were connected to the anti-Díaz publication El Hijo del Ahuizote . Political cartoons by José Guadalupe Posada lampooned politicians and cultural elites with mordant humor, portraying them as skeletons. The Liberal Party of Mexico founded

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2530-517: The company store , binding them to the company. These strikes were ruthlessly suppressed, with factory owners receiving support from government forces. In the Cananea strike, mine owner William Cornell Greene received support from Díaz's rurales in Sonora as well as Arizona Rangers called in from across the U.S. border. This Arizona Rangers were ordered to use violence to combat labor unrest. In

2645-428: The "true authors" of the Mexican Revolution for agitating the masses. As the 1910 election approached, Francisco I. Madero , an emerging political figure and member of one of Mexico's richest families, funded the newspaper Anti-Reelectionista , in opposition to the continual re-election of Díaz. Organized labor conducted strikes for better wages and just treatment. Demands for better labor conditions were central to

2760-447: The 1910 election. At age 80, this set the scene for a possible peaceful transition in the presidency. It set off a flurry of political activity. To the dismay of potential candidates to replace him, he reversed himself and ran again. His later reversal on retiring from the presidency set off tremendous activity among opposition groups. Díaz seems to have initially considered Finance Minister José Yves Limantour as his successor. Limantour

2875-453: The 1910 presidential elections. A rich hacienda owner from Coahuila, Francisco I. Madero , published a book entitled The Presidential Succession of 1910 , excoriating militarism in Mexico and calling for democracy. Madero's ideal was civilian rule. Only when it became more than clear that Díaz would remain in power by any means did Madero call for an armed rebellion against him in the 1910 Plan of San Luis Potosí . Minor rebellions broke out on

2990-455: The 20 November 1910 date he set, which the Federal Army suppressed. But more a more serious rebellion in Chihuahua led by Pascual Orozco and Pancho Villa demonstrated the weakness of the Federal forces, surprising the rebels. More rebellions in various parts of Mexico broke out, forcing Díaz to resign in May 1911. "Considering the small number of battles actually fought, [the rebel] triumph

3105-595: The 30,000 in the army and another 30,000 in the federal auxiliaries, irregulars and National Guard. Despite their small numbers, the rurales were highly effective in controlling the countryside, especially along the 12,000 miles of railway lines. They were a mobile force, often sent on trains with their horses to put down rebellions in relatively remote areas of Mexico. The construction of railways had been transformative in Mexico (as well as elsewhere in Latin America), accelerating economic activity and increasing

3220-430: The Díaz regime was authoritarian and centralizing, it was not a military dictatorship. His first presidential cabinet was staffed with military men, but over successive terms as president, important posts were held by able and loyal civilians. He did not create a personal dynasty, excluding family from the realms of power, although his nephew Félix attempted to seize power after the fall of the regime in 1911. Díaz created

3335-682: The Díaz regime, such as Ricardo Flores Magón and Práxedis Guerrero, went into exile in the relative safety of the United States, but cooperation between the U.S. government and Díaz's agents resulted in the arrest of some radicals. Díaz had ruled continuously since 1884. The question of presidential succession was an issue as early as 1900 when he turned 70. Díaz re-established the office of vice president in 1906, choosing Ramón Corral . Rather than managing political succession, Díaz marginalized Corral, keeping him away from decision-making. Díaz publicly announced in an interview with journalist James Creelman for Pearson's Magazine that he would not run in

3450-487: The Federal Army and the Huerta regime fell. Like Porfirio Díaz, Huerta went into exile. The Federal Army was disbanded, leaving only revolutionary military forces. Upon taking power, Huerta had moved swiftly to consolidate his hold in the North, having learned the lesson from Díaz's fall that the north was a crucial region to hold. Within a month of the coup, rebellions began to spread throughout Mexico, most prominently led by

3565-665: The Federal Army ceased to exist as an entity, with the signing of the Teoloyucan Treaties . The Federal Army in Mexico had long been an interventionist force in Mexican politics, with notable generals becoming Presidents of Mexico. After the War of the Reform and the successful ouster of the French empire in Mexico in 1867, the soldiers who defeated them were adherents of the liberalism . General Porfirio Díaz rose through

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3680-642: The Federal Army eagerly responded to the call, most prominently Pancho Villa. Alvaro Obregón of Sonora, a successful rancher and businessman who had not participated in the Madero revolution, now joined the revolutionary forces in the north, the Constitutionalist Army under the Primer Jefe ("First Chief") Venustiano Carranza. Huerta had Governor González arrested and murdered, for fear he would foment rebellion. When northern General Pancho Villa became governor of Chihuahua in 1914, following

3795-466: The Federal Army to Morelos. In February 1912, the Federal army consisted of 32,594 regulars and 15,550 irregulars. This was far below the official number of 80,000 as stated by the army executive. By September of the same year the official strength of the army was 85,000 men. In addition there were 16,000 Rurales , 4,000 Urban Police and 16,200 Militia, rural guards and other pro-government men under arms. In April 1914 Huerta claimed his army had reached

3910-743: The Federal Army was incapable of responding. Although revolutionary fighters helped bring Francisco I. Madero to power, Madero retained the Federal Army rather than the revolutionaries. Madero used the Federal Army to suppress rebellions against his government by Pascual Orozco and Emiliano Zapata . Madero placed General Victoriano Huerta as interim commander of the military during the Ten Tragic Days of February 1913 to defend his government. Huerta changed sides and ousted Madero's government. Rebellions broke out against Huerta's regime. When revolutionary armies succeeded in ousting Huerta in July 1914,

4025-587: The Federal Army's weakness and inability to suppress them. Madero's vague promises of land reform attracted many peasants throughout the country. Spontaneous rebellions arose in which ordinary farm laborers, miners and other working-class Mexicans, along with much of the country's population of indigenous peoples, fought Díaz's forces with some success. Madero attracted the forces of rebel leaders such as Pascual Orozco , Pancho Villa , Emiliano Zapata , and Venustiano Carranza . A young and able revolutionary, Orozco—along with Chihuahua Governor Abraham González —formed

4140-404: The French in the 1860s. Some 9,000 officers commanded the 25,000 rank-and-file on the books, with some 7,000 padding the rosters and nonexistent so that officers could receive the subsidies for the numbers they commanded. Officers used their positions for personal enrichment through salary and opportunities for graft. Although Mexicans had enthusiastically volunteered in the war against the French ,

4255-510: The Interim President, said of him that "De la Barra wants to accommodate himself with dignity to the inevitable advance of the ex-revolutionary influence, while accelerating the widespread collapse of the Madero party." The Federal Army, despite its numerous defeats by the revolutionaries, remained intact as the government's force. Madero called on revolutionary fighters to lay down their arms and demobilize, which Emiliano Zapata and

4370-631: The Liberal Party program, drawn up in 1905. Mexican copper miners in the northern state of Sonora took action in the 1906 Cananea strike . Starting June 1, 1906, 5,400 miners began organizing labor strikes. Among other grievances, they were paid less than U.S. nationals working in the mines. In the state of Veracruz, textile workers rioted in January 1907 at the huge Río Blanco factory, the world's largest, protesting against unfair labor practices. They were paid in credit that could be used only at

4485-620: The Madero era, including El País and La Nación , only to be later suppressed under the Victoriano Huerta regime (1913–1914). Under Díaz relations between the Roman Catholic Church and the Mexican government were stable, with the anticlerical laws of the Mexican Constitution of 1857 remaining in place, but not enforced, so conflict was muted. During Madero's presidency, Church-state conflict

4600-414: The Madero regime, "Madero clearly welcomed the emergence of a kind of two-party system (Catholic and liberal); he encouraged Catholic political involvement, echoing the exhortations of the episcopate." What was emerging during the Madero regime was "Díaz's old policy of Church-state detente was being continued, perhaps more rapidly and on surer foundations." The Catholic Church in Mexico was working within

4715-420: The Mexico City revolt as interim commander. He did not know that Huerta had been invited to join the conspiracy, but had initially held back. During the fighting that took place in the capital, the civilian population was subjected to artillery exchanges, street fighting and economic disruption, perhaps deliberately caused by the coupists to demonstrate that Madero was unable to keep order. The Madero presidency

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4830-682: The Porfiriato, there were regular elections, widely considered sham exercises, marked by contentious irregularities. In his early years in the presidency, Díaz consolidated power by playing opposing factions against each other and by expanding the Rurales , an armed police militia directly under his control that seized land from local peasants. Peasants were forced to make futile attempts to win back their land through courts and petitions. By 1900, over ninety percent of Mexico's communal lands were sold, with an estimated 9.5 million peasants forced into

4945-622: The World Worker) was founded in September 1912 by Antonio Díaz Soto y Gama , Manuel Sarabia, and Lázaro Gutiérrez de Lara and served as a center of agitation and propaganda, but it was not a formal labor union. Political parties proliferated. One of the most important was the National Catholic Party, which in several regions of the country was particularly strong. Several Catholic newspapers were in circulation during

5060-584: The Zapatistas, the Villistas, and other rebels, following the expulsion of Huerta, the Federist force disbanded and disappeared." At the time the full strength of the Federal army was 10 Generals of Division, 61 Generals of Brigade, 1,006 Jefes, 2,446 Officers, 24,800 other ranks and 7,058 horses. In addition there were 21 regiments of Rurales with 500 men in each, a total of 10,500 men. The Federal army

5175-432: The alternatives often rebelled and were crushed. It took him some 15 years to accomplish the transformation, reducing the army by 500 officers and 25 generals, creating an army subordinate to central power. He also created the military academy to train officers, but their training aimed to repel foreign invasions. Díaz expanded the rural police force, the rurales as an elite guard, including many former bandits , under

5290-482: The amount of productive land; labor reforms including workman's compensation and the eight-hour day; but also defended the right of the government to intervene in strikes. According to historian Peter V. N. Henderson, De la Barra's and congress's actions "suggests that few Porfirians wished to return to the status quo of the dictatorship. Rather, the thoughtful, progressive members of the Porfirian meritocracy recognized

5405-494: The anti-Díaz anarchist newspaper Regeneración , which appeared in both Spanish and English. In exile in the United States, Práxedis Guerrero began publishing an anti-Díaz newspaper, Alba Roja ("Red Dawn"), in San Francisco, California. Although leftist groups were small, they became influential through their publications, articulating their opposition to the Díaz regime. Francisco Bulnes described these men as

5520-437: The army intact as an institution, using it to put down domestic rebellions against his regime. Huerta was a professional soldier and continued to serve in the army under the new commander-in-chief. Huerta's loyalty lay with General Bernardo Reyes rather than with the civilian Madero. In 1912, under pressure from his cabinet, Madero called on Huerta to suppress Orozco's rebellion. With Huerta's success against Orozco, he emerged as

5635-479: The army of former ally Francisco "Pancho" Villa by the summer of 1915. Carranza consolidated power and a new constitution was promulgated in February 1917. The Mexican Constitution of 1917 established universal male suffrage , promoted secularism , workers' rights , economic nationalism , and land reform , and enhanced the power of the federal government. Carranza became President of Mexico in 1917, serving

5750-484: The arts of modern warfare. By 1900, some 9,000 graduates were officers in the Federal Army. Military training prepared cadets for war with foreign invaders, when the reality was the army dealt with internal order, along with the rural police force . By early 1900, the majority of generals in the military were not trained at the military academy, but had participated in the war against the French, that had ended some 35 years previously. The generals were old. The Federal Army

5865-575: The civilian government's control. The Revolution was a decade-long civil war, with new political leadership that gained power and legitimacy through their participation in revolutionary conflicts. The political party those leaders founded in 1929, which would become the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), ruled Mexico until the presidential election of 2000 . When the Revolution ended, is not well defined, and even

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5980-413: The conservative winner of the 2000 election, Vicente Fox , contended his election was heir to the 1910 democratic election of Francisco Madero, thereby claiming the heritage and legitimacy of the Revolution. Liberal general and war veteran Porfirio Díaz came to the presidency of Mexico in 1876 and remained almost continuously in office until 1911 in an era now called Porfiriato . Coming to power after

6095-557: The counter-revolutionary regime of Huerta, the Constitutionalist Army led by the Governor of Coahuila Venustiano Carranza , entered the conflict. Zapata's forces continued their armed rebellion in Morelos. Huerta's regime lasted from February 1913 to July 1914, and the Federal Army was defeated by revolutionary armies. The revolutionary armies then fought each other, with the Constitutionalist faction under Carranza defeating

6210-434: The defeat of Huerta, he located González's bones and had them reburied with full honors. In Morelos, Emiliano Zapata continued his rebellion under the Plan of Ayala (while expunging the name of counter-revolutionary Pascual Orozco from it), calling for the expropriation of land and redistribution to peasants. Huerta offered peace to Zapata, who rejected it. The Huerta government was thus challenged by revolutionary forces in

6325-463: The demands of the Plan de Ayala and in rebellion against every central government up until his assassination by an agent of President Venustiano Carranza in 1919. The northern revolutionary General Pascual Orozco , a leader in taking Ciudad Juárez, had expected to become governor of Chihuahua. In 1911, although Orozco was "the man of the hour", Madero gave the governorship instead to Abraham González ,

6440-401: The destruction of the Federal Army , its replacement by a revolutionary army , and the transformation of Mexican culture and government . The northern Constitutionalist faction prevailed on the battlefield and drafted the present-day Constitution of Mexico , which aimed to create a strong central government. Revolutionary generals held power from 1920 to 1940. The revolutionary conflict

6555-430: The direct control of the president. With these forces, Díaz attempted to appease the Mexican countryside, led by a stable government that was nominally civilian, and the conditions to develop the country economically with the infusion of foreign investments. During Díaz's long tenure in office, the Federal Army became overstaffed and top-heavy with officers, many of them elderly who last saw active military service against

6670-457: The domestic production of wheat, corn and livestock that peasants had lived on. Wealth, political power and access to education were concentrated among a handful of elite landholding families mainly of European and mixed descent. These hacendados controlled vast swaths of the country through their huge estates (for example, the Terrazas had one estate in Sonora that alone comprised more than

6785-416: The end of her life, Villa's wife received visitors from bed, too weak to rise. In early 1981, Luz Corral, who was ill and too advanced in age to maintain the house, stipulated that when she died the house would be donated to the city, provided they turn it into a museum in honor of Villa. The Ministry of Defense accepted the offer. Mrs Villa died at age 89 on July 6, 1981. Because of the poor state in which it

6900-435: The enemy. Also guilty of this corruption were Huerta's two sons, Victoriano Jr. and Jorge, both of whom had been placed in important positions overseeing the procurement of arms, supplies, uniforms and ammunition. Despite these problems Huerta worked at creating an army capable of keeping him in power. He tried to expand the army by creating new units to distance them from the defeatism of the former Porfirista army. To bolster

7015-410: The essential structure of the Díaz regime, including the Federal Army, was kept in place. Madero fervently held to his position that Mexico needed real democracy, which included regime change by free elections, a free press, and the right of labor to organize and strike. The rebels who brought him to power were demobilized and Madero called on these men of action to return to civilian life. According to

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7130-445: The experience or the ideological inclination to reward men who had helped bring him to power. Some revolutionary leaders expected personal rewards, such as Pascual Orozco of Chihuahua. Others wanted major reforms, most especially Emiliano Zapata and Andrés Molina Enríquez , who had long worked for land reform . Madero met personally with Zapata, telling the guerrilla leader that the agrarian question needed careful study. His meaning

7245-539: The firm of Washington lawyer Sherburne Hopkins , the "world's best rigger of Latin-American revolutions", to encourage support in the U.S. A strategy to discredit Díaz with U.S. business and the U.S. government achieved some success, with Standard Oil representatives engaging in talks with Gustavo Madero. More importantly, the U.S. government "bent neutrality laws for the revolutionaries". In late 1910, revolutionary movements arose in response to Madero's Plan de San Luis Potosí . Still, their ultimate success resulted from

7360-493: The former president, that were quickly put down and the generals jailed. They were both in Mexico City prisons and, despite their geographical separation, they were able to foment yet another rebellion in February 1913. This period came to be known as the Ten Tragic Days ( La Decena Trágica ), which ended with Madero's resignation and assassination and Huerta assuming the presidency. Although Madero had reason to distrust Victoriano Huerta, Madero placed him in charge of suppressing

7475-481: The governor of the state of Coahuila, Venustiano Carranza , along with Pablo González . Huerta expected state governors to fall into line with the new government. But Carranza and Abraham González , Governor of Chihuahua did not. Carranza issued the Plan of Guadalupe , a strictly political plan to reject the legitimacy of the Huerta government, and called on revolutionaries to take up arms. Revolutionaries who had brought Madero to power only to be dismissed in favor of

7590-620: The house are numerous photographs. 28°37′36″N 106°04′07″W  /  28.6267°N 106.0685°W  / 28.6267; -106.0685 Mexican Revolution Revolutionary victory [REDACTED] Pro-government: [REDACTED] Anti-government: Supported by: Supported by: The Mexican Revolution ( Spanish : Revolución mexicana ) was an extended sequence of armed regional conflicts in Mexico from 20 November 1910 to 1 December 1920. It has been called "the defining event of modern Mexican history". It saw

7705-758: The months of the Interim Presidency and left in place the Federal Army. Madero had drawn some loyal and militarily adept supporters who brought down the Díaz regime by force of arms. Madero himself was not a natural soldier, and his decision to dismiss the revolutionary forces that brought him to power isolated him politically. He was an inexperienced politician, who had never held office before. He firmly held to democratic ideals, which many consider evidence of naivete. His election as president in October 1911 raised high expectations among many Mexicans for positive change. The Treaty of Ciudad Juárez guaranteed that

7820-483: The museum is Adolfo Carrasco Vargas. On the first floor of the museum are utensils and furniture that were commonly used by the Villa Corral family. On the second floor are five showrooms. The Hall of Arms is where the weapons Villa used in many of his combat missions are displayed. Some of the weapons on exhibit include revolvers, rifles, machine guns, cavalry sabers, baskets, and leather cases with brass. There

7935-567: The need for change." De la Barra's government sent General Victoriano Huerta to fight in Morelos against the Zapatistas, burning villages and wreaking havoc. His actions drove a wedge between Zapata and Madero, which widened when Madero was inaugurated as president. Zapata remained in arms continuously until his assassination in 1919. Madero won the 1911 election decisively and was inaugurated as president in November 1911, but his movement had lost crucial momentum and revolutionary supporters in

8050-480: The new democratic system promoted by Madero, but it had its interests to promote, some of which were the forces of the old conservative Church, while the new, progressive Church supporting social Catholicism of the 1891 papal encyclical Rerum Novarum was also a current. When Madero was overthrown in February 1913 by counter-revolutionaries, the conservative wing of the Church supported the coup. Madero did not have

8165-401: The north of Mexico and the strategic state of Morelos, just south of the capital. Huerta's presidency is usually characterized as a dictatorship. From the point of view of revolutionaries at the time and the construction of historical memory of the Revolution, it is without any positive aspects. "Despite recent attempts to portray Victoriano Huerta as a reformer, there is little question that he

8280-570: The north. Both Zapata and Orozco had led revolts that had put pressure on Díaz to resign, and both felt betrayed by Madero once he became president. The press embraced its newfound freedom and Madero became a target of its criticism. Organized labor, which had been suppressed under Díaz, could and did stage strikes, which foreign entrepreneurs saw as threatening their interests. Although there had been labor unrest under Díaz, labor's new freedom to organize also came with anti-American currents. The anarcho-syndicalist Casa del Obrero Mundial (House of

8395-478: The northern state of Coahuila , announced his intent to challenge Díaz for the presidency in the next election , under the banner of the Anti-Reelectionist Party. Madero chose as his running mate Francisco Vázquez Gómez , a physician who had opposed Díaz. Madero campaigned vigorously and effectively. To ensure Madero did not win, Díaz had him jailed before the election. He escaped and fled for

8510-650: The officer corps by 500, including 25 generals. Díaz also sought to professionalize the army. He moved the Mexican Military Academy back to Chapultepec Castle , the Presidential residence. In 1847, cadets at the academy resisted the invading U.S. forces , in their deaths called the Niños Héroes , but the academy was relocated and lost prestige. Díaz revived it, with cadets to be sons of "good families" (code for "white"). They were taught

8625-476: The power of the Mexican state. The isolation from the central government that many remote areas had enjoyed or suffered was ending. Telegraph lines constructed next to the railroad tracks meant instant communication between distant states and the capital. The political acumen and flexibility Díaz exhibited in his early years in office began to decline after 1900. He brought the state governors under his control, replacing them at will. The Federal Army, while large,

8740-539: The power of the military, reining in provincial military chieftains, and making them subordinate to the central government. He contended with a whole new group of generals who had fought for the liberal cause and who expected rewards for their services. He systematically dealt with them, providing some rivals with opportunities to enrich themselves, ensuring the loyalty of others with high salaries, and others were bought off by rewards of landed estates and redirecting their political ambitions. Military rivals who did not accept

8855-499: The power structure of the old regime remained firmly in place. Francisco León de la Barra became interim president, pending an election to be held in October 1911. Madero considered De la Barra an acceptable figure for the interim presidency since he was not a Científico or politician, but rather a Catholic lawyer and diplomat. He appeared to be a moderate, but the German ambassador to Mexico, Paul von Hintze , who associated with

8970-581: The presidencies of Francisco I. Madero and Victoriano Huerta . Under President Díaz, a military hero against the French Intervention in Mexico , the Federal Army was composed of senior officers who had served in long ago conflicts. At the time of the outbreak of the Mexican Revolution most were old men and incapable of leading men on the battlefield. When the rebellions broke out against Díaz following fraudulent elections of 1910,

9085-506: The presidency along with his vice president, Ramón Corral, by the end of May 1911 to be replaced by an interim president, Francisco León de la Barra , until elections were held. Díaz and his family and a number of top supporters were allowed to go into exile. When Díaz left for exile in Paris, he was reported as saying, "Madero has unleashed a tiger; let us see if he can control it." With Díaz in exile and new elections to be called in October,

9200-402: The ranks were now filled by draftees . There was a vast gulf between officers and the lower ranks. "The officer corps epitomized everything the masses resented about the Díaz system." With multiple rebellions breaking out in the wake of the fraudulent 1910 election, the military was unable to suppress them, revealing the regime's weakness and leading to Díaz's resignation in May 1911. Although

9315-542: The ranks without formal military training, and was a hero of the Battle of Puebla on 5 May 1862. He came to power by coup in 1876, ousting the civilian President Sebastián Lerdo . Díaz knew the power and the danger of a strong military and once he became President of Mexico, he sought to curtail the power of the generals, who held provincial power and were not under control of the central government. It took him "nearly fifteen years to achieve full military control." He did so by

9430-519: The rebels under Félix Díaz (Bernardo Reyes having been killed on the first day of the open armed conflict). U.S. Ambassador Henry Lane Wilson , who had done all he could to undermine U.S. confidence in Madero's presidency, brokered the Pact of the Embassy , which formalized the alliance between Félix Díaz and Huerta, with the backing of the United States. Huerta was to become provisional president following

9545-454: The regions under the greatest stress were not the ones that rebelled. Díaz effectively suppressed strikes, rebellions, and political opposition until the early 1900s. Mexicans began to organize in opposition to Díaz, who had welcomed foreign capital and capitalists, suppressed nascent labor unions, and consistently moved against peasants as agriculture flourished. In 1905 the group of Mexican intellectuals and political agitators who had created

9660-578: The remodeled house was made possible by Santo Vega, Hilario Berumen, Manuel Portillio, and Italian painter Mario Ferrer. It was remodeled into three sections: the main house where Villa stayed, the back house, and the courtyard. By 1915 the house became abandoned because the family took refuge in the United States. After five years, Villa's wife returned, reportedly because she missed her homeland, and Villa followed. He died in 1923 when he and his Centaurio del Norte bodyguards were assassinated in Parral. Near

9775-522: The republic, drove Díaz officials from the vicinity, seized money and stamps, and staked out spheres of local authority. Towns, cities, and the countryside passed into the hands of the Maderistas." Díaz sued for peace with Madero, who himself did not want a prolonged and bloody conflict. The result was the Treaty of Ciudad Juárez , signed on 21 May 1911. The signed treaty stated that Díaz would abdicate

9890-415: The resignations of Madero and his vice president, José María Pino Suárez. Rather than being sent into exile with their families, the two were murdered while being transported to prison—a shocking event, but one that did not prevent the Huerta regime's recognition by most world governments, with the notable exception of the U.S. Historian Friedrich Katz considers Madero's retention of the Federal Army, which

10005-664: The resolve of the population he militarized society in the Prussian style, including military-style uniforms for all government employees and schoolboys and military drills on Sundays. Huerta and his general also sent 31 cadets to Europe to study military aviation in order to increase Mexico's air power. Huerta's greatest success was attracting the support of many former rebels, such as Benjamin Argumedo, "Cheche" Campos and, most notably, Pascual Orozco , whom Huerta had fought against when serving Madero's government. Orozco offered Huerta

10120-529: The revolutionaries in Morelos refused to do. The cabinet of De la Barra and the Mexican congress was filled with supporters of the Díaz regime. Madero campaigned vigorously for the presidency during this interim period, but revolutionaries who had supported him and brought about Díaz's resignation were dismayed that the sweeping reforms they sought were not immediately instituted. He did introduce some progressive reforms, including improved funding for rural schools; promoting some aspects of agrarian reform to increase

10235-416: The revolutionary fighters who had helped bring him to power. In the aftermath of his assassination and Huerta's seizure of power via a military coup, former revolutionaries had no formal organization through which to raise opposition to Huerta. Madero's "martyrdom accomplished what he was unable to do while alive: unite all the revolutionists under one banner." Within 16 months, revolutionary armies defeated

10350-424: The revolutionary forces with the promise of promotion. Madero's plan was aimed at fomenting a popular uprising against Díaz, but he also understood that the support of the United States and U.S. financiers would be of crucial importance in undermining the regime. The rich and powerful Madero family drew on its resources to make regime change possible, with Madero's brother Gustavo A. Madero hiring, in October 1910,

10465-552: The service of wealthy landowners or hacendados . Diaz rigged elections, arguing that only he knew what was best for his country, and he enforced his belief with a strong hand. "Order and Progress" were the watchwords of his rule. Díaz's presidency was characterized by the promotion of industry and the development of infrastructure by opening the country to foreign investment. Díaz suppressed opposition and promoted stability to reassure foreign investors. Farmers and peasants both complained of oppression and exploitation. The situation

10580-432: The services of his 3,000–4,000 seasoned men, who proved essential in the fight against the Constitutionalist armies. When not helping the defense of Federal garrisons and towns, Orozco's men acted as very effective guerrillas. The Federal Army was disbanded on August 13, 1914, a month after Huerta's exile in the Teoloyucan Treaties . "Totally discredited, the old Federal army had come to the end of its run. Unable to control

10695-410: The size of 250,000 men, with 31 regiments of Rurales and 31,000 Militia. A more realistic assessment of his men by that July was 71,000, while U.S. observers said it was closer to 40,000. Specific numbers aside, the rapid expansion of the army had led to a deterioration in the quality of the average recruit, or more accurately, conscript. Huerta made an attempt to increase the size of the army by ordering

10810-603: The state of Veracruz, the Mexican army gunned down Rio Blanco textile workers and put the bodies on train cars that transported them to Veracruz, "where the bodies were dumped in the harbor as food for sharks". Since the press was censored in Mexico under Díaz, little was published that was critical of the regime. Newspapers barely reported on the Rio Blanco textile strike, the Cananea strike or harsh labor practices on plantations in Oaxaca and Yucatán. Leftist Mexican opponents of

10925-497: The supporters of the old [Díaz] regime are the main causes of the unsettling situation in which the government that emerged from the revolution finds itself ... The regime appears relentlessly bent on suicide." Huerta, formally in charge of the defense of Madero's regime, allowed the rebels to hold the armory in Mexico City—the Ciudadela—while he consolidated his political power. He changed allegiance from Madero to

11040-487: The victory of his cause. Revolutionary Pascual Orozco rebelled against Madero in 1912, and Madero sent the Federal Army to quash his burgeoning rebellion. Madero also sent troops to fight Emiliano Zapata , whose revolutionary forces had never demobilized and remained in rebellion until 1920. Shortly after Madero was elected president, Zapata and others issued the Plan of Ayala , declaring themselves in rebellion against Madero, since he had not moved on land reform. Madero sent

11155-531: The villagers' land and water rights. With the expansion of Mexican agriculture, landless peasants were forced to work for low wages or move to the cities. Peasant agriculture was under pressure as haciendas expanded, such as in the state of Morelos , just south of Mexico City, with its burgeoning sugar plantations. There was what one scholar has called "agrarian compression", in which "population growth intersected with land loss , declining wages and insecure tenancies to produce widespread economic deterioration", but

11270-416: The years military men were largely replaced by civilians loyal to Díaz. As a military man himself, and one who had intervened directly in politics to seize the presidency in 1876, Díaz was acutely aware that the Federal Army could oppose him. He augmented the rurales , a police force created by Benito Juárez , making them his private armed force. The rurales were only 2,500 in number, as opposed to

11385-603: Was a key member of the Científicos , the circle of technocratic advisers steeped in positivist political science. Another potential successor was General Bernardo Reyes , Díaz's Minister of War, who also served as governor of Nuevo León. Reyes, an opponent of the Científicos, was a moderate reformer with a considerable base of support. Díaz became concerned about him as a rival and forced him to resign from his cabinet. He attempted to marginalize Reyes by sending him on

11500-437: Was a reliable saddle and could fit any size horse. Also exhibited are his pistols in the armory, along with his bedroom, living quarters, and photographic memorabilia relating to his activities during the Mexican Revolution . The centerpiece of the collection in the courtyard is the bullet-ridden Dodge automobile in which he and his bodyguards were assassinated in 1923 in the city of Hidalgo del Parral in southern Chihuahua. He

11615-456: Was a self-serving dictator." There are few biographies of Huerta, but one strongly asserts that Huerta should not be labeled simply as a counter-revolutionary, arguing that his regime consisted of two distinct periods: from the coup in February 1913 up to October 1913. During that time he attempted to legitimize his regime and demonstrate its legality by pursuing reformist policies; and after October 1913, when he dropped all attempts to rule within

11730-545: Was channeled peacefully. The National Catholic Party became an important political opposition force during the Madero presidency. In the June 1912 congressional elections, "militarily quiescent states ... the Catholic Party (PCN) did conspicuously well." During that period, the Catholic Association of Mexican Youth (ACJM) was founded. Although the National Catholic Party was an opposition party to

11845-438: Was clear: Madero, a member of a rich northern hacendado family, was not about to implement comprehensive agrarian reform for aggrieved peasants. In response to this lack of action, Zapata promulgated the Plan de Ayala in November 1911, declaring himself in rebellion against Madero. He renewed guerrilla warfare in the state of Morelos . Madero sent the Federal Army to deal with Zapata, unsuccessfully. Zapata remained true to

11960-431: Was defeated by the revolutionary forces and resulted in Díaz's resignation, "was the basic cause of his fall". His failure is also attributable to "the failure of the social class to which he belonged and whose interests he considered to be identical to those of Mexico: the liberal hacendados" (owners of large estates). Madero had created no political organization that could survive his death and had alienated and demobilized

12075-406: Was fragile, and further regional rebellions broke out. In February 1913, prominent army generals from the Díaz regime staged a coup d'etat in Mexico City , forcing Madero and Vice President Pino Suárez to resign. Days later, both men were assassinated by orders of the new President, Victoriano Huerta . This initiated a new and bloody phase of the Revolution, as a coalition of northerners opposed to

12190-452: Was further exacerbated by the drought that lasted from 1907 to 1909. The economy took a great leap during the Porfiriato, through the construction of factories, industries and infrastructure such as railroads and dams, as well as improving agriculture. Foreign investors bought large tracts of land to cultivate crops and range cattle for export. The cultivation of exportable goods such as coffee, tobacco, henequen for cordage, and sugar replaced

12305-616: Was increasingly an ineffective force with aging leadership and troops conscripted into service. Díaz attempted the same kind of manipulation he executed with the Mexican political system with business interests, showing favoritism to European interests against those of the U.S. Rival interests, particularly those of the foreign powers with a presence in Mexico, further complicated an already complex system of favoritism. As economic activity increased and industries thrived, industrial workers began organizing for better conditions. Díaz enacted policies that encouraged large landowners to intrude upon

12420-433: Was installed until elections could be held, the Federal Army was retained, and revolutionary forces demobilized. The first phase of the Revolution was relatively bloodless and short-lived. Madero was elected President, taking office in November 1911. He immediately faced the armed rebellion of Emiliano Zapata in Morelos, where peasants demanded rapid action on agrarian reform . Politically inexperienced, Madero's government

12535-574: Was insulting. After Madero refused to agree to social reforms calling for better working hours, pay, and conditions, Orozco organized his army, the Orozquistas , also called the Colorados ("Red Flaggers") and issued his Plan Orozquista on 25 March 1912, enumerating why he was rising in revolt against Madero. In April 1912, Madero dispatched General Victoriano Huerta of the Federal Army to put down Orozco's dangerous revolt. Madero had kept

12650-489: Was more directly attributable to the weakness of the federales than to the strength of the Ejército Libertador." Although the revolutionaries supporting Francisco I. Madero had shown the weakness of the Federal Army and forced Díaz to resign and go into exile, by the Treaty of Ciudad Juárez in May 1911, Madero retained the Federal Army and called for the demobilization of the revolutionaries who had enabled

12765-466: Was no foreboding in 1910 that a revolution was about to break out. The aging Díaz failed to find a controlled solution to presidential succession, resulting in a power struggle among competing elites and the middle classes, which occurred during a period of intense labor unrest, exemplified by the Cananea and Río Blanco strikes. When wealthy northern landowner Francisco I. Madero challenged Díaz in

12880-433: Was overstaffed, with far more officers commanding too few recruits, with 9,000 officers and ostensibly 25,000 enlisted men. Many who were counted as enlisted men did not exist, but were on the muster rolls because the officers received a stipend to provide food for their men. Officers pocketed the difference between the 25,000 enrolled and the 18,000 or so who actually served. Díaz had initially said that he would not run in

12995-403: Was primarily a civil war , but foreign powers, having important economic and strategic interests in Mexico, figured in the outcome of Mexico's power struggles; the U.S. involvement was particularly high. The conflict led to the deaths of around one million people, mostly non-combatants. Although the decades-long regime of President Porfirio Díaz (1876–1911) was increasingly unpopular, there

13110-471: Was received, many restorations had to be made by the National Institute of Anthropology and History. The house re-opened on November 17, 1982. The office and music room were used to display the personal belongings of Villa. There are photographs and other personal belongings of Villa's era. One exhibit is the car he was traveling in with his escort on the day he was assassinated. The curator of

13225-466: Was unravelling, to no one's surprise except perhaps Madero's, whose support continued to deteriorate, even among his political allies. Madero's supporters in congress before the coup, the so-called Renovadores ("the renewers"), criticized him, saying, "The revolution is heading toward collapse and is pulling the government to which it gave rise down with it, for the simple reason that it is not governing with revolutionaries. Compromises and concessions to

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