2. BACKGROUND
After the independence of many territories and
colonies in Latin America, things stayed pretty
much the same: the poor were still poor and the
aristocracy were the only ones with privileges.
In the early 1900s, the economy was booming
because of exports: plentiful natural resources
and cash crops were sold to industrialized
countries.
These resources were controlled by foreign
investors.
The tiny ruling classes kept economic benefits
for themselves.
These inequalities troubled many countries in
Latin America (LA) and in Mexico, the situation
led to an explosive revolution.
3. THE MEXICAN REVOLUTION
By 1910, the dictator Porfírio Diaz had
ruled Mexico for almost 35 years, winning
reelection again and again.
Mexico enjoyed apparent peace and
economic growth:
Foreign investors developed mines, built
railroads and drilled for oil.
These benefits only reached a small group
of people. The rest of the country lived in
poverty.
4. ROAD TO REVOLUTION
Mexican society X-ray:
Most of the peasants worked on haciendas,
mines or factories, earning meager wages. They
represented the oppressed.
The middle class wanted democracy.
The elite resented the power of foreign
companies.
In 1910, unrest boiled when Francisco
Madero called for general elections, and
Diaz resigned.
5. VIVA LA REVOLUCIÓN!
Fighting raged across Mexico for over a decade. Peasants, small
farmers, urban workers and ranchers were drawn into a violent
struggle.
6. TIERRA Y LIBERTAD!
1.- Faced with rebellion, Diaz resigned after 30 years.
2.- Madero, a liberal reformer, was elected president in
1911. He was assassinated by one of his generals,
Victoriano Huerta, after two years.
3.- Huerta set up his own dictatorship.
4.- Pancho Villa, Emiliano Zapata and Venustiano
Carranza formed a coalition against Huerta.
Zapata and villa were peasants and wanted change. Carranza, a
rich landowner disagreed.
5.- After defeating Huerta, Carranza turned on his
allies and defeated them.
6.- Carranza became president of Mexico in 1917, with
a new constitution, but reforms were slow to
materialize.
7. THE PRICE OF REFORM
When it ended, the economy
was in shambles and more
than one million people were
dead.
8. ASK YOURSELF
Sequence:
Describe the events of the Mexican
Revolution
Explain:
Explain the economic inequality that
existed in Latin American Countries.
Discuss:
Which were the groups that were unhappy
with Diaz’s regime and list each group’s
interest in the revolution.
9. BRIEF EXCERCISE
Write down two paragraphs
explaining what you understand
from the slogan “Tierra y Libertad”.
Try to put yourself in the average
Mexican’s shoes to show your
feelings.
Do this in a separate sheet of paper,
and hand it in at the end of the
class.
10. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Ellis, E. G., & Esler, A. (2009). World History. (P. Hall, Ed.) Upper
Saddle River, New Jersey, US: Pearson Education INC.
Images taken from www.google.com
