The Mexican Revolution from 1910-1920 resulted in 1.7-2.7 million deaths and transformed Mexico. Dissatisfaction grew under the long dictatorship of Porfirio Díaz, who ruled from 1876-1911 and promoted economic development through foreign investment that mainly benefited the upper classes. In 1910, liberal reformer Francisco Madero challenged Díaz and launched the revolution. Over the next decade, various factions including those led by Pancho Villa, Emiliano Zapata, and Venustiano Carranza fought for power. By 1917, the revolutionary Constitution was adopted, establishing social and political reforms. However, fighting continued until 1920 when Alvaro Obregon consolidated power and enacted many revolutionary promises

1. 1.7-2.7 million died during the first great political storm of the 20th century
The Mexican Revolution

2. Porfirio Díaz,
dictator of Mexico,
1876-1911
Francisco Madero,
a wealthy
liberal reformer
Pascual Orozco,
a middle-class
revolutionary
militia leader
in northern Mexico
Pancho Villa,
a former bandit
and peasant leader
of the revolutionary
Division del Norte army
of northern Mexico
Meet the Mustachioed Muchachos of Mexico

3. Álvaro Obregón,
a liberal general
of the
Constitutionalist
faction
Emiliano Zapata,
a revolutionary
agrarian socialist
and champion of
indigenous peoples
in south central
Mexico
Victoriano Huerta,
a conservative
right-wing general
Venustiano Carranza,
a conservative leader
of the
Constitutionalist
faction
Meet the Mustachioed Muchachos of Mexico

4. The Porfiriato, 1876 – 1911
• Conservative autocrat
Porfirio Díaz ruled Mexico
through seven presidential
terms from 1876 to 1911.
• Constitutional rule was
maintained in form, but in
reality, Díaz ran a dictatorship.
Mexican Pres. Porfirio Díaz in uniform, 1911.

5. Díaz promoted economic development through foreign
investment.The U.S., Britain, and France financed railroad
construction, textiles, mining, and oil production.

6. • Illiterate and
impoverished rural
peasants resented
that economic
benefits went
mostly to the upper
and middle classes.
• Many also resented
foreign ownership
of much of Mexico’s
wealth.
Viaduct of Metlac

7. • By 1910, most land was
owned by a small class
of large estate owners,
and at least 95% of
peasants were landless.
• Indigenous communities
were broken up, and
native peoples were
forced to labor on
haciendas.
Photograph of peasant family decorticating coffee
in Veracruz, Mexico (1887)

8. Porfirio Díaz and his wife with others celebrating the centennial of Mexican independence in 1910

9. 1908: Pearson's Magazine
published the Creelman
interview with Díaz stating
that Mexico was ready for
democracy and a new
leader.

10. Why did give the interview?
• To reduce criticism of his regime?
• To improve his image with foreign
readers?
• To distract Mexicans from poor
harvests and a weak economy?
• To draw out political opponents to
be targeted for elimination?
• To persuade his supporters to
encourage him to run again?

11. “… Our greatest difficulty has been
the fact that the people do not care
enough about public affairs to form
a democracy.The Mexican, as a
general rule, thinks a lot about his
own rights and is always ready to
secure them. But he does not think
much about the rights of others. He
thinks of his own privileges, but not
of his duties.The basis of a
democratic government is the
power to control itself and to do so
is given only to those who know the
rights of their neighbors. …”

12. 1910:
• Liberal leader Francisco I.
Madero declared as a
presidential candidate
against Díaz.
• Díaz jailed Madero and won
a rigged re-election.
Francisco Madero, c. 1910.

13. November 1910:
• Madero escaped jail and
issued a call to arms against
Díaz in the Plan of San Luis
Potosi.The Mexican
Revolution began.

14. Late 1910: Madero persuaded leaders Pascual Orozco
and Francisco "Pancho"Villa to join the revolution.
Pancho Villa.

15. Combatants in the Mexican Revolution, 1911.

16. Las Soldaderas

17. Mexican army officers planning strategy during the Mexican Revolution.

18. Madero Administration,
1911–1913
• Díaz was forced into exile.
• Madero was elected
president but failed to his
reward supporters.
• Revolutionaries and the
free press turned on
Madero.
Díaz in exile in Egypt, c. 1912-1915

19. Newspaper broadside and rhyming text celebrating Mexican President Francisco Madero, 1911.

20. March 1911: Emiliano Zapata led
a peasant uprising in the state of
Morelos.

21. • Zapata accused
Madero of betraying
the Revolution, called
for land and water
rights for peasants in
the Plan de Ayala,
and collectivized
haciendas.
• He inspired armed
peasant revolts
throughout Mexico.

23. May 1911: Orozco and Villa capture Ciudad Juárez (sister
city to El Paso,Texas).
Rebels in front of an adobe house riddled
with bullet holes in Ciudad Juárez.

24. The U.S. sent troops to the border, where fighting was
close enough for U.S. citizens to watch.

25. Mexican Revolution insurrectionists with a homemade cannon in Juárez, 1911.

26. Rebels take aim from a fortified position in Ciudad Juárez.

27. March 1912: Orozco lost an
election for governor of Chihuahua
and rebelled. General Victoriano
Huerta, representing Madero,
defeated Orozco.
Victoriano Huerta

28. Ten Tragic Days and the Huerta Regime, 1913 – 1914
February 1913:
• Right-wing general Huerta
betrayed Madero, who was
deposed and killed during
ten days of intense fighting
in Mexico City, the Decena
Tragica (10 Tragic Days).
• Huerta declared himself
President of Mexico.

29. Opposition forces arresting Mexican Pres. Francisco Madero as he leaves the National Palace, February 9, 1913.

30. Victims lay dead in front
of the National Palace
during the Ten Tragic
Days.

31. March 1913:The U.S. declared itself against Huerta.
American political cartoon of
Pres.Victoriano Huerta leaning
against a podium while soldiers
hold guns at the heads of
Mexican congressmen, 1913.

32. April 1913:
• Venustiano Carranza, governor
of Coahuila, was declared First
Chief of the revolutionary forces
resisting Huerta (“The Usurper”).
• Alvaro Obregón led Carranza's
army.
Venustiano Carranza (seated) and other
leaders of the forces that rebelled
against Pres.Victoriano Huerta, 1913.

34. “Mad dog?” Uncle Sam draws a gun from its holster labeled "Intervention” as he prepares to shoot a mad dog
labeled "Mexican Revolution.” England, Germany, Spain, Austria, Italy, Russia, and Japan" look on from behind a
wall labeled "Monroe Doctrine.” 1913

35. 1914: Huerta lost control of most
of Mexico to various
revolutionary factions, and only
held power around Mexico City.
U.S. President Woodrow Wilson,
suspicious of Huerta, escalated
the arrest of American sailors
into a six-month U.S. occupation
of Veracruz.

36. June 1914: Huerta resigned and fled to Spain.
Revolutionary forces under Villa, Carranza, and Obregón
captured Mexico City.
Pancho Villa

37. Zapata-Villa Interim,
1914-1916
December 1914:
• Zapata’s forces
entered Mexico City.
• Talks with Villa to
adopt a new
constitution stalled.
Pancho Villa and Emiliano Zapata meet at the Palacio Nacional
Mexico City, December 6, 1914

38. April 1915:Villa was decisively defeated by Carranza’s
Constitutionalist Army and reduced to a minor role in
the revolution thereafter.
Mexican Constitutionalists,
c. 1914

40. 1915: Chaos and starvation were widespread during the
Year of Hunger. Carranza in Vera Cruz, Obregon in
Mexico City,Villa in Chihuahua, Zapata in Morelos, and
others vied for power.

41. October 1915:The U.S.
recognized Carranza as
provisional President of Mexico.
Venustiano Carranza.

42. March 9, 1916:Villa attacked
Columbus, New Mexico in
retaliation for the U.S.
recognition of Carranza.
18 Americans were killed.

43. 1916-1917: U.S. General John J. Pershing led 10,000
American soldiers into Mexican territory on an 11-month
long Punitive Expedition but failed to capture Villa.

46. 1916:
• Fighting shifted to a
conflict between
followers of Zapata and
Carranza. Zapata's forces
were beaten and retreat.
• Meanwhile, Pancho Villa
assembled a new force of
5,000 men and fought on.
Pancho Villa, 1916.

47. February 1917: Mexico adopted the
progressive Constitution of 1917.
• limited presidents to one six-year term
• limited Catholic Church influence
• limited land ownership and legalized federal
expropriation and redistribution of land by
claiming state ownership of the subsoil
• championed human rights, agrarian reform,
educational reforms, and women’s suffrage
• protected organized labor
• restored social justice rights
• guaranteed crimes committed by Mexican military
forces would be prosecuted in civilian courts

48. Constitution of 1917
by Jorge González Camarena

49. February 1917:
The German
Zimmerman
Telegram proposed
Mexico enter the
First World War on
the side of the
Central Powers and
wage war against
the U.S.

50. April 6, 1917:The U.S. declared war on
Germany. Pershing was redeployed
from Mexico to France to lead the
American Expeditionary Force.

51. Venustiano Carranza
Consolidation, 1917 – 1920
Carranza was elected
president, but when it became
evident he did not intend to
follow the new constitution,
Obregón broke with him.

52. April 1919: Carranza has Zapata assassinated. Since 1994,
the far left-wing Zapatista Army of National Liberation
has fought an low-level insurgency in his name for
greater indigenous rights.

53. May 1920: During a debate over
whether Carranza had the right to run
for a full six-year presidential term after
serving for partial term, Obregón
decided Carranza would never leave
office peacefully.
Carranza summoned Obregón to
Mexico City to be killed, but he
escaped.
Gen. Álvaro Obregón, 1917.

54. May 1920: Obregón’s
forces then drove Carranza
from Mexico City, and soon
after, assassinated him.
American cartoon after Carranza was ousted (1920)

55. November 1920: Obregón was elected president, and
enacted many promises made during the revolution.

56. 1922:The government
commissioned large
public murals to
promote the values of
the revolution and
promote a new
Mexican identity that
incorporated early
pre-Hispanic heritage.
Cuauhtémoc against the myth,
David Alfaro Siqueiros (1944)

57. From Porfirianism to the Revolution,
David Alfaro Siqueiros (1964)

58. El pueblo a la universidad,
la universidad al
pueblo, National
Autonomous University of
Mexico, David Alfaro
Siqueiros (1952–1956)

59. murals by Diego Rivera in
the Palacio Nacional,
Mexico City

60. Exploitation of Mexico by Spanish
conquistadores, Diego Rivera
(1929–1945)

61. Mural of the Aztec city
of Tenochtitlan, Diego
Rivera (1945)

62. Zapatistas, Jose Clemente Orozco
(1931)

63. The Epic of American
Civilization,Jose Clemente
Orozco (1932-1934)

64. murals at San Ildefonso College, Jose Clemente Orozco

65. 1923: After Obregón had Carranza killed,Villa retired,
but he was later assassinated too, likely on Obregon’s
orders.

66. Obregón was assassinated in
1928, but the Institutional
Revolutionary Party (PNR)
founded after his death
provided stability and
governed Mexico until 2000.