Mexico, from Revolution to Revolution, Part 2
1876 – Porfirio DÃ?Âaz leads a revolt and seizes power. DÃ?Âaz is a former general – one of the men who helped win Mexico back from Maximilian. But he’s not interested in restoring the republic. After passing the presidency to a puppet in 1880, he takes it back in 1884 and doesn’t relinquish it until 1911. He builds a powerful political machine, preserving the forms of democracy without the side effect of real opposition.
1888 – Mexico works out a debt consolidation plan that puts its fiscal house in order. Foreign capital pours in, and DÃ?Âaz begins to modernize and industrialize the nation. But most of the return flows to foreigners or lines the pockets of Mexico’s wealthy few. Many others sink further into poverty.
1900 – Labor activist Ricardo Flores MagÃ?³n founds RegeneraciÃ?³n, a newspaper that opposes DÃ?Âaz. Before long, MagÃ?³n is banned from publishing in Mexico, but the reform movement gains momentum. As criticism of the regime increases, so does political repression.
1908 – In an interview with a U.S. magazine, DÃ?Âaz suggests that Mexico is ready for true democracy and that he’s willing to have other candidates compete in the 1910 election. Francisco Madero, scion of one of Mexico’s wealthiest families, soon emerges as a leading opposition candidate.
1910 – DÃ?Âaz has Madero arrested and triumphs in the phony election that follows. While out on bond, Madero escapes to Texas, declares the election invalid, and calls for armed rebellion against DÃ?Âaz. He gets it, with revolutionaries like Emiliano Zapata and Francisco “Pancho” Villa leading the fight. The “Mexican Revolution” begins.
1911 – After revolutionary forces capture Ciudad JuÃ?¡rez, DÃ?Âaz resigns and sails for Europe. Madero becomes president but soon finds himself besieged from both sides. Revolutionaries say he’s too conservative. Conservatives say he’s too revolutionary. Both sides attempt to overthrow him.
1913 – Victoriano Huerta, the commander of government forces, betrays Madero – who is promptly arrested, then shot “while trying to escape.” Huerta assumes the presidency, but has to fight the old revolutionaries plus a new “Constitutionalist Army” led by Venustiano Carranza.
1914 – Various revolutionary factions combine to unseat Huerta then fall to fighting among themselves. The following year, Carranza and his general, Ã?Âlvaro ObregÃ?³n, prevail.
1917 – A constitutional convention, called by Carranza, drafts a new constitution that protects labor, nationalizes key natural resources (like oil), promises social welfare programs, places limits on the Catholic Church, and prevents the president from serving consecutive terms. Carranza becomes president but implements few reforms.
1920 – ObregÃ?³n ousts Carranza with help from another general, Plutarco ElÃ?Âas Calles. He then assumes the presidency and defuses opposition with a clever combination of carrots and sticks. Over the next few years ObregÃ?³n institutes land and education reforms. He then chooses Calles to be his successor. Calles continues ObregÃ?³n’s programs and steps up anti-church reforms.
1926 – Government moves against the Catholic Church lead to a Catholic insurgency, the Cristero War, which lasts three years and claims some 90,000 lives.
1928 – ObregÃ?³n is elected president again, but a Catholic radical assassinates him before he can take office. Faced with a succession crisis, Calles devises an ingenious solution: he creates a political party through which he can continue to rule through puppet presidents. The party comes to be known as the Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI).
1934 – LÃ?¡zaro CÃ?¡rdenas, a new president picked by Calles, proves to be no puppet. He vigorously pursues the old revolutionary goals, especially land reform. He also drives Calles into exile, without violence. The party has outgrown the man. But it soon grows into “The Man” – a political machine that exploits revolutionary rhetoric and a vast patronage system to dominate Mexico for decades.
