Two revolutions for the price of one

The Mexican Revolution began in 1910. It was really two revolutions in one. It was a political revolution. But it was also a social revolution. That split led to years of fighting.

What is the difference between political and social revolutions? Political revolutions aim to change the political system. Social revolutions aim to reshape the social order. They change property rights. They change who controls a nation’s wealth. Political revolutions only change a country’s political system. They leave social and economic systems in place.

Liberal democracy and the spark of revolution, 1910-1913

What caused the Mexican Revolution? It was kicked off by anger against President Porfirio Diaz. He was elected eight times in a row. Mexico claimed to be a democracy. But elections were not fair at all.¹ Diaz could not lose. He was more like a dictator than a president.

Diaz did other things that angered many. He opened Mexico to foreign businesses. By 1910, a quarter of all land in Mexico was owned by American companies. Other land was bought up by rich landowners. Little was left for Mexico’s natives and peasants.

Diaz said he had a right to rule for so long because he was making the country richer. For years, he did did create a strong economy. But in the early 1900s, the economy began to fall apart.

When Diaz ran for re-election in 1910, Francisco Madero decided he had had enough. Madero founded the Anti-Re-electionist Party.

Diaz quickly threw Madero in jail. But Madero managed to escape to the United States. From Texas, Madero called for a revolution. Supporters rose up all across Mexico. Diaz was unable to stop them. On May 25, 1911, Diaz fled the country. Madero was then elected president.

Ten tragic days, February 1913

Madero was a political revolutionary. He wanted to turn Mexico into a real democracy. He was not interested in major social change. But many of his followers were. Among them were social revolutionaries like Pancho Villa and Emiliano Zapata. Villa and Zapata fought for peasant and native communities. They wanted to redistribute land from rich landowners to peasants and native groups. In other words, they wanted to take land owned by the rich and give it to the poor. Both Zapata and Villa led their own revolutionary armies.

Madero’s presidency was short-lived. He went too far for conservatives and not far enough for social revolutionaries. For example, he did not introduce land redistribution. That angered the social revolutionaries. After fifteen months in office, Madero was overthrown. He was executed on February 1913.

General Victoriano Huerta then seized power. He declared himself military dictator. The army now ruled Mexico. There was no more democracy.

The fight to define the Revolution, 1913-1920

All Mexican revolutionaries hated Huerta. This made them join forces. Together, they defeated Huerta in July 1914. But soon after, they split apart again.

On one side were the Conventionistas, a group that included Pancho Villa and Zapata. They wanted big economic and social reforms. On the other side were the Constitutionalistas, led by Venustiano Carranza and Álvaro Obregón. They wanted to create a liberal democracy. They were less willing to return land to peasants and natives.

The two sides were unable to settle their differences. Soon, a civil war broke out. This was the revolution’s bloodiest period. From 1915 to 1917, one million people died in the fighting.

In the end, the Constiutionalistas won out. They passed a constitution and elected Carranza president. The Mexican Constitution of 1917 laid out legal and political rights. It also promised land redistribution, more workers’ rights, and other social and economic changes. But most of these promises were not delivered.

Consolidating the Revolution, 1920-1940

The Mexican Revolution came to an end with the election of President Álvaro Obregón in 1920. By then, Zapata was dead. In 1919 he was killed on the orders of Carranza. Soon after, Carranza himself was killed. Pancho Villa retired in 1920. Three years later, he too was killed.

Plutarco Calles became president after Obregón. He founded the National Revolutionary Party. That party stayed in power until 2000.

In 1934, Lázaro Cárdenas became Mexico’s forty-fourth president. Cárdenas finally brought some of the social and economic changes promised by the 1917 constitution. Cárdenas strengthened workers’ rights. He redistributed over 70,000 square miles of land.

Revolutionary legacy

The revolution caused the deaths of over a million people. But it brought many good changes to Mexico. The dictatorship of Porfirio Diaz was ended. The 1917 constitution gave Mexicans various political rights. In time, the revolution brought education for all. It brought more workers’ rights. It brought land redistribution.

But change was limited. Things did not get better for everyone. Rich landowners kept most of their power. Even after land redistribution, most peasants remained poor.

1 Most Mexican men had the right to vote. But Diaz passed several anti-democratic laws. These made it impossible for him to lose.