Two revolutions for the price of one

The Mexican Revolution began in 1910. Almost from the start, Mexico’s revolutionaries disagreed violently about their own revolution. That’s because the revolution was really two revolutions in one. It was a liberal political revolution that established a new constitution and democratic rule. But it was also a social revolution. The tension between these two ideas divided Mexico and led to a decade of fighting.

What’s the difference between political and social revolutions? Political revolutions seek to change the political system. Social revolution, on the other hand, seeks to reshape the social order. Social revolutions change property rights and who controls a nation’s wealth. Political revolutions change the political system. However, they leave economic systems in place.

Liberal democracy and the spark of revolution, 1910-1913

The Mexican Revolution began in 1910 after the eighth re-election of President Porfirio Diaz, who had ruled since 1876. Under Diaz, Mexico did hold regular presidential elections. But it was almost impossible to seriously challenge Diaz.¹ He used the military and police to beat back any attempt to replace him. Rich landowners and the middle class benefited from Diaz’s economic system. However, they wanted more political power.

Diaz opened the country to foreign businesses. By the start of the revolution, as much as a quarter of all land in Mexico was owned by American companies. In Mexico’s countryside, rich landowners and foreign businessmen bought up native lands. They then forced villagers to farm cash crops. The Diaz government used force to keep peasant and native communities in line.

Diaz based his right to rule on Mexico’s growing wealth. And for decades, he did did create a strong economy, even as he limited people’s freedoms. However, in the first decade of the twentieth century, the economy went into a downturn. Soon, the vast majority of Mexicans were struggling to get by. Meanwhile, the country was hit by a series of droughts. Under these conditions, Mexico was ripe for revolution.

When Diaz ran for re-election in 1910, Francisco Madero decided he had had enough. Madero was a member of one of the wealthiest families in Mexico. He denounced Diaz’s government and launched the Anti- Re-electionist Party.

Diaz threw Madero in jail, but Madero managed to escape to the United States. From Texas, Madero issued a call for revolution in the name of land reform and political freedom. He set the date for November 20, 1910. Supporters of all types sprang up all over Mexico, and Diaz was unable to contain them. By May 25, 1911, Diaz was on a boat, headed for exile in France. At the age of 38, Madero was elected president in a landslide.

Ten tragic days, February 1913

Madero’s main concern was to change Mexico politically, in order to make it more of a real democracy. He was not interested in large-scale social change. But many of his followers had different aims. Among them were social revolutionaries like Pancho Villa and Emiliano Zapata. Villa and Zapata championed peasant and native communities. They believed in radically changing Mexican society by redistributing land from rich landowners to peasants and native groups. In the southern state of Morelos, Zapata waged a guerrilla war. In the north, Villa led the División del Norte, the largest revolutionary army.

Madero’s presidency was brief. He was too radical for conservatives and not radical enough for social revolutionaries. For example, he was very slow to follow through on land reform, which angered the social revolutionaries. After fifteen months in office, Madero was overthrown. He was executed on February 1913. Madero had been betrayed by General Victoriano Huerta, who seized power and declared himself military dictator. Huerta was a conservative. He had the support of the United States, which wanted to prevent land redistribution, since so much Mexican land was owned by Americans.

The fight to define the Revolution, 1913-1920

Mexican revolutionaries had certainly been angered by Madero’s presidency. However, they were far more united against Huerta. Pancho Villa and Zapata allied with liberals and defeated Huerta in July 1914. But soon after their victory, the revolutionaries again split into opposed camps.

The Conventionistas—including Pancho Villa and Zapata—wanted big economic and social reforms. The Constitutionalistas—led by Venustiano Carranza and Álvaro Obregón—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. The civil war that followed was the bloodiest period of the revolution. From 1915 to 1917, one million civilians and soldiers 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 reform, nationalization of resources like oil, and workers’ rights. In practice, however, the post-revolutionary government ignored many of these promises.

Consolidating the Revolution, 1920-1940

The Mexican Revolution came to an end with the election of President Álvaro Obregón in 1920. Zapata had been assassinated on the orders of Carranza the year before. Carranza himself was killed soon after. Pancho Villa retired in 1920 and was assassinated three years later.

Plutarco Calles became president after Obregón. He founded the National Revolutionary Party, which won every presidential election from 1928 to 2000.

In 1934, Lázaro Cárdenas became Mexico’s forty-fourth president. Cárdenas finally introduced some of the social and economic changes promised by the 1917 constitution. He enacted a broad set of social and economic reforms that changed Mexican society greatly. Cárdenas strengthened labor unions. He nationalized Mexico’s oil industry. He redistributed over 70,000 square miles of land.

Revolutionary legacy

The revolution caused the deaths of over a million people. It brought great changes to Mexico, but a lot remained the same. The dictatorship of Porfirio Diaz was ended, and since 1928, Mexican presidents have not been allowed to run for a second term. The 1917 constitution guaranteed various political rights. It also limited the power of the Catholic church. In time, the revolution brought education for all, labor rights, land reform, and the nationalization of some industries.

But change was limited, and not everyone benefited equally. Women gained some new rights after 1917, but they did not win the right to vote until 1953. Rich landowners continued to control the economy. Even after land reform, most peasants remained poor.

1 On paper, most Mexican men had the right to vote. However, Diaz enacted several anti-democratic measures. These measures ensured victory for himself and his supporters.