Mexican Revolution1910
From Re v o lutio n to Revolution
Post independence . Wars . French Invasion . Neoliberalism . Economic Progress
Maya Uprising in Yucatan- Caste War
President Benito Juárez
Benito Juárez was an important Mexican liberal during the time of the U.S.-Mexican War, and
emerged as one of the nation’s most important figures in the Nineteenth Century. A Zapotec Indian
from Oaxaca, Juárez was born into a peasant family in 1806. By 1831, Juárez was a lawyer and an
active liberal politician at the city and state level. When Valentín Gomez Farias became president of
Mexico in 1846, Juárez went to Congress and supported a wave of liberal reforms designed to
bolster Mexico’s efforts in the U.S.-Mexican War, but that eventually failed and triggered a
conservative revolt.
As the war wound down, Juárez returned to Oaxaca as governor, advocated a protracted guerilla war
against the United States, opposed the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, and refused to grant General
Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna asylum when his government collapsed. In 1853, the dictator returned
to exact his revenge, and Juárez fled to New Orleans.
He returned to Mexico in 1855, and became the nation’s president two years later. From 1857 to
1872, Juárez successfully defended his government against Conservative opponents in the War of
the Reform, and defended his nation against the French-back monarchists under Emperor
Maximillian I. He emerged as one of the truly great men of Mexican history, and died in office from a
heart attack in 1872.
http://www.pbs.org/kera/usmexicanwar/biographies/benito_juarez.html
[Zapotec heritage]
[Reformist president –
Challenge the special
privileges of the Church with
government]
French Intervention in Mexico
and the American Civil
War, 1862–1867
In 1857, Mexico became embroiled in a civil war that pitted the forces of Liberal
reformist Benito Juárez against Conservatives led by Félix Zuloaga.
Conservatives exerted control from Mexico City, and the Liberals from
Veracruz. The United States recognized the Juárez government in 1859, and in
January of 1861, Liberal forces captured Mexico City, greatly strengthening
Juárez’s position and legitimacy. However, continued instability had coincided
with growing foreign debt that was increasingly difficult for the Mexican
government to pay. Secretary of State Seward offered a plan that would provide
mining concessions in exchange for American loans. In the event that the debts
were not repaid, Mexico would agree to the cession of Baja California and other
Mexican states. The terms of the loan were onerous to the Mexican
government, but U.S. diplomat Thomas Corwinsuccessfully negotiated a treaty
with Mexican representative Manuel Maria Zamacona. Ultimately, though, the
U.S. Congress rejected the treaty on grounds that it would drain money from
Civil War expenditures.
Europeans Enter Mexico
With no other options, Juárez suspended payments on Mexican debt for two
years. In response, representatives from the Spanish, French, and British
governments met in London, and on October 31, 1861, signed a tripartite
agreement to intervene in Mexico to recover the unpaid debts. European forces
landed at Veracruz on December 8. Juárez urged resistance, while
Conservatives saw the intervening forces as valuable allies in their struggle
against the Liberals. Although the British and Spanish governments had more
limited plans for intervention, Napoleon III was interested in reviving French
global ambitions, and French forces captured Mexico City, while Spanish and
British forces withdrew after French plans became clear. In 1863, Napoleon III
invited Maximilian, Archduke of Austria, to become Emperor of Mexico.
Maximilian accepted the offer and arrived in Mexico in 1864. Although
Maximilian’s Conservative government controlled much of the country, Liberals
held on to power in northwestern Mexico and parts of the Pacific coast.
The
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$$
PROGRE
Common
Enemy
Forces join against Huerta
The
Constitutionalist
FRANCISCO “PANCHO” VILLA
El Centauro del Norte
(The Centaur of the North)
Emiliano Zapata
Liberation ofArmy
the South