The Mexican Revolution of 1910
Analyse the political causes of the Mexican Revolution of 1910
Jack Tomlinson
14/04/09
IB History of the Americas HL
The Mexican Revolution of 1910 swiftly developed into the first major effort in Latin American history to uproot the system of great estates and peonage and curb foreign control of the area´s natural resources. The uprising in Mexico stemmed from deepening conflicts between popular forces and more specialized but powerful interests supported by the national government. Specifically the state-supported the owners of great estates in their continuing land conflicts with the peasantry; supported factory and mine owners in their disputes with industrial workers; and supported the metropolitan elites, foreigners, and provincial strongmen allied closely with the regime Against the growing demands for broader political and economic participation from the increasingly estranged local and regional elites, The peasants, workers, petty bourgeoisie, intellectuals, and local regional elites shared the belief that the government not only should have done more to serve their interests, but that it had become the source of their discontent. Therefore there were numerous political causes of the Mexican Revolution of 1910. There were several political factors that led to the Mexican Revolution, such as the alienation of the petty bourgeoisie and regional elites, the suppression of political rights by Diaz for the so-called economic development, and the establishment of the rurales.
One of the central reasons as to why the revolution broke out was the establishment of Diaz´s political policies. Diaz had ruled by “the formula pan o palo (bread or the club). Opponents who refused Diaz’s bribes-political offices, monopolies, and the like-suffered swift reprisal. Dissidents were beaten up, murdered, or arrested and sent to the damp underground dungeons of San Juan de Ulúa or the grim Belén prison, a sort of Mexican Bastille. Designed to hold two hundred prisoners, Belén commonly held four to five thousand inmates.” (Haynes, 221) Through the use of the pan o palo policy, he was essentially able to grant his allies great political power in his government, but for those who opposed him, only suffering and death was offered. Additionally, Diaz had implemented a political policy to allow him to be able to be re-elected indefinitely, thus disposing of democracy. “He got rid of the now-inconvenient issue of no re-election by having the constitution amended in 1887 and 1890 to permit his indefinite re-election; in 1904 he obtained an extension of the president’s term from four to six years. Thus, Diaz, who seized power in the name of republican legality, erected one of the longest personal dictatorships in Latin American history.” ( Bethell, 342) In this regard, Elections to Congress, in theory the highest organ of government, were a farce; Diaz simply circulated a list of his candidates to local officials, who certified their election. The dictator contemptuously called Congress his cabalada, his stable of horses. The state governors were appointed by Diaz, usually from the ranks of local great landlords or his generals. In return for their loyalty, he gave them a free hand to enrich themselves and terrorize the local population. These political policies had thus caused much discontent for the population and thus spawned a factor leading to the Mexican Revolution of 1910.
