Seguranca No Seculo 21

What were the principle causes and actors in the Mexican Revolution? Discuss to what extent it was a revolution from above as well as it was from below.

The main causes and main actors of the Mexican Revolution took part in one of the most important and relevant of the history of Mexico, the Porfiriato. Porfiriato, the period in which Porfirio Diaz declared himself the president of the State of Mexico, in his own idea of liberalism he sought modernization within the state, and even though he offered economic growth, liberty and also equality, Porfirio transformed his regime into an oligarchy. In this essay I will acknowledge relevant events that happened throughout the dictatorship the Porfiriato, which led to the Revolution of Mexico.

According to Gary W Wynia, 1990;140 ‘Diaz who inherited the liberal regime founded by former Benito Juarez in 1867’, proved himself the right man to rule the state, he seemed to have Mexico’s interest at a heart, ‘dedicated himself to the economic development of Mexico by opening the nation’s recourses for exploitation by foreign and domestic capitals’ Wynia, 1990;140.

Due to Porfirio illusion of modernization, he invested in exploiting any natural resource that Mexico had to offer, and he would encourage international affairs with Europe and USA, or any other high capitalist country, in order that Mexico would become a developed country. His idea of succeeding was not an option; Porfirio would eliminate anyone opponent to his ideas.

Portifio once offered equality, which after would only be a dream for some, and liberty would come at a price for the population, which would be granted only if willing to cooperate and support his desire to make Mexico a super power.

Cientificos were very close to Porfirio, as they grew closer, Porfirio distanced himself from General Bernardo Reyes even though he was, according to E Williamson, 2009;379 ‘minister of war, and this gave them great influence in the army.’ . The obvious intention of Porfirio was to become more powerful, starting by making the country an oligarchy, ruled by the powerful and the rich, the Elite. An example is, in the North part of Mexico ‘Sonora, Chihuahua, and Coahuila’ were now being exploited by the allies of Cientificos taking Generale Reyes out of power, and exploiting the resources it had to offer in order to sell it off to the USA, e.g: Oil Mines.

However not only the North of Mexico, but also in Morelos, which is situated in the south of Mexico, under the Mexico City; where most of its population were indigenous tribes, they would lose their land and work under Porfirio rules. According to E. Williamson, 2009;379 ‘Indian communities whose land were threatened by sugar barons seeking to capitalize on the replacement of traditional Caudillo by a Cientifico sympathizer.’.

The Porfiriato was marked for its exploitation of mines from the North, where also a rail way was being built to connect with the USA, so it would enable the trade between both countries, but mainly for the exploitation of the south, where they would suffer the most, landowners would lose their haciendas, and would no longer have anything to their name. Porfirio had monopolized the whole country, from top to bottom, as a consequence “He wielded a heavy hand against anyone who resisted his reign, especially the campesinos who opposed the confiscation of their village lands by ambitious