The Political and Economic Impact of the Mexican Revolution of 1910-1920
Introduction
Upon ascending to power after the coup, General Diaz embarked on multiple changes that focused on allowing foreign investors to exploit natural resources, own big ranches, and effectively generate money to the Mexican government through such investments[1]. Consequently, General Diaz’s administration engaged in a series of infrastructural development in Mexico and stabilized the Mexican economy to unprecedented heights. [2]However, despite these gains in Mexico and campaigning on a no re-election platform that later changed during the 1911 ouster of General Diaz, there were no tangible development strides that the lower and middle class mostly worked in the farms felt. The peasants and the rural dwellers, those who made the highest population in Mexico, were disgruntled about the treatment at the Haciendas and the fact that positions and access to education were spread based on their ability to affirm their support for General Diaz[3]. Despite the upheavals that typified the period, the Mexican Revolution of 1910 to 1920, the land reforms and political reforms played an essential role in shaping the current political and economic well-being that acted as a blueprint to the modern Mexican society. The following are the impacts of the Mexican Revolution of 1910 to 1920.
Economic Impacts
First, the Mexican Revolution of 1910 to 1920 brought a paradigm shift in land ownership, an aspect that immensely strengthened the economic status of the Mexicans. [4]During the reign of General Diaz, the vast tracts of land in Mexico were given to the foreign investors and General Diaz friends through the initiatives known as Haciendas. [5]The minority Indian ethnic groups in Mexico and other groups in Mexico bore the brunt of forceful land alienation. The aspect pushed these groups at the periphery of chaos and living life in the reserves. The alienated lands were converted to ranchos and haciendas, and people were forced to work in the farms for a paltry one cent per hour in southern Mexico. At the same time, the Agrarian workers in the North made a relatively improved wages[6]. The working conditions in these farms and ranches were also poor, pushing people deeper into poverty despite the booming economy under the reign of General Diaz[7]. However, the forced resignation of General Diaz and the rise of Francisco Madero and Emiliano Zapata, among other revolutionaries, paved the way for land reforms and other developments that saw vast tracts of land returned to the peasants. For instance, when Zapata assumed the control of Morelos state, he chased out the landowners and subdivided the land to the peasants and his cronies who were initially robbed off their land by the Diaz administration[8]. On the same note, the promulgation of the Mexican constitution in 1917 enshrined and protected individual ownership of land and dismantled the discriminating land ownership practices. The Mexican constitution enacted in 1917 is still in use and eliminated dictatorial alienation, an aspect that has seen individual ownership of land encouraged and repressive laws like the Land Act of 1876 overtaken by these reforms[9]. Such aspects immensely played an instrumental role in empowering the individuals in Mexico up to date. Thus, the land reforms and the subsequent protection of the land rights in the constitution ensured that the Mexicans are in a position to effectively remain independent while working in their lands to attain self-sufficiency and self-dependence.
On the same note, the Mexican Revolution led to the abolishment of Haciendas over 150 years of existence. The haciendas either acted as farms or cattle ranches or, in some cases, doubled up as both. Usually, the ownership of the haciendas was immensely contemptuous about the welfare of their workers and made no effort to improve the welfare of peasant Mexicans who were working in the farms[10]. Even after the independence of Mexico, the haciendas and the ranchos continued to thrive in Mexico as the wealthy Mexicans, political figures, or those close to the trappings of power bequeathed these establishments[11]. The Mexicans acquired the ranchos, and the haciendas spelt a continuation of a vicious cycle of poverty that mostly affected the majority of Mexicans, peasants and rural dwellers, adversely. However, Madero’s short stint in the leadership helm, land distribution initiatives by Zapata and Carranza’s land reforms that were enshrined in the 1917 Mexican constitution saw multiple people in Mexico own land and start being economically independent to a great extent[12]. Specifically, Venustiano Carranza ascension to power and subsequent enactment of the Mexican Constitution in prioritized land reforms that established ejidos (cooperative farm programs). Through the ejidos, the initially created ranchos and haciendas were redistributed from the wealthy owners to the peasants[13]. The ejidos still exist in Mexico, and over half of the farmland in Mexico originated from the ejidos. Therefore, the revolution led to the abolishment of the haciendas and ensured that peasants in Mexico could get resettled and effectively work on their lands devoid of exploitation.
On the other hand, the enactment of the constitution and multiple reforms that typified the revolution leveled the economic field for various people and ensured the equitable distribution of resources in Mexico. One element that triggered the Mexican Revolution in 1910 was the disparity between the peasants and the oligarchs who owned ranchos and haciendas[14]. The widening rift between these individuals, coupled with the foreign investments that benefitted the few in Mexico, propelled the revolution to a great extent. However, when Zapata and Pancho Villa started mobilizing the masses based on the ideology of the widening rift between the rich and the peasants, the masses immediately bought the idea with the belief that land reforms will effectively change their fortunes[15]. Consequently, the movements initiated by Zapata and Pancho, among other revolutionaries and actualized in the Mexican constitution in 1917, ensured that the land reforms made individuals in Mexico economically viable and ensured that independence of these individuals economically is guaranteed[16]. Therefore, through the acts of revolutionaries like Zapata and Carranza, the land reforms and land redistribution initiatives, the economic field was leveled and multiple economic hurdles removed, an aspect that immensely empowered people economically and ensured that they moved away from the vicious cycle of poverty that overwhelmed the peasants and middle-class in Mexico.
Political Impacts of the Mexican Revolution of 1910 to 1920
Though the Mexican Revolution of 1910 to 1920 marked the precedence of other multiple revolutions, the emergence of factions, and political reforms, it created an indelible mark in the history of Mexico. First, it ushered in a democratic process and transformed Mexico from an autocratic state to a relatively robust democratic state in Latin America[17]. When General Diaz rose to the position of the president through a coup in 1876, democracy in Mexico was weak as coups typified the successions in the leadership in Mexico[18]. For instance, after the resignation of General Diaz, Madero’s reign was short-lived, and the country degenerated into chaos as rival factions led by Pancho Villa from the North and Emiliano Zapata independently controlled different parts of the region. For instance, Zapata controlled Morelos entirely and unleashed terror among the ranchos and other wealthy landowners[19]. Such instances and the fact that multiple factions overran the Mexican army typified the type of governance that was in existence in Mexico. However, the Presidency of Venustiano Carranza in 1915 and the promulgation of the constitution of Mexico in 1917 paved the way for the stabilization of democracy in Mexico, a shift from the traditional coups that typified successions[20]. Since 1917, amidst the other revolutions, aspects of democracy strengthened in Mexico with the PRI political party ruling for 71 years and other political parties ensuring that democracy is upheld until the moment in Mexico.
Again, the Mexican Revolution led to the promulgation of the Mexican Constitution in 1917, the constitution that is still is used in Mexico up to now. Though there were various laws in place in Mexico, the promulgation of the Mexican Constitution in 1917 provided a wider scope and tenets for ensuring that democracy and land reforms are strengthened in different ways[21]. Additionally, the constitution of 1917 provided a platform that separated the powers of the church, state, and federal government ownership of the land, holding of communal land and other political reforms. Though the implementation of the constitution was mostly carried out by Obregon after the assassination of Carranza in 1920, the constitution equated to the statement of the delegates’ vision and provided an elaborate platform and a blueprint upon which modern Mexico is premised[22]. The constitution strengthened the different aspects of politics and economy in Mexico and played an essential role in ensuring that people are empowered.
Finally, due to the revolution, the various Mexican governments, especially the Carranza and Obregon administrations, embraced trade unions, a deviation from the traditional norms[23]. Initially, especially during the reigns of General Diaz and Francisco Madero, the union movements were suppressed, and the owners of ranchos and haciendas continued to indiscriminately suppress the peasants and other middle-class people in the Mexican people[24]. Again, the revolution arose from the peasants who felt that the working conditions and the suppression of the employees were rampant. However, through Francisco Madero, a highly educated scholar engaged in revolutionary activities through mobilizing workers to participate in strikes and other issues that are related to the workers in the ranchos and the hacienda[25]. The constitution enacted in 1917 in Mexico ensured that people and workers in these farms and other working areas are allowed to form unions. The formation of the unions ensured that people were able to demand better payment, hold the owners of hacienda and ranchos accountable and effectively work towards ensuring that the working conditions of the individuals are taken into account[26]. Allowing the workers to form trade unions strengthened the democratic tenets of Mexico in the long run.
Conclusion
In conclusion, though the Mexican Revolution of 1910 set precedence to multiple revolutions and political upheavals that continued to plague Mexico before and after the promulgation of the Mexican constitution in 1917, it offered a platform upon which raft of reforms and changes were initiated. The abolishment of the haciendas and the development of the ejidos ensured an effective redistribution of land among the landless and economically empowered the beneficiaries. Through government initiatives and provisions in the constitution, Mexico transformed from the anarchy to democracy despite the assassinations that typified the country’s governance. To a great extent, the provisions in the constitution of Mexico enshrined land rights, and union rights ensured that there is economic independence and democracy is enhanced in Mexico.
Bibliography
Cabrera, Luis. “The Mexican Revolution: Its Causes, Purposes, and Results.” The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 69 (1927): 1-17.
Carr, Barry. “Recent Regional Studies of the Mexican Revolution.” Latin American Research Review 15, no. 1 (1980): 3-14.
Jrade, Ramon. “Inquiries into the cristero insurrection against the Mexican Revolution.” Latin American Research Review (1985): 53-69.
Knight, A. (1984). The working class and the Mexican Revolution, c. 1900–1920. Journal of Latin American Studies, 16(1), 51-79.
Knight, Alan. “The Mexican Revolution: Bourgeois? Nationalist? Or Just a’Great Rebellion’?.” Bulletin of Latin American Research 4, no. 2 (1985): 1-37.
Rowe, Leo Stanton. “The Mexican Revolution: its causes and consequences.” Political Science Quarterly 27, no. 2 (1922): 281-297.
Vaughan, Mary Kay. “Cultural approaches to peasant politics in the Mexican revolution.” Hispanic American Historical Review 79, no. 2 (1999): 269-307.
[1] Cabrera, Luis. “The Mexican Revolution: Its Causes, Purposes, and Results.” The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 69 (1917): 1-17.
[2] Ibid. 2.
[3] Ibid, 2.
[4] Ibid, 5.
[5] Ibid. 14.
[6] Rowe, Leo Stanton. “The Mexican Revolution: its causes and consequences.” Political Science Quarterly 27, no. 2 (1992): 281-297.
[7] Ibid, 287.
[8] Ibid, 282.
[9] Ibid, 290.
[10] Knight, Alan. “The Mexican Revolution: Bourgeois? Nationalist? Or Just a’Great Rebellion’?.” Bulletin of Latin American Research 4, no. 2 (1985): 1-37.
[11] Ibid, 4.
[12] Ibid, 17
[13] Ibid, 33.
[14] Vaughan, Mary Kay. “Cultural approaches to peasant politics in the Mexican revolution.” Hispanic American Historical Review 79, no. 2 (1999): 269-307.
[15] Ibid, 282.
[16] Ibid. 276.
[17], Jrade, Ramon. “Inquiries into the cristero insurrection against the Mexican Revolution.” Latin American Research Review (1985): 53-69.
[18] Ibid. 55.
[19] Ibid, 57.
[20] Ibid, 61.
[21] Carr, Barry. “Recent Regional Studies of the Mexican Revolution.” Latin American Research Review 15, no. 1 (1980): 3-14.
[22] Ibid. 12.
[23] Knight, A. (1984). The working class and the Mexican Revolution, c. 1900–1920. Journal of Latin American Studies, 16(1), 51-79.
[24] Ibid. 52.
[25] Ibid. 73.
[26] Ibid. 77.