The Mexican Revolution (Spanish: Revolución mexicana) was a major armed struggle that started in 1910, with an uprising led by Francisco I. Madero against longtime autocrat Porfirio Díaz. The Revolution was characterized by several socialist, liberal, anarchist, populist, and agrarianist movements. Over time the Revolution changed from a revolt against the established order to a multi-sided civil war. This armed conflict is often categorized as the most important sociopolitical event in Mexico and one of the greatest upheavels of the 20th century. After prolonged struggles, its representatives produced the Mexican Constitution of 1917. The Revolution is generally considered to have lasted until 1920, although the country continued to have sporadic, but comparatively minor, outbreaks of warfare well into the 1920s. The Revolution triggered the creation of the National Revolutionary Party in 1929 (renamed the Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, in 1946). After Benito Juárez’s death in 1872, Porfirio Díaz wanted to take over as Mexico’s leader. As allies the two men had fought against the French in the Battle of Puebla,( which took place on 5 de Mayo 1862) but once Juárez rose to power Díaz tried to unseat him. Díaz began his reign as president in 1876, and ruled until May 1911 when Francisco I. Madero succeeded him, taking office in November 1911. Díaz’s regime is remembered for the advances he brought in industry and modernization, at the expense of human rights and liberal reforms. He worked to reduce the power of the Roman Catholic Church and expropriated some of their large property holdings. Porfirio Díaz’s government from 1876–1910 has become known as the Porfiriato. Díaz had a strict “No Re-election” policy in which presidents could not serve consecutive terms in office. He followed this rule when he stepped down in 1880.after his first term and was succeeded by Manuel González. Manuel Gonzalez was controlled by Porfirio Diaz and was commonly known as Diaz’s puppet. The new president’s period in office was marked by political corruption and official incompetence. When Díaz ran in the next election (1884), he was a welcome replacement. In future elections Díaz conveniently put aside his “No Re-election” slogan and ran for president in every election.Porfirio was an early liberalist, but changed his views after Juarez took office. Díaz became the dictator against whom he had warned the people. Through the army, the Rurales, and gangs of thugs, Diaz frightened people into voting for him. When bullying citizens into voting for him failed, he simply rigged the votes in his favor. Díaz knew he was violating the constitution by using force to stay in office. He justified his acts by claiming that Mexico was not yet ready to govern itself; only he knew what was best for his country and he enforced his belief with a strong hand. “Order followed by Progress” were the watchwords of his rule.While Díaz’s presidency was characterized by promotion of industry and the pacification of the country, some said; it came at the expense of the working class. Farmers and peasants both claimed to have suffered exploitation. The economy took a great leap during the Porfiriato, with his encouraging the construction of factories, roads, dams, industries and better farms. This resulted in the rise of an urban proletariat and the influx of foreign capital (principally from the United States). Part of his success in maintaining power came from mitigating U.S. influence through European investments – primarily from Great Britain and Imperial Germany. Progress came at a price however, as basic rights such as freedom of the press were suspended under the Porfiriato. The growing influence of the U.S. was a constant problem for Díaz. A major portion of Mexico’s land (territory now known as the Mexican Cession) had earlier been ceded to the U.S.; both in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo that ended the Mexican-American War, and the subsequent purchase of another large region by the United States in the Gadsden Purchase.Wealth, political power and access to education were concentrated among a handful of families, overwhelmingly of European descent, who controlled much property in large estates. Most of the people in Mexico were landless. Foreign companies, mostly from the United Kingdom, France and the U.S., also exercised power in Mexico.Díaz changed land reform efforts that were begun under previous leaders. Díaz’s new land laws virtually undid all the hard work by leaders such as Juárez. No peasant or farmer could claim the land he occupied without formal legal title. Helpless and angry small farmers felt a change of regime would be necessary if Mexico was to continue being successful. For this reason, many leaders including Francisco I. Madero, Pancho Villa and Emiliano Zapata would launch a rebellion against Díaz, escalating into the eventual Mexican Revolution. When it came to the land reform 95% of Mexico’s land was owned by only 5% of the Mexican population. This unfair distribution of land went on for years and angered many of the lower class. This corrupt system only allowed the rich to get richer and the poor to get poorer. Many of the workers on these Hacienda farms were beaten like slaves and were constantly being put into debt from their previous generations. Díaz allowed this corrupt behavior to go on his entire time as he stayed in power. Most historians mark the end of the Porfiriato in 1911 as the beginning of the Mexican Revolution. In a 1908 interview with the U.S. journalist James Creelman, Díaz stated that Mexico was ready for democracy and elections and that he would step down to allow other candidates to compete for the presidency. Growing “old and careless”, Díaz figured he would retire to Europe and allow a younger man to take over his presidency. Because of the dissidence this caused, Díaz decided to run again in 1910 for the last time, with an eye toward arranging a succession in the middle of his term. Madero ran against Díaz in 1910. Diaz thought he could control this election as he had the previous seven. Although similar overall to Díaz in his ideology, Madero hoped for other elites to rule alongside the president. Díaz did not approve of Madero and had him jailed on election day in 1910. Díaz was announced the winner of the election by a landslide, providing the initial impetus for the outbreak of the Revolution. When it became obvious that the outcome of the election was fixed a Madero supporter Toribio Ortega took up arms with a group of followers at Cuchillo Parado, Chihuahua, Mexico on November 10, 1910. The United States was involved politically and socially with the Mexican revolution from 1910-1920. The United States had attitudes and interests among the Mexican population. The attitudes stem mostly from common American people including religious groups and women’s groups. These organizations were socially involved with Mexico during the revolution because of the harsh times that many Mexican people faced economically and socially. The Mexican people were devastated by the revolution and lacked work, adequate food, and shelter. The attitude of American organizations like the religious and women’s groups, was that they could not just let the Mexican people suffer, they had to help them. Numerous groups, such as the Red Cross, were able to help the Mexican people during the revolution. The interests among the United States citizens in Mexico during the revolution on the other hand were mostly representative of the United States politicians. The economic interest in Mexico during 1910-1920 had decided United States policy toward Mexico and thus the United States response and involvement with Mexico during this time. At the turn of the 20th century, Americans, including major companies, held about 27 percent of Mexican land. By 1910 American industrial investment had increased even more, pushing Presidents William Howard Taft and Woodrow Wilson to intervene in Mexican affairs. For both economic and political reasons, the United States government generally supported whoever was in power, though President Wilson did condemn Huerta’s murders of Madero and Pino Suárez.Obregon’s. When United States agents discovered that the German merchant ship Ypiranga was carrying illegal arms to Huerta, President Wilson ordered troops to the port of Veracruz to stop the ship from docking. He did not declare war on Mexico. The United States troops then skirmished with Huerta’s forces in Veracruz. The Ypiranga managed to dock at another port, which infuriated Wilson. The ABC Powers arbitrated and United States troops left Mexican soil, but the incident added to already tense United States–Mexico relations. In 1916, in retaliation for Pancho Villa’s raid on Columbus, New Mexico, and the death of 16 American citizens, President Wilson sent Brigadier General John J. Pershing into Mexico to capture Villa. Villa was deeply entrenched in the mountains of northern Mexico, and knew the terrain too well to be captured by the United States forces. General Pershing was forced to abandon the mission and return to the United States. This event, however, further damaged the strained United States–Mexico relationship and caused Mexico’s anti-American sentiment to grow stronger. Some[who?] historians believed the United States government invested too much in the Mexican issue and violated its own avowed neutrality. since then it’s big holiday in Mexico “Mexican Revolution Day” (November 20th). The Mexican Revolution in Mexico is celebrated with traditional festivities such as bazaars, parades( usually people dress as they just do), presentations, folkloric songs, poetry, the bazaars offered an grand variation of Mexican dishes such as enchiladas, tostadas, tacos, flautas, tamales or even a fajitas and an unparalleled number of dishes,

there are also games such as civil registration, face painting, movie, Dance room and more, the background we can hear traditional songs that remind us of the greatness of Mexican folkloras Adelita, the Rielera, carbine 30-30, the death of Emiliano also Zapata.Hay major parades on city streets where public schools usually participate, there you can see representations of what happened on November 20 as well as scenes relating to the time with the characters that adorn the date.

the Mexican Government also have their own festivities as the huge parade that included acts representative and show jumpers, Mexico, today celebrated the 101 anniversary of its revolution. The representative Zócalo of Mexico City was the place where the celebration began, which was also attended by President Felipe Calderon and other personalities from public life in the country. A large electronic screen was placed in the center of the zocalo to
project phrases and images related to Mexican landmark. In that place they remembered acts different representations movements driven by socialists, liberals, anarchists, populists and to achieve agrarian revolution. shows on the air by the army, simulating aircraft bombing sheets also recreated the moments of the revolutionary struggle in Mexico. Horses, large flags and people dressed in clothing and weapons of the time,were along the route.


Cinco De Mayo(Spanish for Fifth of May)

