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1910
Beginning of Epic Revolution, triggered by unrest amongst peasants and urban workers, who are led by Emiliano Zapata. -
1911
Mexico's dictator, Porfirio Diaz, is overthrown. The new president is Francisco I. Madero, a liberal. Madero introduces land reform and labour legislation. Political unrest continues with Zapata leading a peasant revolt in the south. -
1913
Madero is assassinated. Victoriano Huerta seizes power. -
1914
Huerta is viewed with suspicion by the United States for his alleged pro-German sympathies. Huerta is succeeded by Venustiano Carranza. -
1916
US forces cross the border in pursuit of the guerrilla leader Pancho Villa. -
1917
A new constitution is adopted, which is designed to ensure permanent democracy in Mexico. -
1920
Venustiano Carranza is murdered. Civil war follows. -
1929 (THE PRI)
The National Revolutionary Party is formed. In 1946 it is re-named the Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI. -
1934
President Lazaro Cardenas begins programme of oil nationalisation, land reform and industrial expansion. -
1942
Mexico declares war on Japan and Germany. -
1968
Student demonstration in Tlatelolco, Mexico City, during the Olympic Games is fired upon by Mexican security forces. Hundreds of protestors are killed or wounded. -
1976
Huge offshore oil reserves discovered; the Cantarell field becomes the mainstay of Mexico's oil production. -
1985
Earthquake in Mexico City kills thousands and makes many more homeless. -
1993
Mexican parliament ratifies the North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta) with the US and Canada. -
1994
A guerrilla rebellion in Chiapas by the Zapatista National Liberation Army is brutally suppressed by government troops. The rebels oppose Nafta and want greater recognition for Indian rights. -
1995
Former President Carlos Salinas goes into exile after his brother Raul Salinas is connected with Colosio's murder. -
1996
The insurgency in the south escalates as the leftist Popular Revolutionary Army (EPR) attacks government troops.