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Santa Anna
Santa Anna was a dominant figure in Mexican politics who served as president between 1833 and 1855 due to his multiple military victories. He started his career as a liberal, only to become more conservative as his power increased. He was exiled from the country several times, but always returned until 1855—a group of reformers overthrew/exiled Santa Anna, and he did not return. -
Benito Juarez
Benito Juarez was the leader of the group of reformers who overthrew Santa Anna and made a series of major reforms that reduced the power of the Catholic Church and the military. Due to this, a civil war broke out; however, Juarez remained victorious because of support from the U.S. government and his liberal allies. -
Napoleon III
Napoleon III was a powerful ally that conservatives in Mexico used to help overthrow the Mexican government because of Napoleon III’s dreams of restoring a French empire in the Americas. In 1861 he sent French troops into Mexico, overthrew the Mexican government, and installed Austrian Archduke Maximilian as the new emperor of Mexico. -
Austrian Archduke Maximilian
Maximillian started out as commander of the Imperial Austrian navy. After Mexico announced that they were not going to repay debts he allied with the British French and Spanish to declare war on Mexico. After the British and Spanish pulled out of the war, he allied with the French to establish a monarchy in Mexico and was briefly seen as leader of Mexico (by several governments). Later the French pulled out of Mexico—the Monarchy tumbled, leading to Maximillian's capture and execution. -
Porfirio Diaz
Díaz became the leader of Mexico after the death of Juárez. He established a society based on law and order and was a key figure in modernizing Mexico. Through foreign investment, Mexico’s exports increased and their railroads expanded. Díaz strongly believed in enforcing his power through the army. For example, he jailed several of his opponents, one being Francisco Madero. Regardless of Díaz’s attempts to establish a peace, his opponents caused national rebellions against his government. -
José Martí
Martí was an activist fighting for Cuba's independence. Although Spain exiled many nationalists as a result of their protests, Martí, a poet and a journalist, continued to keep the fight alive through his writing after being exiled to New York. During this time, he also founded the Cuban Revolutionary Party and, once he was able to go back to Cuba in 1895, took part in a rebellion against the Spanish. Unfortunately, Martí was later killed by the Spanish. -
Emilio Aguinaldo
In the 1890s, Filipino nationalists began fighting for the Philippines’ freedom from the Spanish. Many thought the U.S. would help them gain independence—they just made it an American colony. As leader of the Philippines, Aguinaldo was angry that the U.S. had not helped his country even though the Philippines had previously worked with them against Spain. As a result, Aguinaldo led several rebellions against the U.S. However, many died and the Philippines did not become independent until 1946. -
Teddy Roosevelt
Roosevelt was a key figure in foreign affairs during his presidency. In order to allow the U.S. to build the Panama Canal to make trade more efficient, he authorized U.S. warships to support an uprising against Colombia to help Panama gain independence. Roosevelt also helped issue the Monroe Doctrine in 1823 and Roosevelt Corollary in 1904, which prohibited Europeans from further imperializing the Americas and provided security to U.S. interest and uphold stability/involvement in Latin America. -
Francisco Madero
Madero was a reform-minded opponent of Porfirio Díaz in the election of 1910. He was jailed by Díaz; however, after he was released, Madero fled to Texas and declared himself president of Mexico. He called for a revolution against the Díaz government. When Madero returned to Mexico later that year, he found rebellion spreading across the nation. -
Pancho Villa
Villa was the leader of a rebel group against Diaz after he won the election. However, after Diaz resigned and Madero was elected, Huerta took power by force, leading to a full civil war. Carranza seized power after Huerta resigned and fled. Villa was angered by this and the fact that the U.S government acknowledged him as president. Therefore, Villa attacked a U.S border town, who retaliated by pursuing and catching him in Mexico, but failed. He finally made a deal to stop the attacks in 1920. -
Emiliano Zapata
Emiliano Zapato was another revolutionary who led a small bank of indigenous rebels to attack the government. He operated at the same time as Pancho Villa. The two eventually allied with similar goals in mind and took the city of Juarez. He rebelled simply because he wanted land reform which never really came leading to his eventual surrender. Unlike Villa he operated in the Southern part of the country. -
Victoriano Huerta
Victoriano Huerta was a Mexican Military officer who became president. He seized power from Madero which led to a full blown civil war in Mexico. There were many revolts against him made by Madero’s supporters. Huerta struggled to stay in power but resigned in July 1914 and fled to Spain. -
Venustiano Carranza
Carranza declared himself president after Huerta resigned. After another civil war broke out due to rebellions, Carranza defeated his rivals and secured his position. Carranza took on the task of nation building: a new constitution went into effect in 1917, allowing the government to redistribute land, limit the power of the church, and protect the rights of citizens. Despite these improvements, Mexico still struggled with extreme poverty made worse by the damage done by years of revolution.