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David Siqueiros
David Siqueiros is born in Chihuahua City, Mexico to a bourgeois family. He attends Frano-English College in 1908, an interesting time for schooling, In 1910 the Mexican Revolution raged, and Siqueiros becomes involved in student strikes. In 1911, he leads a successful student strike at the San Carlos Academy, which changes the school's teaching system. At age 18, he joins the Mexican Army and works to undermine the military dictator, Victoriano Huerta. -
Pofirio Díaz Modernizes Mexico
Pofirio Díaz runs for his 8th term as president of Mexico and has Francisco Madero, his opponent, thrown into jail to prevent him from winning. After Díaz wins with no fight, he quickly begins modernizing Mexico at great cost. He belives that the mestizos are only good for manual labor. Poverty increases and wages remain low. Sure enough, those who are facing these injustices decide to rebel. -
Madero's Plan de San Luis Potosí
Madero escapes prison and flees to San Antonio, Texas, where he devises a Plan de San Luis Potosí. This plan calls for an end to the Díaz regime and the restblishment of democracy. It asks for the Mexican population to rise in arms on this day, also known as the start of the Mexican Revolution. This document is an important symbol for the current Mexican State which owes its existence to the fall of the old regime. -
Madero's Forces Attack at Casa Grandes
Madero's forces attack the federal garrison at Casa Grandes. Madero teams up with other local leaders, including a bandit named Doroteo Arango, better known as Pancho Villa. Villa's men are miners from the north, nicknamed the "golden-toned" because of their golden-hued uniforms. The two forces present in the battle include the Mexican army loyal to Díaz and the rebels under Madero. The result is a victory for Díaz. -
Madero's First Actions as President
After Madero signs the Treaty of Ciudad Juarez with Díaz, Díaz abdicates his rule and Madero replaces him. He is hesitant to take action on land reform, insisting that the hacienda owners pay for the land they lost. As a result he looses support and encounters ridicule for being anti-business. He isunable to meld democratic ideas with old-guard politics. This results in an ongoing struggle between him and the military. -
Madero is Murdered & Huerta Takes Over
Huerta kills Madero along with Madero's brother. Huerta, now president, begins a regime much more harsh and brutal than that of Díaz. He has a hundred Congress members jailed and a hundred Madero supporters murdered. However, he carries the support of the conservatives, the Catholic Church, and American businesses. All males between the age of 15 - 40 are forced to fight in his army, with most men being gathered at bars, bull fights, and on the street. -
Carranza & The Plan de Guadalupe
Venustiano Carranza, a politician and rancher, is one of the main adversaries of Huerta and his rule. Carranza calls his forces Constitutionalists, a group consisting of middle-class urbanites, liberals, and intelectuals, who desire a "Mexico for Mexicans." Carranza, angry with Huerta and his forces, issues the Plan de Guadalupe. This plan is a refusal to recognize Huerta as president as well as a declaration for war between the two factions. -
Battle of Zacatecas
This battle is one of the bloodiest during the Revolution. Pancho Villa's Division of the North defeat the troops of General Luís Medina Barrón at Zacatecas. This great victory demoralizes Huerta advocates, leading to his resignation on July 15. Huerta goes into exile in Europe, and enters the United States in order to try to reenter Mexico. He dies shortly after in 1916. -
Diego Rivera - Zapatista Landscape: The Guerrilla
In this work, Rivera portrays the Mexican revolutionary leader Emiliano Zapata. Here, he is seen with attributes such as a rifle, bandolier, hat, and sarape. This is a style he once belived to be a "revolutionary movement." The work is suggestive of the Synthetic phase of Cubism. Executed at the peak of the Mexican Revolution, the painting displays the expanding politiczation of his masterpieces. -
Battle of Celaya
Obregón's army of 6,000 calvary and 5,000 infantry has a stunning vitory over Villa's 20,000 men. Villa belived the best way to attack the men was to conduct a series of frontal attacks with his cavalry on Obregón's trenches. Villa loses 4,00 men as a result. This is due to the fact that Obregón's trenches have barbed wire and machine guns, and Villa did not. Obregon's army is also equipped with the knowledge of new 20th century war tactics to which Villa's old tactics could not compare. -
Villa Enters US
Villa enters the United States and raids town of Columbus, New Mexico with only 500 riders. 100 Villistas are killed as well as 18 Americans. News of the attack spreads quickly all through the nation. The United States reacts with troops that follow Villa into Mexico. Villa's attack in New Mexico is one of the most remmebered events of the Border War. -
Zapata is Killed
Emiliano Zapata, a leader of indigenous people during the Mexican Revolution, is murdered in Morelos by government forces. After his death, the Liberation Force in the South starts to fall a part. However, Zapata's legacy lives on after his death. His agrarian reform movement, known as zapatismo, remains important to the Mexican society. Zapata never became president, but he was able to redistribute land and aid poor farmers. -
Battle of Esperanza
De la Huerta's forces are defeated. Defeat and shame destroy Huerta, so he flees Mexico. There are still some minor mutinies in ensuing years, but large scale fighting is over. An estimated 2 million are thought to have died during the Revolution. It is not officialy over for many more years, but the worst has passed. -
Carranza Flees to Veracruz
Carranza flees to Veracruz, and takes 5 million in gold and silver along with 10,000 followers. As they flee, a dynamite laded train crashes into the lead train and kills 200 people, leaving Carranza to retreat with 100 people. When he arrives, he meets Rodolfo Herrero who professes loyalty. This proves to be untrue, and Herrero kills Carranza in his sleep. -
Obregón as President
Obregón gains the support of everyone. The military loves him as well as the middle class, whom he supports. Even the poor worship him, since they were betrayed by Carranza. He is also popular with intellectuals. Unforutnaely, it did not take long for adversaries to make claims. Adolfo de la Huerta accuses Obregón of corruption and demands him to be overthrown.
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