The Mexican Revolution was an armed conflict that began in Mexico on November 20, 1910. Today, it is often referred to as the most important political and social event of the twentieth century in Mexico.
The antecedents of the conflict go back to the situation of Mexico under the porfiriato. From 1876 he exercised power in the country in a dictatorial manner. The situation lasted 31 years, during which Mexico experienced a remarkable economic growth and had political stability. These achievements were made with high economic and social costs, paid by the less favored strata of society and political opposition to the Diaz regime. During the first decade of the twentieth century several crises broke out in various spheres of national life, reflecting the growing discontent of some sectors with the Porfiriato.
When Diaz said in an interview that he would retire at the end of his term without seeking re-election, the political situation began to shake. Opposition to the government gained relevance to the position expressed by Díaz. In this context, Francisco I. Madero made several tours in the country with a view to forming a political party that elected its candidates in a national assembly and competed in the elections. Díaz launched a new candidacy for the presidency and Madero was arrested in San Luis Potosí for sedition. During his stay in prison the elections that gave the victory to Díaz were carried out.
Madero managed to escape from the state prison and fled to the United States. From San Antonio (Texas), on November 20, 1910, proclaimed the Plan of San Luis, which called to take up arms against the Government of Diaz. The armed conflict began in the north of the country and later expanded to other parts of the national territory. Once the insurgents occupied Ciudad Juárez (Chihuahua), Porfirio Díaz resigned and went into exile in France.
In 1911 new elections were held in which Madero was elected. From the beginning of his mandate he had differences with other revolutionary leaders, which led to the uprising of Emiliano Zapata and Pascual Orozco against the Maderista government. In 1913 a counterrevolutionary movement, led by Felix Diaz, Bernardo Reyes and Victoriano Huerta, gave a coup d'etat. The military uprising, known as Ten Tragic, ended with the murder of Madero, his brother Gustavo and vice president Pino Suarez. Huerta assumed the presidency, which caused the reaction of several revolutionary leaders such as Venustiano Carranza and Francisco Pancho Villa. After little more than a year of struggle, and after the US occupation of Veracruz, Huerta resigned as president and fled the country.
From that event the differences between the factions that had fought against Huerta deepened, which triggered new conflicts. Carranza, head of the Revolution in accordance with the Plan of Guadalupe, summoned all the forces to the Convention of Aguascalientes to name a unique leader. In that meeting Eulalio Gutiérrez was designated president of the country, but the hostilities resumed when Carranza ignored the agreement. After defeating the Convention, the Constitutionalists were able to start work on the drafting of a new constitution and take Carranza to the presidency in 1917. The factional struggle was far from over. In the rearrangement of the forces the main revolutionary leaders were assassinated: Zapata in 1919, Carranza in 1920, Villa in 1923, and Obregón in 1928.
Currently there is no consensus on when the revolutionary process ended. Some sources place it in 1917, with the proclamation of the Mexican Constitution, some others in 1920 with the presidency of Adolfo de la Huerta or in 1924 with that of Plutarco Elías Calles. There are even some that assure that the process extended until the 1940s.
