CAUSES OF THE MEXICAN REVOLUTION: POLITICAL, SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC - HISTORY - 2025

The causes of the Mexican Revolution were multiple, although almost all of them related to the policies carried out by the authoritarian government of Porfirio Díaz. This had come to power in 1877 and had managed to perpetuate himself in the presidency for seven terms.

The so-called Porfiriato was characterized by economic growth that, however, only reached the upper classes of the population. Furthermore, this improvement in the economy came about through the granting of numerous privileges to foreigners and oligarchs.

Francisco I. Madero, former Mexican president (in the front row, with papers in his pocket) with revolutionary leaders - Source: US Library of Congress - Prints & Photographs Online Catalog public domain in the United States

Among the factors that harmed Mexican workers the most were the law that left small farmers without their land, the absence of any labor legislation, and the exploitation they suffered in the mines and factories. To this must be added the lack of freedom of the press and politics.

All of the above caused a revolutionary movement to break out in 1910 with the purpose of ending the regime imposed by Díaz. However, the revolution did not end with the overthrow of the president and the election of Francisco I. Madero, since a coup d'état carried out by Victoriano Huerta caused the revolutionaries to take up arms again.

Political causes

Porfirio Díaz had remained in power for almost three decades after reaching the presidency in 1877. During that time he had established an authoritarian government in which political freedom was non-existent. The main political causes of the Mexican Revolution were:

Government of Porfirio Díaz

Porfirio Díaz became president of the country in 1877. Although he left office during a legislature (1880 - 1884), then he returned to occupy it without interruption until 1911. The motto of the Porfiriato, the name that this period in the history of Mexico received, was “ Peace, order and progress ”.

Historians highlight the economic growth fostered by the Porfiriato's policies, although they point out that it occurred at the expense of the country's most vulnerable inhabitants, then the vast majority.

Although in his first election he had presented himself as a defender of non-reelection, he very soon made legal changes to be able to perpetuate himself in power. To strengthen his position, he established a military-style government and reserved control of all the institutions.

Díaz exercised fierce repression against any possible political rival and against social leaders who could represent a threat to his government. Similarly, there was no freedom of the press and many journalists suffered reprisals.

Denial of democracy

Given his interest in remaining in power, Porfirio Díaz did everything possible to avoid free and democratic elections in Mexico. Diaz was interested in maintaining a strong and powerful government, so the idea of ​​democracy worked against him.

Díaz managed to modify the Constitution as many times as necessary in order to perpetuate himself in power.

He began his term by demonstrating against reelection, then he proposed that this reelection be allowed with a presidential term in between, and then he extended the presidential term to six years.

Lack of freedoms and corruption

As has been pointed out, in the Mexico of the Porfiriato there was no freedom of the press or of expression. In general, human rights were not respected.

On the other hand, corruption was widespread. This has led many historians to claim that it was a period of institutionalized corruption.

The Díaz government, who claimed that it intended to manage the country as if it were a company, granted privileges to friends and family. With this he not only helped them get rich, but also bought wills to support them as ruler.

Similarly, Díaz used public money to pay debts of other countries and to cover his investments in different businesses, such as railways, banking or mining.

Appearance of new opposition movements

It was Porfirio Díaz himself who led to the emergence of new opposition political organizations. The key was an interview he gave to James Creelman, an American journalist, in which he announced that he could allow other parties to run in the 1910 elections. Furthermore, he hinted that he was willing to withdraw.

These statements encouraged his opponents, who organized into two main currents: the National Anti-reelection Party and the Democratic Party. There were also movements on the Porfirian side, with the creation of the National Porfirian Party and the Scientific Party.

Among the opposition parties, the most popular was the Anti-reelectionist, led by Francisco I. Madero. He made his candidacy public and, during the campaign, his great acceptance by the people was evident.

Porfirio Díaz did not keep his word. Not only did he stand for election again, he ordered Madero arrested before the vote. Thus, Díaz secured his re-election.

Madero managed to escape to the United States shortly after. From there he proclaimed, on November 20, 1910, the so-called Plan of San Luis. Through this letter, he made a call to the Mexican people to rise up against Porfirism.

The response to the appeal was very positive. The uprisings took place throughout the Mexican territory. The revolution had started.

Coup against Madero

The first phase of the revolution was a success. Díaz was overthrown and Madero was elected president in 1911. However, his presidency only lasted until February 22, 1913.

A coup led by Victoriano Huerta ended the presidency of Madero, who was assassinated along with his vice president.

The revolutionaries took up arms again to try to end the dictatorship imposed by Huerta.

Social causes

The Porfiriato had created a society totally divided between the upper class and the lower class. This, made up of workers, peasants and indigenous people, barely had economic resources. Furthermore, there was no type of legislation to protect them against abuse.

The small middle class, made up of merchants and professionals, saw how privileges only went to the upper class. For this reason, many revolutionary leaders belonged to that minority middle class. The main social causes of the Mexican Revolution were:

Exploitation

Mexico's economic growth during the Porfiriato was largely possible thanks to the exploitation of resources, including labor. The workers and peasants did not have any type of legal protection and strikes were not allowed.

An example of the existing exploitation was the length of the working day. The most common is that it lasted at least twelve hours.

On the other hand, the most humble peasants had seen how a law of 1883 had caused them to lose part of their lands. The so-called Law of demarcation and colonization of uncultivated lands was used by landowners to expand their properties at the expense of small farmers.

This action implied the dispossession of the lands, especially the indigenous Mexicans. It gave way to foreign demarcation companies, which were in charge of determining the limits of the lands considered vacant, which allowed the taking of lands that were owned by Mexican inhabitants.

This way of distributing the lands meant that most of the lands were in the hands of very few.

There was an uneven distribution of land. In fact, it is estimated that in the last phase of Díaz's government period, 70% of the land was owned by foreign companies and some entrepreneurs belonging to the upper social class.

Large class gap

The unequal distribution of land, the granting of high benefits to the upper social class and practically no benefits to the lower social classes, the obstacles presented to the middle classes for the execution of their jobs, among other aspects, generated a great difference between the different classes that made life in Mexico.

There were three very different classes:

• On the one hand, there was the upper class, the aristocracy, who owned farms, businesses, factories, and had broad political power.
• Second, there was the middle class or petty bourgeoisie, made up of small merchants and professionals; The middle class was key to the revolutionary movement due to the discontent generated because they did not perceive the privileges that corresponded to them.
• In last place was the lower class, the workers and laborers, who lived in dire working conditions and practically did not enjoy any rights.

Absence of labor law

The workers had no rights. The promise of very cheap labor, or even a gift, implied really deplorable working conditions for the peasants and workers.

In addition to the number of hours of the day, which was around 12 continuous hours, and excessively low wages, a large number of prohibitions fell on workers (requesting salary increases, carrying out strikes or protests, etc.).

Another means of obtaining labor totally free was to promote the indebtedness of the workers, because in this way they felt obliged to work without having the right to receive any payment.

In some cases, it was also paid with credits instead of money. There was also job discrimination in the middle class, because many positions were banned for Mexicans.

Economic causes

Porfirio Díaz focused economic growth on material progress. This was based on the arrival of foreign capital. The data confirm that the country improved its situation, but without this having a favorable impact on the working classes. The main economic causes of the Mexican Revolution were:

Progress based on foreign capital

The Mexican economy when Porfirio Díaz came to power was going through a delicate situation. The country had large debts and its monetary reserves were scarce.

To try to solve the problem, Díaz opted to increase foreign investment. To achieve this, it offered investors very advantageous conditions, including cheap labor without rights.

Before long, many of the country's business and natural resources were in the hands of American and European companies. The wealth created by sectors such as mining or the railway industry went to foreigners. Only the Mexican upper class benefited, while the rest of society did not see their situation improving.

Huge latifundismo

Land ownership, in the hands of large landowners, had been a problem even before independence. During the Porfiriato, the situation even worsened.

Mexico was then a predominantly agricultural country. Twelve of the fifteen million Mexicans who populated the country lived in rural areas.

According to data from 1910, only 840 farmers owned 97% of the farmland. The remainder was distributed among 411,096 small farmers. In addition, there were more than 3 million day laborers.

References

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