AGUASCALIENTES CONVENTION: PROPOSALS AND OBJECTIVES - HISTORY - 2025

The Sovereign Convention of Aguascalientes was held between October 10 and December 9, 1914. The leaders of the Mexican constitutional movement, along with some of the most prominent revolutionaries, met there. All had participated in the fight against General Huerta, who had created a dictatorship in the country.

The first sessions were held in Mexico City, but it soon moved to the city that gives it its name, Aguascalientes (Mexico). The convenor of the officially called Great convention of military chiefs with command of forces and governors of the States, was Venustiano Carranza, head of the Constitutionalist Army.

With this meeting, Carranza wanted to reach agreements with the rest of the participants in the revolution and organize the new politics in Mexico. At first, Zapata and Villa refused to participate, although they ended up appearing in Aguascalientes.

Throughout the Convention there were different proposals, almost all presented by the villistas. The objective of reaching agreements between all parties was not achieved. In the end, the future of the Revolution was decided with arms.

Proposals

The celebration of the Revolutionary Convention of Aguascalientes was one of the most important moments in Mexican history. The protagonists of the Revolution tried to reach agreements to create country structures that would leave behind years of instability.

The meetings did not start very well, since Francisco Villa and Emiliano Zapata, faced with Carranza, refused to participate. The transfer of the Convention from Mexico City to Aguascalientes was essential for both revolutionary leaders to finally present themselves.

Sovereign Assembly

One of the first proposals that the Convention had to face was, perhaps, the most symbolically important. On October 14 it is proposed that the Assembly declare it as Sovereign.

The entire room accepted, according to the chroniclers, with a long applause and the proposals were quickly approved. With that simple statement, what was just an attempt at factional compromise became much more.

Republic President

Another of the proposals presented and approved was the removal of Carranza as President of the Republic. His replacement was Eulalio Gutiérrez, who was sworn in as an interim.

His first measure was a sample of how the Villistas had achieved control of the meeting, since he appointed Francisco Villa as Chief of the Army. This movement ended up causing Carranza to abandon the Convention and return to lead his troops.

Plan of Ayala

The Zapatistas also presented their own proposals. The most important was the request that the Convention adhere to the Ayala Plan. This was a political statement with a great social character, very beneficial for the peasants.

The Zapatista discourse ended up being accepted. Ayala's plan was adopted by a large group of revolutionaries

Constitution

The defeat of Carranza's postulates was reflected in the null support of his intention to recover the Mexican Constitution of 1857. The supporters of Villa and Zapata considered that it was too moderate, so they rejected such a possibility.

goals

The Mexican Revolution had begun in 1910, when opponents rose up against the dictatorship of Porfirio Díaz. After losing power, the revolutionaries continued their fight against Victoriano Huerta.

From the beginning there were various camps among the revolutionaries. By mid-1914, when they had already triumphed, the country was far from being unified.

Thus, the north was controlled by the supporters of Carranza, on the one hand, those of Villa, on the other, and, finally, by those of Obregón. Meanwhile, the Zapatistas dominated the south and besieged Mexico City.

This forced the leaders of the Revolution to have to reach agreements. The first negotiations took place in Torrejón, from July 4 to 8, 1914. The purpose was to iron out the differences between Francisco Villa and Carranza.

Aguascalientes

The main objective of the Sovereign Convention of Aguascalientes was that the different revolutionary factions tried to reach an agreement to pacify the country.

However, from the beginning it led to a struggle to try to impose hegemony and, together with this, a different political model.

Francisco Villa arrived with a well-defined objective: to appoint a provisional government to later call elections. Carranza, in the minority at the time, did not accept and ended up withdrawing from the talks.

For his part, Zapata focused his efforts on getting the Ayala Plan to become part of the new country. He won the support of the Villistas, but the Carrancistas considered the proposal too radical.

Consequences

The main objective of the Convention, to pacify the country and reach agreements between the different anti-Huertista factions, was not fully met. Villa and Zapata did reconcile, but differences with Carranza caused him to leave the meeting.

Carranza

When he lost the provisional presidency and realized that he was not going to achieve his goals, Carranza decided to leave the Convention. For the military it was clear that the leadership of the country was going to decide on arms and transferred his government to Veracruz. His troops were joined by those of Álvaro Obregón, who decided to support him.

From Veracruz, Carranza continues to govern as if he had not been dismissed in Aguascalientes. Among his measures, he highlighted a law favorable to indigenous people. With it, he recognized the communal ownership of his lands.

Zapata and Villa

Once reconciled, both revolutionary leaders directed their troops to Mexico City. Zapata arrived first, on November 24, and a few days later, Francisco Villa. Between the two they numbered 60,000 men.

War

Villa and Zapata's attempt to control the capital ended in failure. In January 1915 they had to leave the area and return to their respective areas of influence.

The war between the factions that had fought against Díaz and Huerta was served and soon the confrontations began.

In April of that same year, Obregón's troops managed to defeat Villa's army. In October, the same happened to Zapata, who was defeated by Pablo González in Cuernavaca.

Constitution

Carranza, with a clear horizon, transferred the government to Querétaro. Despite his victory, there were still many supporters of the more revolutionary options and, in 1916, he had to call elections for a Constituent Congress.

The participation of some so-called radical deputies caused the resulting Constitution to contain numerous social demands. Carranza was against these measures, but had no choice but to allow the promulgation of the new Constitution on February 5, 1917.

References

1. Aguascalientes State Government. The Sovereign Convention. Obtained from aguascalientes.gob.mx
2. Esparza Muñoz, José Fermín. The Aguascalientes Convention did not achieve the objective of pacifying the country. Obtained from lja.mx
3. Ortiz Diego, Ernesto. The Aguascalientes Convention on its 101st anniversary. Obtained from colloqui.org
4. Encyclopedia of Latin American History and Culture. Aguascalientes, Convention Of. Retrieved from encyclopedia.com
5. Pedrozam John. The 1914 Convention of Aguascalientes. Retrieved from johnpedroza.com
6. Boyd, W. The Mexican Revolution, 1914-1915: The Convention of Aguascalientes. Recovered from scholarworks.iu.edu
7. Ramírez Hurtado, Luciano. Revolutionary Convention of Evolutionary of Aguascalientes. Obtained from vivaaguascalientes.com