WHAT WAS VENUSTIANO CARRANZA'S MOTTO? - HISTORY - 2025

Constitution and Reform was the motto that Venustiano Carranza put up to gather all the revolutionary armed factions of Mexico into a single army at the beginning of the 20th century.

With the fundamental objective of respecting the constitution and restoring order, he managed to unite the wills - and the revolutionary armies - of the different Mexican leaders and unify the fight against the dictatorial government of General Victoriano Huerta in all the states.

Venustiano Carranza

It was called the Constitutionalist Army - as opposed to the Federal Army of the counterrevolutionaries - and it laid the institutional foundations of what is now known as the Mexican Army.

Who was Venustiano Carranza?

Born in the state of Coahuila in the bosom of a prestigious family, Carranza was a military man who began his political career succeeding his father as mayor of his native town.

In 1911, after the outbreak of the Mexican Revolution, the interim president Francisco Madero appointed him Governor.

Two years later, Huerta manages to usurp the presidency of the country by sending Madero to be assassinated.

The Plan of Guadalupe

Shortly after Madero's death, in 1913, Carranza launched the Plan of Guadalupe, a manifesto by which he did not know the Huerta government, and proclaimed himself First Chief of the Constitutionalist Army.

In his fight against the conservative government of Huerta, Carranza gains the support of the agrarian revolutionary leaders Pancho Villa (to the north) and Emiliano Zapata (to the south).

The unified forces in the Constitutionalist Army win in every state, and Huerta is forced to resign from the presidency in 1914.

That year, in addition, the United States of America invaded Mexico. Carranza, this time, makes use of his political profile and reaches agreements with that government so that he does not intervene in the internal affairs of the country.

Carranza is already acting President of Mexico.

The Aguascalientes Convention

As is often the case, the unity that was achieved in battles was more difficult to sustain in peace. To try to conclude agreements between the parties, a Sovereign Revolutionary Convention is called in Aguascalientes.

The gap between the agrarian revolutionary camp and the moderates, far from being settled, became more acute. Villa and Zapata refused to recognize Carranza's authority and dissolve their own armies.

Then began a war between both sectors. With victories and defeats, Carranza finally manages to establish himself as the winner.

Constitutional reform

Once the opposing forces were suffocated, in 1916, Carranza summoned a Constituent Congress in the state of Querétaro to reform the current constitution and adapt it to the national reality.

In 1917, Mexico already had a new Constitution and a new constitutional president appointed by Congress.

Carranza was president until 1920, he put an end to the revolution and, although some of his measures were progressive in form, their application was relatively conservative.

Although probably more important than the fact that his agrarian reform was very moderate, what stands out is that the revolution has ended (at least in its bloodiest face). AND

Venustiano Carranza's motto, Constitution and Reform, won out over the Zapatista motto of Reform, Liberty, Justice and Law.

References

1. KRAUZE, E., de los Reyes, A., & de Orellana, M. (1987). Venustiano Carranza, bridge between centuries (Vol. 5). Economic Culture Fund USA.
2. BRECEDA, A. (1930). Don Venustiano Carranza: biographical features in 1912. Department of the Federal District.
3. CAMÍN, HA, & MEYER, L. (2010). In the Shadow of the Mexican Revolution: Contemporary Mexican History, 1910–1989. University of Texas Press.7
4. KNIGHT, A. (1990). The Mexican Revolution: counter-revolution and reconstruction (Vol. 2). U of Nebraska Press.
5. MENDIOLEA, GF (1957). History of the Constituent Congress of 1916-1917. National Institute of Historical Studies of the Mexican Revolution.