PORFIRIATO: ORIGIN, CHARACTERISTICS, STAGES, CRISIS, END - HISTORY - 2025

The Porfiriato is the name of the historical period in Mexico during which Porfirio Díaz ruled. It includes between November 28, 1876 and May 25, 1911. Within this stage there were four years, from 1880 to 1884, in which the president was Manuel González, although historians agree that it was Díaz who ran the government.

The undisputed protagonist of this entire stage in the history of Mexico was Porfirio Díaz, a military man and politician who managed to reach power after taking up arms against the government of Lerdo de Tejada. Despite the fact that before gaining power he advocated non-reelectionism, afterwards he managed to perpetuate himself in power.

In fact, his departure from power was not voluntary, but the result of an uprising led by Francisco I. Madero, considered the beginning of the Mexican Revolution. All the experts point out the chiaroscuro of his management.

On the positive side, the country's economic recovery, industrialization and the modernization of infrastructures. On the negative side, that this improvement only reached a minority of the population, corruption, authoritarianism and political repression that led to several massacres.

Origin of the Porfiriato

Who was Porfirio Díaz?

A young military man Porfirio Díaz. Jose Maria Obregon / Public domain

You cannot understand the Porfiriato without knowing the man who made it possible. Porfirio Díaz was born in Oaxaca de Juárez in 1830 and, before taking office, he stood out for his military work.

His participation in the Second French Intervention, especially with the creation of guerrillas that fought the Europeans in the state of Oaxaca, made him well known in his country. Likewise, he was one of the protagonists of the recovery of Mexico City by the republican army.

However, the prestige gained did not serve him to win the presidential elections to which he ran before taking power. These defeats made him take up arms twice against the elected governments.

Elections of 1867

The fall of Emperor Maximilian made Mexico regain its complete sovereignty, without interference from outside. Benito Juárez held the presidency after the imperial defeat.

The next elections were called in 1867. Porfirio Díaz decided to run against Juárez. At that time Díaz was against presidential reelection. However, Juárez won by a large majority. The defeat affected the military, who left political life for a time.

Plan of La Noria

From left to right: Benito Juárez, Porfirio Díaz and Sebastián Lerdo de Tejada. Wikimedia commons

When the time came for the 1871 elections, Díaz decided to run again. Again, Benito Juárez was his rival and this duo was joined by a new opponent: Sebastián Lerdo de Tejada. The result was again favorable to Juárez, with Díaz in second position.

However, on this occasion Porfirio did not accept the results and began to recruit supporters, especially among the landowners of his native state. On November 8 of that same year, he proclaimed the so-called La Noria Plan, with which he urged the Mexican military to overthrow Juárez.

At first the advance of the rebels was very fast, but later the defeats began.

Extraordinary elections

When the defeat of Díaz seemed inevitable, the death of Benito Juárez occurred. Lerdo de Tejada assumed the presidency provisionally and Porfirio laid down his arms as it no longer made much sense to continue the fight.

In this way, new elections were called in October 1872. Díaz and Lerdo faced each other at the polls, the latter being the winner.

The Tuxtepec Revolution

History repeated itself in part in the elections of 1876. Lerdo de Tejada announced his candidacy, as did Porfirio Díaz. At the same time, Diaz's supporters - still opposed to reelection - began to demonstrate against Lerdo, being violently repressed.

The actions of the government forces caused Díaz to take up arms again in January 1876. Many soldiers and the Catholic Church supported this time the so-called Tuxtepec Revolution.

After almost a year of civil war, the Porfirian side entered the Mexican capital in November. On the 21st of that month, he was appointed interim president. On May 5 of the following year, and after having finally won an election, Porfirio Díaz became president of Mexico.

History of the Porfiriato

First presidential term (1877-1880)

Porfirio Díaz won the victory in 1877. Source: El Ágora (public domain).

During this first period of Porfirio Díaz in the presidency, the politician made an effort to pacify the country; his motto was "order, peace and justice." To achieve this objective, he managed to get the Congress to give him extraordinary powers and used the army to destroy the caciques.

Similarly, he replaced numerous military leaders with others he trusted, to end possible rebellions. In just one year, the measures took effect and the country was pacified.

Presidency of Manuel González (1880 - 1884)

Manuel González, president of Mexico between 1880 and 1884. Unknown author / Public domain

Although in the legislature that lasted from 1880 to 1884 the president of the country was Manuel Gonzalez, the truth is that it was Díaz who continued to lead the government.

González was a military man who had participated together with Díaz in the uprising against Lerdo de Tejada. In 1879 he was declared a candidate for the elections and the following year he promised the position.

The highlight during his tenure was the large investment in infrastructure aimed at modernizing the country. Thus, the government promoted the implementation of the railway, as well as the telegraph. In the economic sphere, the creation of two large banks stands out, which later merged to form the National Bank of Mexico.

Faced with these aspects, González had to deal with continuous accusations of corruption and a revolution almost broke out against him. Díaz intervened and saved the situation.

25 years of Porfiriato (1884 -1911)

Presidential Cabinet in 1911. From left. to der. Norberto Dominguez, Jorge Vera Estanol, Demetrio Sodi and Manuel Marroquin y Rivera. Bain News Service / Public domain

Díaz regained the presidency after González's interval. It was in 1884 and he would not leave the post until 1911.

At first, the economic news brought great joy to the government and helped maintain peace and stability. Infrastructures continued to grow and mining and agricultural production were promoted.

However, at the same time discontent was growing. The authoritarianism of Díaz and the inequality in the distribution of the wealth created turned a large part of the population against him. The army's action in the Cananea and Río Blanco strikes expanded discontent.

To this must be added the effects of the international economic crisis that emerged in 1907, which also affected Mexico. This recession caused discontent to escalate further. Thus, in 1910 the Mexican Revolution broke out and, after defeating Diaz's supporters, the Porfiriato was terminated.

Stages

Festive events for the anniversary of independence. Porfirio Díaz appears on the left of the image. Aurelio Escobar Castellanos / CC BY (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5)

Most historians divide the long period of Porfirio Díaz's presidency (including González's term) into three stages:

First stage

This first stage runs from his first election until the 1980s. It was a phase in which Díaz tried to stabilize the country and consolidate his government. He built a trusted team around him and made order and progress a national goal.

This objective was not without controversy, since the Porfiriato did not hesitate to resort to violence and repression against all its opponents (including the press) to achieve it.

Second stage

This stage lasted until the early years of the 20th century. The economy was the main asset of the government. It promoted the modernization of mining, agriculture and commerce. Million dollar investments began to arrive from abroad, even if it was at the cost of, for example, the mining companies being owned by Americans.

The construction of the railroad and many telephone and telegraph lines changed communications at the national level.

On the other hand, during this period Diaz's authoritarianism increased. Opponents, the press and labor leaders were arrested. The most extreme episodes of repression occurred against the Yaquis and the Cananea and Río Blanco strikers.

Third stage

Although there was less and less political opposition and a free press, social discontent did not stop growing. Additionally, economic growth slowed, affecting many layers of society.

Main characteristics of the Porfiriato

Arts

During the mandate of Porfirio Díaz there was a boom in the various areas of artistic expression, and in general, these can be divided into two periods within the Porfiriato.

During the first period, from 1876 to 1888, the inclination was toward nationalism; and later, from 1888 to 1911, the trend was a preference for France and its culture.

Literature was the art, and cultural field, with the greatest advances during the Porfiriato. The writer Ignacio Manuel Altamirano y Costilla created study groups for the history of Mexico, the languages ​​of Mexico, and in turn promoted the study of universal culture.

Later, Mexican writers "abandoned" nationalist pride and were influenced by French literature with modernism.

They were influenced by the Nicaraguan poet Rubén Darío, who proposed artistic freedom under certain rules. In this way, the authors leaned towards sentimentality.

In the visual arts of the time, the painter José María Velasco stood out, who dedicated most of his work as a painter to landscaping, portraying the Valley of Mexico, haciendas, volcanoes and characters from Mexican society. In addition, another part of his work was dedicated to portraying provincial scenes in Oaxaca.

As for the theater, a form of popular theater, of a very popular nationalist genre, was the Mexican small theater. However, this genre has its origin in economic and social factors, the new commercialization of the theater and its overcrowding, which led to differentiate two genres: the Spanish boy genre and the Mexican popular theater.

Most of the theatrical activities in the country took place in two main socio-cultural spaces. One of them was the dominant one, belonging to the so-called cult theater, intended for the middle and upper classes. But at the same time, a popular culture emerged that performed scenic activities as a form of entertainment for the working class.

Education

In the Porfiriato the positivist philosophy prevailed in Mexico. In this way, great importance was attached to the study of history.

The government of Porfirio Díaz needed to achieve national unity, because conservative groups still existed. Thus, the Ministry of Public Instruction used the country's history to achieve this end, giving great importance to the Second French Intervention.

The exhibition of pre-Hispanic monoliths in the national museum was inaugurated in 1887. In addition, in 1901, the secretary of public instruction Justo Sierra created the ethnography and archeology departments in the museum.

In 1904 the Mexican School of Archeology, History and Ethnography was presented, which presented samples of pre-Hispanic culture to the world.

For the year 1891, the Regulatory Law of Education was promulgated, which established education as secular, free and compulsory. At the same time, to control that parents and guardians complied with the obligation to take children to school, Vigilance Committees were established.

On May 26, 1900, the law that proclaimed the creation of the National University of Mexico (currently UNAM) was promulgated, an initiative presented by Justo Sierra. In this way, the schools of Medicine, Engineering and Jurisprudence, which had functioned separately for more than 40 years, were brought together, along with the National Preparatory School, in a single institution.

The Catholic Church

During the Three Years War (1858-1861) in Mexico, a set of laws, known as the reform laws, were enacted, the objective of which was to separate the church from the government.

However, the Catholic Church regained much of the power lost with these laws. Porfirio Díaz declared himself a Catholic, although there was already a rise of Protestantism.

Under Porfirio Díaz, the Catholic Church was able to continue to obtain tithes. This practice affected smallholders, because the church received seeds as a tithe from indigenous people and the smallholders themselves.

In this way, the church could sell the seeds at low prices, with buyers preferring their prices to those of the producers.

Economy

When Porfirio Díaz came to power, he inherited considerable national and foreign debts, as well as a bankrupt public treasury. For this reason, the finance ministers carried out actions for the arrangement of finances, among which are: the creation of new taxes that do not hinder trade, greater control of income or reduction of public spending, among others.

The administration of the country's resources was done with public and private participation. In 1882 the Banco Nacional de México emerged as a result of the union of the Banco Mercantil Mexicano and the Banco Nacional Mexicano.

In this bank taxes were collected, they were in charge of the General Treasury and they granted loans to the government. The objective was for Mexico to enter the international economy as an exporter of agricultural or mineral products.

In this way, Mexico became an important exporter of raw materials and the first Industrial Revolution took place in the country.

Maritime and port activity

Between 1884 and 1889, the navy was in a "deplorable" state. For the year 1897 the Naval Military School was inaugurated, which prepared officers for the navy. In the same way, the companies Transatlántica Mexicana, Mexicana de Navegación and Naviera del Pacífico were created.

Due to the increase in maritime traffic, which was becoming insufficient for the ports, others such as those of Veracruz, Manzanillo, Tampico, among others, were conditioned. During the Díaz government, work in the maritime and port sectors was carried out continuously.

The creation of various lighthouses on the Mexican coast began, the best location for the port of Campeche was studied, and improvements were made in the port of Manzanillo.

Society during the Porfiriato

The main characteristic of Mexican society during the Porfiriato was the profound inequality that existed within it. Economic stability was achieved, but at the cost of leaving a good part of the population behind and the suppression of freedom.

On the one hand, Mexico City consolidated itself as the cultural and political center of the country. Great architectural works began to appear and high society enjoyed culture.

In contrast, the workers never noticed the economic improvement. Labor exploitation was the norm, whether in factories or on farms; what they earned was hardly enough to survive. An approximate calculation of 860 thousand workers only in the industrial and mining fields.

Finally, indigenous peoples also saw their rights diminished. Part of their land was taken from them and sold to foreign capital.

Government of Porfirio Díaz

Image of Porfirio Díaz on horseback. Bain News Service / Public domain

The long government of Porfirio Díaz affected all social, economic and political spheres. From education to relations with the Church were affected by the characteristics of the Porfiriato.

Economy

The economic improvement in the first years of the Porfiriato were evident. The country managed to get a surplus and pay off its debt with the United States. Similarly, an industrialization took place that left agriculture in the background.

The price to pay was social inequality and the loss of labor rights. Workers in the haciendas or in the mining industry had very low wages, as well as long, interminable hours. In addition, part of the new industries and land passed into foreign hands.

Repression and authoritarianism

Cartoon in which a 'giant' Diaz appears holding his general Bernardo Reyes in the palm of his hand. Anireyes112324 / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)

Violent repression was widely used, first with the excuse of pacifying the country and, later, to protect the economic system created by the Porfiriato against the protests of the workers.

On the other hand, one of the most pronounced characteristics of this period was the marked authoritarianism and personalism with which Díaz carried out the tasks of government.

church

Previous governments had removed many of the historic privileges of the Catholic Church. With Porfirio Díaz, this institution recovered part of that power.

One of the most important aspects was the ability to obtain tithes. Smallholders were the most affected by this mandatory payment to the Church.

Education and culture

Education and culture also underwent changes, starting with the philosophy that supported them.

These fields were inspired by positivism, very much in vogue at the time. History and its reflection became a fundamental part in both fields.

Crisis

At the beginning of the 20th century the Porfiriato began to show signs of exhaustion. The social climate, as well as the slowdown in the economy, caused more and more discontent.

The president appeared to show signs of accepting a democratic election. Thus, in a famous 1908 interview with the American journalist James Creelman, he stated that for the 1910 elections it was possible that some opposition party would be allowed to participate.

These words encouraged the opponents of the regime and political movements began to appear to form parties.

Díaz accompanied by members of his cabinet in an act of resignation of his ministers of War and Finance (1911). UBain News Service / Public domain

Francisco I. Madero

Among the opponents, Francisco Ignacio Madero stood out, who was at the forefront of the antiporfiriato movement. He presented his candidacy at the beginning of 1910 and his electoral campaign was a real success.

However, Diaz's words were nothing more than a mirage. When the government realized that Madero could be a very difficult rival, it began arresting his supporters and eventually the candidate himself.

Elections

With this situation, Porfirio wins the vote. Madero has to go into exile to the United States, from where he launches the San Luis Plan.

In his proclamation he ignores Díaz as president and encourages Mexicans to rise up against him. The date chosen for the start of the revolt was November 20.

End of the Porfiriato

Government security forces react to the plan by arresting or assassinating some of its leaders, such as Aquiles Serdán. However, the uprising was almost general, achieving great advances in a few months.

In April 2011, almost all states had active revolutionary groups. The battle of Ciudad Juárez, with the victory of the opponents, makes Díaz begin to consider his resignation. In fact, at the end of May his government resigned in full.

Finally, on May 25, with more than 1000 people demonstrating, the House of Representatives approved the resignation of the president, who ended up having to go into exile. The Porfiriato had ended and the Mexican Revolution was beginning.

References

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2. Serrano Álvarez, Pablo. Porfirio Díaz and the Porfiriato. Recovered from inehrm.gob.mx
3. Cárdenas Ayala, Elisa. The porfiriato: a historiographical label. Recovered from scielo.org.mx
4. Department of History, College of Arts. The Porfiriato: The stability and growth Mexico needed. Retrieved from journal.lib.uoguelph.ca
5. Motherearthtravel. The Porfiriato, 1876-1910. Retrieved from motherearthtravel.com
6. Mexicanhistory. Diaz and the Porfiriato 1876-1910. Retrieved from mexicanhistory.org
7. Garner, Paul. Porfirio Diaz. Recovered from books.google.es
8. Tuck, Jim. Democrat to autocrat: The transformation of Porfirio Diaz. Retrieved from mexconnect.com