The Porfirian peace is the way Porfirio Díaz exercised power in Mexico for more than 30 years. This stage was characterized by being a peace sponsored by repression and fear, given the disorder and wars that Mexico was constantly experiencing.
In 1876, Porfirio Díaz, defeated President Lerdo de Tejada in the battle of Tuxtepec and months later, he was elected president of Mexico. Díaz had come out against reelection, yet he was reelected seven times.
Porfirio Diaz.
The first years of Porfirio Díaz's government, known as "the Porfirian peace", are marked by good investments in economic matters, his main motto being "Order, peace, stability and progress."
Economic policies led Mexico to have a strong and stable economy, in fact, one of the goals was for the peso to cost more than the dollar.
Porfirio's period was not constant and for three occasions he lost the government. From 1876 to 1911, one of two months and from 1880 to 1884, one of the reasons for his break with power being the discontent of the Mexican people over the massacres and the assaults on power by armies of montonera.
Porfirio Díaz set out to achieve peace, stability and prosperity regardless of the cost. A task that was especially complex in view of the fact that there was no strong army and the debts were enormous.
This situation sometimes became unsustainable, causing, for example, the flight of foreign investment.
The Porfirian peace –then- was based on the elimination of political differences between the different parties and groups. "Little politics and a lot of administration" was one of his most famous slogans and it is still remembered today.
Peace was achieved through the military crushing of whoever tried to rise up. The expected stability was achieved and order brought Mexico the possibility of work, which soon translated into economic development and the introduction of investment by foreign companies.
Prosperity under Porfirian peace
During the period in which Porfirio Díaz ruled the country, important works were carried out in several ports and more than 20,000 kilometers of railways were built. The railroads were destined for the ports and the border with the United States.
This gave great vitality to internal and external trade. Telegraphs spread throughout the national territory and banks were founded to organize state finances.
With these advances, the communications and finance sector began to function properly for the first time.
Another of the fundamental measures was the collection of taxes, which helped pay Mexico's debt with its international creditors. In states like Yucatán and Morelos, agriculture made great progress in crops such as henequen, sugar cane, and cotton.
During the Porfirian peace, Mexico experienced economic growth unprecedented in its history. It is called the first period of reconstruction and national unity.
However, the bonanza and growth did not have a direct impact on the lives of the poorest, although the rich and foreigners made great gains, inequality grew enormously and the poor remained the overwhelming majority.
One of the negative aspects of prosperity was not only the growing social inequality, but the tendency of land accumulation by large landowners.
Major achievements of the Porfirio government
- More than 19,000 km of railways: almost all of northern Mexico was crossed by trains, which gave vitality to communications and commerce.
- Foreign capital investments: with the arrival of political stability, companies with foreign capital began to arrive, injecting resources and strength into the weak economy that Porfirio received.
- Telegraphic network: a vast network of telegraphs was installed that streamlined communications and made government tasks more efficient. The telegraph network was one of the most modern on the continent at the time.
- National production: agriculture and manufacturing also saw the light of day during the Porfirian peace period. The first tequila processing and raw material processing factories were installed.
- They founded the first banks: finances were finally put in order with the operation of the banks. Prior to this, the finances and the country's debts did not have any kind of order.
- Culture: progress was made in science, art and technique to a large extent. During the Porfirian peace, academies, museums, theaters and important scientific associations were founded. The influence of French culture and art was one of the most predominant.
- Stability was achieved: perhaps it was the foundation that cemented the growth of economic activity and created a truly strong state.
Centralism
Although the initial ideal of Porfirio Díaz consisted of rejecting reelection, the violent tradition and all forms of tyrannical government, in practice he was the main architect of an enormous centralism that annulled -to a great extent- the power of judges and autonomy of the provinces.
Porfirio eliminated the independence of the judges from the president. It also limited freedom of the press and expression, an issue that it criticized from previous governments.
The Porfirian peace gradually became a government that limited freedoms and centralized all power in its hands.
Although the constitution established Mexico as a federal state, in practice it was confined to a centralist state.
It is known that Porfirio was advised and influenced by important intellectual exponents of positivism such as Justo Sierra, José Ives and Francisco Bulnes.
The journalist James Creelman, managed in 1908 to interview Porfirio Díaz and question him about his constant reelections, to which Díaz replied that Mexico was already prepared to have free elections.
These statements encouraged many to create political parties and prepare for the lessons of 1910. Although he had said this, he was re-elected again but it was impossible to stop the desire for elections and greater freedoms.
References
- Collaborators Wkibooks (2016) History of Mexico / El Porfiriato (1877-1911) Recovered from: wikibooks.org.
- Covarrubias, S. (2003) Echoes and bronzes of Porfirian peace Editorial LA RANA. Mexico.
- Garner, P. (2014) Porfirio Díaz. Editorial PLANETA. Mexico.
- Gómez, J. (1981) Porfirio Díaz, The Intellectuals and the Revolution. Editorial Reviews. Mexico.
- Ilyan, S. (2016) La Paz Porfiriana and the centralization of power. Recovered from: restauracionrepublica1.blogspot.com.
- Tello, C. (2015) Porfirio Díaz: His life and his time. The war 1830-1867. Editorial DEBATE. Mexico.
- Venegas, J. (2015) La “Paz Porfirista”. Recovered from: blogdesecundaria.wordpress.com.