INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION IN MEXICO: BACKGROUND AND IMPACT - HISTORY - 2025

The Industrial Revolution in Mexico was the process of change from the traditional agrarian and mining economy to another that incorporated industry and mechanization. Mexico, like the rest of Latin America, came very late to the Industrial Revolution, which began in England in 1760.

During the Colony and after the Independence only minerals and some agricultural products were exploited and exported. Political and economic conditions, together with the mercantilist ideology of the Spanish monarchs, did not allow the earlier start of the industrialization process.

Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex), a state company created in 1938

The caudillos who ruled after independence did not propitiate the beginning of the industrial era in Mexico either. The process of industrialization or Industrial Revolution in the Mexican nation really began 150 years later, well into the 20th century.

This process caused a profound transformation in the society of Mexico. There was an exodus from the countryside to the city, women were incorporated into industry and the country's infrastructure was modernized, among other changes.

Background

The Industrial Revolution began in England in the mid-18th century, from where it spread to Europe and other regions of the world. The term Industrial Revolution was used by the English historian Arnold Toynbee (1852 - 1883).

With this term he describes the first impulse for economic development that Great Britain experienced between 1760 and 1840, a period called the First Industrial Revolution.

In Mexico, as in the rest of Latin America, the First Industrial Revolution went unnoticed. During this time the viceroyalty of New Spain, as the current Mexican territory was previously called, was a backward Spanish colony in the industrial field.

The political, economic and social conditions did not allow this colony rich in precious metals to begin its industrial development. New Spain was governed by an Empire that suffered from the same economic and ideological backwardness as its colonies.

New Spain was just a colony dedicated to mining exploitation and export, and to subsistence agriculture. Throughout the nineteenth century, Mexico was mired in the War of Independence and in internal struggles between conservative and liberal leaders.

Initial impulse

It is during the dictatorship of General Porfirio Díaz, who ruled Mexico between 1876 and 1911, when the country begins the first phase of its economic development. The installation and dissemination of the railway system made it possible to communicate the different regions and promote internal and external trade.

Mexico became a Latin American commercial hinge, due to the intense maritime trade through the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean in the ports of Veracruz, Salina Cruz and Manzanillo, among others.

The boom in commerce was such that Mexico became the most influential country in Latin America in terms of international trade relations.

Impact of the Mexican Revolution

Then, with the Mexican Revolution that broke out in 1910, the legal bases for agrarian reform and other labor conquests were created. The civil war lasted for a decade and in this period the country stagnated.

Two decades after the civil war ended, agrarian reform and policy were the subject of permanent debate, between advances and setbacks. Finally, the agrarian reform helped to democratize land ownership.

Many peasants were able to occupy a large volume of land, which for centuries had remained first in the hands of the encomenderos and then of landowners.

Stages of the industrialization process

The first 25 years of the 19th century were the beginning of the industrialization process, which was called the “enclave economy”. It was a slow but progressive process, in which the economy was entirely focused on the exploitation and export of raw materials.

Basically the main export products were cotton, cocoa and coffee. As of 1933 great transformations took place in the political-social organization; It is the beginning of the policy of expropriation and nationalization of the railways and oil.

At this stage, the political and economic leadership and the Mexican state became aware of the need to industrialize the country. It was agreed to adopt profound labor reforms in the countryside and the city and to redistribute wealth.

Those were the years of the Great Depression, which not only affected the US economy but all of Latin America.

1940-1960, the "Mexican miracle"

Beginning in 1940, the displacement of capital and political attention from agriculture to industry began. In this stage, Mexico makes great strides in its industrialization.

This is when the country's sustained economic growth and the Industrial Revolution really begin.

Some authors call it the "Mexican miracle" due to the sustained growth that lasted for more than three decades. During this stage there was a break with the old production schemes.

When the Second World War broke out, favorable conditions were created for Mexico to advance further in its industrial transformation process.

The demand for mass consumer products that did not require large capital or the use of advanced technologies, complemented the need. Between 1940 and 1946 the fashionable ideas of import substitution were put into practice.

Support to the national industry

The Mexican state supported the national industry and created some organizations. Among these, Sosa Texcoco, SA stands out in 1940. Altos Hornos de México, SA and the IMSS also stand out, both in 1942. In order to revitalize the state productive apparatus and support private enterprise, the entity NAFIN (Nacional Financiera) was reorganized.

Broad sectors of the country supported the idea of ​​correcting the failures in agrarian policy, as well as improving the organization of workers, peasants and the military together with the middle class and the bourgeoisie, to create a national front to support the industrial development of the country.

Industries Driven

The electrical industry, vital for industrialization, was promoted. The country's chemical, steel, mechanical and oil industries also developed. The raw materials that were previously exported were used more by the national industry.

The aim was to increase domestic consumption and avoid unnecessary imports, which caused the outflow of foreign exchange. At this stage, the main industrial sectors are the textile industry, workshops and the extractive mining industry.

As domestic oil consumption grew due to industrial growth, the Mexican state had to invest more in this sector. Production was increased and the use of modern exploitation techniques was improved.

This, together with the low price policy, were determining factors in achieving economic growth and in expanding the service infrastructure in the country.

Between 1960 and 1980, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) increased at an interannual rate of 6.5%, although it later decreased due to the crisis between 1980 and 1988 to only 0.5% annually.

Impact in Mexico

The most visible consequences of the Mexican Industrial Revolution were observed mainly in the following aspects:

- The social and economic organization of capital took place around commercial associations, the establishment of banks, insurance companies, unions and other organizations.

- The rental credit system was developed.

- The semi-feudal or precapitalist mode of production gave way to intensive production in the countryside and the city.

- There was an exodus of peasant labor to the cities, bringing as a consequence the population concentration in the industrial urban centers.

- With mass production the prices of many items were lowered and the population had more access to them.

- Thousands of women are incorporated into factories, with which domestic work decreased.

- The incorporation of women into industrial work caused a change in family customs.

- Mexico went from being a backward agrarian society to an industrial nation. Industry displaced agriculture as the main employer of labor.

- The industrial, commercial and service sectors became the most influential in the economy.

References

1. Industrial Development of Mexico. Retrieved March 16 from monografias.com
2. Sanford A. Mosk. Industrial Revolution in Mexico. Consulted from questia.com
3. Mexico in the development of the Industrial Revolution - UNAM. Consulted from archivos.juridicas.unam.mx
4. Mexicos's Industrial Development: An Ongoing Revolution. Consulted of theworldfolio.com
5. Industrial Revolution. Consulted of revolucionindustrialenmexico.blogspot.com
6. The Industrial Revolution in Mexico. Consulted of smtp2.colmex.mx
7. The industrial Revolution. Consulted of biografiasyvidas.com