Madero’s Revolution

Imprisonment did not stop Francisco Madero from seeking change. He escaped and found refuge in Texas, where he issued his "Plan of San Luis Potosí". In it, he called Mexicans to rebel against the Porfirian government on November 20, 1910. The Porfirian government fired the first shots in Puebla two days ahead of schedule, killing Maderista leader Aquiles Serdán. Although Diaz swiftly quelled subsequent uprisings in the cities, he was unable to stamp out those that spread throughout rural Mexico during the 1910-1911 winter.

Localized guerilla movements sprouted in densely populated central Mexico, where large landowners had significantly displaced the agrarian class. The strongest of these was Emiliano Zapata’s March 1911 uprising in Morelos, which sought land and water rights for villagers. A historical and widespread resentment of local Porfirista bosses in Chihuahua soon made the frontier state a revolutionary hotbed, with Pascual Orozco, a muleteer from a well-known family, and Francisco “Pancho” Villa leading the charge. The rebels’ mobility and popularity enabled the movement’s growth.

Madero returned to Mexico in February 1911, taking charge of the small insurgent army Orozco and Villa had formed near Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, and entered a negotiation with the Porfirian government. Restless, the rebel lieutenants overtook the frontier city against Madero’s orders on May 10, 1911. Convinced that they could not contain the bloodshed and the rising anarchy in the revolutionary movement, the federal government and Madero signed a peace treaty in Juárez: the insurgents would demobilize in exchange for Porfirio Díaz’s resignation and fair presidential elections. Frustrated, rebel leaders disbanded their forces throughout the summer, and, as expected, Madero won the presidential election in October 1911.

Soldaderas, or women soldiers, made up a significant portion of the rebel forces. Some revolutionary leaders, like Emiliano Zapata, acknowledged their importance in the movement and made them colonels, like journalist Juana B. Gutiérrez de Mendoza. Others, like Villa, considered women a burden at the barracks and on the battlefield. Although many women did not obtain formal recognition as soldaderas, it does not take away from the impact they had on the revolution.

Between a Rock and a Hard Place

The treaty did not address the revolution’s primary grievance: the elite’s exploitation and dispossession of the urban and rural working class. On the one hand, President Madero had to contend with conservative elites that longed for the status quo and who supported Porfirian generals Bernardo Reyes and Felix Diaz to counter Madero’s liberal regime. On the other hand, he had to deal with the disillusionment of revolutionary leaders, specifically that of Orozco and Zapata, and the rising demands of the urban working class. As a result, Madero increasingly relied on the federal army, under the command of Victoriano Huerta, to keep both conservative and liberal insurgency in check.

Political cartoon in The Satire depicts a “suspension of rights” bullet shot by an elite politician toward Zapata, backfiring on Madero, January 21, 1912.

Revolution 2.0

Considering him a traitor to the cause, rebel leaders throughout the country re-formed their guerilla forces to resume the revolution at the end of 1911. On November 28, Zapata proclaimed the Plan of Ayala, which denounced Madero and called for land redistribution. His demand for land reform resonated with the agrarian class across the country, drawing villagers and Indigenous communities to his cause. Zapatista guerillas consistently attacked federal troops until April when their efforts turned to farming. In Chihuahua, Orozco and Villa reignited the revolution by leading a rebellion against Madero’s government in March 1912. Unlike central Mexican rebels, the northern forces called for social reform, had more resources to import firearms illegally from the U.S., and had the backing of Chihuahua’s oligarchy.

Madero responded with force. He sent Huerta and his federal army to Morelos then Chihuahua to deal with the threat. The army dealt a powerful blow to the Zapatista forces, but they survived and continued to attack. The Orozquistas, on the other hand, were defeated, Huerta arrested Villa, and the surviving rebels dispersed. Meanwhile, tensions rose between neighboring communities, particularly in southern Mexico, as they asserted their autonomy along class and ethnic lines and vied for regional power.

Despite the upheaval, Madero’s government did manage to open up the country’s politics. Mexicans from all socioeconomic statuses participated in the various political parties that emerged and competed in elections. The urban working class emerged as a powerful coordinated force in many cities, enabling the election of laborers for municipal and state positions in some instances. The press also had the freedom to report on and critique the political situation. However, Madero’s inability to contain the breakdown of the sociopolitical order throughout the country led to his downfall. Fearing for their stability, his middle-class supporters started to lean conservative, opening the door for an elite-backed counter-revolution.