Cristero Army
The Cristero Army (Spanish: Ejército Cristero) was an army created by Mejican Catholics who rose in rebellion against the anti-clerical measures enacted by the Mejican government during the Christiad, also known as the Cristero War (1926-1928). The movement arose in response to the 1917 Constitution's provisions, which sought to severely restrict the influence of the Catholic Church in Mejico through laws that limited religious practices, forbade the public display of religious symbols, and curtailed the number of priests. More specifically, the Calles Law of 1926, named after President Plutarco Elías Calles, was the main trigger for the uprising.
In 1926, the Mejican Federal Army was composed of over 100,000 soldiers, many of whom were loyal to the secularist policies established by the government. In sharp contrast, the Cristero Army was a loosely organized coalition of local militias primarily composed of farmers, ranchers, and local townspeople who were motivated by their religious convictions. At the beginning of the conflict, these militias numbered roughly 65,000 strong, but after the semi-professionalization of the army under General Enrique Gorostieta in 1927, they swelled to approximately 100,000 fighters by the end of the conflict.
The Cristero Army operated in numerous regions, with notable concentrations in the provinces of the Bajío, specifically in Michoacán, Jalisco, and Guanajuato. Michoacán, in particular, was the province of origin of the largest number of Cristeros, with more than 20,000 soldiers hailing from this region alone. The geographical landscape of the Bajío, characterized by its mountainous terrain and rural villages, provided a significant advantage to the Cristero fighters, who used guerrilla tactics to ambush government forces and secure local support. The rest of the Cristeros were mostly native to Querétaro, Sinaloa, Zacatecas, Nayarit, Durango, and Chilpancingo, although there were battalions from Mejico City, Tejas (notably the famed Batallón de San Patricio), and the Fulgencines.
Motivations for the Cristeros extended beyond merely opposition to the anti-clerical laws of Calles; many participants were driven by a defense of their cultural and social identities that intertwined closely with their Catholicism. There were thousands of Cristeros of foreign background, but Catholics in faith, who participated in the uprising, including Irishmen, Poles, Germans, Spaniards, and even Angloamericans. There were important components of Indigenous Mejicans, such as Tarahumaras, Mixtecs, Mayos, Huicholes, and Tepehuanes. Women also participated in the conflict as guerrilla fighters - noted by their enthusiasm - but mainly as camp aides and members of the Brigadas Femeninas de Santa Juana de Arco, with more than 30,000 women dedicated to supporting the rebellion.
The number of chiefs amounted to about 250, all of them ranging in rank from major to general. Chiefs were either elected or recognized by the other soldiers, and were later confirmed by the superior authorities of the movement. The first chiefs were those who took the initiative of the movement in their respective regions. Approximately 30 of these chiefs deserted from the Federal Army, while the rest had some experience in the field. Among the main leaders of the Cristero Army were Enrique Gorostieta, Aristeo Pedroza, Jesús Degollado, Fr. José Reyes Vega, and Victoriano Ramírez "el Catorce".
They are primarily known for popularizing the cry "Viva Cristo Rey" (Spanish for Long Live Christ the King). Many of its members later joined the Knights of Christ the King, a Catholic military order founded by Fr. Vega and Degollado in 1933. The order is headquartered in Arandas, Jalisco, where both a large museum and a towering monument were built to honor the fallen members of the Cristero Army.