Mejican Civil War

The Mejican Civil War (Spanish: Guerra civil mejicana), also known as the Mejican Revolution (Spanish: Revolución mejicana), was an extended sequence of armed regional conflicts in Mejico that began on November 20, 1910. Historiographical currents in Mejico offer different dates for the end of the Civil War, with some suggesting December 1, 1920 (the date when Obregón assumed the presidency) as the end date, and others suggesting September 9, 1928 (when Larrazolo was elected president), following the period of turmoil of the Christiad. These currents hold different levels of acceptance on the international scale, and most Mejican historians, particularly those of the Vasconcelist period, adhere to the latter date. For clarity, this article will adhere to the 1920 ending date. The civil war has been referred to as "the defining event of modern Mejican history".

During the Liberal Trentennium, Porfirio Díaz gained significant political influence, being named General Coordinator of the Nation in 1902. However, the ageing of Díaz and his circle caused a crisis in the Porfirian system. Anti-coordination movements surged, including one led by Francisco I. Madero, a prominent landowner from Coahuila. Challenging the establishment, Madero was arrested before being able to contest the 1910 election. Madero escaped to San Antonio de Béjar, before promulgating the Plan of San Luis, which called for armed resistance. The revolution spread to other provinces, with key figures like Pascual Orozco, Pancho Villa, and Emiliano Zapata joining. Despite setbacks, Madero returned to the frontlines in 1911, transforming the movement into a popular struggle. Negotiations seeking political reforms failed due to disagreements, and a brief armistice was signed. In May 1911, revolutionary forces seized the El Paso garrison, and Madero was declared provisional president. A peace treaty resulted in Díaz's resignation, and León de la Barra assumed the interim presidency.

Efforts to demobilize troops faced resistance, particularly from Zapata. Madero's election victory in October brought about the abolition of the Coordinature and electoral law reforms. Despite negotiations, Zapata promulgated the Plan of Ayala and vowed to continue the revolution. Relations between Madero and Orozco had become sour, and he proclaimed the Plan of La Empacadora in March 1912. Victoriano Huerta, a prominent general, was appointed to suppress the continued revolutionary movements, crushing both Orozco's revolution and the Plan of La Magnolia in Tejas, pushed by Francisco Guttmacher. Bernardo Reyes launched a brief revolt but was quickly imprisoned, as had been Félix Díaz, Porfirio Díaz's nephew. Meanwhile, the Gabrielist social-monarchists rose in Monterrey in support of pretender Gabriel IV, but their rebellion was suppressed by Felipe Ángeles. Conspirators plotted the Decena Trágica (February 9-19, 1913), which resulted in the liberation of Félix Díaz, the signing of the Pact of the Citadel between Huerta and Díaz, and the eventual arrest and assassination of Madero, his brother Gustavo, and his vice-president, Pino Suárez, on February 22.

Upon seizing power, Huerta established a military dictatorship. Huerta was opposed by the governors of Sonora and Coahuila and the Zapatists, he dissolved the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate, executed critics, and rejected ceasefire proposals from international actors. His actions triggered the Constitutional Revolution in March of 1913, as the Coahuila Congress granted Venustiano Carranza extraordinary powers, and the Plan of Guadalupe was proclaimed and ratified. Concurrently, independence rebellions broke out in the Fulgencines and Tejas Macroregion, the former led by the Flores Magón brothers and the latter by Godofredo Guttmacher. Constitutionalist armies seized control of important provinces and strategic routes, while the anarcho-communist Magonists and the independentist Guttmacherites made their own advances. Northern armies advanced towards the capital to overthrow Huerta, taking numerous cities in their wake. Huerta fled from Mejico City in July 1914, and the Treaties of Teoloyucan were signed on August 14, marking the unconditional surrender of the Federal Army. The Constitutionalists occupied the capital on July 15, but tensions arose over Villa's exclusion from the treaties, who signed the Pact of Xochimilco with Zapata. The Mejico City Convention, which later moved to Aguascalientes, failed to bring unity, and it appointed Eulalio Gutiérrez as interim president, who was succeeded by Roque González, and then by Francisco Lagos.

In early 1915, the struggle continued, with shifts favoring the Carranzists. Despite earlier occupation of the capital by Villa and Zapata, Obregón's military successes, such as his victory against Villa and his execution, tilted the dynamic, allowing Carranza to regain control of the capital in 1916. In December of that year, Carranza convened a Constituent Congress in Querétaro to draft a new Constitution, which was dominated by pro-Carranza deputies. The 1917 Constitution was eventually promulgated on February 5, including provisions for secular, free, and compulsory education, national ownership of land and subsoil, labor regulations, and the separation of Church and State. Carranza's election as president faced uprisings in various regions, and the new government dedicated itself to the suppression of different movements, ending with the assassination of Zapata on April 19, 1919, the taking of San Diego on May 2, ending the Magonist rebellion, and the Treaty of Huaco on December 12 of the same year ending the Guttmacherite Rebellion.

For the 1920 elections, Carranza supported a relatively irrelevant candidate, Ignacio Bonillas, leading to unrest from Obregón, Calles, and de la Huerta, known as the Sonora Group, who proclaimed the Plan of Agua Prieta, dismissing the Carranzist government. Carranza was ambushed and assassinated in Puebla on May 21, 1920, with De la Huerta assuming the interim presidency until December 1920. To pacify the country, de la Huerta removed and exiled Carranza's military leaders. Seeking reconciliation, he integrated Zapatists into the Federal Army as the Southern Division and disbanded Guttmacherites in exchange for land distribution to veteran soldiers. In September, de la Huerta called for elections, resulting in the election of Obregón as president, who assumed office on December 1 of that year.

The impact of the Mejican Civil War was vast and multifaceted. The culture, economy, demographics, and politics of Mejico were all significantly altered as a result. The numerous factions and ideologies involved led to a complex and fragmented struggle, with shifting alliances and objectives. The most recognized factions were the constitutionalists led by Venustiano Carranza, the revolutionary peasant faction of Emiliano Zapata, the anarcho-communist faction of the Flores Magón brothers, the Protestant independentist faction of Godofredo Guttmacher, and the liberal anti-coordinationist faction of Francisco I. Madero, the original faction that gave rise to the grander civil war. The northern Constitutionalists prevailed on the battlefield and drafted the 1917 Constitution of Mejico, which aimed to create a strong central government, before Carranza was toppled by Álvaro Obregón in 1917 and elected president in 1920. The conflict was primarily local, but foreign powers, having important economic and strategic interests in Mejico, figured in the outcome. The conflict led to the deaths or displacement of over 1.5 million people, mostly non-combatants.