There were several revolutionary outbreaks before the revolution and the great Mexican revolt of November 20, 1910.
The government of the military Porfirio Diaz had begun in the year 1876 and had some intermittences until the year 1884, when it exerted the presidency of Mexico without interruption until 1911.
The elitist and oligarchic policies that characterized Diaz were the cause of popular discontent and discomfort in various areas of the nation.
These policies tended to favor owners of large tracts of land and foreign entrepreneurs as well as virtually ignore labor rights, among other issues.
At the cultural, political and especially at the level of the country's labor force, outbreaks of protest began, resulting in the armed conflict, which lasted 10 years and led to various political and social reforms in the country.
Before a president who had been re-elected 7 times, a group called"The Anti-reelectionists"emerged from where its leader, Francisco Madero, emerged, running for the presidential elections.
Diaz did not allow the process to be carried out and after arrest Madero, he declared himself a winner. Shortly after leaving prison, Madero called for a rebellion through the publication of the San Luis de Potosí Plan, which received the response of several military leaders such as Pancho Villa, Emiliano Zapata and Pascual Orozco.
But some years before these events, there were some outbreaks of revolutionary cut in some states of the country, which had a major impact in the consolidation of the definitive rebellion.
Mexican states where there were revolutionary outbreaks
Sonora: The cananea strike
The Mexican Liberal Party (PLM) was one of the political forces that emerged in opposition to the Porfiriato, the regime of President Diaz. They supported a 4-year presidential term, an 8-hour working day, the establishment of a minimum wage and the end of child labor.
Having spread his manifesto called" Regeneration " , The Mexican working class welcomed these proposals, which was evidenced in the Cananea strike as well as in other states of the country.
On June 1, 1906, the workers of the mining company Cananea Consolidated Copper Company (Belonging to foreign industrialists) about 3,000 workers submitted a series of petitions to the owner of the company.
Among these were the following: salary increase, equal wages between Mexican and foreign workers and the 8-hour working day.
Facing the situation, Colonel William Greene, owner of the mine, together with the authorities brought the conflict to a more serious level. As a result, the workers were targeted by both US military men and armed men, leaving about 50 people dead.
6 days later, it was practically an armed conflict in which, evidently, the miners did not have greater possibilities. More workers were killed and others were forced to resume their work without any change in their situation.
Puebla and Tlaxcala: the coordinated strike of textile mills
Months later, in December 1906, textile workers who, being part of the Great Free Trade Circle (GCOL) from the city of Orizaba, organized a strike in which 30 mills were closed in Puebla and 10 in Tlaxcala.
In response to the strike, a new labor code is decreed that increases working hours and later, with the support of the Government, they ordered the closure of mills at the national level and leave some 30,000 workers unemployed.
This fact was seen by public opinion as an outrage against the working class, generating a general feeling of support for it.
Veracruz: The Acayucan Rebellion and the Blanco River Strike
Although some historians think that the Acayucan Rebellion was a minor event, many others think that it was one of the precursory movements of the Mexican Revolution .
This event originated from an alliance between the Popolucas Indians, who were constantly affected by the disrespect to their lands, with revolutionary workers PLM, an alliance that managed to constitute an armed group and managed to take the Municipal Building of Acayucan on September 30.
Labor and property reforms were demanded, as were previous strikes and protests.
However, other rebel groups that aimed to join the uprising, were contained by military troops, so after 4 days of clashes with the official forces, the rebellion was neutralized.
In 1907, also in the state of Veracruz, a new strike takes place. Textile workers demand labor security, increased wages, the right to join trade unions, etc.
The owners of the textile mills refuse to negotiate while President Diaz orders to suppress the protest. In one of the most vile actions in Mexican history, about 70 workers are murdered, others are sent to labor camps, and union leaders are executed.
These events did not stop the activity of the liberal unions and throughout the nation the history of the workers' martyrs would spread.
San Luis Potosí: the strike of the Great League of railroad workers
This strike was attended by about 3,000 workers of the Mexican National Railroad and had a duration of 6 days during which the route of this means of transportation was completely obstructed.
The main reason for the protest was the discrimination suffered by the workers affiliated to the union. However, after a warning from the State Governor of San Luis Potosí in which alludes to the massacre of Rio Blanco, the workers return to their jobs.
Even so, the workers involved in the strike are fired. Nevertheless, this action added to the previous ones, managed to have a significant impact in the revolutionary movement and of course, in the fall of the dictatorship of Porfirio Diaz.
References
- Bortz, J. (2008). Revolution Within the Revolution: Cotton Textile Workers and the Mexican Labor Regime 1910-1923 . Stanford, Stanford University Press.
- Cockcroft, J. (1968). Intellectual Precursors of the Mexican Revolution, 1900-1913. Mexico, Siglo XXI Editors S.A.Top of FormBottom of Form
- Gómez-Galvarriato, A. (2013). Industry and Revolution: Social and Economic Change in the Orizaba Valley, Mexico , Cambridge and London, Harvard University Press.
- [Links] The Mexican Revolution . Albuquerque, University of New Mexico Press.
- Koth, K. (2002). Waking the Dictator: Veracruz, the Struggle for Federalism and the Mexican Revolution. Calgary, University of Calgary Press.
- Mexican Revolution. Encyclopaedia Britannica. Retrieved from: britannica.com.
- Minster, C. (2016). ThoughtCo: The Mexican Revolution, Ten Years That Forged a Nation. Retrieved from: thought.com.