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| Francisco Madero enters Mexico City, June 7, 1911. Mural in the National Museum of History, Chapultepec Castle |
Porfirio Díaz resigned in May of 1911. In June Francisco Madero entered Mexico City, but did not assume the Presidency until November. He included Díaz supporters in his cabinet and left the Congress in place, which was full of members Díaz had handpicked for the 1910 election. The Congress opposed many of the reforms Madero presented. Some of Madero's allies began to denounce him for being overly conciliatory with the Porfirians and not moving aggressively forward with reforms.
The President also called for disbanding all revolutionary forces, arguing that revolutionaries should proceed solely by peaceful means. This was not acceptable to the leader of the rebellion in the State of Morelos, just south of Mexico City.
Emiliano Zapata: Land and Liberty
Emiliano Zapata: Land and Liberty
Emiliano Zapata Salazar was born Aug. 8. 1979, in the rural village of Anenecuilco in Morelos. His parents were mestizo campesinos, part indigenous small farmers. When his father died, sixteen-year-old Emilino became responsible for care of his family. He hauled corn and bricks with a team of mules, raised watermelons and was a skilled horseman, working as a horse trainer on a local hacienda owned by a son-in-law of Porfirio Díaz. He made enough money to always dress well, in the charro cowboy attire of tight pants and jacket lined with silver buttons and a huge sombrero.
Zapata was evidently highly regarded in his hometown, perhaps, in part because he spoke both Spanish and Nahuatl and could thus mediate between indigenous residents and Spanish-speaking authorities. In 1909, the leader of the village council announced he was resigning because of his age. A community assembly was convened, and Zapata, at age 30, was elected the new head of the council. He actively began negotiating with state authorites of the Porfirian government over numerous land title disputes.
Over the years, hacienda owners, with government support, had claimed lands held by indigenous communities under original Spanish colonial titles granted by the king. Zapata achieved some success, but his efforts were met with opposition by hacienda owners. In one conflict, agents of a hacienda owner burned an indigenous village. Zapata then began organizing armed takeovers of disputed land.
When rebellion exploded in the north, Zapata and his forces began direct attacks on Federal Forces. They took the Morelos city of Cuautla in May 1911, at the same time that Orozco and Villa were taking Ciudad Juárez.
When Madero called for disbanding armed forces, Zapata resisted because the Federal Army from the Díaz era remained essentially intact. Madero traveled to Cuernavaca, Morelos, to meet with Zapata and assure him that the land redistribution promised in the Plan of San Luis Potosí would be carried out when Madero became president.
However, landowners from Morelos appealed to President de la Barra and the Congress to restore their lands that had been seized by Zapata's revolutionaries. They spread exaggerated stories of atrocities committed by Zapata's irregulars, calling Zapata the "Attila of the South". De la Barra and the Congress sent troops under Victoriano Huerta to suppress Zapata. Madero again traveled to Morelos to urge Zapata to disband his supporters peacefully, but Zapata refused on the grounds that Huerta's troops were advancing on him. The Federales did attack Zapata's forces soon afterward in Yautepec de Zaragoza, near Cuernavaca.
On November 25, 1911, barely three weeks after Madero formally became President, Zapata issued his Plan of Ayala, which rejected Madero's presidency and called for free elections. The Plan of Ayala declared Pascual Orozco the legitimate leader of the Revolution, called for all lands taken during the reign of Díaz to be immediately returned and that large haciendas owned by a single person or family should have one-third of their land nationalized and given to poor farmers. If any hacienda owner resisted this action, they should have the other two-thirds confiscated as well.
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| "In Morelos there was a very singular man" "Land and Liberty" Emiliano Zapata by Diego Rivera, Secretariat of Public Education |
When Madero called for disbanding armed forces, Zapata resisted because the Federal Army from the Díaz era remained essentially intact. Madero traveled to Cuernavaca, Morelos, to meet with Zapata and assure him that the land redistribution promised in the Plan of San Luis Potosí would be carried out when Madero became president.
However, landowners from Morelos appealed to President de la Barra and the Congress to restore their lands that had been seized by Zapata's revolutionaries. They spread exaggerated stories of atrocities committed by Zapata's irregulars, calling Zapata the "Attila of the South". De la Barra and the Congress sent troops under Victoriano Huerta to suppress Zapata. Madero again traveled to Morelos to urge Zapata to disband his supporters peacefully, but Zapata refused on the grounds that Huerta's troops were advancing on him. The Federales did attack Zapata's forces soon afterward in Yautepec de Zaragoza, near Cuernavaca.
On November 25, 1911, barely three weeks after Madero formally became President, Zapata issued his Plan of Ayala, which rejected Madero's presidency and called for free elections. The Plan of Ayala declared Pascual Orozco the legitimate leader of the Revolution, called for all lands taken during the reign of Díaz to be immediately returned and that large haciendas owned by a single person or family should have one-third of their land nationalized and given to poor farmers. If any hacienda owner resisted this action, they should have the other two-thirds confiscated as well.
The Zapatista vision was expressed succinctly in the cry "¡Reforma, Libertad, Justicia y Ley!" ("Reform, Freedom, Justice and Law!"). After Zapata's death, it was shortened to "¡Tierra y Libertad!" ("Land and Freedom!", a phrase first used by Ricardo Flores Magón as the title for one of his books).
Madero then sent General Felipe Ángeles to try to put down the Zapata rebellion, but Zapata resisted and persisted.
More Rebellions Against MaderoIn December 1911, Bernardo Reyes, whom Díaz had sent to Europe in 1910 on a diplomatic mission because he feared Reyes was going to challenge him for the Presidency, launched a rebellion in Nuevo León, where he had previously served as governor. Reyes's rebellion lasted only eleven days before he surrendered and was sent to the Santiago Tlatelolco Prison in Mexico City.
In March 1912, Pascual Orozco, who was resentful of how Madero had treated him, launched a rebellion in Chihuahua with the financial backing of Luis Terrazas, a former Governor of Chihuahua who was the largest landowner in Mexico. Madero despatched troops under General José González Salas to put down the rebellion, but they were initially defeated by Orozco's troops and González Salas committed suicide. Madero placed Victoriano Huerta in command of the Federal Forces.
Madero's local supporters also rose up to fight Orozoco. Joining them was Álvaro Obregón (scion of a once-wealthy landowning family in the state of Sonora that had had its lands confiscated because it sided with the French invasion against the liberal government of Benito Juárez), who had worked as a small farmer and gained some success as inventor of a chickpea harvester. When Obregón joined the irregurlar forces supporting Madero, he immediately demonstrated natural military genius, winning several battles. Pancho Villa also joined the Madero side against his former commander. Together, they defeated Orozco's troops, forcing Orozco to flee to the United States in September 1912.
Villa and Huerta then had a falling out over who was in command, and Huerta accused Villa of stealing a horse. Villa struck Huerta, who then ordered Villa's execution. Villa appealed to Madero, who ordered that his life be spared and that he be imprisoned. While in prison, he learned to read and write. He also learned of the rebellion led by Emiliano Zapata in the state of Morelos, south of Mexico City. Escaping from prison on Chistmas Day, 1912, Villa fled to Texas.
In October 1912, Félix Díaz, a nephew of Porfirio Díaz, launched a rebellion in Veracruz, "to reclaim the honor of the Army trampled by Madero." This rebellion was quickly crushed, and Félix Díaz was apprehended. Madero wanted to have Díaz executed, but the Supreme Court declared that he would be imprisoned, which he was, in Mexico City's Lecumberri Penitentiary.
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| Palacio Lecumberri, federal pententiary built by Porfirio Díaz |
The Ten Tragic Days
Another, more fateful, rebellion broke out in February of 1913.
Reyes then led soldiers to the National Palace, arriving at 7:30 a.m. General Lauro Villar, Commandant of the Palace Guard, ordered the rebels fired on. Reyes was killed. In the ensuing battle, General Villar was wounded, 400 people died, and over 1,000 were wounded, including spectators.
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| National Palace, on the Zócalo, central plaza |
At about 8:00 a.m., President Madero received word in his residence at Chapultepec Castle, in Chapultepc Woods, three miles away. He mounted a horse and, with a small escort, rode up Paseo de la Reforma into the city.
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| Chapultepec Castle in Chapultepec Woods (Park) Photo: Wikipedia |
Arriving at the end of Avenida Juárez, where the streets to the Zócalo narrow, and which were blocked by crowds, Madero dismounted and went into a photographer's studio opposite the unfinished Teatro Nacional (National Theater/Bellas Artes), to telephone the Palace for news.
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| Unfinished Palacio de Bellas Artes Photo: Bellas Artes website |
Madero was joined by some citizens and Army officers, among whom was Victoriano Huerta—known to be resentful at not having been made Madero’s Secretary of War. Madero had reservations about Huerta. Huerta offered his services to Madero and, since General Villar and Secretary of War Pena had been injured in the National Palace battle, Madero accepted, appointing him Commander of the Army of the Capital. The President rode off to the National Palace.
Meanwhile, General Félix Díaz seized the Ciudadela, the city arsenal, some distance southwest of the National Palace, with its reserve of arms, ammunition and artillery.
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| Ciudadela Photo. Google Earth |
Monday, Feb. 10: Madero received some troop reinforcements from Cuernavaca. He called for more from Veracruz and Toluca, west of the capital, but their commanders dragged their feet and they did not arrive for some days.
Tuesday, Feb. 11: At about 10:00 a.m., Huerta began to bombard the Ciudadela, which was met with a vigorous artillery response from Díaz. The Center city was heavily damaged.
At this point, Henry Lane Wilson, United States Ambassador, began to intervene. He telegraphed President William Howard Taft, that Madero’s govenment had virtually fallen and asked for powers to force combatants to negotiations.
Wednesday, Feb. 12: Wilson convened the British, Spanish and German Ambassadors and presented his position that Madero, by not surrendering instantly to the mutineers, was responsible for the bloodshed. The four Ambassadors then called on President Madero to "protest against the continuance of hostilities.”
Thursday, Feb. 13: The artillery battle continued. Ambassador Wilson met with Pedro Lascuráin, Madero's Minister of Foreign Relations, to tell him that Madero ought to resign.
Friday, Feb. 14: Ambassador Wilson again met with the British, German and Spanish Ambassadors, who agreed Madero should resign. The Spanish Ambassador was sent to take the message to the National Palace.
President Madero replied that he did not recognize the right of foreign diplomats to interfere in the nation’s domestic affairs. He reminded the Ambassador that he was the constitutional President of Mexico and that his resignation would plunge the country into political chaos. He added that he might be killed, but he would not resign. Later that day, by means of a meeting between the ambassadors, Madero and General Huerta, and communications with Díaz, an armistice was agreed on for Sunday.
Sunday, Feb. 16: General Huerta communicated with Ambassador Wilson that he expected to take steps that night that would lead “toward terminating the situation." Nothing happened that night or the next day, Monday.
Tuesday, Feb. 18: At noon, the President's brother, Gustavo A. Madero, after breakfasting with Huerta and others at a restaurant, was arrested by them. At 2:00 p.m., Ambassador Wilson received a message from Huerta that Madero had been arrested. Wilson then sent a message to Díaz at the Ciudadela, apprising him of the arrest and that Huerta desired to confer with him. It was agreed to hold the conference at the U.S. Embassy. At 9:00 p.m., Huerta arrived at the Embassy.
Tuesday, Feb. 18: At noon, the President's brother, Gustavo A. Madero, after breakfasting with Huerta and others at a restaurant, was arrested by them. At 2:00 p.m., Ambassador Wilson received a message from Huerta that Madero had been arrested. Wilson then sent a message to Díaz at the Ciudadela, apprising him of the arrest and that Huerta desired to confer with him. It was agreed to hold the conference at the U.S. Embassy. At 9:00 p.m., Huerta arrived at the Embassy.
Félix Díaz, Victoriano Huerta and Wilson spent three hours drawing up a plan for a new government. Díaz wanted to be president, but Huerta's claims were stronger; if he had not turned against Madero, the revolt could not have succeeded. They finally agreed that Huerta would become "Provisional President," but would call for an election in October and support Díaz for the permanent presidency.
That night Gustavo A. Madero, was driven to an empty lot just outside the Ciudadela and executed.
Wednesday, Feb. 19: Threatened with death and, at the pleading of his wife and mother, Madero signed his resignation. Vice President Pino Suárez did the same. Madero and Suárez were promised release and safe-conduct for themselves and their families out of the country. Under the Mexican Constitution of 1857, Pedro Lascuráin, Secretary of Foreign Affairs, was next in line to become President, once the resignations were accepted by the Senate.
That evening the families of Madero and Pino Suárez went to the train station where a train waited to take them and the two men to Veracruz, where they were to board a Cuban gunboat. The two men never arrived.
Thursday, Feb. 20: Madero's wife and mother and the relatives of Pino Suárez went to the U.S. Ambassador, asking him to grant asylum to the men in the Embassy. Wilson refused and, instead, recommended that they be transferred to “more comfortable quarters”— Lecumberri Penitentiary.
The Senate accepted the President's and Vice President's resignations, making Pedro Lascuráin officially President. He immediately appointed Huerta Secretary of the Interior, then resigned, so Huerta succeeded him as President.
Friday, Feb. 21: There was a debate among Huerta’s advisors as to what to do with Madero and Pino Suárez. Should they be imprisoned or exiled? Ambassadors from Latin American countries and Japan appealed to Ambassador Wilson to intervene with Huerta on Madero’s behalf. Wilson told them that, as a diplomat, he could not interfere in the internal affairs of the country.
Saturday, Feb 22: At about 11:45 p.m., newspaper reporters waiting outside the National Palace observed that, under the command of Major Francisco Cárdenas of the Rurales, Madero and Pino Suárez were put into two automobiles, one in each, and driven in the direction of the penitentiary. The vehicles did not stop at the entrance of the prison, but went to a vacant lot in back of the building. There the automobiles stopped, and shots were heard. When reporters reached the scene, they found the bodies of Madero and Suárez lying near the cars, surrounded by soldiers and gendarmes. Major Cárdenas was present and claimed that a group of armed men had fired on the vehicles. The two political leaders had leaped from the cars, running toward their presumed rescuers and were killed in the cross-fire.
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| Bust of President Francisco Madero, outside Lecumberri Prison, where he was assassinated |
That evening, Huerta, now President of Mexico, attended a reception at the U.S. Embassy to celebrate George Washington’s birthday.
Other chapters:
Mexican Revolution Protagonists and Antagonists Dictator Porfirio Díaz Triggers a Revolution Battle Against Victoriano Huerta Venustiano Carranza Wins Against Pancho Villa and Emiliano Zapata Post-War Power Struggles: The End of Almost Everyone
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