The Great Rebellion: Mexico 1905-1924 (Revolutions in the Modern World)

The great rebellion ignited by Francisco Madero's call to arms in 1910 was a momentous event in the turbulent history of Mexico. It is widely held that the struggle to overthrow the corrupt regime of Porfirio Diaz fundamentally transformed the structure of Mexican society, bringing social justice for downtrodden peasants and workers. RamÃ3n Eduardo Ruíz refutes the traditional view. Drawing on numerous archival sources, he carefully examines the economic consequences of the Diaz regime and traces the growth of widespread social discontent. He describes the backgrounds and professed aims of the Revolution's colorful leaders—Madero, Venustiano Carranza, Pancho Villa, Alvaro ObregÃ3n, and Emiliano Zapata—and then sets out to discover what, behind the superficial paper changes and the rhetoric, they actually did. He concludes that the so-called Revolution was led by elements of the dissatisfied middle class whose goals were narrow and bourgeois in character. Despite important paper reforms, many of the old political, economic, and social injustices and inequalities survived. Frontmatter PREFACE (page ix) CALENDAR OF EVENTS (page xii) MAP: MEXICO (page xiii) PART I THE WHYS AND WHEREOFS OF REBELLION (page 1) 1. On the Meaning of Revolution (page 3) 2. The Ambivalence of Progress (page 9) 3. Age and the Politics of Rigidity (page 24) 4. The Ungrateful Scion (page 44) 5. On the Ramparts of Industry (page 58) 6. The Responsibility of the Agrarian Sector (page 73) 7. Foreigners: The Blessings and the Bane (page 100) 8. Watershed of Rebellion (page 120) PART II THE CAST OF CHIEFTAINS (page 137) 9. Francisco I. Madero: Apostle of a Gentlemen's Rebellion (page 139) 10. Venustiano Carranza: The Patrician as a Rebel (page 153) 11. Alvaro Obregón: The Self-Made Man (page 167) 12. Francisco Villa: The Mexican Robin Hood (page 185) 13. Emiliano Zapata: The Unorthodox Rebel (page 199) 14. A Profile of Rebels (page 213) 15. Soldiers as Revolutionaries (page 239) PART III A CHRONICLE OF WHAT WAS DONE (page 267) 16. Labor's Ambiguous Springboards (page 269) 17. Labor Confronts the New Rulers (page 282) 18. The Faltering Pledge (page 304) 19. The Meager Harvest (page 323) 20. Between Adam Smith and Marx (page 340) PART IV THE UBIQUITOUS BARRIERS (page 363) 21. Jobs, Politics, and Graft (page 365) 22. The Unwilling Neighbor (page 382) 23. Reflections (page 406) NOTES (page 421) BIBLIOGRAPHY (page 505) INDEX (page 517)