The Mexican Revolution's Wake: The Making of a Political System, 1920–1929 (Cambridge Latin American Studies, Series Number 108)

Throughout The 1920s Mexico Was Rocked By Attempted Coups, Assassinations, And Popular Revolts. Yet By The Mid-1930s, The Country Boasted One Of The Most Stable And Durable Political Systems In Latin America. In The First Book On Party Formation Conducted At The Regional Level After The Mexican Revolution, Sarah Osten Examines Processes Of Political And Social Change That Eventually Gave Rise To The Institutional Revolutionary Party (pri), Which Dominated Mexico's Politics For The Rest Of The Twentieth Century. In Analyzing The History Of Socialist Parties In The Southeastern States Of Campeche, Chiapas, Tabasco, And Yucatan, Osten Demonstrates That These 'laboratories Of Revolution' Constituted A Highly Influential Testing Ground For New Political Traditions And Institutional Structures. 'the Mexican Revolution's Wake' Shows How The Southeastern Socialists Provided A Blueprint For A New Kind Of Party That Struck Calculated Balances Between The Objectives Of Elite And Popular Forces, And Between Centralized Authority And Local Autonomy. Introduction : Mexico's Search For Peace And Postrevolutionary Political Institutions -- The Socialist Crucible : Yucatan, 1915-1922 -- Revolutionary Laboratories : The Spread Of Socialism Across The Southeast, 1915-1923 -- Putting The System To The Test : The De La Huerta Rebellion In The Southeast, 1923-4 -- A Harder Line : Socialist Tabasco, 1920-27 -- The Forgotten Revolution : Socialist Chiapas, 1924-7 -- Closing Ranks : Socialism And Anti-reelectionism, 1925-27 -- A Nation Of Parties -- Conclusion : Hard Lessons. Sarah Osten. Throughout the 1920s Mexico was rocked by attempted coups, assassinations, and popular revolts. Yet by the mid-1930s, the country boasted one of the most stable and durable political systems in Latin America. In the first book on party formation conducted at the regional level after the Mexican Revolution, Sarah Osten examines processes of political and social change that eventually gave rise to the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), which dominated Mexico's politics for the rest of the twentieth century. In analyzing the history of socialist parties in the southeastern states of Campeche, Chiapas, Tabasco, and Yucatán, Osten demonstrates that these 'laboratories of revolution' constituted a highly influential testing ground for new political traditions and institutional structures. The Mexican Revolution's Wake shows how the southeastern socialists provided a blueprint for a new kind of party that struck calculated balances between the objectives of elite and popular forces, and between centralized authority and local autonomy "In the first weeks of 1924, in a region that many said had been left out of the Mexican Revolution of 1910-1920, a small army was formed by Socialists in the state of Chiapas, in far southeastern Mexico. Most of its members were likely coffee workers and poor farmers. These men did not take up arms against an oppressive, elite-led federal government as so many Mexicans had done during the Revolution. Instead, they organized and armed themselves to defend the federal government and local political institutions that they had helped to build. When Mexico's first postrevolutionary government came under attack during the de la Huerta rebellion of 1923-4, southeastern Socialists rose up in the government's defense and in defense of their rights that they believed it could best guarantee"-- Provided by publisher Cover 1 Half-title page 2 Series page 3 Title page 4 Copyright page 5 Dedication 6 Contents 8 List of Photographs 9 List of Maps 10 Acknowledgments 11 Introduction: Mexico’s Search for Peace and Postrevolutionary Political Institutions 16 1 The Socialist Crucible: Yucatán, 1915–1922 33 2 Revolutionary Laboratories: The Spread of Socialism across the Southeast, 1915–1923 75 3 Putting the System to the Test: The de la Huerta rebellion in the Southeast, 1923–1924 114 4 A Harder Line: Socialist Tabasco, 1920–1927 147 5 The Forgotten Revolution: Socialist Chiapas, 1924–1927 176 6 Closing Ranks: Socialism and Anti-Reelectionism, 1925–1927 210 7 A Nation of Parties 249 Conclusion: Hard Lessons 275 Select Bibliography 280 Index 292 A social and political history of regional socialist parties that set critical precedents for the creation of Mexico's single-party system following the Mexican Revolution. For scholars and students of modern Latin America across disciplines. A social and political history of Mexico's first political system after the Revolution that demonstrates the critical influence of regional socialist parties