The Mexican Revolution is one of the most important and ambitious sociopolitical experiments in modem times. The Revolution developed in three distinct stages: the overthrow of the Díaz dictatorship, the subsequent era of bloodshed and devastation during which radical ideas were written into the constitution, and the much longer span during which the ideas have been put into practice.
The present volume covers the first stage of this development. Idealistic, patriotic hacendado Francisco I. Madero became the catalyst of the Revolution. All peaceful means having failed to secure democratic elections, Madero reluctantly undertook to mold the discontented factions into an effective force for insurrection. But victory brought disunity. Opposition to the Díaz regime, not a positive desire for reform, had held the revolutionaries together. Díaz deposed, Madero could not muster sufficient support to realize more than a fraction of his objectives, and he himself fell victim to counterrevolution.
The Mexican Revolution is not only a solid contribution to Mexicana... but proof that political history can be organized logically around a leading personality.... Provocative, readable, and interpretative.
- Preface
- I. Background for Revolution
- II. Madero: Education and Political Development
- III. The Book and the Parties
- IV. The Preconvention Campaign
- V. The Convention and the Election
- VI. The Revolution
- VII. The Ad Interim Government
- VIII. Zapata and Morelos
- IX. Rebellions Against the Madero Government
- X. Agrarian and Labor Reform
- XI. The Huerta Coup d’Etat
- XII. An Evaluation
- Bibliography
- Index
