By Allan Wall
November 17, 2009
NewsWithViews.com
Patriotic
holidays and how they are celebrated are a elements of a nation’s
shared culture. Of course, when we start studying the nitty gritty of
such festivities, even more questions are raised.
In the United States, for example, you’d think more would be done
to recognize Constitution Day, on September 17th, but almost nothing is
done on that day.
Mexico has a number of fiestas patrias, and the one coming up
next is the November 20th celebration of the anniversary of the Mexican
Revolution
Well, it’s called November 20th,although it’s now officially
celebrated on the third Monday of November, which in 2009 is November
16th. So happy Mexican Revolution Day.
The Mexican Revolution should not be confused with the Mexican War of
Independence, nor with Cinco de Mayo, which though quite famous in the
United States, is not a big deal in Mexico.
The Mexican Revolution is emphasized in the educational system and is
a key part of Mexican identity. In the United States, the most famous
figure of the historical era is Pancho Villa.
The Mexican Revolution began November 20th, 1910, as an uprising against
longtime dictator Porfirio Diaz, who resigned and left the country in
1911.
But the abdication of Porfirio Diaz did not usher in an era of peace and
prosperity. Far from it.
Francisco I. Madero, who started the Revolution and became president,
was overthrown by Victoriano Huerta, who in turn was overthrown by a coalition
which then broke up into warring factions.
The two most colorful revolutionary leaders were Pancho Villa, the "Centaur
of the North," and Emiliano Zapata, leader of the "Liberation
Army of the South." They’ve also made the deepest impression
on the collective psyche of Mexican identity.
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Pancho
Villa was defeated in 1915 at Celaya, the biggest battle of the Revolution,
by Alvaro Obregon. (Even though Villa lost and Obregon won, Villa is still
much more famous today. That shows that popular history is not always
written by the winners.)
After the Carranza/Obregon faction triumphed over the Villa/Zapata alliance,
a new constitution was drafted under Venustiano Carranza’s leadership
in 1917. It’s still in use, though with many amendments.
An interesting bit of trivia is that the Mexican Revolution was the first
war anywhere in which an airplane dropped a bomb on a ship, in the battle
of Topolobampo in 1913.
Foreign powers also intervened in the war. Germany supported Huerta, and
later tried to make a deal with Carranza.
The United States supported Pancho Villa, but then switched to backing
Carranza. In retribution, the "Centaur of the North" launched
a 1916 raid on Columbus, New Mexico. That raid provoked John J. Pershing’s
Punitive Expedition into northern Mexico, the first U.S. military operation
to include the use of aircraft in a combat capacity. On Mexico’s
east coast, the U.S. military briefly occupied the port of Veracruz.
Although the Mexican Revolution is still held in high regard in Mexico,
in recent decades it has been criticized by some. This criticism coincided
with the decline of the PRI (Institutional Revolutionary Party) which
formerly dominated Mexico as a one-party state government.
The Mexican revolutionaries represented different interests and ideologies.
Zapata’s major cause was restoration of confiscated property in
his region. As for Pancho Villa, what his ideology was is not all clear.
The long-vilified image of Porfirio Diaz has slightly improved. His accomplishments
included economic development, a low crime rate and a peso on par with
the pound sterling.
Some Mexicans have criticized the Revolution for not being all it was
cracked up to be. It’s been belittled from the left for not having
gone far enough.
It’s been criticized by free-market pundit Sergio Sarmiento as a
“monumental failure” which “destroyed a regime of poverty,
inequality and authoritarianism” but also “constructed another
regime of poverty, inequality and authoritarianism.”
In 2007, Macario Schettino published a book entitled Cien Años de Confusión (A Hundred Years of Confusion). Schettino asserts that despite its much-celebrated Revolution, 20th century Mexico has not developed more successfully than other Latin American nations, whether you look at development in terms of the economy, education, health or social security. As for the progress made in Mexico since the Revolution, Schettino says such progress has been made in other countries that had no social revolution.
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The
intellectual dispute over the Mexican Revolution continues, but its place
in the patriotic calendar is safe for now.
Besides, next year, 2010, marks both the 100th anniversary of the beginning
of the Mexican Revolution, and the 200th anniversary of the beginning
of what became the Mexican Independence Movement. So a big celebration
is being planned for Mexico.
After all, a debate over history is one thing, but a super-duper fiesta
is another thing entirely.
� 2009 Allan Wall - All Rights Reserved
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Allan Wall recently returned to the U.S. after residing many years in Mexico.
Website: www.allanwall.net
E-Mail:
allan39@provalue.net
