Pancho Villa and Emiliano Zapata in the Presidential Chair

Once Huerta has been defeated and exiled in July 1914, Zapata came up from the south and Villa moved in

from the north to occupy Mexico City.

Railroads Vital to the Revolution

While Mexico had only 600 kilome-ters of railroad track in 1876, by 1910 it had over 19,000 kilometers

of railroad lines that crisscrossed and integrated the country. Consequently, the railroads

emerged as vital means of communi-cation for the transport of troops and their control was hotly contested.

Soldaderas

The soldaderas were the women

who accompanied the soldiers of all sides during the Revolution. They functioned as the quartermaster’s

corps foraging for food and wood to cook soldiers’ meals and wash

and mend their clothing. They nursed the wounded and even acted as un-dertakers burying the dead.

The Mexican

Revolution

An Exhibition

Posters and Description

by Dr. Francie Chassen Lopéz

UK Department of History

Young Soldiers

Masses of men, women,

and children traveled the width and breadth of the country during the revolu-tionary decade of 1910- 1920. Perusing the pho-

tography of the Revolu-tion, one is struck by how young the revolu-tionaries were, so many were adolescents and even children.

First Chief Venustiano Carranza and General Álvaro

Obregón

Carranza formed the Constitutionalist Army

and served as President during the revolution. He was assassinated in 1920. Obergón served as the first post revolutionary presi-dent from 1920 to 1924. He was assassinated in 1928.

The Lexington Herald

While not all papers could afford their own report-ers, the press in the United States followed

the events of the Mexican Revolution closely, includ-ing, as we see here, The Lexington Herald. On March 3, 1916, our local newspaper reported on

attempted revolts against

the Carranza govern-ment.

View the virtual exhibit with complete

descriptions in UKnowledge at:

http://uknowledge.uky.edu/

world_mexico_revolution

Porfirio Díaz and Family

In 1876, General Porfirio Díaz took

power by force. He ruled Mexico for over

thirty years, until May 1911 when he

was forced to resign and go into exile by

the Mexican Revolution. He repressed

any resistance and ruled through a

motto, “Order and Progress,” that em-

phasized political stability and economic

development.

The Precursors

The modernization of Mexico that took

place during the Díaz years resulted in

considerable growth of the middle and

working classes of Mexico. Various

groups of oppositionists, who are now

referred to as the Precursors, organized

clubs and political parties and published

newspapers that gave voice to the griev-

ances of people from all over Mexico.

Francisco and Sara Madero

Francisco Madero was a

wealthy and progressive

hacendado (large landed

estate owner) who criticized

corrupt politics and the lack

of of a system of political

succession.

Emiliano Zapata

Emiliano Zapata was a pea-

sant from the town of Ane-

necuilco in the state of Mo-

relos. He had earned fame

as an excellent horse trai-

ner and worked for various

hacendados. He emerged

as a champion of the com-

peninos (peasants).

Decena Trágica – The Ten Tragic Days

With the support of federal troops, Díaz and Reyes revolted on February 9, 1913. This led to

10 days of bloody warfare on the street of down-

town Mexico City, costing the lives of hundreds of civilians, including women and children and destruction of many buildings (as can be seen in these photos).

U.S. Invasion of Veracruz - 1914

After a conflict with U.S. sailors in the

port of Tampico and the news that a

shipment of German arms for Huerta

was about to land in Veracruz, on

President Wilson´s orders, five hundred

U.S. Marines and 300 Navy sailors

disembarked in Veracruz on April 21,

1914.

Pancho Villa

Doroteo Arango was an agricultural

laborer and cattle rustler born in the

northern state of Durango. He took the

name of Pancho Villa when escaping

from the law for having wounded a

hacendado. Villa became the most

fearsome and brilliant general of the

war, leading the famous Division of the

North.