(1) The Twilight
of the
Díaz Regime, 1904 - Oct.1910
1904
Far Left.
==Jan.--- > The radical Flores
Magón
brothers flee to the US, and establish an anti-Díaz group in
Laredo
in Feb.
Rural.(south).
==Jun.21 > The Mexican Supreme
Court rules
against the peasants of Yautepec village in Morelos, in a famous land
dispute
with the powerful Escandón hacienda - ~the village elders are
arrested
and shipped to labor camps
Díaz Regime.
==Jun.--- > The presidential term
of office
is lengthened to six years and the vice-presidency is revived - Díaz
is creating the apparatus of a permanent dictatorship
==Jul.--- > The aging
dictator Porfirio
Díaz is ‘re-elected’ president, with the unpopular científico
Ramón Corral as his vice-president
Maderistas.(north).
==Oct.--- > The wealthy
liberal Francisco
Madero becomes active in politics - he forms a political club in
Coahuila
and supports local reform campaigns against establishment candidates
Far Left.
==fall > The anti-Díaz
journal Regeneración is revived in San Antonio, Texas by
the Flores
Magón brothers, who have become radical than ever
Díaz Regime.(north).
==1904 > The landowner Luis
Terrazas turns
the government of Chihuahua over to his ruthless son-in-law Enrique
Creel
- Creel replaces elected mayors with appointees
1905
Díaz Regime.Rural.(north).
==early.1905 > Governor Creel
enacts an
oppressive land law in Chihuahua and launches an assault on the rights
of free-holding villages
Maderistas.(north).
==May.21 > Coahuilan opposition
groups
hold a gubernatorial convention in Mexico City - the inexperienced
liberal
Madero is outmaneuvered by the conservative científico
faction,
and the científicos are soon co-opted by the Díaz
regime
Far Left.
==Sep.25 > The revolutionary Partido
Liberal (PLM) is formally constituted by the exiled Flores
Magón
brothers in St. Louis
Economy.
==1905 > Mexico goes on the gold
standard
- ~financial strains are beginning to appear in the Porfirian economy
1906
Maderistas.
==spring > ~Madero is working to
pull
together a national network of opposition to Díaz by the 1910
presidential
elections
Labor.(northwest).
The Cananea strike - the start of Mexican labor unrest, to 1907:
==Jun.01 > A strike is launched
against
a US-owned mining company in Cananea, Sonora, and soon turns violent -
American vigilantes cross the border to intervene for the owners
==Jun.06 > The strike is crushed
after
dozens of strikers have been killed
Far Left.Unrest.
An attempted radical revolt fails:
==Jul.01 > The radical PLM
publishes a
manifesto calling for armed revolt against Díaz and for sweeping
social reforms
==Sep.--- > Despite a
well-organized underground
network, the PLM’s attempt to set off a widespread revolution fizzles;
the arrests of its leaders in the United States cripples the party - ~a
PLM-led guerrilla war in southern Veracruz simmers on into 1910
Labor.(central).
The violent Rio Blanco strike:
==Dec.07 > The Rio Blanco textile
strike
spreads through the Veracruz/Puebla area - union officials naively ask
Díaz to mediate the dispute
==Dec.22 > Owners retaliate with
massive
lockouts throughout central Mexico
1907
==Jan.07-09 > After Díaz
sides
with the textile owners, wild rioting erupts at Orizaba near Veracruz -
the disturbances are suppressed with extreme brutality by Federal
troops,
with nearly two hundred strikers killed - occasional labor unrest
continues
in central Mexico until the revolution
1907
Far Left.
==Aug.--- > Virtually the entire
PLM leadership
is arrested in Los Angeles
Economy.
==late.1907 > ~Financial panic in
the
United States causes a decline in export prices, leading to the loss of
state revenue - Mexican recession to 1908, causing doubts about the
health
of the Porfirian economy
US Relations.
==1907 > An American request for
a permanent
lease on Magdalena Bay in Baja California is refused by Mexico - ~US
support
for Díaz begins to cool
1908
Díaz Regime.(north).
==Mar.01 > Governor Creel’s Banco
Minero
is robbed in Ciudad Chihuahua, evidently by members of his own family -
~Creel’s attempt to pin the crime on innocent ‘suspects’ is soon
discredited
Díaz Regime.
==Mar.03 > The ‘Creelman
interview’
is published in Mexico: with tongue-in-cheek Díaz pledges to
retire
in 1910 and to tolerate political opposition - the interview proves to
be “a cataclysmic error in judgment” - ~public opposition
germinates,
confusion in the political system rises, and a sense of impending
disaster
grows
==May.30 > Díaz allows his
supporters
to “convince” him to seek another term
Far Left.Unrest.
==Jun.18-23 > Arrests of PLM
leadership
in Mexico and the US disrupt their plans for a radical revolt
Rural.
==1908-1909 > Droughts and poor
harvests
in Mexico
Labor.
==1908 > Real wages for Mexican
workers
have sunk to about a third of their level of a century earlier
1909
Maderistas.
==Jan.20 > Madero, who has been
communicating
with spirits, writes his father “I have been chosen by
Providence.
Neither poverty, nor prison, nor death frighten me.”
==Feb.02 > Madero sends
Díaz a
copy of his book La sucesión presidencial en 1910 -
~Madero
becomes a nationally known opposition leader
Díaz Regime.Rural.(north).
==Mar.11 > Perhaps fearing
popular anger,
the Federal government briefly attempts to revoke the oppressive 1905
Chihuahua
land law, but soon caves in - ~Governor Creel intensifies his land
expropriations
at the expense of the peasants
Díaz Regime.Rural.(south).
==Mar.15 > Díaz installs
the inept
planter Pablo Escandón as Governor of Morelos despite a strong
opposition
campaign - ~the big landowners fully control Morelos; as an increasing
tempo of land seizures occurs, the local peasantry grows politicized
and
sullen
Díaz Regime.
The ruling regime splits:
==Mar.25-30 > The government
party convention
predictably nominates Díaz and Corral - ~Corral’s fellow científicos
are openly advocating a permanent Díaz dictatorship
==early.May.-Aug. > Nuevo
León
Governor Bernardo Reyes challenges Ramón Corral for the
vice-presidency
- the political establishment is preoccupied with the struggle
between
the military and the científicos for the succession to
Díaz
==late.May-late.July >
Anti-government
Reyista disturbances
Economy.
==spring > ~The Mexican national
reserve
bank is in critical condition
Maderistas.
Madero opens his campaign against Díaz:
==May.19-22 > Madero’s supporters
form
the liberal opposition Partido Anti-reeleccionista
==May.29 > The
Anti-reelectionists draw
up a manifesto against Díaz; the document is published in
mid-June
==Jun.18-Jul.11 > Madero
begins organizing
and campaigning throughout Mexico in the first open political
activity
directed against Díaz in thirty years - the public response is
strong
Disaster.
==Jul.30 > Earthquakes strike
Mexico -
Acapulco is destroyed
Díaz Regime.
==early.Aug > The Díaz
government
puts Reyes under close watch, and his influence dwindles - ~government
crackdown on Reyistas in Guadalajara - many frustrated Reyistas join
Madero’s
Anti-reelectionists
Disaster.
==Aug.27 > A hurricane strikes
northeast
Mexico, killing 1,500 - Governor Reyes fails to act
Zapata.
==Sep.12 > Emiliano Zapata is
elected
president of the Anenecuilco village council in Morelos
Maderistas.
==Sep.30 > The government turns
against
the Maderistas, shuts down the Anti-reelectionist paper and arrests its
staff - the opposition to Díaz temporarily collapses
(see Dec)
US Relations.
==Oct.16 > Díaz meets
American
President Taft on the International Bridge in El Paso, but declines to
renew US naval leases of Magdalena Bay in Baja California
Díaz Regime.
==Nov.05 > Reyes accedes to
Díaz’s
request that he visit Europe, and is effectively exiled - Reyes is
temporarily
finished as a political force
Maderistas.
==Dec.-Jun.1910 Madero revives
the
anti-government opposition by vigorous campaigning throughout Mexico
January-October,
1910
Zapata.
==Feb.11-Mar.29 > Zapata is
briefly inducted
into the army as a troublemaker - Díaz’s son-in-law has him
discharged,
and employs him as a groom in Mexico City until late spring
Maderistas.
The end of Madero’s 1910 presidential campaign:
==Apr.14 > Madero meets with
Díaz
and finds him “.. a child .. totally decrepit .. ” - ~Madero accepts
that
an armed revolt will be necessary to oust the regime
==Apr.15-17 > The
Anti-reelectionist convention
is held in Mexico City; Madero is nominated for president
==mid.May. > The government
resumes its
crackdown on the Maderistas - ~amidst rising tensions, thousands are
arrested
by election day
==Jun.16 > Madero is imprisoned
in Monterrey
until after the elections
Zapata.Unrest.(south).
==late.spring > In Morelos,
Zapata leads
the villagers of Anenecuilco in forcibly reclaiming land from the local
hacienda
Unrest.
==Jun.04 > A bloody revolt erupts
in Valladolid
in the Yucatan - ~sporadic disturbances and small revolts throughout
Mexico
from late spring through the summer
Díaz Regime.
Díaz steals the presidential election:
==Jun.26 & Jul.08 > Díaz
and Corral ‘win’ the Mexican elections amidst blatant fraud - one
observer
later writes “The tension of the public spirit .. had filled up to the
brim.”
==Sep.01 > The
Anti-reelectionists protest
election fraud to Congress
==Sep.11 > A Maderista
demonstration in
Mexico City stones Díaz’s home
==Sep.15-16 > A lavish
celebration of
the centennial of Mexican independence opens - the Díaz regime
is
seemingly at the height of its power and prestige
==Sep.16 > Díaz informs
Congress
that the election was conducted properly
==Sep.27 > Congress confirms the
election
of Díaz and Corral
Maderista Revolt.
==Oct.06-07 > Madero flees over
the border
to Laredo - ~he is soon openly preparing for a revolt from his base in
San Antonio
Far Left.Unrest.
==Oct.--- Attacks by PLM
guerillas
in southern Veracruz and Tabasco
Economy.
==fall-Mar.1911 > ~Finance
Minister Limantour
is compelled to travel to Europe to negotiate new loans - Díaz’s
financial system is approaching collapse
Maderista Revolt.(north).Villa.
==fall > ~In Chihuahua, the
Maderista
leader Abraham Gonzalez recruits local tough guy Pancho Villa to the
cause
- ~Villa nonchalantly murders police informer Claro Reza in Ciudad
Chihuahua
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