Dيa de la Revoluciَn
Dيa de la Revoluciَn (Revolucion Day) falls on November 20th. Under the new law many Mexican holidays will now be celebrated on Mondays creating three-day weekends. In 2007 Dيa de la Revoluciَn will be celebrated on Monday, November 19th.
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Dيa de la Revoluciَn (Revolution Day) – November 20th
This holiday celebrates the revolution of 1910-1917 that overthrew the rule Portirio Dيaz from 1876 to 1911. It marks the beginning of modern Mexico and the PRI party.
For most of Mexico's developing history, a small minority of the people were in control of most of the country's power and wealth, while the majority of the population worked in poverty. As the rift between the poor and rich grew under the leadership of General Porfirio Dيaz (José de la Cruz Porfirio Dيaz Mori) who was the presidsent and dictator of Mexico from 1876 to1911. (Diaz was a military hero because he lead the calvary forces on Cinco de Mayo at the Battle of Puebla when the Mexicans fought against the French under Maximilian.) Opposition to Dيaz surfaced when Francisco I. Madero, educated in Europe and at the University of California, led a series of strikes throughout the country.
Dيaz was pressured into holding an election in 1910, in which Madero was able to gather a significant number of the votes. Although Dيaz was at one time a strong supporter of the one-term limit, he seemed to have changed his mind and had Madero imprisoned, feeling that the people of Mexico just weren't ready for democracy.
Once Madero was released from prison, he continued his battle against Dيaz in an attempt to have him overthrown. During this time, several other Mexican folk heros began to emerge, including the well known Pancho Villa in the north, and the peasant Emiliano Zapata in the south, who were able to harass the Mexican army and wrest control of their respective regions. Dيaz was unable to control the spread of the insurgence and resigned in May, 1911, with the signing of the Treaty of Ciudad Juلrez, after which he fled to France.
Madero was elected president, but received opposition from Emiliano Zapata who didn't wish to wait for the orderly implementation of Madero's desired land reforms. In November of the same year Zapata denounced Madero as president and took the position for himself. He controlled the state of Morelos, where he chased out the estate owners and divided their lands to the peasants. Later, in 1919, Zapata was assassinated by Jesus Guajardo acting under orders from General Pablo Gonzalez.
It was during this time that the country broke into many different factions, and guerilla units roamed across the country destroying and burning down many large haciendas and ranchos. Madero was later taken prisoner and executed and the entire country existed in a state of disorder for several years, while Pancho Villa rampaged through the north, and different factions fought for presidential control.
Eventually, Venustiano Carranza rose to the presidency, and organized an important convention whose outcome was the Constitution of 1917, which is still in effect today. Carranza made land reform an important part of that constitution. This resulted in the ejido, or farm cooperative program that redistributed much of the country's land from the wealthy land holders to the peasants. The ejidos are still in place today and comprise nearly half of all the farmland in Mexico.
Carranza was followed by others who would fight for political control, and who would eventually continue with the reforms, both in education and land distribution. During this period the PRI political party was established, which was the dominant political power for 71 years until Vicente Fox of the conservative PAN party was elected.
The Dيa de la Revoluciَn holiday commemorates the day, November 20, 1910, when Madero denounced President Dيaz, declared himself president of Mexico and called for a national insurrection.